I recently upgraded my PC with a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM, but now it keeps restarting and going straight into the BIOS. Initially, I saw a red CPU light on the motherboard, but I managed to fix that by connecting the missing 8 pin CPU power supply plug. Now, I'm occasionally seeing an orange RAM light when I restart, but it quickly changes to stable green, indicating that it can boot. I'm wondering if this is a RAM issue since I've tried different slots with no luck. Do I need to reinstall Windows, or is there something else going on? Any advice would be appreciated!
1 Answer
When you swap out your motherboard, it's usually a good idea to reinstall Windows and update the BIOS. If you're jumping to DDR5 memory, sometimes it takes a bit for the memory to retrain. Just make sure your RAM is compatible with your new setup—like if you've got an AM5 motherboard, it can handle speeds from 4800 to 6400 MT/s. Anything over that depends on the board itself!
Using PCPartPicker, everything seemed compatible for me as well. How can I tell if I really need a Windows reinstall? And how do I update the BIOS now?