After a recent Windows 11 update, my PC has stopped booting properly. When I turn it on, the fans and LEDs all power up, but I get no display and my keyboard isn't lighting up at all. The CPU debug LED gives a quick red flash, but then the DRAM LED stays on solid orange. There are no beep codes, and it seems stuck during the memory check at post. I've already tried a few troubleshooting steps:
- Resetting the CMOS by removing the battery for over five minutes
- Flashing the BIOS multiple times using the Flash BIOS feature (the LED stops blinking after)
- Re-seating the RAM and testing just one stick in the appropriate DIMM slot
- Ensuring the CPU power cable is connected and re-seating the CPU
- Removing the GPU and using the onboard graphics instead
- Fully power-cycling the PSU by unplugging it for more than fifteen seconds.
Unfortunately, the issue hasn't changed at all: the DRAM LED stays orange, I still don't get any display, and there's no power to my USB devices. This all started right after that Windows 11 update, whereas my system was running completely fine before. Here are my system specs:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K
- Motherboard: MSI Z790 Tomahawk WiFi (DDR5)
- GPU: MSI RTX 3060 Ti OC
- RAM: DDR5 Corsair (2x16 GB)
- PSU: 750W
- Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow
- OS: Windows 11
A couple of theories I've thought of are a corrupted BIOS/CMOS post-update (though flashing BIOS didn't help) or a potential defect in the CPU's integrated memory controller.
2 Answers
It's unlikely that a Windows update could have corrupted your BIOS. Since you were able to reflash it successfully, you can probably rule that out. Have you tried booting your system without any RAM installed? You should see a different LED error pattern if that’s the case. Also, make sure the XMP/EXPO profile is enabled in your BIOS if you haven't done that yet.
Is your RAM compatible with the XMP settings? I only ask because I encountered a similar issue after updating my BIOS, and it turned out that my Corsair RAM didn't match well with the new BIOS. It’s worth checking compatibility in case that's the issue.
Yes, I’ve checked and it seems compatible. Did you still have access to the BIOS after updating?
Yes, when I tried without the RAM, the LED sequence stayed the same. And I had XMP enabled.