New PC: Beyond frustrated

[Cindy Claveau]

My old machine was showing its age badly, and since it's over 6 years old I decided to buy a new one. Since my current PC came from Cyberpower and I'd had good luck with them, I elected to go to Cyberpower again. I won't be making that mistake a third time!

The main advantage I was going for was a faster GPU (GTX 1660 SUPER Phoenix 6GB GDDR6) and more HD space (6 TB). Nothing exotic. No overclocking. Don't even need a monitor and keyboard. Save a few bucks.

Unfortunately, while the box seems to boot up ok, I don't know what it's doing because I have no video display - the screen is black. I switched it to HDMI and rebooted again. Same thing. Removed the GPU and reseated it. Same problem. Phone tech support with Cyberpower was mediocre - he could not inspect the connectors over the phone and his 2 best suggestions were to reset the GPU (done) or ship it back. Swell, huh? As a last resort, I sprang $350 on a brand new Samsung curved monitor but I'm having the same problem PLUS inability to understand the monitor interface.

This might be a motherboard problem, I'm guessing, but I've delayed shipping it back because it would be 3 more weeks without a machine. At this point, I'm decided that I'm just done with Cyberpower and I just want my money back. Before I do that, I was hoping a tech genius here would offer other notions I could look at.

* No, I do not build my own PCs. Have you met me?
* No, Cyberpower will not get my business again.

 

[Fionalein]

Have you tried another GPU? Old one borrowed from a friend? Because if that one does not work either it could as well be the motherboard's PCI bus. It could also be missing a motherboard bios update ... as you said diagnosis on black screen is... meh at best. A custom Linux Live pendrive with a preinstalled openssh server might allow some remote diagnosis but... it's new it should not be necessary.

In case of PCI bus problems though (motherboard incompatibilities): try reseating the GPU into another slot if you have not tried already. You can also try reconnectiong/switching the power chord - you should have two sets of GPU power cables on most PSUs (not worth trying if your GPU is one of those fancy illuminated ones and you see it powering up already - or can see spinning fans). That said if any of those solutions work I'd still demand my money back or demand to get it fixed.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Have you tried another GPU? Old one borrowed from a friend? beacuse if that one does not work either it could as well be the motherboard's PCI bus.

I still have my old machine, but at this point in my crappy week I'm afraid to touch it. If it's the bus, then that's over my head as well and I might as well just box it up and get a refund.

Thank you for replying. Even moral support right now is a help

 

[Fionalein]

I still have my old machine, but at this point in my crappy week I'm afraid to touch it. If it's the bus, then that's over my head as well and I might as well just box it up and get a refund.

Thank you for replying. Even moral support right now is a help

I added some more ideas - I remember I had this old 5x USB2.0 PCI expansion card and it would only work in some of my slots. PCI bus incompatibilities can be a pita. In your vendour's defense: It might have been compatible before a bios update happened - stuff like that is pretty unpredictable and suddenly a combination that worked fine before does not work with the next shipped batch of hardware *sigh*.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

I added some more ideas - I remember I had this old 5x USB2.0 PCI expansion card and it would only work in some of my slots. PCI bus incompatibilities can be a pita.

Bear in mind that I've been PC-less for 3 days. Picture an old crack addict on the street with red, glassy eyes and the shakes. That's me without my games and writings and art. I'm not a violent person (honest) but at this point keep sharp objects away from me

That said, if it's a PCI bus incompatibility that's beyond my pay grade and Cyberpower WILL get the box back along with a demand for refund.

 

[Fionalein]

Bear in mind that I've been PC-less for 3 days. Picture an old crack addict on the street with red, glassy eyes and the shakes.

That is why my hardware ARGB controller to remote controll my GPU's fancy lighting has been sitting on my desk for weeks - I don't want to risk it breaking something during installation and loosing a day of internet due to fixing what I broke accidentally.

 

[Free]

Can you link to or provide model info on the PC you actually bought?

 

[Stora]

Are you getting any beeps when the PC boots up ?

I know you have already re-seated the GPU but I would also re-seat the memory and any other add in cards that you may have because these can get dislodged in transit

My next step would be to try and boot into the BIOS, press the Del key or could be any of the F keys (depending on the PC) when start up from when you first switch the PC on.

Failing that with your PC powered off (unplug from mains). Disconnect everything that is connected to the Motherboard memory included apart from the power taking note of where they are connected before you do this ( taking lots pics with a smart phone is a great way). With no memory your PC should beep warning you that the memory is missing. In the past I've seen simple things like a faulty keyboard stop a PC from booting.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Phone tech support with Cyberpower was mediocre - he could not inspect the connectors over the phone and his 2 best suggestions were to reset the GPU (done) or ship it back. Swell, huh? As a last resort, I sprang $350 on a brand new Samsung curved monitor but I'm having the same problem PLUS inability to understand the monitor interface.

Assuming that Cyberpower tested the machine before it shipped out, the most likely explanation for it not working now is a loose cable from the shipping. You don't even have to understand what they all do, just make sure everything is snugly connected. Yes, I know you've probably done that, but it never hurts to ask, right?

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Assuming that Cyberpower tested the machine before it shipped out, the most likely explanation for it not working now is a loose cable from the shipping. You don't even have to understand what they all do, just make sure everything is snugly connected. Yes, I know you've probably done that, but it never hurts to ask, right?

Right now, I have tried BOTH the new monitor and old one; the new PC and old one in a series of desperate experiments. I could see a loose cable maybe, but the old PC didn't have any loose connections. It was working until 10 AM Wednesday when my new PC arrived.

 

[Sid]

Box it up and get your refund.
A new pc should work. End of discussion.
At least for me.

And then I would go to one of those small local computer shops, that is filled every Saturday with a dozen or more nerds talking about computer stuff, I never even knew that existed. Not on Saturday of course but on Monday, when the shop is empty, with a specific list of where I need the new gear for and how much I max want to shell out for it.
They shop owner (or an assistant) will mumble a lot of computer Latin and then agrees to mail a quotation within 3 days.
When you're back at home the e-mail with the quotation has already arrived.
Call after a few hours to accept and a week or so later the machine will be ready.
They know where they are talking about and I always found the service very good.
Only never, NEVER contact them on Saturdays during the High Mass in their computer shops,

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Yeah Sid's right. I can see like MAYBE a memory stick coming loose during shipping or something; but if you bought a fully assembled PC it should work and it's seriously ridiculous for you to be pulling out components trying to solve a no-boot problem in a brand new pre-built machine. Box it up and demand a replacement or a refund. Make them send you a new one and let them worry about whatever th is wrong with that one.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Right now, I have tried BOTH the new monitor and old one; the new PC and old one in a series of desperate experiments. I could see a loose cable maybe, but the old PC didn't have any loose connections. It was working until 10 AM Wednesday when my new PC arrived.

I was talking about the cables inside your computer. I'm assuming this is a computer where you can easily crack the case, right? Something could have easily been jarred loose or off. It's not clear (to me) from your description of what you've done whether or not you looked inside the case.

But yeah, if you demand a refund, you can buy a new one probably faster than getting this one fixed.

 

[Isabeau]

Also it could be a lemon and if one wire is loose, others may be also so you may fix it only for another to loosen up in three weeks... maybe it was dropped whiled being shipped. Get rid of it, it’s tainted now and evil. We hates it

 

[Fionalein]

Also it could be a lemon and if one wire is loose, others may be also so you may fix it only for another to loosen up in three weeks... maybe it was dropped whiled being shipped. Get rid of it, it’s tainted now and evil. We hates it

From a technical point of view: if one of the inside cables was loose and you tried powering it on only half wired ... something might be a bit pre-fried now and has a higher risk of breaking down in the future - I would not have worded it as Isabeau but she's right.

 

[Fionalein]

Yeah Sid's right. I can see like MAYBE a memory stick coming loose during shipping or something; but if you bought a fully assembled PC it should work and it's seriously ridiculous for you to be pulling out components trying to solve a no-boot problem in a brand new pre-built machine. Box it up and demand a replacement or a refund. Make them send you a new one and let them worry about whatever th is wrong with that one.

loose memory sticks would give you a bios boot screen with a memory error warning, I think it is pretty safe to rule out loose memory as singular source (could of course be on top of others).

 

[Chalice Yao]

Actually
have you tried plugging in your monitor into the motherboard's GPU port instead of your dedicated card's to see if an image comes up?

If yes, try re-seating your GPU card. Also, before that, see if you need to enable the GPU PCIe slot in the bios settings. (You normally don't though.)

 

[bubblesort]

Yeah, send it back. If you resat it in the PCIe slot, and resat the power cable for the video board, you've done everything I would do before sending it back.

You did reseat the power plug, right? Not all video cards have a power connector, but the GTX 1660 SUPER Phoenix 6GB GDDR does. There's a picture of it on this page. It's a 6 pin. If they forgot to plug it in, or if it fell out during shipping somehow, that could cause the black screen.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

loose memory sticks would give you a bios boot screen with a memory error warning, I think it is pretty safe to rule out loose memory as singular source (could of course be on top of others).

Oh yeah I agree. I just bring it up because checking for loose memory is probably the furthest I would ever go if I bought a pre-built PC and it didn't work when it arrived. You paid them to put together a computer that works.

I do sympathize with Cindy because she's been without a computer for a while and really really really wants to get back online so I understand why she's asking if there's anything else she can do; but, that's my advice.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

One thing I will say though:

Removed the GPU and reseated it. Same problem.


* No, I do not build my own PCs. Have you met me?

Lady if you can remove a GPU and reseat it, you possess literally 100% of the skills needed to build your own PC. I promise you, on my honor. Building a PC is like putting together the world's ugliest Lego model, except the model is only made out of like 6 pieces.