Getting black screen with no power to peripherals?

Popo2515

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Oct 22, 2015
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First off specs:

CPU: I5 4690
GPU: AMD Sapphire 390 nitro
PSU: Seasonic s12g 650W
Motherboard: Asrock h97 anniversary edition
SSD: sandisk 240gb
HDD: something something 500gb
Ram: 2 x 4gb ddr3
OS: Windows 10

With that out of the way lets start!

WARNING: it is a bit of a IT mystery i have tried on multiple forums. and my local shop also had no idea.

Whenever I start up my pc the fans start running and leds light up but nothing happens on the screen and my keyboard and mouse are not receiving power. The pc has worked before.

The strange thing is sometimes it works and when it works it works perfect. another strange thing is when i use another gpu or onboard graphics it always works. and on top of that whenever i put my gpu in another pc it always works as well. i have also tried another power supply and no changes there. im completely lost and thinking about just buying another motherboard because it is cheaper then a new GPU.
But if anyone got any suggestions im all up for it. And another question If i buy a new motherboard do you think it will solve it?

Thank you!
 
The erratic nature does make this more puzzling.

Bottom line: Yes, I'd suspect replacing the motherboard would likely fix things. But the shop couldn't test that for you?

But onto the troubleshooting:

You say it works with another graphics card. Can you use that one? (From your post it doesn't sound like that's an option.) How does the alternative graphics card compare to your preferred graphics card? For example, is one just for adding displays whereas the original is for getting really good graphics? Have you tried more than one other graphics card?

What are the primary uses for this computer and specifically having this graphics card? If it isn't gaming or a similarly graphics-intensive activity, a new graphics card might be cheaper than a motherboard.

Other forums and the shop should have checked this already, but:
Do you have a speaker on your motherboard? If so, is it beeping at all? If so, is it the same beep code every time, or does it change? What kind(s) of beep code(s) are you getting?

On the times that it doesn't work, when you turn the computer on or plug the monitor in, does it appear to look for a signal for a few seconds before giving you a blank screen or a "no signal" message? If so, it is sensing something. If you see absolutely no difference on the monitor when you power on / plug in your computer, then you have information on where the problem probably is. Try this on all ports of your graphics card.

Similar for the peripherals. Does the num lock key blink before going dark, or does it never turn on when it doesn't work?

Other forums and definitely the shop should have done scientific method on all relevant components including USB ports; if they haven't, then do that to double check they aren't the problem. It sounds like you've definitely done it for the PSU, GPU and PCIe slot.

What happens to the peripherals when you disconnect everything including the monitor? I'm talking an only motherboard/CPU/PSU setup, no drives or displays connected. Does it change when you put in the troublesome graphics card? (Not plug in a cable to the monitor--just put in the graphics card. If it doesn't change, then try this stripped-down system with peripherals and monitor, and just monitor. Since your problem is erratic, I'd suggest trying multiple times.

Have you tried resetting CMOS?

What happens if you have the graphics card in, but use the onboard graphics for the monitor?

One of the times that it works and works perfect, I suggest doing a major driver update. Lately I've been a fan of Driver Booster 3 by IObit. It's free, and they aren't completely obnoxious about bugging you to get the paid version. (I use a lot of free stuff, and consider their tactics mild-to-moderate. IMHO, for all the improvements on my computer since installing their software, their ads are perfectly reasonable, and after a few uses I'm able to tune them out. Just watch out when you're installing, because they do try to bundle things, although again, not obnoxious things, just other presumably-good products from them.)

Have you (or the shop) tried a motherboard testing card? I have not found these to be terribly helpful, as the two that I've tried have never given me usable information, but it's worth a shot. If nothing else, it might be able to tell you whether or not the problem is on the motherboard. Since your problem is erratic, you can stick on in and leave it, noting what it says on every boot.

And now we're back to the motherboard. It seems to me that trying a different motherboard is a great idea, one that the shop should have tried, but it's an option I usually wouldn't consider until after a component-by-component teardown if I had to purchase the motherboard in question.

I hope this has at least given you some new ideas. If you've been through all this with all your other resources, let's hope someone else here can add wisdom. If you do get a new motherboard, please do post as to whether that fixed the problem.
 


Hi

I am sorry for the late response.

The pc always starts up with another gpu or internal graphics if i get my gpu out of my case.

I primarily use it for gaming and with an 350 euro GPU i would much rather buy a new 90 euro motherboard.

I do have a speaker and it used to beep 5 times which means according to the manual a VGA card error. but lately (3 months i have this problem for a long time) it has not been beeping but i know it still works because when i start it up i get a beep.

The light on the monitor just stays red the times it does go on it goes green and starts up.

The numlock key never seems to go on except on the times it normally starts up.

Everything works with just motherboard/Psu/cpu everything lights up (peripherals) when i put the gpu in the randomness starts again.

Yeah resetted cmos multiple times.

Cant check this now since it wont go on but will try later.

Did this earlier did not change anything i also dont think this is an software problem to be honest.

Yes the shop said they used a test board so i think that is the same as what you mean.

Yeah one other thing to mention i went to the shop again and they tried a different asrock board and it also did not work. Then they put in a different CPU and it worked.

Weird thing is now that it worked on test board and not on a real board so i am not sure if buying a new motherboard would help. AAAAH IM SO CONFLICTED
Thanks for you help if you have any more suggestions it would really help me out.


EDIT: Before you start thinking this might be the CPU. after they said this they said my cpu in their board was no longer starting up and it was dead. So i sent it to intel and they said it worked perfectly and had 0 issues. Soooo IT MYSTERY