DVI connector touching the case, PC refuses to boot sometimes

[mchldlg]

Hello,

I was having a strange issue that I never had before, I've recently changed my motherboard and HDD and my PC refused to boot up sometimes, tried with another HDD and another SATA port aswell.

However, it turned out that my DVI connector is touching the back of the case and the GPU bracket, causing the HDD to refuse to boot into Windows for some reason and even if it boots, I see the Windows loading twice, once with a Windows logo, and once without a logo and the spinning circle becomes laggy. I have applied some duct tape ontop and below the DVI port of my GPU bracket, now it boots up and loads Windows just fine, even faster, however I'm desperately looking for a permanent fix instead of applying duct tape on the GPU cause it's just bugging me.

What should I do? Could it be my HDD cause with the new motherboard it's running on AHCI mode and I've been running on IDE before purchasing new motherboard? Thank you!

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Have you tried a different DVI cable? basically the cable has a "Ground" and shielding components in it's construction that can get easily damaged and short to the signals wires. Your case and power supply are also used as a "Ground" and shield too... since you located the 'Ground" problem area with "Ground/shield" of the cable construction/connection, the next thing would be to test/substitute a different cable.

 

[mchldlg]

I guess its most likely the cable since after I've applied the duct tape - it stopped causing issues or maybe I'm just tripping and its booting up fine randomly, LOL.

However, I do have a VGA cable around to test with, are they the same as DVI cables? If yes, I'll test with it and if it doesn't cause any troubles I'll go for a new DVI cable since this one is second hand from a friend of mine.

UPDATE: Actually the GPU doesn't have VGA, only DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Local Computer Re-cycler (Goodwill) here is about a $5 part... B ) cables can get over bent, run over, stepped, stomped on... but Yes the cable/ground/shield could become a electrical problem for all the "Zero's/ground" signal paths through the booting process. B )

I'm really impressed with what you found and your experiment/solution... B D ...Not a typical reaction or solution for? ... Was it by booting with the Cable/monitor VS booting without the cable monitor... that you noticed this? Or even found another use for Duct tape? OR? B /

 

[mchldlg]

I unplugged the cable and one of the screws that are used to attach it to the GPU is bent abit, I guess I'll go for a new cable tomorrow.
I'll reply back to let you know how it went, thank you!