Power Surge.. No display??

[cbeve002]

So, I know there are probably tons of posts out there similar to this one.. but I have tried everything and I need some advice.

I had a power surge a couple days ago, it happened twice about 2 seconds apart while I was on my computer. When it came back, my pc was all powered up every light came on, every fan (gpu, power supply, cpu, case fans), but NO DISPLAY. Also, I was plugged into a power surge protector.. do they even work?

My first move was to restart.. everything came on the same way, still no display. So, my first hope was the monitor/hdmi cable was fried so I plugged in my laptop and it was fine.

I let it sit overnight unplugged, still didn’t work. Tried different slots on my power supply for different things. I switched the RAM around, I reset CMOS, everything.

Today, I went and bought a power supply from Best Buy and tested that out.. still nothing so it’s not the power supply.

After trying that, I threw in my old mobo with my old cpu and ram. And it booted up just like usual, with a display.

Now, I believe I am left with the options of CPU and/or mobo being bad. What should I do?

Is there any cosmetic damage that would occur to my cpu that I could easily rule it to be fried? My motherboard looks okay, the case fans get power from that and they booted just fine so could it still be the mobo? I’d rather have it be the mobo since it’s cheaper.


Thanks!
Colin

Specs:
Gigabyte AB350M-gaming 3
Ryzen 3 1300x
EVGA 1060 3gb ACX 2.0 SC
G.Skill ripjaws v 8gb
PSU during power surge: SeaSonic M12II EVO 520w
PSU now: EVGA 600W

 

[jay32267]

Surge suppressors work. They clamp the voltage to a fixed value when they work.

Now there are cheap ones and ones that don't work well....so maybe your surge wasn't suppressed enough.

So the monitor and cable work when you connect to your laptop but when you connect to your 1060...it doesn't work. It could be the 1060.

Do you have on board graphics? If so....does it work with the on board graphics? If so...that would further point to a problem with the 1060.

 

[cbeve002]

Surge suppressors work. They clamp the voltage to a fixed value when they work.

Now there are cheap ones and ones that don't work well....so maybe your surge wasn't suppressed enough.

So the monitor and cable work when you connect to your laptop but when you connect to your 1060...it doesn't work. It could be the 1060.

Do you have on board graphics? If so....does it work with the on board graphics? If so...that would further point to a problem with the 1060.

I put in my old motherboard, cpu, and ram (cause it’s AM3+) in and put in the same 1060 from my setup, everything worked perfectly. So it’s not the gpu, it’s working like usual in my old set up.

I tried the on board graphics which I didn’t know I had and that didn’t work either. I even took out the 1060 when I did it

 

[jay32267]

Well...your thoughts on the CPU and motherboard aren't misplaced.

Although another thing to try is....go into the BIOS and CONFIRM everything is as it should be regarding the video. A power surge can do some wacky things.

 

[cbeve002]

Surge suppressors work. They clamp the voltage to a fixed value when they work.

Now there are cheap ones and ones that don't work well....so maybe your surge wasn't suppressed enough.

So the monitor and cable work when you connect to your laptop but when you connect to your 1060...it doesn't work. It could be the 1060.

Do you have on board graphics? If so....does it work with the on board graphics? If so...that would further point to a problem with the 1060.

Well...your thoughts on the CPU and motherboard aren't misplaced.

Although another thing to try is....go into the BIOS and CONFIRM everything is as it should be regarding the video. A power surge can do some wacky things.

So in BIOS is there anything regarding the video? I could not find anything..

 

[jay32267]

All BIOSes are different so look around.

ONE thing that is in a lot of BIOSes is to disable the on board graphics.

This basically tells your system to use the on-board graphics OR the card.

I'm not saying that this is your problem...but it is one thing in the BIOS for the graphics.

I'm just wondering if the power surge did something to your BIOS.

One thing you could TRY is to reset the BIOS to the defaults.

This may work....but I don't want to tell you to do that if you have made tons of changes to your BIOS.

 

[cbeve002]

All BIOSes are different so look around.

ONE thing that is in a lot of BIOSes is to disable the on board graphics.

This basically tells your system to use the on-board graphics OR the card.

I'm not saying that this is your problem...but it is one thing in the BIOS for the graphics.

I'm just wondering if the power surge did something to your BIOS.

One thing you could TRY is to reset the BIOS to the defaults.

This may work....but I don't want to tell you to do that if you have made tons of changes to your BIOS.

I'll try resetting, only thing I've changed is the boot device. Will resetting the BIOS while on my old set up transfer over the graphics card settings to my set up with no display?

 

[jay32267]

Not really sure what you are asking but maybe this will answer it...

Resetting the BIOS will return it to it's factory defaults. These defaults are set so that they will "more likely" work with the more common hardware configurations.

After you do this, you will have to set whatever you want to boot from in the BIOS if it doesn't default to it.

 

[cbeve002]

Not really sure what you are asking but maybe this will answer it...

Resetting the BIOS will return it to it's factory defaults. These defaults are set so that they will "more likely" work with the more common hardware configurations.

After you do this, you will have to set whatever you want to boot from in the BIOS if it doesn't default to it.

Tried every way to reset it. Hard reset, CMOS battery, and reset while on other motherboard for the graphics card. Still nothing..

I have a warranty on my motherboard so I’ve filed for an RMA, hopefully that goes through and it’s just the mother board. I believe CPU has a warranty as well but I will hold off on that.

I will update this post after I hear back from Gigabyte after I send the mobo in.

Thanks for the help! Still kind of a newbie so I learned a few things.

 

[cbeve002]

UPDATE:
Gigabyte said it is not the motherboard, there was no trouble in multiple configurations. I already replaced my gpu with an old one and tried new psu. I am now guessing I am left with the CPU or RAM being fried..
Shipping was expensive for the mobo so I want to limit my costs.

What should I do next?

 

[jay32267]

Have you tried to boot with one stick of RAM? If not try this. Also alternate through the RAM sticks if you have more than one. Also try different slots....but first try the slot that your MB documentation tells you to use for one stick.

 

[cbeve002]

Have you tried to boot with one stick of RAM? If not try this. Also alternate through the RAM sticks if you have more than one. Also try different slots....but first try the slot that your MB documentation tells you to use for one stick.

I only have one stick, but yes I tried every slot.

In your opinion, would you say it’s more likely to be the RAM that burned out over the CPU?

So for example, if I have a functioning PC, but I take out the RAM, would the PC boot up with display or without? Because if it doesn’t, that would most likely make it the RAM that is burned out in my PC.

Same example for if it was the CPU, would a PC still boot up without a CPU? I wouldn’t think so, I may run this test on my back up PC I have right now..

 

[cbeve002]

I tested my hypothesis with the RAM, not CPU because that’s some more work..

The PC booted up with no display when I took the RAM out of my old system.. I put the RAM back in and turned it back on and it booted up with display.

This leads me to believe my RAM is the malfunction in my fried computer.

Do you think this is valid evidence it’s the RAM?

 

[jay32267]

It won't boot without a CPU.
...and I'm pretty damn sure it won't boot without RAM.
I think the next step is to find another stick of RAM or CPU (even something cheap just to try).