Question PC not outputting a display, not even to BIOS.

[MinamiHopeful]

I recently built a new system with some reused components (namely fans, drives and PSU).

CPU: Ryzen 5 7500F
CPU cooler: Thermalright Assassin X R SE ARGB
Motherboard: ASRock B650M Pro RS, BIOS revision 3.50 (since reverted to 3.20)
Ram: Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan 16GB 6000 MHz DDR5
SSD/HDD: Crucial P2 500GB (boot drive), Kingston A400 240GB, WD Blue HDD 1TB 7200rpm
GPU: ASRock Arc B580 Challenger
PSU: Xigmatek Hydra M 550W (Local review for reference), about 4-5 years old but around 1 year unused
Chassis: MIK Barbatos M
OS: Windows 11 24H2
Monitor: Philips 24M2N3200NF

It worked fine for the first day, but it began to bluescreen (VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE). DDU may or may not have solved it, but I wouldn't know because I have a new pressing problem where the system would refuse to output to the monitor, not even to the BIOS. I could tell it did boot successfully by powering it off and it taking a few seconds to shut down (or shutting down immediately if I mashed F2 to go to BIOS), but it refuses to output anything aside from a few random times, after which it would go back to square one immediately after a reboot.

Some of the other things I tried:

- Swapping out display cables and monitors (all of them worked fine when plugged to other computers)
- Resetting/updating the BIOS via flashback
- Reseating and putting the RAM in another slot
- Clearing the CMOS
- Reseating the GPU
- Sending the GPU to RMA, which they reported back as being perfectly fine
- Per a suggestion, waiting a few seconds after turning on the PC before turning on the monitor

None of which have seemed to work.

The most recent development is that the system would output just fine with another GPU put in. I've also tried reverting the motherboard BIOS version with no luck.

Currently my biggest suspicion is that updating the GPU's drivers also updated it to a new VBIOS that screwed up compatibility somehow, but I'd appreciate other suggestions as well. The fact that it worked for a day also tells me that all of the settings should be in the right place too even after the BIOS resets.

 

[biostud]

I guess it's one of the situations where it's really annoying to have a CPU without integrated graphics.

 

[MinamiHopeful]

I guess it's one of the situations where it's really annoying to have a CPU without integrated graphics.

Honestly, yeah. Didn't expect it to be a problem so quickly. But at the very least the CPU might be ruled out since again, the whole system works with another GPU.

 

[EXCellR8]

Sounds like some kind of microcode issue... do any of ASRock's BIOS notes mention anything about Intel Arc series GPUs? I feel like you should get something in terms of video output out of the box (which you did initially), even if the BIOS got stability updates. Maybe try another power supply?

 

[MinamiHopeful]

Sounds like some kind of microcode issue... do any of ASRock's BIOS notes mention anything about Intel Arc series GPUs? I feel like you should get something in terms of video output out of the box (which you did initially), even if the BIOS got stability updates. Maybe try another power supply?

I haven't gotten around to trying another PSU (largely because I don't have one), but there doesn't seem to be any mention of Arc GPUs at all in the notes.

I really am starting to suspect the whole "works for one day before acting up" thing too, since that might have started after I updated the GPU drivers. Even with DDU the problem would persist.

 

[In2Photos]

Is the motherboard defaulting to a PCIe version that the GPU doesn't like?

 

[MinamiHopeful]

Is the motherboard defaulting to a PCIe version that the GPU doesn't like?

I don't think so given how it ran right out of the box initially. Probably goes for all the other troubleshooting steps for Arc too (i.e GPT drive, Resizable BAR)

 

[fralexandr]

What other GPU did you try? Does it also use an 8 pin power? You may want to double check that your psu power cable is fully seated on both ends and/or check that there's no damage to the cable or connectors.

 

[MinamiHopeful]

What other GPU did you try? Does it also use an 8 pin power? You may want to double check that your psu power cable is fully seated on both ends and/or check that there's no damage to the cable or connectors.

I wasn't able to glean when I got it plugged in (I sent it into a repair shop) but it was 8 pin. I did check and it was firmly seated in.