Computer powers up, but nothing on display.

[Wiznet]

Hello all! Recently my computer has been giving me some strange troubles.

The Past Two Days:

Two days ago I was messing with overclocking my pc (via n overclock dial that is on my motherboard) and had it all working fine, but decided I didn't need to overclock. After bringing my ghz back to its normal speed (3.3) I started to have some strange problems.

The cpu speed was ranging from 800-3500 and changing every couple of seconds. My frame rate in all my games was capping at 15 frames a second. Lastly, the computer took a couple tries to turn on successfully because sometimes it would start up but the monitor wouldn't display anything.

I had this problem again this morning but it finally booted through. I restarted my computer again because I updated a driver and now it just doesn't load in period.

Also I recently cleaned my pc including the fans, inside of the case, and the cpu fan with paper towels, cotton swabs, and air duster.

What I have tried:

• Resetting my cmos
• Unplugging everything.
• Cleaning dust off of everything.

Computer Specs:

• Geforce GTX 560
• AMD Phenom II x6 1100t
• 1tb black calv hard drive
• 8gb of ram
• MSI 890fxa-gd70 (3.3ghz)
• Cooler Master full tower case
• (Not too sure which power supply however)

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! All help is greatly appreciated.


Have a wonderful day!

 

[Indianatone]

Hi WIznet. Sounds to me like a corrupted video driver. CPU speed going from 800Mhz to 3.5GHZ is normal with cool and quiet. Try starting your machine in safe mode and verify the display works. Then reload the NVidia video card driver doing a clean install. Did you overclock the video card or did your machine crash in a big way whilst overclocking the cpu? You may need Drivesweeper Guru3D - Driver Sweeper to remove the video driver before you can reinstall it. SafeMSI.exe - Start Windows Installer Service in Safe Mode will enable you to unistall corrupted drivers from safe mode.

 

[Wiznet]

Hi WIznet. Sounds to me like a corrupted video driver. CPU speed going from 800Mhz to 3.5GHZ is normal with cool and quiet. Try starting your machine in safe mode and verify the display works. Then reload the NVidia video card driver doing a clean install. Did you overclock the video card or did your machine crash in a big way whilst overclocking the cpu? You may need Drivesweeper Guru3D - Driver Sweeper to remove the video driver before you can reinstall it. SafeMSI.exe - Start Windows Installer Service in Safe Mode will enable you to unistall corrupted drivers from safe mode.

Could be that yah. How can I boot into safe mode though since nothing appears on the monitor? I would also like to add that my mouse and keyboard aren't connecting either. Also it says that there is no dvi signal.

 

[andrew129260]

That does not sound too good....I wonder if you overclocked to high and broke something...(I hope not)
Do you smell anything burnt or see black spots anywhere?

 

[Wiznet]

That does not sound too good....I wonder if you overclocked to high and broke something...(I hope not)
Do you smell anything burnt or see black spots anywhere?

Nothing smells burnt or any black spots. It would stay at around 47-50c while overclocked. I did do a quick stress test once that brought it too 62c but I immediately turned it off once hit it 62c.

 

[Wiznet]

Could the Mobo be fried?

 

[andrew129260]

1.) Try this: Remove every single part (Which I am aware you have done) but this time look closely where everything is plugged in, and check for dark spots. Including Ram. Everything.
Remove the heat sink from your processor. Check for black or a weird smell. If it looks okay, lift the CPU out and inspect it. I would clean the thermal paste off and reapply. I assume you are comfortable with this as you built your system yourself correct?
Then reattach the CPU+new thermal paste+heatsink

2.) Try starting your system with the most minimal Ram and parts. Make it as bare bones as you can and see if the system starts okay.
Example: 1 stick of ram and main boot hard drive.
If you do get the computer up and going, back up your data quick!

Then mess with stuff some more and see what happens...add things one at a time. This will allow you to figure out if any parts failed.

 

[Wiznet]

1.) Try this: Remove every single part (Which I am aware you have done) but this time look closely where everything is plugged in, and check for dark spots. Including Ram. Everything.
Remove the heat sink from your processor. Check for black or a weird smell. If it looks okay, lift the CPU out and inspect it. I would clean the thermal paste off and reapply. I assume you are comfortable with this as you built your system yourself correct?
Then reattach the CPU+new thermal paste+heatsink

2.) Try starting your system with the most minimal Ram and parts. Make it as bare bones as you can and see if the system starts okay.
Example: 1 stick of ram and main boot hard drive.
If you do get the computer up and going, back up your data quick!

Then mess with stuff some more and see what happens...add things one at a time. This will allow you to figure out if any parts failed.

Will try that also. Again, could the DVD cable just be bad?

 

[DocBrown]

Is it possible to connect a monitor with a standard VGA cable ? Then Boot with a simple Linux CD Boot Disc to see if you get any video & a Bios screen ?

 

[Wiznet]

Is it possible to connect a monitor with a standard VGA cable ? Then Boot with a simple Linux CD Boot Disc to see if you get any video & a Bios screen ?

I will also try this but I will need to get a VGA cable. It will boot automatically from the disc though right?

 

[DocBrown]

Is it possible to connect a monitor with a standard VGA cable ? Then Boot with a simple Linux CD Boot Disc to see if you get any video & a Bios screen ?

I will also try this but I will need to get a VGA cable. It will boot automatically from the disc though right?

If you have any thrift stores in your area, you may find VGA cables there for a few dollars.


You may have to try several F-Keys during Boot-Up if your CD/DVD drive is not set as the first boot device in the Bios.

 

[Wiznet]

Is it possible to connect a monitor with a standard VGA cable ? Then Boot with a simple Linux CD Boot Disc to see if you get any video & a Bios screen ?

I will also try this but I will need to get a VGA cable. It will boot automatically from the disc though right?

If you have any thrift stores in your area, you may find VGA cables there for a few dollars.


You may have to try several F-Keys during Boot-Up if your CD/DVD drive is not set as the first boot device in the Bios.

Alright wasn't able to find any vga cables however I will go back soon and look better. What I have done is replaced my dvi cables (didn't fix), I also re-applied thermal paste (I cleaned the old paste off). I'm attaching two images of components that caught my eye. The first image is of my graphics card there is a green blotch on it and it seems the metal is corroded. My second picture is of my motherboard displaying ff instead of the temperature. Not sure what ff means.

 

[DocBrown]

Wiz, I think you are right. That green blotch looks like corrosion. Sorta like when you find an old copper penny or an old copper pipe that corroded.

 

[Wiznet]

Wiz, I think you are right. That green blotch looks like corrosion. Sorta like when you find an old copper penny or an old copper pipe that corroded.

Could that possibly be why nothing displays? How about the ff...I feel as if that hints to something.
EDIT: The led panel is the debug led panel. However, ff is not in the table of debug messages.

 

[Wiznet]

So I did further research and apparently ff error means either a cpu or motherboard error. Not sure how to determine which is at fault however..

 

[Indianatone]

Before you do anything drastic try another video card. That is definitely no good with components rotting away like that. Has someone spilt something in the machine?

 

[Wiznet]

Before you do anything drastic try another video card. That is definitely no good with components rotting away like that. Has someone spilt something in the machine?

Nothing has spilled. No clue how it corroded like that. Will try another graphics card soon. However, I do think it might be the cpu or motherboard after researching this ff error.