Question PC won't boot with GPU connected to PSU, boots when isn't.

[Goatss]

A week ago, my pc stopped booting. Without much thinking and testing, I immediately concluded the PSU is dead since it was old and bad.

It wasn't. Bought a new PSU, a corsair 750w. Pc still won't boot with GPU powered up. Again without much thinking I concluded the
GPU is dead. This time I didn't take the wallet out right away and went to my bud and took his GPU to try it in my system.

PC still does not boot. Now my conclusion was it must be faulty PCI-E slot and i need a new MB, tried both in 2nd PCI slot, same thing.

So, before i bought a new MB, I also took my GPU to my buds and tried it in his system, the GPU is fine, his system boots with my GPU,
also, his PSU is weaker than mine and MB and CPU are older.

Today, the new MB arrived, Aorus elite v2 along with new CPU, R5 5600x and I thought this very puzzling situation is at an end.
It isn't. Once again the PC will not boot when the GPU is connected to PSU, it boots without being connected and I get a
message to connect the GPU to PSU.

GPU is 1070. The HDMI cable is connected directly from TV into GPU HDMI port. Hopefully I didn't miss out any details.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[In2Photos]

Have you tried every port on the card? I've seen some mentions of systems not booting with HDMI the first time.

 

[In2Photos]

How do you get a message without a GPU attached? The 5600X doesn't have an iGPU. Or is it seated in the slot but no PCIe from the PSU? What kind of PSU did you remove? Did you replace the cables when you replaced the PSU?

 

[Goatss]

Hello, In2Photos.

I only used HDMI since the TV has no DVI port, not sure about DisplayPort 1.4, dont have the cable for it either.
Also, I don't own a monitor, the PC is used as multimedia station and some minor gaming.

The GPU is still seated and connected via HDMI to TV, and yes, just the PCIe is unplugged from it, I guess thats enough to send the signal to get the message, also the fans spin without PCIe cable plugged.

I removed a no-name brand PSU which was not modular, the Corsair I got is semi modular.

I forgot to mention, not sure if of relevance, couple days before it died over night, I added an m.2 drive to replace
an old SSD that just died and installed OS on it. Also got a couple of new RAM sticks.

 

[In2Photos]

I forgot to mention, not sure if of relevance, couple days before it died over night, I added an m.2 drive to replace
an old SSD that just died and installed OS on it. Also got a couple of new RAM sticks.

Well that could be an issue. Try with 1 RAM stick and try different slots. Try the old RAM if you still have it.

 

[Goatss]

Did that when I still had old MB, tried it again now with all 4 sticks. No change. It's so wierd, with PCIe cable unplugged from GPU, it boots without issue, TV immediately recognizes it and puts it in PC mode. Everything seems to be pointing at GPU but it worked in another system. I am super confused.

 

[coercitiv]

@In2Photos I think one of the problems we're having is a term interpretation: what the OP means by "system booting" may not the same as what we expect.

@Goatss at this moment it is very difficult for us to understand what exactly is happening when the PCIe cables are connected:

• when hitting the power switch, do you get the regular fan movement and do fans continue to move until you manually power off the system?
• is the system going through POST?
• do you get any video output at all or is it just a blank screen all the time?
• what about any specific sounds, disk activity lights or fan speed fluctuation that may indicate the system is going through the boot process? (even if you don;t see anything on the screen)
• can you enter BIOS at any time, with or without the PCIe cables connected?

You should focus your efforts and reporting on getting into BIOS.

 

[Goatss]

Hello, coercitiv.

You are right i should have been more specific.

When the GPU is connected to PSU, PC does not power up at all.
When PCI cable is not connected, the PC powers up and the CPU fan starts slow then speed up like it would loading into OS, the GPU fans spin for a while then stop as they would while not under load.
CPU fan continues to work untill i power down. So, to me it seem that system is actually booting.

Only video output I get is while GPU is not connected to PSU is a message, "Please power down and connect PCIe cable to this GPU"

I cannot enter the BIOS since I get no video output, other than this message that is.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Did you change PSUs? Are they both modular? You're not mixing cables between the old and new PSU, are you? That can cause problems like you're seeing, or even fires.

 

[coercitiv]

When the GPU is connected to PSU, PC does not power up at all.

So you have this behavior even though at this point every other component is new. (PSU + new power cables, motherboard, CPU, memory)

Very hard to make progress from this point. What we can reasonably deduce is you have some kind of electrical failure that is related to the GPU powering up properly. If there's anything wrong with your GPU, it's not a clear cut failure, maybe just something that manifests when mounted a certain way. When testing the GPU in the other system, was it mounted in another orientation? (vertical vs. horizontal for example)

In a desperation move I would also check and see what happens if the PCIe cables are connected but the HDMI cable is not inserted in the back of the GPU. In fact I would strip down everything that is not required for the system to attempt POST with the GPU inside it (any other peripherals, extension cards, disks, modular cables from the PSU etc). Unless you get the system to power on with the GPU correctly hooked up, I can see little chance of making progress outside of bringing in another GPU and testing with that instead.

 

[In2Photos]

Remove everything from the case and try to get a post with only the motherboard, CPU, 1 RAM stick, and GPU. Even remove the m.2.

 

[Goatss]

So you have this behavior even though at this point every other component is new. (PSU + new power cables, motherboard, CPU, memory)

Very hard to make progress from this point. What we can reasonably deduce is you have some kind of electrical failure that is related to the GPU powering up properly. If there's anything wrong with your GPU, it's not a clear cut failure, maybe just something that manifests when mounted a certain way. When testing the GPU in the other system, was it mounted in another orientation? (vertical vs. horizontal for example)

In a desperation move I would also check and see what happens if the PCIe cables are connected but the HDMI cable is not inserted in the back of the GPU. In fact I would strip down everything that is not required for the system to attempt POST with the GPU inside it (any other peripherals, extension cards, disks, modular cables from the PSU etc). Unless you get the system to power on with the GPU correctly hooked up, I can see little chance of making progress outside of bringing in another GPU and testing with that instead.

Exactly, everything but the GPU is new.

Both his and my case are lying horizontal, so the mount was the same.
I'll try to snag his GPU this weekend. I'll also take his PSU just to rule out mine being faulty.

Will try the stripping in the morning, it was a long day.

Thank you, gentlemen for your replies.

 

[Goatss]

Just reassembled everything on the desk, with barebones as instructed.

Unfortunately, the result is the same.

 

[coercitiv]

Sorry to hear that. As it stands right now, considering all the steps you've gone through to isolate the issue, I don't think your GPU can be trusted anymore.

Testing with another GPU this weekend makes the most sense.

 

[Goatss]

Sorry to hear that. As it stands right now, considering all the steps you've gone through to isolate the issue, I don't think your GPU can be trusted anymore.

Testing with another GPU this weekend makes the most sense.

Thanks.

Aye, everything points to GPU at this point. But the fact that it worked fine in another system just a week ago is...baffling. I'll test it again this weekend. Guess I'm stuck on laptop till next paycheck. Maybe i can find some cheap used 3080.

 

[TilTobinha]

Thanks.

Aye, everything points to GPU at this point. But the fact that it worked fine in another system just a week ago is...baffling. I'll test it again this weekend. Guess I'm stuck on laptop till next paycheck. Maybe i can find some cheap used 3080.

Any news? Did you tried another gpu? I am having the same issue, it's driving me crazy, turned off mine at night and in next morning It would not turn on, not even any fan, and i was facing same situation than you, please let us know any news.