HELP - CPU red light / no display

[Oussebon]

You too can have dummy RAM

VENGEANCE RGB PRO Light Enhancement Kit — Black

CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO Series DDR4 Light Enhancement Kit completes your custom PC’s look by filling your empty DDR4 slots, boasting 10 ultra-bright individually addressable RGB LEDs each. **PLEASE NOTE - These Modules Contain No DRAM Memory and are Meant for Aesthetic Use Only**

www.corsair.com

No, but really, there's dummy RAM. Saves on messing around with compatibility, potentially having to loosen timings, and all that I guess.

 

[LRenzinator]

Does this seem normal ? This video is at idle with no windows open. Did this for about 15 minutes until I shut it off. Fan kept turning on a off or “wavering”. Gpu temps have been normal while gaming 70c or so.

Performance wise I’m getting 110-130fps on 1440 max settings on warzone and 160+ at 1080p max settings.

View: https://youtu.be/P5iKtAtNDqU

 

[Oussebon]

Yes and no.

Fans turning on and off like that are 'normal' in that it's behaviour caused by how they are meant to operate.

The fans turn off below a given temp, and turn on when that temp is reached.

The idea is that if you're gaming, the GPU is always going to be under heavy load, so the fans come on and will stay on because the GPU is always above that temp. So the fans will be on consistently, adjusting their exact speed depending on the exact temp. And that when you're just browsing web pages, the GPU is doing sufficiently little work that the temp will be low enough for the fans to stay off.

What you're seeing is probably a symptom of the GPU not downclocking itself properly.

If it maintains a high clock speed, but is under low load, it will keep warming up to the point that the fans turn on. But the heat it is producing due to the low load is so little that the fans instantly bring it under the threshold temp, so the fans turn off. But it heats up again a tiny bit, so on come the fans again...

Run GPU-Z and look at the sensors tab to monitor GPU frequency, temp, and fan speed during this behaviour.

If the frequencies are high despite (what should be) low load, as I suspect, open Nvidia Control Panel and under the "Desktop" menu along the top bar, select Display GPU Activity Icon in the Notification Area.

Left click that icon and it will list everything using the GPU.

One of those software may be trigger the GPU to not downclock.

Sometimes a bad driver installation / version can cause that issue, so DDU-ing the drivers and clean installing may be needed, but you may as well check if there's a software cause first.

 

[LRenzinator]

Yes and no.

Fans turning on and off like that are 'normal' in that it's behaviour caused by how they are meant to operate.

The fans turn off below a given temp, and turn on when that temp is reached.

The idea is that if you're gaming, the GPU is always going to be under heavy load, so the fans come on and will stay on because the GPU is always above that temp. So the fans will be on consistently, adjusting their exact speed depending on the exact temp. And that when you're just browsing web pages, the GPU is doing sufficiently little work that the temp will be low enough for the fans to stay off.

What you're seeing is probably a symptom of the GPU not downclocking itself properly.

If it maintains a high clock speed, but is under low load, it will keep warming up to the point that the fans turn on. But the heat it is producing due to the low load is so little that the fans instantly bring it under the threshold temp, so the fans turn off. But it heats up again a tiny bit, so on come the fans again...

Run GPU-Z and look at the sensors tab to monitor GPU frequency, temp, and fan speed during this behaviour.

If the frequencies are high despite (what should be) low load, as I suspect, open Nvidia Control Panel and under the "Desktop" menu along the top bar, select Display GPU Activity Icon in the Notification Area.

Left click that icon and it will list everything using the GPU.

One of those software may be trigger the GPU to not downclock.

Sometimes a bad driver installation / version can cause that issue, so DDU-ing the drivers and clean installing may be needed, but you may as well check if there's a software cause first.

I shut everything down other than the 3 things shown here. The only other thing I can think of is in nvidia control panel I made some adjustments to favor performance etc... Fan is still doing the same thing.

https://imgur.com/LCtN5SW

View: https://imgur.com/LCtN5SW

 

[Oussebon]

It could be that one of those (Chrome with hardware acceleration turned on?) is causing it. I can't look into it atm unfortunately.

What adjustments did you make?

It's possible one of them is preventing the GPU from downclocking.

For instance, did you set the GPU to prefer maximum performance instead of Optimal Power under the Nvidia Control Panel power management mode settings?

 

[LRenzinator]

It could be that one of those (Chrome with hardware acceleration turned on?) is causing it. I can't look into it atm unfortunately.

What adjustments did you make?

It's possible one of them is preventing the GPU from downclocking.

For instance, did you set the GPU to prefer maximum performance instead of Optimal Power under the Nvidia Control Panel power management mode settings?

Yep. I had power management mode on performance. As well as most settings in there. Now the GPU is running at 10c less temp and the fan is not on. I suppose only use this setting while gaming or not at all? Or does it matter? I am looking for the most performance and will mostly be gaming so thats why I moved everything up. Based on a jayztwocents video and some other stuff I read.

BTW This is the most helpful forum I've ever been up. Much appreciated!

 

[Oussebon]

It used to be the case that you'd set the GPU to maximum performance by default, but I find there's rarely any need to on my system these days

Leave it at Optimal power in the global settings, and only change it if there's a specific game where the GPU needs it. You can change the settings on a per-program basis under Program Settings (the tab that isn't the global settings)

And no worries, glad that bit helped

 

[dynamoleddisplays]

Hello!

Just completed a new PC build last night. After firing up all fans and lights work except for GPU fans. There is no display with the GPU installed or uninstalled. I have a gigabyte aorus pro wifi board with amd ryzen 3700x. So far I have checked all connections, and re-sat the ram sticks. There is a red light displaying on the motherboard under "cpu". Multiple searches online I have yet to find anything. Thanks in advance.

If there is a red LED light by the CPU fan plug on your motherboard, this indicated an issue in the CPU area of the motherboard. The possibilities are:

CPU 12V power is not connected properly.
Be sure that your 8 pin CPU power cable is fully connected. EVGA only recommends a 4 pin CPU power cable if the motherboard specifically has only 4 pins for CPU power.
Check to be sure that you are using the 8 pin CPU power and not the 8 in PCIE power cable.

Also, check the socket for possible damage

 

[LRenzinator]

If there is a red LED light by the CPU fan plug on your motherboard, this indicated an issue in the CPU area of the motherboard. The possibilities are:

CPU 12V power is not connected properly.
Be sure that your 8 pin CPU power cable is fully connected. EVGA only recommends a 4 pin CPU power cable if the motherboard specifically has only 4 pins for CPU power.
Check to be sure that you are using the 8 pin CPU power and not the 8 in PCIE power cable.

Also, check the socket for possible damage

Thank you ! I ended up getting it fixed. Was a simple case rgb lighting cable connecting in the wrong spot on the mother board. She works perfectly now !

 

[kenanyigiter]

As of 30-Aug-2020, I had this same problem. My ASUS motherboard was showing the CPU_LED light as solid red. QUICK ANSWER: Removed the CPU (and cooler), then put it back in. That FIXED it. Background: It is a ASUS sabertooth 990FX motherboard (ATX AMD). After my move from USA to Australia in 2020, my pc was transported in shipping freight sea container. Once I got all my goods and PC in Australia, I unpacked my pc and pressed the power button, the CPU_LED was solid red, and it would not start up, and it would not even POST. I searched online in forums and youtube, and this was the information that I found, and tried: I did the bench test again, remove all the components, HDD, SDD, etc. only had the motherboard, CPU attached, cooler attached, cooler fan and fan pin attached, 1 stick of RAM in the DIMM_A1 slot, the graphic card attached, the 24-pin connector from the PSU (PowerSupply) to the motherboard, and the 8-pin cpu power connector from PSU to motherboard. That is it. and tried to boot, but CPU LED was still red. I alternated the RAM in different DIMM slots, but still same. I disconnected graphics card, but still same. I cleared CMOS battery using the 3-pin jumper (it writes CLRTC on the motherboard, move the connect from 1-2 to 2-3 with pc off), but still same problem. (I also read something about north Bridge heatsink). I kept the motherboard still in the case, I just disconnected the cables. Then I phone called ASUS tech support in North America on +1 812-282-2787, since they would have received similar calls with this problem, and they might know where is the problem. Even though I built this pc in 2013, it was 7 years old, past the warranty period, the ASUS guy was still very helpful, he told me to take out the CPU and check for any bent pins and reinsert it, and also to clear the CMOS battery. Then when I was removing the cooler, I noticed that it was very easily able to be removed with the CPU still attached to the cooler, there was no grip of the CPU to the motherboard, it was like the CPU was loose on the MB, not connected properly. That is why I mentioned the pc was transported in a container ship from US to Australia, maybe from the vibration, the CPU got loose from the MB. (And I read in youtube comment that another persons ASUS motherboard has CPU LED red after he was transporting it). I had to separate the CPU from the cooler, but it was stuck on tight and the thermal paste was like cement. I did not use isopropyl alcohol. I tried using dental floss, but i could not get it in the gap. So I used a hair dryer blower and heated up the cooler for 15 minutes to heat the old thermal paste to make it soft. My CPU has no bent pins. I just cleaned off the old thermal paste, applied new thermal paste, and then re-inserted it, and it worked, connected everything, and worked. (if you get a BOOTMGR missing, Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then you must of connected the hard drive cables to the different ports, just need to go into BIOS and change the boot priority order). [Cooler: Cooler Master 120mm. Graphics Card: XFX Double D Radeon HD 6950. CPU: AMD FX-8150. PSU: Corsair TX750]. My power supply unit says Universal input supply, so it works in 110v US and in 240v Australia. Regards, Kenan

Hello!

Just completed a new PC build last night. After firing up all fans and lights work except for GPU fans. There is no display with the GPU installed or uninstalled. I have a gigabyte aorus pro wifi board with amd ryzen 3700x. So far I have checked all connections, and re-sat the ram sticks. There is a red light displaying on the motherboard under "cpu". Multiple searches online I have yet to find anything. Thanks in advance.