Observation of unusual startup actions—posting content yet no display of windows during a cold boot.
Observation of unusual startup actions—posting content yet no display of windows during a cold boot.
Afternoon everyone. I’m looking for a bit of assistance if possible on this tricky problem.
In short, I set up a new system for my neighbor. It works perfectly during regular use—no crashes or odd behavior. However, when the system is powered off and then restarted, the monitor displays but the screen goes black as though it lost connection. This happens about 99% of the time, except for rare cases where the system immediately jumps into Windows. If the system is restarted, it goes straight into Windows too.
The system details are:
CPU: 9800X3D
Motherboard: MSI MPG X870E
RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair 6000 C30
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR LINK 360 TITAN AIO
SSD 1: Corsair P310 1TB NVME
SSD 2: Corsair P310 2TB NVME
GPU: 4070ti super
PSU: Corsair RM1000X SHIFT
Case: Hyte Y70
Fans: 6 x Corsair Link RX120 RGB
Monitors: 2 x Samsung G5 CURVED 27"
I’ve tried almost everything I could think of to resolve this, including updating the BIOS, reinstalling Windows with a fresh image and various USB drives, changing the RAM, GPU, and SSD positions.
Switching out most components with my own (similar system except for the GPU) hasn’t helped much.
Now I can get it to boot cold without this problem using a portable monitor and HDMI—so far it has worked every time. I’ve cold booted over 20 times without any issues. Could this be connected to the screen firmware? Anyone else have similar experiences?
The screens are linked via DisplayPort (using 2.1 cables), but even with different known working cables (presumably DP 1.4), the same problem remains. I also tried HDMI, but we still faced the same boot issue.
This seems more like a display-related issue rather than a hardware fault. A solution would be great!
I'm certain I've already attempted this, but I'll verify and provide an update.
And I recommend powering down, unplugging, and opening the case.
Check by sight and touch that all connectors, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are securely in position.
In a new build, it’s hard to know if everything is properly set in place, so what seems solid might not be.
The issue seems to be that some connections aren’t fully locked yet; a little movement or vibration might help them tighten.
Specifically, try unplugging and replugging a few times.
Leave the CPU alone during this process.
You might find it works much better once it’s properly seated.
I hope everything turns out fine.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've double and triple checked the connections, and they're all fully inserted.
I suspected it might be similar at first because of the inconsistent behavior, but it wasn't the main reason for the problem.
We've connected to a portable monitor on every boot this week, and it has started up every time—this is what makes me think the monitors are involved. It's quite unusual, and it hasn't been something I've encountered in over 20 years of building PCs.
It might be related to a monitor or software problem. Samsung offers numerous downloads for support.
Check the available driver versions and configuration settings specific to your Samsung Monitor.
Review Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any Samsung entries—such as monitor and/or software updates, drivers, utilities.
Also examine other errors or patterns that match the monitor’s behavior.
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It would not surprise me if the issue lies with the monitor itself.
Many devices now prioritize features like eye-catching interfaces and data collection over core functionality, often at the expense of design, materials, assembly, testing, and documentation. Just to cut costs, some monitors are moved to other systems.
The goal is simply to gather clues about what might be causing the problem.
Thanks for the thorough answer. Appreciated. I haven't encountered any problems linked to the monitor before, so it was unexpected that I'd be honest about it. I'll confirm once more by swapping monitors. Since I live next door, I can handle the swap easily. I'll attempt it at the first chance and share the results later.
Got an attempt, but it didn't work out. Still, a nice surprise to try something new!
Hi All. After some testing, I kept trying to replicate the error on another screen but couldn't succeed with either HDMI or DisplayPort. I figured the problem might be related to the screens themselves. I replaced the original screens, and we haven’t experienced a boot error in more than two weeks. Everything remains the same—same cables, drivers, and nothing else has changed except for some Auto Windows updates. Right now, we can't reproduce the issue, though it bothers me that we still don’t know the exact cause. I’ll keep this open for another week just in case, but I’ll close it if no more problems come up. I’ll just shake my head for now.