PC won't boot after installing new graphics card.

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insane

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#302939 5-Jan-2023 11:47

So I finally got around to ungrading my GFX card, and while it initially started up a few times, it wouldn't fully boot into windows, getting stuck on the windows 10 logo, and once making it to the point that it must have completed installing a windows update.

After that it progressively got shorter into the boot up process with each attempt. On one occasion there were black lines across the whole screen during boot up. Now it won't even post, beep or display anything on screen.

PSU runs
CPU fan runs
HDDs run (yeah I have a bunch of spinning rust)
Mobo SB status light is green
SSD status light is green
GFX fans pulse faster and slower

So far I've tried:

- Replacing CMOS battery
- Resetting CMOS with the jumper
- Using the old GFX card Saphire HD7770 instead of the new RX5500XT
- Removing RAM sticks in case one is bad
- Unplugging all HDDs but my boot SSD drive
- Reseating all power adaptors
- Checked all voltages OK from the PSU (using a wire between green wire and ground so it starts), but not under load.
- Visually inspected Mobo and PSU components for any signs of fried FETs or bulging capacitors.

Could my BIOS have been wiped by not having turned the PC on for two years? Or could I have killed my mobo by using a card that it may not have supported?

PC is fairly ancient! AMD Phenom II 940 in an Asus M4N78 motherboard.

Any ideas on what to do next?

- New PSU
- New Mobo
- Bin it and build a new PC?
- Secret Ninja hack?

Jase2985

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#3017271 5-Jan-2023 12:14

does it have onboard graphics? have you tried that?

networkn

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#3017273 5-Jan-2023 12:21

Installing a new card won't have killed the motherboard, but I am guessing this is a power supply problem.

The age and spec of this machine, and likely the OS on it, you could pickup a decent second hand machine that would be better in every way.

insane

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#3017279 5-Jan-2023 12:35

Jase2985:
does it have onboard graphics? have you tried that?

Nope, sadly not

networkn:
Installing a new card won't have killed the motherboard, but I am guessing this is a power supply problem.

The age and spec of this machine, and likely the OS on it, you could pickup a decent second hand machine that would be better in every way.

Yeah I've already priced up a fairly decent replacement, $1000 of parts will get me something that will likely last another 10+ years.

PSU is newer, only 8 years old :P

MadEngineer

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#3017285 5-Jan-2023 13:05

Not posting at all isn’t good. Does it beep if you remove all the ram?

You want to trim it down to just motherboard and cpu - if you don’t get post beeps from there I’d be trying another known good psu

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

cruxis

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#3017289 5-Jan-2023 13:50

I always run DDU before swapping out cards.

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Reinstall old one see if it boots, run DDU, remove old one card install new graphics card, install new drivers.

insane

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#3017353 5-Jan-2023 14:03

MadEngineer: Not posting at all isn’t good. Does it beep if you remove all the ram?

You want to trim it down to just motherboard and cpu - if you don’t get post beeps from there I’d be trying another known good psu

Well got loads of beeps without RAM which was progress and helped me work it out!

Then went through each stick of RAM again and found the dud RAM stick! But also found that no matter what combination of good RAM I use I cannot use the middle two slots anymore.

BIOS is all default.

So yeah, faulty RAM module and faulty motherboard.

Now I wonder which caused the other to fail...

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gehenna

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#3017369 5-Jan-2023 14:54

The ram could still be a symptom not a cause, and reducing the installed modules could just be a workaround. Check your motherboard manual. Some buses get restricted depending on what is installed as they might be shared. E.g. if you have both sata and m.2 ports on board, some motherboards will reduce the available sata ports because it shares the bus with the m.2 port if there is one installed. How many PCI slots do you have and are you in the primary GPU slot for full PCI bandwidth?

insane

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#3017447 5-Jan-2023 16:03

@gehenna,

You're overestimating my mobo. It's ancient :)

I have:
1x SATA SSD
4x SATA HDDs, two raid 1 volumes
1 PCI express 16 slot - GFX
1 PCI express 1 slot - Wifi card
3 PCI slots - empty
1 IDE slot for CD/DVD writer

It was running with 4*2GB PC800 ram for years and years, but just hadn't been turned on since August 2021.

Maybe the capacitors have degraded enough, or perhaps there's a dry solder joint somewhere effecting it.

Anyway, the new card is working fine now, I've just lost half of my RAM capacity which is annoying.

gehenna

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#3017450 5-Jan-2023 16:12

Yep, and memory and PCI use separate buses, but still, motherboards can be finnicky and since there has been a significant change in that you've swapped a PCI card after a long time, one of the boards idiosyncrasies might have been discovered with the newer card. Or it's faulty. Guess you have to decide what's important to you - the cost of your time to keep troubleshooting, vs the cost of running without 2 memory modules, vs the cost of upgrading the motherboard. Spending the $300ish on a low-end contemporary motherboard seems like a good choice to me if you have the resources. But then you have to check your CPU compatibility etc, etc, etc, etc.....

insane

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#3017454 5-Jan-2023 16:21

Yeah it's the same with the old or new GFX, but I'm not loosing sleep over it. Managed for over a year without it. Have other laptops I can use.

Now that I've confirmed, well mostly, that the PSU is okay, a full upgrade will only cost me $800

Ryzen 5 5600
16GB DDR4
1TB Samsung Evo 980 pro M2
B550m mobo (Gigabyte or AsusRoc)

Main reason for reviving it is I'm considering a side hussle, and don't want to use my work laptop which has till now been hooked up to my main monitors.