Diagnosing which part of my PC is dead!

otsan9

otsan9

otsan9

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Joined
27 Feb 2024
Posts
11
Location
UK
Hi all,

I'm trying to diagnose what is wrong with my PC. So the other day, I tried to fire it up. It booted, but gave me a grey "_" that was blinking. The only thing I could do was enter the bios. Then after some twiddling (with the PC itself), it didn't boot. I'd press the button, it'll look like it's starting to boot. But instantly switches off after half a second.

So I thought it could be the PSU or motherboard. I bought both as a replacement. So in changing the PSU, I got the same result. But in changing the motherboard, the PC boots. But there was no display sent to the monitor. And then, I tried the old PSU and it still booted. So I don't think the issue now is the PSU or the motherboard as with the old PSU and motherboard, the PC boots, but it doesn't send display to the monitor. I suspect it could be the GPU, but the GPU fan is working. I see a orange light on my motherboard.

My current specs are:
PSU: EVGA 650 G2 supernova
GPU: Geforce 1660 Super
CPU: Ryzen 3600
Motherboard: Prime B450M-K

The new PSU I bought was: Corsair RM850X, but I've established it's not the PSU
And the new mobo was: MSI B450M PRO VDH, and it doesnt seem to be the mobo either.

Anyone can help me diagnose????
 
Was going to ask if the orange light on the motherboard has any lettering underneath- like vga/cpu/ram etc ro see if its an error led but had a quick look at the manual and didn't see that option, but I could have easily skimmed past it

You've tried PSU and Mobo, the next ones I'd check Gpu/Cpu/Ram, and probably in that order, do you have any other system you can try the gpu in? Or an old Gpu you can try and pop in your current pc?
 
Little update. Appreciate the replies from you all. I'm seeing something on the monitor. I'll see the ASUS boot up screen, it'll give me that option to DEL to go BIOS. Then it'll take me to a black screen, or like a very dark grey, with a underscore ("_") blinking.
 
My own suspicion is the GPU. You could try gently cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser, then finish off with some isopropyl alcohol.

Failing that, try another GPU.
 
I've booted up the PC, I'll be in the BIOS page. I see the SSD. But when booting up it'll take me to a black screen with a grey _ blinking. I'm going to test a USB with windows.
 
Yeah. I've seen the SSD in the BIOS, when I try to boot it, same result. Could it be that the SSD has died even though its showing up.
 
Yeah it's possible it could be faulty
That's where using a live usb helps
Should be able to see the drive and explore it
If its working OK
Or a windows install usb
Press shift+f10 at first part that loads
Then run something like a command to scan the drive
Sfc /scannow
It should be able to scan the drive
And also try to fix any file system errors if it finds any
 
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