Question Windows Loads but no Video signal

Aug 23, 2019
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So I started my computer the other night and waited about 30 seconds, and heard the Windows 7 welcome ring, but my monitor was in standby saying no signal. I power cycled a few times, switched off the power supply, reseated the RAM, Reseated the video card, tried onboard VGA, unplugged the HDD, tried a different monitor with no luck. I used the same monitor, and VGA cable connected to my Laptop and worked no issues.

I took out the CMOS battery and still no signal. I have a theory of whats wrong but I wanted some advice before make a diagnosis.

My PC is a amazon budget bundle. Its about 4 years old, Windows 7 Pro 64bit, MSI A88XM-E45, MSI Radeon 280(?) or something, 8GBs of ram G-Skill. Only strange issues is about a few weeks ago the PC would shutdown on its own. It did this twice over 4 days. Other than that its been good to me.

Oh yeah almost forgot. I updated my Radeon drivers about two weeks ago, but there were no issues... I'm thinking the MoBo is bad, but I want to be sure since this means building a new rig

Thanks in advance
 
You don't mention checking thermal margins, so PC shutting down to prevent damaged to CPU isn't entirely eliminated. I trust you use AMD Overdrive? Incidentally you don't mention which CPU you have, so the display output from the motherboard may not work because there isn't any integrated graphics.

The other thing you don't mention is the PSU. Would want to rule out this to be a possible issue.

You could also try Event Viewer to see what the PC records was happening at the time of the mentioned shut downs; may help narrow the cause.
 
Aug 23, 2019
12
0
10
You don't mention checking thermal margins, so PC shutting down to prevent damaged to CPU isn't entirely eliminated. I trust you use AMD Overdrive? Incidentally you don't mention which CPU you have, so the display output from the motherboard may not work because there isn't any integrated graphics.

The other thing you don't mention is the PSU. Would want to rule out this to be a possible issue.

You could also try Event Viewer to see what the PC records was happening at the time of the mentioned shut downs; may help narrow the cause.
Hey! Took a while to respond. So the CPU temps are good they average around 40C when watching videos and arou d 59C when playing games. I have a Hyper 212 Cooler, but when I first got the PC it had that crappy factory cooler that would male the CPU run at 90*C ans go into thermal shutdown.

My CPU is an AMD 2400k(?) Quad Core or something similar. Since you mention it I didnt realize that the CPU might not have onboard graphics. I assumed because the video ports are available on the Mobo itself. So is it possible that the Graphics card is bad?

PSU is a EVGA 500w, and appears in working order. I bought the PC from a teenager about 4 years ago. It had mobo shorts because it waa too tight to the chasis.
What's the last BIOS version installed on this PC ?
I wish I could tell you bro. I have no way to interact with the PC as I have no video.

From what I posted above does it sound like a bad graphics card or a mobo? Everything works I just cant see anything.
 
Hm... assuming you have no way of verifying the graphics card with a friend's PC, I would suggest installing the graphics card in the other PCIe slot to see if you get a display from it. At this point, without other means to verify components are functional, it's hard to say.
 
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Aug 23, 2019
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Hm... assuming you have no way of verifying the graphics card with a friend's PC, I would suggest installing the graphics card in the other PCIe slot to see if you get a display from it. At this point, without other means to verify components are functional, it's hard to say.

So I tried it in the other slot and its still no signal. I tried to place it in another pc I had but they are too old or too small.

Lets assume the GFX is bad... The PC is old and budget build; probably cant find a replacement anyway. At this point would it be better to just build a new unit?

I have an old Alienware case that I was thinking of using for a new build.
 
Making the assumption the motherboard is faulty, depending where you are it might still be possible to find a replacement motherboard; but all things considered it isn't really worthwhile. The A88X chipset is pretty old at this point, being for FM2+ CPUs mainly, and low performance compared to modern equivalents.

Most will suggest a new build given the age of your PC. The question is what makes most sense for you. Before taking this step of a new build though, have you eliminated other factors like display cable and monitor being an issue?
 
Aug 23, 2019
12
0
10
Making the assumption the motherboard is faulty, depending where you are it might still be possible to find a replacement motherboard; but all things considered it isn't really worthwhile. The A88X chipset is pretty old at this point, being for FM2+ CPUs mainly, and low performance compared to modern equivalents.

Most will suggest a new build given the age of your PC. The question is what makes most sense for you. Before taking this step of a new build though, have you eliminated other factors like display cable and monitor being an issue?

So I am thinking the Mobo is still good, and its just the GFX card might have shorted. The GFX card cooling fans still run but there seems to be no activity. I would need a spare card to confirm this but I don't have one. As you say the chipset is old so it doesnt make a lot of sense to keep chasing this.

I am currently using an old laptop with the monitor and vga cable and its working fine. I installed my HDD into a spare chasis and it produced a video signal and I was able to use Windows.

I looked at the GFX card and I saw some caked dust on it that looked as if a little moisture got to it. So I am thinking the card just died.