So I finally got around to buying a case since my previous case was too big to fit in my luggage, and put it all back together before realizing that I would need a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter, so I went to Bic Camera and bought 2 (for PSU and monitor), but when I power my PC on, everything lights up and seems to be working, but the GPU isn’t doing anything. The light on the GPU is on, but the fans aren’t spinning. I just bought the GPU a week before coming here and used it for several days no problem, so I don’t think it’s an issue with the GPU itself. Is it possible that, due to the lower voltage in Japan than in America, the GPU isn’t getting enough energy to power on? If that’s the case, what are my options?
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Is your PSU switching? When I moved to Japan I happened to have one of those rare crappy models that don’t switch voltages so I had to buy a new PSU here.
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Edit: Wait what voltage do you have in America? Isn’t it basically the same as here? I had come from Germany (230V)
PSUs have the same voltages all around the world. 12v, 5v. And primary voltage usualy is automaticaly set. between 100~240v. If yours have a selector, change it to 100v.
Computers get problems, it’s got nothing to do with gps location.
I brought my american PSU here and it does work just fine. Check if everything is properly plugged (ATX cable, RAM properly inserted, CPU in its socket, 6 pins cable for CPU, 8 pins cables for GPU) and give it a try. If you wanna test you PSU, look on google how to short the PSU (you need to connect 2 specific pins, if your PSU is not broken, fan should spin when you connect both pins). Hope this helps.
Static electricity can damage parts that are not fitted during transport or handling… If there is a video card built into the motherboard, try connecting the monitor directly, without using the gpu.
My GPU has a zero rpm function where the fans don’t actually spin unless it’s under load. The problem is most likely not the voltage difference between countries.
What’s your CPU, motherboard and PSU? Are you sure you’re not connecting the HDMI/DP cable to your motherboard while using a CPU with no integrated graphics? What does the debug LED from your motherboard tell you?
Almost 0% chance it’s a voltage problem on the psu.
95% of the psu have the whole world of range as imput, in very rare case they are 230v only or 110v only.
If you come from the us the psu will work.
Is your hdmi cable plugged into the gpu and not the motherboard?
Did you check that the 8pins cable on the cpu and 8 pin cable on the gpu are properly plugged in? Just in case remove them and replug them.
If leds light up on the motherboard do you have a status led that tells you what is the problem?
Did you try a reset CMOS of the motherboard?
When you say that the GPU doesn’t do anything, what do you mean? Is the screen just blank, or showing “no input” or something similar? Or showing pink squares?
If you plug in headphones or speakers, does windows play the device plugged/unplugged sound when you plug/unplug the HDMI?
Do you definitely not have a hdmi or similar port on the motherboard?
Oof, I just finished putting together my PC I brought from the stated and seeing this post worries me. Hope your GPU is just not seated properly and not broken 🙏
Did you pack your PC parts in antistatic bags?
It could be a bad HDMI cable. But, if you can’t even arrive at POST, means the GPU or RAM might not be properly seated. Or the power connectors are not fully inserted. Worse, MOBO/GPU/CPU/RAM/PSU is fried (which I doubt). Also, check if your CPU cooler is connected to the CPU fan header.
It is unlikely that the voltage is the issue, but you can double check the fine print on your PSU, it should have the allowed input voltage range written on it.
Can you display BIOS screen? That should be possible as long as the motherboard and CPU works.
It is very possible that something got damaged during transport. In that case you just need to troubleshoot part by part until you find the problem. If you have a manual for the motherboard (those are often available online), that would be helpful.
I had this happen. My fix was that my RAM cards got damaged and was messing the entire thing up. Check those. Other than that I wouldn’t know.
The PSU should be fine with japanese wattage.
You mentioned the keyboard flashes. Does pressing CAPS lock activate / reactivate the relevant light?
Run it with no RAM as a scream test. If the board has an onboard mini speaker it’ll do a consistent long tone; otherwise it’ll throw a different code on the LCD indicator.
Your heatsink fan is spinning up I assume? Is there any change in speed? Usually it’s lower RPM through BIOS and goes higher after initiating the OS.
Your comment about leaving the heatsink installed during transport worries me a bit.
Dumb question, but does the monitor itself work? Do you have any other devices to test that with?
Where are you located? I don’t mind helping troubleshoot, and I’ve got spare parts.
It is much more likely that you did something not-quite-right during the reassembly than it is to be something related to Japan. Alternatively, something could’ve gotten fried during the move.
I highly recommend posting this in /r/buildapc for troubleshooting assistance. You will get much better help there than here.
Edit: If possible, take a bunch of photos of your build with your phone, as high a quality images as you can. Upload them to imgur and include a link to the album in your /r/buildapc post. When remote troubleshooting someone else’s work, a photo really is worth a thousand words. If it’s something simple, someone will pick it up from the photos right away.
When you reassembled it, did you remember to plug in the supplemental 12V cables to the GPU?
What worked for me was I had to have my computer power directly going into the wall outlet and not in a power dock with other plugged appliances. Failing that, for things like that I would feel iffy about using these cheap adapters and would think those are the issue as the GPU itself should be fine….so worst case scenario – Buy a cheaper end japanese GPU – if it works then sell your other one.
The only other thing I can think of is that they were not packed in anti static and somewhere during travel/ airport they were subject to some kind of electricity that wrecked the parts…but probably not that as you said everything seems fine apart from gpu.
One thing you could try unplug the PC from the wall so no power, then just hold the power button for a minute. Then plug it back in and try.
I’d check the motherboard manual and double check you plugged all the cables into the correct place.
You are most likely going to need a second PC to trouble shoot it.
Since your mother board has no way to connect to a monitor you can’t check your bios for what parts are working.
Your PC is a little old and might not be worth the cost to get it repaired vs investing in a new PC.
Without a second PC we can just speculate what could be wrong like a burnt out fuse that needs to be replaced.
I brought my PC from the US and it worked fine with the adapter. So nope.
Edit: I see you wrapped everything in bubble wrap. Fantastic. Something is broken or all of it. lol
Did you try a different pcie slot? Worse comes worst you can rma the gpu. Also if you have a modular psu make sure the cables for the GPU didn’t come loose.