Computer turns on - Blank Screen

[Phlorge]

I was having an issue with my old computer and decided that it was time to do a new build. The problem I was having before was I would power on my computer and only get a black screen. No post - Computer was on and running though, not sure if it booted or not.

So What I did was built a new computer because my other one was aging. The only parts I kept are my monitor, GPU, hard drives & ssds.

I have multiple monitors and tried my old dell monitor and got no signal, still a black screen.

Has anybody seen this ? I'm guessing first thing to try would be taking my GPU out but I am looking for any help I can get.

Thanks

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($334.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($104.50 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($192.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX ATX Mid Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($138.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1166.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-04 10:15 EDT-0400

 

[primetime]

Are you getting a post? Do you have a speaker to hear the motherboard post? Or does the motherboard give any boot up errors? TBH im leaning on the video card or cable since you replaced all the rest already. Can you try a different port from the card to the display? Hook it up to your on board display output to verify the cable and display is working fine and if it is then your video card appears to have an issue. What exactly is your video card? I dont see it listed

Off topic? You spent 139 bucks on OEM version of windows 10? ouch..Retail versions of 7 are cheaper than that on amazon. You understand difference between retail and oem right? just asking cause their still giving free upgrades to 10 till july

 

[Phlorge]

Are you getting a post? Do you have a speaker to hear the motherboard post? Or does the motherboard give any boot up errors? TBH im leaning on the video card or cable since you replaced all the rest already. Can you try a different port from the card to the display? Hook it up to your on board display output to verify the cable and display is working fine and if it is then your video card appears to have an issue. What exactly is your video card? I dont see it listed

Off topic? You spent 139 bucks on OEM version of windows 10? ouch..Retail versions of 7 are cheaper than that on amazon. You understand difference between retail and oem right? just asking cause their still giving free upgrades to 10 till july

Hey thanks for your reply man. I was not getting a post at all. And turning in on and off wasnt doing anything. Usually the next day when I try again it posts. I don't think it's giving any boot errors but I cant tell because I don't have a speaker. I tried different ports and different cables. I also tried my old monitor too and that didnt get a signal either. video card is an EVGA 980 SC - I called EVGA and they offered to RMA it which is nice.

I had no idea a bad GPU could prevent your computer from displaying it post. I assumed if my GPU was dying I'd see artifacts or something like that in game.



I linked the wrong one I actually bought Windows 10 Home OEM I think it was like 80$. OEM just means it doesnt come in a box right? like an OEM drive is just the drive no box or instructions?



I went home on my lunch and turned on my computer and it posted but now it failed to boot which sucks. I read some stuff online that said you can't have your HDD plugged in when installing windows? I also remember something strange when I was doing the install it was creating system reserves on all my drives when I formatted them. Not sure if thats contributing. I tried to boot from both SSDs but couldnt get it to start up.

 

[primetime]

OEM is good for only the one pc you first install it to. Retail can be installed on your next pc when or if you build another pc (or the motherboard needs to be replaced) so its a huge differance

Regarding how it creates system reserves is completely normal, but it only does it on the os drive you choose to install it to. (for most people that would be their ssd drive) it doesn't hurt a thing is is used for recovery purposes i believe. It sounds like you installed it to the incorrect hard drive when you installed it. If this is the case it would be helpful to unplug the other hard drives and go ahead and do the install to your chosen ssd. Once you get it installed and booting up, you can delete the windows installs on the wrong drives once you have got familiar with which drive is which.

Anyways it sounds like your just having some confusion on how to properly install windows verses actually having hardware issues. (possibly) Try to get windows installed and working and go from there. I would also advise reading thru your motherboard manual to learn all the ins and outs about how to use it.

 

[Phlorge]

OEM is good for only the one pc you first install it to. Retail can be installed on your next pc when or if you build another pc (or the motherboard needs to be replaced) so its a huge differance

Regarding how it creates system reserves is completely normal, but it only does it on the os drive you choose to install it to. (for most people that would be their ssd drive) it doesn't hurt a thing is is used for recovery purposes i believe. It sounds like you installed it to the incorrect hard drive when you installed it. If this is the case it would be helpful to unplug the other hard drives and go ahead and do the install to your chosen ssd. Once you get it installed and booting up, you can delete the windows installs on the wrong drives once you have got familiar with which drive is which.

Anyways it sounds like your just having some confusion on how to properly install windows verses actually having hardware issues. (possibly) Try to get windows installed and working and go from there

holy shit I didn't know that about the OEM windows -_-



I believe the issues are separate because I was having the same problems with the display and no post before I did my new build and never had boot issues. Pretty sure I just ef'd up the boot when I installed on this machine. I actually had windwos up and running and games were playing and everything. But when I powered off the computer using the PSU switch because I couldnt see anything when I booted up again today is when I got the boot issue

 

[primetime]

Next time the display goes blank see if unplugging and repluging the wire going to the card has any effect. Are you using the HDMI, DisplayPort, or DVI? btw you can set windows to power off normally by using the case power switch. it be less likely to cause issues vs. just shutting of the power without shutting down. Card could be going bad but im not certain its is just yet. A driver would not effect pre-boot conditions so we can pretty much rule that out. Starting to look possible the card is on the way out but still partially working ok at times. Could be just the one port going bad? hard to say without checking the others.

Since i believe most modern pcs have on board video i would have it enabled in the bios and just switch to that output if the screen goes blank. Im curious whats going on in windows when it happens? event logs could have something to say as well

 

[Phlorge]

I am using Displayport cause I have an Acer predator and it only uses display port. I tried both ports the 980 had though. I didnt know windows could do that I am going to turn that setting on now.


how can I check the logs btw?


also here are the partitions do you see anyhting out of the ordinary?


http://i.imgur.com/rkI5HeO.png

 

[primetime]

I am using Displayport cause I have an Acer predator and it only uses display port. I tried both ports the 980 had though. I didnt know windows could do that I am going to turn that setting on now.


how can I check the logs btw?


also here are the partitions do you see anyhting out of the ordinary?


http://i.imgur.com/rkI5HeO.png

looks fine to me....i see disk 2 has 1mb of raw space but i wouldn't be concerned about it...disk 1 appears to be your os drive but looks ok. Your using 3 disks? might all be ssd's judging by the size of them. all look fine to me anyway. First time you install 10 its a bit weird how it sets up the os disk compared to older windows but you get used to it. Swap to your MB display port and see how it works for a bit.....then next time the screen goes black plug into the MB port so at least you can see whats going on.

Event viewer is located in administrative tools under the control panel. See if anything shows up around the time it happens in windows logs.....thing is if its not working before windows even starts up then that tells ya something right there.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/784898/gtx970-and-gtx980-black-screen-/ looks like there is known issue with these cards and displayport. No wonder evga was so eager to rma your card......I hate to say it but this sounds like you

 

[yadnom]

Take out the GPU and try with the onboard video.

 

[Phlorge]

looks fine to me....i see disk 2 has 1mb of raw space but i wouldn't be concerned about it...disk 1 appears to be your os drive but looks ok. Your using 3 disks? might all be ssd's judging by the size of them. all look fine to me anyway. First time you install 10 its a bit weird how it sets up the os disk compared to older windows but you get used to it. Swap to your MB display port and see how it works for a bit.....then next time the screen goes black plug into the MB port so at least you can see whats going on.

Event viewer is located in administrative tools under the control panel. See if anything shows up around the time it happens in windows logs.....thing is if its not working before windows even starts up then that tells ya something right there.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/784898/gtx970-and-gtx980-black-screen-/ looks like there is known issue with these cards and displayport. No wonder evga was so eager to rma your card......I hate to say it but this sounds like you

It was refusing to boot I couldnt even get it to start up from the windows disk. I reinstalled windows and corrected the partitions and i have no issues now, I must have done something to mess with the partitions




If the blank screen happens again I will grab logs. I also need to enable the shut down button through windows, I'll do that today.

I'm surprised Nvidia hasnt said anything about this issue. That seems shady. We were wondering why the RMA was so easy.. he didnt even really ask me to troubleshoot much.

 

[primetime]

if i had to guess your far from the first customer to have this displayport issue...idk maybe its like cards with faulty fans (it just happens) and probably a lot o customer never even find out about it because they only use hdmi or whatever. its 2 separate issues on yours for sure but i think the boot issues are being caused partially by shutting down incorrectly.....honestly i dont recall if it defaults to this or not, so just check and see

Oh one last thing...I recommend renaming your thread with the words "Black screen with nvidia 980 display ports" in the title some how. Not everyone with knowledge about this issue would think to check this thread as it is.

 

[Phlorge]

if i had to guess your far from the first customer to have this displayport issue...idk maybe its like cards with faulty fans (it just happens) and probably a lot o customer never even find out about it because they only use hdmi or whatever. its 2 separate issues on yours for sure but i think the boot issues are being caused partially by shutting down incorrectly.....honestly i dont recall if it defaults to this or not, so just check and see


Oh one last thing...I recommend renaming your thread with the words "Black screen with nvidia 980 display ports" in the title some how. Not everyone with knowledge about this issue would think to check this thread as it is.

hey primetime just wanted to take a second to say thank you man. I appreciate you taking the time to help. Since I reinstalled windows and made sure I did the partitions like I normally do I haven't had any boot issues. EVGA sent me an ACX to replace my reference 980 too which has been a nice little temperature change for my computer.

Just wanted to say thanks