I'm very new to building PCs and assembled a new system with a friend. It powers on, all the fans spin, and the lighting works, but it won't complete POST. The motherboard's diagnostic LEDs briefly show orange and red, then remain on white, with yellow appearing afterward. I initially thought this indicated a memory problem, but I'm not sure what else to check. The motherboard is an ASUS ROG STRIX B850-A GAMING WIFI, and the system has 2×16GB DDR5 memory along with a Nautilus 360 R5 ARGB CPU cooler. Could faulty or incorrectly installed memory be the cause, or should I inspect another component? I'd appreciate troubleshooting steps before taking it to a repair shop.
1 Answer
On this board, the white diagnostic light points to a graphics or display problem rather than memory. Shut the PC down, unplug it, remove the graphics card, and inspect it for damage or anything preventing it from seating correctly. Reinstall it firmly and make sure its power connectors are fully plugged in. Also try a different display cable. If the processor has integrated graphics, you can temporarily remove the graphics card and connect the monitor directly to the motherboard’s HDMI output. If the warning disappears, the graphics card or its connection is likely the issue.
That fixed it! I got the boot screen to appear after connecting the monitor with HDMI, so I just need to install Windows now. Thanks for the help!