Member Avatar for SteveBessant

Hi all,

I wanted to upgrade my current PCs Graphics, so went and bought a new card. Made sure it was the right connection etc. After opening the case for the first time ever, I pushed in the card. But then had this urge to clean the CPU, undone the fan, unhooked the CPU and cleaned it carefully. After putting everything back in place, went to power up the PC and no it won't work.

The CPU fan starts spinning, the keyboard lights flash, there's certainly some power there but there's no lights on the front of the case or nothing going to the moniter. At first I though it would be something to do with the card so tried taking that back out and rebooting, but no luck.

Any help / ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

steve

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Short, practical diagnosis and tests based on the thread: reported the system spins fans and lights the keyboard but shows no front-panel LEDs or video after opening the case, fitting a new GPU and removing/cleaning the CPU. ’s minimal-boot advice is on the right track. The highest‑probability causes are (a) an under‑rated or failed PSU, (b) a bad/loose CPU or cooler/CPU‑fan connection after reseating, or (c) a board short (wrong standoff, misplaced screw or front‑panel connector).

Recommended minimal‑POST sequence (breadboard and test one change at a time):

  • Power off and unplug. Ground against a metal surface.
  • Remove drives, extras and the new card; leave motherboard, CPU + cooler, one RAM stick and the PSU. Use onboard video if available, otherwise the old card.
  • Confirm the main 24‑pin ATX and the CPU 4/8‑pin (EPS) power connectors are fully seated. Confirm the CPU_FAN header is connected.
  • Attach a system speaker or use motherboard POST LEDs and power on briefly. Note beep patterns or steady debug LEDs.
  • If still silent, try a known‑good, higher‑capacity PSU (borrow one rated 400–600W) rather than adapters or daisy‑chained cables. If the system POSTs with that PSU, the original supply is the likely culprit.

Specific checks after the CPU was removed/cleaned: inspect the CPU and socket for bent pins or debris (use good light/magnifier). Confirm correct CPU orientation and that the heatsink is tightened evenly with fresh thermal paste. If any pins are bent or the socket looks damaged, stop powering up and consider a professional repair—repeated power attempts can worsen damage.

Extra notes and cautions: avoid using single splitter cables to feed multiple GPU power inputs; use separate PSU cables where required. A missing front‑panel power/LED connection can explain no front lights but won’t usually stop POST—still verify the front‑panel header wiring. If the breadboarded system still gives no POST after trying a known‑good PSU, the fault order is usually PSU → motherboard → CPU, and service/RMA is appropriate.

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Member Avatar for finito

hmm how old is your machine?

can you remove the RAM and boot it?

When you remove it and boot it you should get a siren. If you do the switch off and report

maybe take a picture of your pcs internal so I can see if something is out of place?

Edited by finito because: n/a
Member Avatar for SteveBessant

It's just over 14 months old.

Just tried booting it without the ram but there's no siren, or beeps. The only noise other than the fan spinning is something that sounds like a dvd spinning only for a second or 2, but there's no dvd in there. Should i try with the new graphics card installed?

Thanks

Member Avatar for finito

This sounds like a Motherboard problem. Please remove everything attached to the PC.

Lieave only Processor, Ram and Graphics Card (old or new) doesn't matter.

Boot see what happens If you don't hear one single beep, try removing the ram again and boot. If you hear a siren thats good. if you hear a single beep with earlier setup that is also good.

If you hear nothing at all. You have a problem with you Motherboard or processor.


One final setup to see if your mobo is fine, would be to boot with only mobo, processor, and ram, You should get one single beep. If you don't then its confirmed hardware problem. A bad power Supply can also do this.

If you have another power supply lying around you should try that first.

There are two cables that go into the Motherboard one is a wide connector the other is a smaller 4 pin or 8 pin cable. Check to see if they are secure.

Member Avatar for SteveBessant

Ok, nothing other than monitor and power plugged into the back, tried booting without monitor too. Tried booting without ram, checked connections too.

Hmm noticed my power supply is only 250 whereas the new graphics card needs 300, could that have caused it?

Thanks

Member Avatar for finito

Yes it is possible, You say its 14 months old, most PC built within the last 5 years have a minimum Power requirement of at least 300. Your graphic Card is probably High End, maybe PCIxE. In this case you need 400-600 Watts PSU.

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