[SOLVED] Cousin computer showe screen flickering, then showed a black screen with "No Signal" What should I do?

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Nov 6, 2021
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Hey everyone,
I am currently at my cousin's apartement to chill and play video games on his computer. We were both having fun playing R6 Siege, Tf2, Rocket League etc. Then his graphics card went flickering with a black screen for a couple of seconds. I thought it was just a game issue, until the screen went black and said "No signal" on his monitor in the middle of the game. This was the SECOND TIME that did the same thing, except for the first time his screen flickered in a greenish, pixelated purple 3 weeks ago. He has a really janky, "sleeper" build made in a 10 dollar mini atx case.
This are his build specs:
- GPU: Gigabyte GeForce 1650 D6 OC (rev 2.0) 4GB, GDDR6 128-bit
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 35MB, 4.2 GHz
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M AORUS ELITE, AM4 Socket
  • RAM: 1x HyperX Fury Black 32GB, DDR4, 3000MHz, 1x HyperX Fury Black 2500MHX 8GB Dual Channel Kit (48 GB in total)
  • HDD: 3x HDD Seagate BarraCuda 1TB (there is a TOSHIBA hdd in there as well, but that's what my cousin used to mirror Windows 10 from the hdd on his ssd)
  • SSD: 1x Western Digital Blue 3D, 500GB, 2.5"
  • SATA: 2x Intenso Top, 128GB, SATA III, M.2. 2280
  • PSU: Corsair CV Series CV550, 80 Plus Bronze, 550 W
  • Case: RPC M0000CA, Mini Tower, mATX, black


We both have no clue what the issue might be. The computer worked fine when since I arrived yesterday, but the screen flickered a bit of black and throughout this day his screen went permanently black. NOTE that the gpu has no bracket to screw it in the case, he took it off because he couldn't fit it well in the pcie slot. It is hold by a piece from a4 sheet of paper and suprisingly the pcie slot or the gpu are not bent. We tried to reinsert the gpu, reinsert the hdmi cable and the PCIe power cable again, but not success. It's still showing the famous "No signal" error on his monitor.
My cousin even went to a repair shop to check his graphics card was actually having issues, but after they checked it they told him his gpu was working fine and should be a bent pcie issue. Well to my suprise the slot is not bent whatsoever. I even checked the metallic frame to see if it's bent.
Now I only have 6 more hours till' I have to leave. What should we do to fix it?
 
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Nov 6, 2021
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Well he already knew that wasn't the problem because when he got the gpu back from the repair shop and when he plugged it in it worked like normal. However, today suddently just showed "no signal", the same way it hapenned that other time when he first installed it in the motherboard. When we turned on the pc again, the gpu fan was still spinning, but no signal, same as before.
 

USAFRet

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Well he already knew that wasn't the problem because when he got the gpu back from the repair shop and when he plugged it in it worked like normal. However, today suddently just showed "no signal", the same way it hapenned that other time when he first installed it in the motherboard. When we turned on the pc again, the gpu fan was still spinning, but no signal, same as before.
Until the system is actually working, nothing is ruled out.

"he already knew that wasn't the problem" doesn't count.
 
Nov 6, 2021
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This is NOT "The system is actually working. The system boots as normal..." It is most definitely NOT booting. Therefore the first thing to look at is the power supply. This is troubleshooting 101. EVERYTHING is suspect until absolutely PROVEN otherwise.

Alright, I will check the psu and I will let you know if that was the issue.
 
It doesn't matter one whit how old the parts are. Electronics can fail at ANY time. Many of us that have been doing this for decades have had components fail literally within microseconds of first power on right out of the box. Thorough testing is required, not just a simple "reinsert the cables". Take a replacement PSU out of your spares and swap it into the system in question, does it now boot properly? THAT'S what real troubleshooting is.
 
Nov 6, 2021
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It doesn't matter one whit how old the parts are. Electronics can fail at ANY time. Many of us that have been doing this for decades have had components fail literally within microseconds of first power on right out of the box. Thorough testing is required, not just a simple "reinsert the cables". Take a replacement PSU out of your spares and swap it into the system in question, does it now boot properly? THAT'S what real troubleshooting is.

I do have lots of spares at home, except my cousin has just started into pc building and doesn't have lots of replacement parts. Luckily we found another 550W Corsair power supply, fingers crossed.
 
Nov 6, 2021
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Ok, very strange... My cousin has Steam Link on both the phone and the computer and somewhat the computer shows up on Steam Link on his phone. He connected remotely and the computer looks like it booted up fine: we can actually see what's on the screen right now. I am currently checking if:
a) the 2nd hdmi cable is faulty like the 1st one
b) the monitor has a faulty port
c) bad drivers
 
Nov 6, 2021
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We checked , and it seems to be the hdmi cable. Drivers are up to date, and hdmi ports are working cuz we plugged the Nintendo Switch Dock in both of the ports of the monitor. We are now heading to the nearest electronic shop to get another hdmi cable. Hopefully this should fix the problem.
 
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Nov 6, 2021
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Yep, it was a faulty HDMI cable. We got a better cable that should last longer. Apparently, the screen was "flickering black" because the cable wasn't transmitting properly. Plus, the connector seemed to be worn out and some of the pins were slightly damaged. We also got a DVI - VGA cable for the GPU as a "backup" cable because upon further inspection the monitor also had a VGA port.
My cousin's solution was to bridge the gap with more A4 paper into tiny shaped balls between the HDD and the GPU in order to keep the GPU and PCIe straight. He thought the GPU slid from the slot again and would need to be reajusted (again, the case had no slots to screw the GPU right in). I hope someone else finds this helpful. Anyways, thanks for the help guys, have a nice day! :)
 
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