Question Computer won’t boot and the motherboard's VGA light stays lit ?

[Vaxess]

Hello, I tried to turn on my PC today after putting it to sleep the day prior and the parts and lights lit up and the fans ran but it never made it to boot. After a short while, the VGA light on my motherboard comes on and stays lit.

I don’t know if this is relevant, but when first powered the motherboard indicates the CPU light on for about 3 seconds, a quick flash on the DRAM light, then the VGA light, then VGA becomes the only one to stay lit.

I have already troubleshooted some. I have completely removed my GPU and put it back in twice, I have removed and reinstalled all of my RAM, and I ran my GPU in my roommates computer and it ran fine and made it to homescreen.

MBD: MSI B550 Tomahawk
CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3080
RAM: 4x8 GB DDR4
PSU: 850 watts gold

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the exact model of that "850 watts gold" power supply?

Have you tried installing the graphics card in one of the lower PCIe slots?

Have you tried a different graphics card in your system?

 

[Vaxess]

It’s working on the other PCIe slot! Is there any way I can repair the first one? My GPU sits pretty low in my case now and I worry it won’t get enough ventilation. I had to run some cords through the bottom holes of my case so they didn’t hit the fans.

What is the exact model of that "850 watts gold" power supply?

Have you tried installing the graphics card in one of the lower PCIe slots?

Have you tried a different graphics card in your system?

It’s working on the other PCIe slot! Is there any way I can repair the first one? My GPU sits pretty low in my case now and I worry it won’t get enough ventilation. I had to run some cords through the bottom holes of my case so they didn’t hit the fans.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If it's working in the other slot then there is either a problem with the board, it is faulty, or there is a bent CPU pin. Those are really the only two things that would be commonly to blame for the primary slot not working.

Might be worth pulling the CPU cooler and CPU, and checking to make sure there are no bent pins on the CPU, and if not, then contact MSI about a replacement. If there are no bent CPU pins then there is really no reason why the graphics card would work in another slot but not in the primary x16 slot other than the board being bad. So long as you are certain the card was fully seated in the primary slot and the auxiliary power connections were all FULLY seated at both ends.

 

[Darkbreeze]

And if that board is less than 3 years old then it SHOULD be under warranty still if you are in the US or most countries. ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock all have three year warranties on their boards last time I checked but it also depends on WHERE you are as it can change from region to region.