PC won't boot, red VGA light on mobo.

1mongus · Apr 22, 2022

Lenne said:
Hard to say as I haven't made that mistake during the ~18 years I've been building PCs. In theory, almost anything can be broken IF there's been a short and protection haven't kicked in.

But, how would one tell if they had made either of those mistakes?

Ruru · Apr 22, 2022

1mongus said:
But, how would one tell if they had made either of those mistakes?

Well, if the standoffs are missing, that's easy to spot. But if something has broken, well, then it's just troubleshooting with each component.

Standoffs are these brass things like in this pic:

Some cases can have those preinstalled, but I actually don't remember when I've had a such case last time.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

Lenne said:
Well, if the standoffs are missing, that's easy to spot. But if something has broken, well, then it's just troubleshooting with each component.

Standoffs are these brass things like in this pic:

View attachment 244605

Some cases can have those preinstalled, but I actually don't remember when I've had a such case last time.

Yeah, I definitely forgot them. Darn. Well, at least that's hopefully the issue, although it doesnt explain why everything else works fine. Is it just the gpu that would be affected by this? Also, when i ask if it would be immediately obvious that something was wrong(ie shorting or traces breaking), what i mean is would it be a performance loss/visual issues or stuttering or something, maybe heat problems, or would it just be an obvious identifiable issue like a component not working?

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
Yeah, I definitely forgot them. Darn. Well, at least that's hopefully the issue, although it doesnt explain why everything else works fine. Is it just the gpu that would be affected by this? Also, when i ask if it would be immediately obvious that something was wrong, what i mean is would it be a performance loss/visual issues or stuttering or something, maybe heat problems, or would it just be an obvious identifiable issue like a component not working?

The card doesn't go to the slot properly as there's about an 1cm gap without standoffs. Let's just hope that nothing broke.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

Alright, I'm probably just panicking and overthinking. I'm gonna go to sleep and hopefully ill get a call from the shop tommorow that everything is fine.

Huge thanks to everyone in the thread who is trying to help, you guys make techpowerup the best site for this. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this. Wish me luck.

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
Alright, I'm probably just panicking and overthinking. I'm gonna go to sleep and hopefully ill get a call from the shop tommorow that everything is fine.

Huge thanks to everyone in the thread who is trying to help, you guys make techpowerup the best site for this. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this. Wish me luck.

No problem, we're here to help. :toast:

eidairaman1 · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
My pcs at the shop right now so i cant check, i imagine theyll find it. What would the signs be of it being arced or traces broken? Would it just not work or would there be something hard to find and insidious?

Traces can be visible or within the pcb wafers,. Arcing you will see a burnt spot

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

Here's an example pic of (visible) PCB traces:

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

Alright, I got a call from the shop. They say everything is fine, apparently I incorrectly installed a few cables, although they used their own hard drive to test with. They said nothing about standoffs, and when i mentioned it they said everything was working as it should.

I'm gonna pick it up later today, and I'll bring it home and take it apart. Then I'll send you guys various photos, and hopefully you can help me with anything I or they missed, like the standoffs. Thanks again.

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
Alright, I got a call from the shop. They say everything is fine, apparently I incorrectly installed a few cables, although they used their own hard drive to test with. They said nothing about standoffs, and when i mentioned it they said everything was working as it should.

I'm gonna pick it up later today, and I'll bring it home and take it apart. Then I'll send you guys various photos, and hopefully you can help me with anything I or they missed, like the standoffs. Thanks again.

Alright, we'll see later that are they fine or what's the problem with discrete GPU.

Mac the Geek · Apr 23, 2022

The first time I built a PC from scratch (20+ years ago), I forgot the standoffs. RMAd my first board because "it wouldn't power up". Took the second board to a local shop, got the lecture about standoffs. When I put them in and reinstalled the second board, everything worked. It wasn't the ideal way for me to learn that lesson, but I definitely only had to learn it once. :cool:

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

Alright, here's some pics. Everything's working fine, although they installed the ram incorrectly, the gpu's fans haven't started (im pretty sure thats okay, though.) and the cpu fan's the wrong way round. Does that matter?

Also, do I still need to install the standoffs? Can the gpu possibly work without them? I'll install if they're not there, but hopefully they're already in there.

AsRock · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
Alright, I got a call from the shop. They say everything is fine, apparently I incorrectly installed a few cables, although they used their own hard drive to test with. They said nothing about standoffs, and when i mentioned it they said everything was working as it should.

I'm gonna pick it up later today, and I'll bring it home and take it apart. Then I'll send you guys various photos, and hopefully you can help me with anything I or they missed, like the standoffs. Thanks again.

Yes as the torrent stand offs come pre installed all so, there is one fixed one to guide the mobo placement ( was center of mobo ),. I could see a extra one being there or even one short though.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

AsRock said:
Yes as the torrent stand offs come pre installed all so, there is one fixed one to guide the mobo placement ( was center of mobo ),. I could see a extra one being there or even one short though.

Right, so you're entirely sure the torrent has preinstalled standoffs? So I don't need to take the mobo out?

And as I'm here, what's it supposed to sound like? I can hear a very subtle high pitched-esque sound, and the sound of an old fan. Most of the fans seem to be silent but it sounds like one is old or something.

AsRock · Apr 23, 2022

Check them just to make sure they are lined up with the holes in the motherboard.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

AsRock said:
Check them just to make sure they are lined up with the holes in the motherboard.

View attachment 244666

Wait, those holes circled in red are where you line them up with the standoffs right? So what's the standoff support screws for? Also, is the ssd heatsink supposed to wiggle a little?

AsRock · Apr 23, 2022

yes, and then you use screws that came with the case, the manual explains which screws you need, the black stand off is there to help you and should see it when the mobo is in the right place.

And no a heat sink to any thing should not be loose as it would not be able to do what it's there for, how ever it should not be to tight either.

If you have taken it to the shop and they say it's working as it should be why it not working for you ?, did they show it all working or did you just take there word for it ?.

Did they check the on-board as well as the GPU ?.

You said you had the on-board video output yes ?, can you supply a picture with the video card connected as you were on about it not sitting right in the slot.

eidairaman1 · Apr 23, 2022

You are mixing ram which can be troublesome

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

eidairaman1 said:
You are mixing ram which can be troublesome

Probably only when overclocking RAM. Never had any problems with mixed RAM since PC100 SDRAM era.

eidairaman1 · Apr 23, 2022

Lenne said:
Probably only when overclocking RAM. Never had any problems with mixed RAM since PC100 SDRAM era.

Xmp had had problems.

You think it would just use the slower xmp profile but it doesnt

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

eidairaman1 said:
Xmp had had problems.

Ah, that can be a thing. Didn't even thought about that.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

AsRock said:
yes, and then you use screws that came with the case, the manual explains which screws you need, the black stand off is there to help you and should see it when the mobo is in the right place.

And no a heat sink to any thing should not be loose as it would not be able to do what it's there for, how ever it should not be to tight either.

View attachment 244673

If you have taken it to the shop and they say it's working as it should be why it not working for you ?, did they show it all working or did you just take there word for it ?.

Did they check the on-board as well as the GPU ?.

You said you had the on-board video output yes ?, can you supply a picture with the video card connected as you were on about it not sitting right in the slot.

It's working fine. I'm just asking additional questions.

Hopefully my last one: they installed the cpu cooler upside down. Should I turn it around? I plan to put another fan in the case that would be directly facing the cpu fan.

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

1mongus said:
It's working fine. I'm just asking additional questions.

Hopefully my last one: they installed the cpu cooler upside down. Should I turn it around? I plan to put another fan in the case that would be directly facing the cpu fan.

I'd put it correctly. It's best when the air comes from the front and goes from rear/top. Also that's the best direction for a tower-type air cooler.

1mongus · Apr 23, 2022

Would it work if i just moved the fans around instead of having to take everything back out (for the fifth time) and have to do the whole cooler process again?

Unless it matters what side those grill things face?

Ruru · Apr 23, 2022

The fans are easy to flip, just unscrew them and change their blowing direction.

I have two intakes in front and rear/top fans as exhaust. If you have a similar configuration (top fans are optional), then it's fine. Also the CPU cooler blows to the rear.

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50, GPU with custom loop
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF OC 10GB
Storage	256+240+128+480+2x1TB SSDs + 3TB HDDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus TUF P1 mousepad
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50, GPU with custom loop
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF OC 10GB
Storage	256+240+128+480+2x1TB SSDs + 3TB HDDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus TUF P1 mousepad
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50, GPU with custom loop
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF OC 10GB
Storage	256+240+128+480+2x1TB SSDs + 3TB HDDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus TUF P1 mousepad
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50, GPU with custom loop
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF OC 10GB
Storage	256+240+128+480+2x1TB SSDs + 3TB HDDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 + Asus TUF P1 mousepad
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis

PC won't boot, red VGA light on mobo.

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