Question Installed new PSU, Ram and GPU. No Display, No Bios, Boot Loop

[ShieldAgent-47]

To start with, I really appreciate any direction, tips or advice. I recently decided to upgrade my GTX 1070 to an RTX 3080.

Original PC

• 16gb ram
• GTX 1070
• 650W PSU

I purchase these parts

• 32gb additional ram for the 2 empty slots
• RTX 3080
• 1050W PSU

I installed all 3 of the parts this afternoon and have been troubleshooting nonstop. The PSU itself seems to be installed correctly and everything turns on, also I can see the new GPU fan spinning. However, the screen is completely black on boot. I have also plugged in an HDMI cable directly to my motherboard just to see if I can get to a windows screen or maybe bios but no dice. If I turn the computer on, its black and I can hear the harddrive thinking and then it sounds like it reboots. I have opened it back up and went through each of the new power plugs I touched to ensure they are snug.

I realize that I made a lot of changes at once which makes it hard to narrow down exactly what might be the issue but I would love any pointers to start ruling things out and hopefully get my pc back up and running. .

 

[DSzymborski]

Let's get details on all the parts including exact PSUs.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Absolutely, and thank you for your quick response! Gathering the rest now. I foolishly made a PC partpicker list and saved it on my busted PC.

-Original Parts-
Motherboard - MSI Z170X Gaming 3
Original PSU - EVGA SuperNOVA 650GS, 80 Plus Gold 650W
CPU - i7 - 6700K 4.0 Ghz
RAM - Viper Elite Series DDR4 16gb (2 x 8gb)
SSD - Crucial MX300 525gb
HD - Seagate 4tb HDD BarraCuda ST4000D
HD - WD Black 4tb Performance Internal Hard Drive WD40005FZBX
CPU Fan - Macho Rev B
Case - Phanteks Enthoo PRO M PH-ES515PA_AG


- Upgraded Parts Added -
PSU - EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GT, 80 Plus Gold 1000W,
GPU - RTX 3080 Ventus Plus 12gb
Ram - G. Skill Ripjaws V Series 32gb (2x16GB)

 

[DSzymborski]

First question (crossing fingers): you didn't re-use any modular power cables, did you?

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

First question (crossing fingers): you didn't re-use any modular power cables, did you?

I did not re-use any modular power cables, I made sure to leave them all connected as well to the old ones so I can use them as reference points.

 

[DSzymborski]

No I did not, I made sure to leave them all connected as well to the old ones so I can use them as reference points.

Thank goodness. That tends to be the worst-case scenario with these upgrades. People will find modular cables that are able to be re-used and not realize that pinouts are only standardized on the component side, not the PSU side, and very bad things can happen. Not all EVGA's cables are interchangable; many are, but with them extensively using five different manufacturers over the last decade (Super Flower, SeaSonic, hec, FSP, and Andyson), there are a lot that aren't.

Does your CPU have integrated graphics? Sometimes the best place to begin, even if it's annoying, is simply go to basics. Stick a motherboard on a box with the CPU and one stick of RAM, connect to a PSU, and see if it POSTs.

Another thing you can try, just to get to post, is to connect your old PSU. No, I wouldn't run the PC and start playing games or anything since the RTX 3080 can spike high, but just for basic "hey, let's see how this works" it's fine. In fact, while your old PSU has less maximum output than your new one, it's also of significantly better quality.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Thank goodness. That tends to be the worst-case scenario with these upgrades. People will find modular cables that are able to be re-used and not realize that pinouts are only standardized on the component side, not the PSU side, and very bad things can happen. Not all EVGA's cables are interchangable; many are, but with them extensively using five different manufacturers over the last decade (Super Flower, SeaSonic, hec, FSP, and Andyson), there are a lot that aren't.

Does your CPU have integrated graphics? Sometimes the best place to begin, even if it's annoying, is simply go to basics. Stick a motherboard on a box with the CPU and one stick of RAM, connect to a PSU, and see if it POSTs.

I should be able to plug in my HDMI cable and a monitor to the HDMI slot on my motherboard but it fails to display a windows or bios screen. I believe you are referring to taking out all of the ram, extra harddrives that do not have windows on them and any GPU correct? Just as bare as possible to get it back up to ensure the PSU is not the problem?

 

[DSzymborski]

Basically just to ensure you have working parts. You don't need any hard drive - we just want to see if it POSTs.

You almost always have to unplug and remove the GPU to get a signal on the integrated graphics unless you've changed a setting in BIOS.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

I am in the process of removing the case, and unplugging the harddrives from the PSU. Just so that I am aware, what does it mean if we see it POSTS? Is there a visible queue that would prove that? Im unfamiliar with this process but would like to understand what to google to learn more about it.

I have not made any BIOS setting changes in a very long time. I should be ready to turn on the test in 6-8 minutes. Fingers crossed.

 

[DSzymborski]

I am in the process of removing the case, and unplugging the harddrives from the PSU. Just so that I am aware, what does it mean if we see it POSTS? Is there a visible queue that would prove that? Im unfamiliar with this process but would like to understand what to google to learn more about it.

I have not made any BIOS setting changes in a very long time. I should be ready to turn on the test in 6-8 minutes. Fingers crossed.

Don't worry about BIOS now. If you didn't change the CPU, there's no reason to worry about it. Usually. But we'd need all the info for that (which is why I'm asking, I'm not intending it to sound like an interrogation!)

You could also install your old equipment.

If it POSTS, it'll turn on and you'll see text and a warning that it can't find an OS.

The general idea is to get some configuration to work properly and then swap out things until it doesn't.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Try with just the old ram or new ram , do not mix them yet.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Notated on the old or the new. I will use the new and you mentioned 1 single stick instead of 2 correct?

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Post Test Complete

• I have unplugged the RTX 3080
• I have removed my OLD ram 16gb and moved my NEW ram into the 2 slots where they were
• I kept my NEW PSU in

It turned on and I saw the BIOS. I also now see Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key

**Note - I was planning on giving my wife my old 16gb of RAM that was in my old set and just using all 4 slots until she needed it but I would rather not the headache and just leave the old ones out for her. I am happy to move forward with replacing those old 2 instead of using all 4

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Test 2

• I have plugged in all 4 SATA PSU cords
• Turned the PC on and Windows came up and I was able to login
• Note - Took a LONG time to turn on and a LONG time to shut down. Longer than normal which was concerning.

Now I am a bit nervous that my GPU is poop.

 

[RetiredEarly]

Install the latest driver for your video card. Reboot and see how it goes. If no change, then open Command Prompt. Copy and paste this comandlet: msconfig It will appear "msconfig" in the results. Click it to open.

Choose the Services Tab. On the bottom of the box tick the box (hide microsoft services) - then click the box (disable all services). Reboot your computer. If the computer starts at a good speed then one or more of your services is probably slowing the computer's startup/shutdown process and it's overall performance. You then need to enable one service at a time and restart the computer to determine which one or ones are responsible.

You will need msconfig to renable the services after all the testing is done. I suggest pinning or creating a shortcut to msconfig so it's easy to find.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Test 3

• I currently have No GPU in my PC
• Attempting to install GeForce Experience Drivers and it fails

I am getting a failure that there is no graphics hardware on windows which makes sense to me.

I believe I misunderstood you and what you meant was to put the new GPU back in and hopefully the PC will use the integrated monitor that I have been using and then use that to install the driver.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Test 4

• I have placed the RTX 3080 in my PC
• Turned it back on and I am only seeing a black screen again

I am researching posts that are referring to updating the BIOS but I have always been caution about this and never touched it. I have not updated it in 5+ years. For instance: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/iw6zob View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/iw6zob/installed_new_rtx_3080_benq_monitor_has_no_signal/

 

[RetiredEarly]

Test 3

• I currently have No GPU in my PC
• Attempting to install GeForce Experience Drivers and it fails

I am getting a failure that there is no graphics hardware on windows which makes sense to me.

I believe I misunderstood you and what you meant was to put the new GPU back in and hopefully the PC will use the integrated monitor that I have been using and then use that to install the driver.

My bad. I meant to say (download and install) the newest nVidia driver for your card.

Do this through your (integrated graphics), the new driver will only work once the Standalone 3080 is plugged back into the PCIe slot. Since Windows 7 we have not had to tell Windows to switch to PCIe, Windows takes care of that on it's own when BIOS sees a PCIe video card during boot-up.

BIOS: If you have not visited the manufacturer of your motherboard for several years you BIOS could be 2 to 3 versions behind. I suggest you do that first.

Be sure to power off before installing the 3080. Then power it on again.

 

[RetiredEarly]

Test 4

• I have placed the RTX 3080 in my PC
• Turned it back on and I am only seeing a black screen again

I am researching posts that are referring to updating the BIOS but I have always been caution about this and never touched it. I have not updated it in 5+ years. For instance: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/iw6zob View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/iw6zob/installed_new_rtx_3080_benq_monitor_has_no_signal/

You need to press the Menu Button on the actual monitor and choose the input position where it is plugged into the back of the monitor and the type of video cable you are using. DP/HDMI

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Good Morning,

- Current status: PSU Installed and working, RAM is installed and working, GPU is Outside the PC and when plugged in, Monitor does not come on to dedicated graphics HDMI or 3080 Displays, BIOS just updated

• First thing I did was succesfully update the BIOS to the newest version (which was from 2018 :/)
• Downloaded the 3080 driver from the official website: https://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Windows/512.77/512.77-desktop-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch-whql.exe&lang=us&type=TITAN

One thing I did not do was download the tool that removes ALL NVIDIA drivers before I did the install since I thought it would be okay going from a GTX 1070 to RTX 3080 (same nvidia family).

Also last night, I tried to install the driver with no GPU plugged in and it failed the driver install because it did not find the GPU hardware.
If I plug in the new GPU to the PC and still try to use the HDMI from integrated graphics so I can see my monitor to then install the GPU, the screen is entirely black and I cannot see anything to install.

Note - For Test 4 - the display I believe was appropriate because it was still utilizing the integrated motherboards HDMI slot to display to my monitor. Are you saying that by plugging in my new GPU, it invalidated the integrated graphics card slot and I should have been plugging it into the GPU Display options?

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Test 5 -

• GPU placed back into the machine
• Plugged the HDMI cable into the GPU Hdmi port
• PC visual came on

Verifying the graphics card is installed now and updating drivers.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

Confirmed in dxdiag under Display that I do indeed see the rtx 3080 working. Geforce also shows things are up to date and working.

The only issue remains is this 2 minute shut down time and turn on time. That is absolutely wild. I will revisit the step above in regards to the boot up and down speed.

 

[RetiredEarly]

Confirmed in dxdiag under Display that I do indeed see the rtx 3080 working. Geforce also shows things are up to date and working.

The only issue remains is this 2 minute shut down time and turn on time. That is absolutely wild. I will revisit the step above in regards to the boot up and down speed.

That's great the your GPU is connecting to the monitor now! As for the slow start-up and shut-down that (usually) means that there is a virus involved or the primary drive is getting old.

I highly recommend a new install on a SATA III SSD. They are really inexpensive these days because the NVME M.2 SSD are being installed on pre-built and we builders of computers use them on the newer motherboards too.

You don't need a huge capacity SSD. I use a 500 GB (M.2) for my Primary Drive and a SATA III 500 GB for my internal Backup Drive.

If you don't already have an SSD as your Primary Drive (C: Drive) you will be blown away at how fast your computer will power on.

That's all the basic information I feel will be helpful. I am now unsubscribing from this thread. I wish you success on your endeavor to speed-up your machine's behavior.

 

[ShieldAgent-47]

I appreciate your response back. I have been running tests on my PC to determine the boot up and down speeds. For transparency, I have been using SSD - Crucial MX300 525gb as my OS storage and have used the same SSD since the end of 2016. I have run disk checks and any other methods of verifying if the actual ssd is faulty but no dice.

Should I open a new thread related to that or continue asking questions on here?

Test Results 1
Shutdown - 1 min 30 seconds
Turn On - 30 seconds

If I need to replace my SSD I understand and they are about $55 now for that same SSD. Just extremely weird to me that this is happening at the same time. Truthfully I do not turn my computer off as much as I should unless I am about to go on vacation. This is the first time I am constantly turning it off and on during the install and testing period so this could have been an issue and getting worse but I am just noticing it now. When the computer is on, it seems to be running at top speed and have no problems. But I am still very concerned that for all I know, my OS could crash at any minute. Any tests, directions that you may have would be very appreciated.

If possible, I would love to tackle it if its fixable, but If there is no way to verify that its the actual SSD going bad I guess I am risking it. I just didnt know if there were ways to at least confirm one way or the other, whether its a virus or parts going bad.

After watching this -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl0NADMLPEA
at 13 seconds in, it mentions to turn OFF fast start-up. I enabled it instead since It was never on and have better results for my test below.

Test Results 2
Shutdown - 10 seconds
Turn On - 30 seconds

Ran a few more times and Im consistently seeing this now

Test Results 3-5
Shutdown - 10 seconds
Turn On - 40 seconds

Ive also ran malwarebytes, did not find anything. Installed bit defender, could not find anything either. All disks check out for error. Next up I can do dskchk on my 2 regular HDDs. Perhaps a running process on one of those is having an issue during shut down. Dsk chk on the SSD came back good, I just know the HDD takes forever once I run it.