Removed GPU, & CPU for cleaning/now I have no display

[kylemccoytaylor]

I decided to remove my GPU and move it to the bottom slot to make room for an additional SSD. I then mounted the GPU. I noticed there was a lot of dust in the case so I cleaned it up and removed my CPU/fan. I cleaned thermal paste off with alcohol and let it dry for roughly 4 hours. I then inserted CPU and applied thermal paste to CPU fan and mounted the fan. When i turned my pc on, it turned on, but my GPU's internal fan was not spinning. and the interior lighting inside the PC was not turning on, but I had power to USB slots. I verified that all cables to GPU were connected, I disconnected and reconnected them several times, with no results. Also i failed to mention that I disconnected the power cable going to my psu when doing all of this, and i had on a static wristband tool as well. The specs on my computer : Dell Inspiron, GPU : RX580, CPU : Ryzen 7 1700, PSU : stock dell 460W, mobo : stock dell mobo, RAM : stock 16gb single card. That is all that I know about the pc. I'm still learning how to work on computers by doing small things like this, but I know I was extremely careful and took my time to prevent damaging anything. I do want to mention that when i cleaned thermal paste off I got alcohol and paste of some outer prongs of the CPU so I took a tooth brush and cleaned the prongs, then got an air duster and blew any remaining alcohol and thermal paste off. I then let the CPU dry for 4 hours. I checked far and deep into the forms but nothing seemed to fit what I was looking for. I apologize if someone has posted this already, but i couldnt find it. Thanks for your time and effort on here!

 

[phaelax]

Regardless of whether the cpu or gpu is registering in the system, power on you should still get your interior lights (unless these lights are powered by the motherboard then they may not if there is an issue)

I know you already checked but my gut still says there's a connection issue somewhere. Reseat the gpu into the slot. Try moving it back to where it originally was and see if it works

 

[kylemccoytaylor]

I will do that asap. Also, if there is a issue with my cpu, would that effect whether or not the GPU turns on or not?

 

[Peter Martin]

So I sure hope you plug the GPU into an X 16 slot at least

 

[kylemccoytaylor]

I'm not as familiar with some of the slot names, but I plugged it in the exact slot it was in before, so that should be ok. Unless your talking about the actual gpu and not the power supply to the gpu. There is two identical slots on my mobo, the upper slot was the slot my gpu was in from the factory, but I moved it the second slot a little further down to give myself some space. They are the same slot to the naked eye, but I'm really new to computers. I'm currently building a nice gaming rig slowly, but still in the process of learning all of the specifics.

 

[CrazyDingo]

The slot may look the same and possibly is but it also might be different (e.g. x8 PCIE slot). If none of that works out I'd be a little worried the toothbrush might have bent a pin. 🙁 Hope not.

 

[kylemccoytaylor]

Yea that would be a bummer for sure! I heard the best way to clean thermal paste from the pins of the cou would be to use a toothbrush, so I went pretty easy on it while cleaning it, but i can imagine if one of the pins is slightly bent, it would cause some major issues... but that being said; if a pin on the cpu was bent, would the directly effect the gpu from turning on? I assume no, but I'm not sure if the cpu has to tell the gpu to turn on or since it is receiving power straight from the psu and will turn on regardless... its above my knowledge.

 

[phaelax]

f there is a issue with my cpu, would that effect whether or not the GPU turns on or not?

If it doesn't register a CPU, I know the computer won't POST. I'm not entirely certain if it prevents the GPU from turning on, but don't expect to see anything on the screen.