My PC screen randomly went black while I was playing a game, and the VGA light turned on. When I rebooted, the cpu light turns on for a second, then turns off and the DRAM light turns on for a second, them the VGA light turns on permanently, screen completely black and unable to do anything. I have already tried clearing the CMOS, reseating and testing RAM, and the cable to my monitor. Any other ideas?

Edit: Just got it back from Office Depot. It worked in store according to the tech but when I brought it back home it did not work again. Possibly my Displayport cable? The VGA light is still on, so maybe it’s my outlet? Any ideas would be nice.

Edit 2: Thunderstorm must have messed with my cable running between my PC and Monitor. After rerunning it at Office Depot, a new cable and a deep clean fixed my PC. Thanks for everyone’s help.

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[–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In addition to the other idea about trying a different power supply (pro tip: PC nerds should always have a known good power supply lying around on a shelf somewhere, for situations like this), also try yanking out and reseating your graphics card. If neither of the above do it, try sticking in a known good graphics card. Also check the power socket(s) on your graphics card for signs of having become cooked.

In addition to the Shelf O' Power Supplies, I also keep a couple of rinky-dink and/or several generations old graphics cards in a box (I even still have a couple of AGP ones!) because they're not worth anything but definitely do at least kick out a video signal, which is useful for troubleshooting a potentially bad card and also keeping you going — albeit maybe only in Flatland — while you wait for warranty or a replacement to show up in the mail.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago

    This is my first real computer so I do not have any spare parts laying around. I unplugged the graphics card, the plugs look fine to me. I plugged the card into the same slot and have the same issue, I then olugged it into the second, lower slot, no more cpu light but the dram flash and vga light persists with the black screen still.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    The motherboard is telling you; it's unhappy with the graphics card. (VGA = Video Graphics Array) Try reseating it and its power connectors. If that doesn't fix it, ideally you should try plugging in a different card, if you have one.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I do not, any way to check for driver updates or anything from outside the computer? The screen won’t display anything.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Not that I know of. But it won't be a driver issue if nothing at all is displayed. The boot screen should show up at the least. Basic video functionality shouldn't need a specific driver at all. There is a good chance, the graphics card has gone faulty, but with no alternative hardware for testing, it's almost impossible to reliably diagnose.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Do you have a second power supply you can try?

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (15 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (14 children)

    Intel i5 14400F, RTX 4070 Super, 32gb DDR4 ram, Windows 11, and a 650w power supply.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (13 children)
  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (12 children)
  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (11 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (10 children)

    No I bought it prebuilt and cheap.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (9 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (8 children)

    But the PC still turns on. I can hear it through my speakers, and all the lights turn on. Even the lights on the GPu. It is just the GPU not putting out a signal.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (7 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (6 children)

    Displayport? Plugged into the GPU on the side.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (5 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (4 children)

    Like into the GPU’s side? The ports on the back.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    2 cables, both 2 rows of 4 for 8 pins each cable and 16 total. They don’t seem burnt out or anything like that.

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