Your PC starts up but doesn’t appear on the screen.
Your PC starts up but doesn’t appear on the screen.
Hey there, so my girlfriend just got an old PC from a friend for playing Stardew Valley. Before we could launch it, I had to do some repairs. It seems the machine is based on an Athlon 2 architecture, which means I had to fix a few pin connections. It has 16GB RAM, a non-modular EVGA power supply, an AMD equivalent to a GTX 750 Ti, plus a 1TB SSD and HDD. I had a backup PC to test parts, but nothing worked. I changed the graphics cards, RAM, and monitors, tried switching between HDMI and DisplayPort cables, removed the CMOS battery, and even checked the power supply’s rear switch for 115 or 240 volts. I’m still not sure what’s wrong and would really appreciate any help!
Welcome! Yeah, stick to not trying this!! If you do, you will break something. I gather the CPU pins survived the repair? If they are still intact, it should be ok. When you say you tried swapping parts, do you mean you tried the GPU in the other PC and tried the other GPU in your gf's PC, or just one of these? If just one, try the other. Same goes for the RAM. It does sound like it might be the motherboard. Does it have speaker pins on the front panel connector (where the power switch and LED connect)? If so, and if you can find a small speaker driver or circular beeper thingy (brass-looking circle with a smaller circle of what I think might be white ceramic on top), connect them up to see if you get an BIOS boot codes. Forgive me if this question insults your intelligence a bit, but if it is the solution, there's no way to get to it without asking, so: you're not connecting the monitor to the motherboard rather than to the GPU, are you? You could try getting a can of air (or an air compressor, if you have one) to blow any debris from the slot on the motherboard that the graphics card plugs into. Don't blow your breath in there or you might make the situation worse. A vacuum hose plus attachment will probably fare well too, though try not to knock anything with it. A hand held one may be a better idea. Do the RAM slots too. Maybe the CPU socket if nothing else works. Just be very careful.
Are you sure the power supply provides 120 volts or 240 volts? If it's incorrect, starting it that way could damage the system. Have you attempted this before? Without prior testing, you're uncertain about its functionality. It seems the board, CPU, or power supply might have failed, though confirmation is tough. No major loss—just a $50 price tag on eBay and a better CPU for your 750ti. Hope you didn’t spend much, since an Intel Athlon2 is now readily available.