If your new PC won't boot at all, check your RAM is properly installed

Corsair Vengeance RAM (Image credit: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

Whether you build or buy, the first boot of your new PC is an exciting time. It's also the first time you find out whether it's all put together properly!

When you buy a pre-built PC you'd expect it's all been done properly and everything will work first time. But that's not always the case, as I recently found out with a new Lenovo gaming PC.

Turns out it was a simple fix involving the RAM. Here's what to look out for and how you solve it.

The issue

When you boot your new PC for the first time you'll either be booting into the BIOS of your motherboard or in the case of a pre-built PC, you'll boot into the Windows 10 setup process.

But sometimes you won't get either. In the case of my Lenovo PC, a series of beeps that meant nothing to me was all I got along with no video output of any kind from the GPU or the motherboards HDMI output. Nothing, absolutely nothing.

In Lenovo's case, those beeps do mean something, and once you get to the right support page you might be able to figure it out. There are plenty of parts in a PC to check, but given all the video outputs delivered nothing and there was no BIOS or anything showing to boot into, it becomes a problem seeded deeper.

So if this sounds like something you're experiencing, check your RAM is installed properly. It sounds simple and it's a simple fix, but if the RAM isn't seated in the slots properly, your PC won't do anything.

How to properly install your RAM

Whether you've ever touched the RAM in your PC or not before, checking it's installed properly is an easy task.

Unclip the RAM locks on the motherboard module slots.
Carefully remove each individual stick.
To reinstall, match the RAM stick's notches to those found in the slots on the motherboard.
Push the RAM stick in carefully, using light even force across the stick.
The RAM stick is installed properly when the RAM locks click closed.

The next thing to do is to boot your PC. If your situation was exactly like mine, hopefully now you see something other than empty black displays, and your PC is booting up ready to go!

More: The ultimate guide to building a PC

Richard Devine is an Editor at Windows Central. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently you'll find him covering all manner of PC hardware and gaming, and you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

4 Comments

This could be true wil any part in a pc, but you'd figure they'd fire it up once upon assembly to make sure it powers up.
Yea, but then they move it. Things shift. This is a good article, but only one of very many reasons for a blank screen start as you say. One other obvious check is the vid card. Especially if you have a Gigabyte 'gaming' mobo and they forgot to include compatibility with the GOP on a GTX1080 for the last 4 firmware revisions meaning a UEFI boot just dies (face palm...). Trick is, try reseating your vid card as well as your ram, and try CSM mode as well in case you have a crazy mobo company who don't really know what they're about.
What's a GOP in this context?
For sure. Thing that narrowed it away from the video card in this context was absolutely zero video output from either the card or the onboard HDMI attached to the motherboard. Didn't get to the BIOS or anything. Everything seemed to fire up, the GPU fan was turning, the CPU fan was turning, even the stupid case lighting came on, just horrific beeps. Shocked it was something so simple and yet so catastrophic, frankly!