"no Signal" Graphics Card? Motherboard?

A

ardyn

Geek Trainee
Hi everyone,

I'm not sure what part is causing my problems -- I've tried quite a lot. I'll put the most straightforward details at the top, and go into detail further down. Even an educated guess would really be appreciated.

Hardware
GA-Z97N-WIFI
i7 4790k
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (8GBx2)
Gigabyte Geforce960
Samsung 850 EVO
Corsair CX600M Power supply
Corsair H100i GTX
Windows 10 Professional


Current situation
  • "no signal" on start up (fans are spinning and the pump is working normally).
  • Does not boot into Windows.

Tried
  • disconnecting the battery
  • and shorting the CMOS clear jumpers.





Situation in order from first to last

#1
  • "No signal" one morning (Windows appears to load, but "no signal")
  • Removed Geforce (no effect; "no signal")
  • Reset CMOS by disconnecting battery & Loaded optimized defaults
  • (success!)Windows loaded normally
#2
  • Reinstalled Geforce
  • "no signal" (signal did not come up when Windows loaded)
#3
  • Removed Geforce
  • "No signal" during BIOS
  • Blinking cursor in the top left; system resets less than one second later
#4
  • Disconnected and drained battery
  • "no signal"
#5
  • Shorted CMOS jumpers
  • "no signal" (Windows doesn't appear to start)
#6
  • Put RAM in opposite slots
  • Drained battery
  • "no signal" (Windows doesn't appear to start)

I'm out of ideas - my best guess is the motherboard, but I have gotten it to work at one point. Like I said, any help -- even an educated guess -- would be great.

Thanks very much!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply.

They shouldn't be - I installed the processor two years ago. It's been working fine, and hasn't been touched since.
 
Don't know if it's good or bad thing but you already tried all basic workarounds. Bent socket pins are quite usual reason for problems if we suspect motherboard is the problem.

Another prime suspect is motherboard VRM. That board has weak VRM with no cooling and you were using water cooler? 5790K is very hot CPU because of thermal paste under heat spreader. So it's possible motherboard VRM probably didn't get enough cooling and broke down. If that's true, only fix is new motherboard.
 
Thanks for the insight - that's really helpful.

I have quite a big front case fan. The morning before I'd been playing MGS5 on ultra high, and I noticed the case fan was lit up. In fact when I saw it, I didn't realize it could light up that much.

If it's still the motherboard, are there any you'd recommend? I've had a look at the gaming series and the Maximus VII Impact. They seem to be highly recommended, but I don't really know a lot about motherboards.

I had time to have another go at it yesterday. It's working normally, just like it used to, but I don't really trust it. I'd appreciate any other insights you have.

  • Removed Geforce960
  • No signal
  • Discharged battery
  • Computer got stuck in a loop - reset as BIOS setup was loading
  • Discharged battery
  • No effect
  • Removed 1x8GB RAM
  • Got into BIOS setup and saved settings
  • Booted normally
  • Did cold shut down
  • Booted normally
  • Added 1x8GB RAM
  • Booted normally
 
Last edited:
Strange. There might also be problems with capacitors. In that case, power supply might be reason for problems.

Capacitor problems may cause shutdowns/no boots randomly. That PSU has quite mediocre quality capacitors.

I don't recommend any expensive motherboards as CPU socket is already obsolete and replaced with LGA1151. I rather recommend selling CPU and buying new socket that's more future proof. Socket AM4 is best bet right now.
 
Okay.

Any PSUs you recommend (in case I end up changing it)? I live in Tokyo, and heat is a real issue in the summer. Over the years I've had two dead PS3s and two laptop batteries expand because of the summer heat. I built it with quite a lot of ventilation - there's very little dust in there after two years. I usually don't use the computer much in the summer, expect maybe watching TV.
 
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