Getting new components for a PC is in most cases very exciting since it can oftentimes mean a big upgrade in performance. However, sometimes the PC doesn’t work correctly right away which is, of course, annoying and worrying.
This is the case for some users when installing a new GPU on their computers. In some instances, the computer won’t boot past BIOS. That makes it important to answer the question: How do you make a computer with a new GPU boot past BIOS?
One of the most common reasons why your computer won’t boot past BIOS is that your primary boot device isn’t set to PEG. Make sure you go into the boot options in your BIOS and set your “primary boot device” as PEG. Furthermore, you need to check that all of your connections are properly attached. Reseat the GPU and check that your video cables are secured properly.
Now that you’re aware of some things you can do to fix your computer not booting properly, let’s explore other solutions. Below, I have listed the 8 most common solutions to this issue. Take the time to read them to find out what you should do if your computer won’t boot past BIOS.
1. Reseat The GPU And Check Connections
As I mentioned before, you should reseat your GPU to check that it’s connected properly. First, power off your computer, remove the power cables, then spam the power on/off button a couple of times to make sure that all the power is gone from the computer. Now, remove your GPU.
Before you reseat it again, however, try booting the computer with your old GPU. When you have gotten into Windows, make sure you uninstall the GPU drivers. I would strongly recommend using DDU or a similar program to do this in the best manner.
After this, reseat your new GPU, then power it on and off. Now, connect your HDMI or whatever cable you’re using to the GPU slot (not the motherboard one) and try again. Hopefully, the error is now fixed.
2. Try Booting Another Computer With Your New GPU
To make sure that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with your new GPU, you should try using the GPU with another computer if possible. This can help us determine if the fault lies with your computer or the GPU.
Some computer shops may help you do this, too, if you ask nicely. Sometimes they want to be compensated a small amount, but it might be worth it to figure out where the problem lies.
If the other computer boots with your GPU, then we can safely conclude that there isn’t anything wrong with the GPU, which is nice since we can start looking at other solutions.
3. Disconnect Peripherals
Try to reboot your computer once more, except this time, disconnect everything except your keyboard. This goes for your mouse, flash drives, etc. Everything except essential power cables and the keyboard so you can menu and type login details if necessary.
If your computer now loads into Windows, connect each cable one by one and restart the computer each time. In this way, we can exclude these devices as culprits until we find the guilty party.
Remember, it’s important to be thorough here. Make sure you disconnect all the peripheral devices, they are known to sometimes cause issues regarding drivers and much more that can prevent your computer from booting properly.
4. Clear The CMOS (Carefully)
The CMOS is where your BIOS stores information. The CMOS is located on your motherboard, and you can reset the BIOS by clearing the CMOS. This can be helpful to fix issues regarding hardware incompatibility and other things.
So, how do you do it? First, I would strongly suggest that you take a look at your motherboard’s manual to locate the important components that you need to fiddle with. If you don’t have a physical manual, your motherboard manufacturer should have online manuals on their site.
After you have your manual available and ready, I would suggest taking a look at this video. Follow the steps as accurately as you possibly can. Don’t recklessly do this, as mistakes can cause your computer to be rendered unusable.
5. Configure BIOS Settings (PEG)
Without going into too much technical detail here, try to set your primary boot device to PEG. This is possible through the BIOS settings, most likely somewhere in the boot settings.
If this setting is not enabled, BIOS might instead prioritize the onboard graphics card on your motherboard. You don’t want that.
As I mentioned previously, how you choose PEG as your primary booting device differs somewhat depending on your motherboard manufacturer. If you can’t find it while browsing the BIOS, search the web for your motherboard and look in the manual.
6. Check Required Wattage
Your GPU and CPU are the two components that require the most power. It’s important, then, that there is enough power for them. Your power supply is the component that delivers the power to the parts in your computer.
What you need to do, is check how much wattage your CPU and GPU require together, and then simply compare it with the provided wattage of your power supply.
If the wattage number that your power supply provides is less than the wattage number of the CPU and GPU together, that’s why your PC won’t boot properly.
You can’t really fix this in any easy way. I’d recommend getting either a new GPU / CPU that requires fewer watts or a power supply that provides more.
7. See If Your GPU And Mobo Are Compatible
This is generally something you need to check before you invest in a new PC component: is that component compatible with your current motherboard? If not, the component is not going to work, unfortunately.
This is no different for GPUs. They need to be compatible with your motherboard. Nowadays, most modern GPUs for consumers are compatible with almost any computer, but if you have say an old motherboard, this might not be the case.
My suggestion is that you look it up online – is your motherboard compatible with your new GPU? You should be able to find a list of compatible devices on your motherboard manufacturer’s website.
If not, there’s not much you can do, except replace either your motherboard or GPU. Switching motherboards can be more complicated, because your Windows license is stored on it, plus a lot of the other components might not be compatible with a new motherboard.
8. Update Your BIOS
Updating your BIOS might also be a good idea if you haven’t done it in a while. This can help fix errors pertaining to specific hardware components and things of that nature.
Look on your motherboard manufacturer’s website for updates to BIOS. If you find recent updates, then you should install them. This is generally done by flashing the motherboard.
There should be instructions on exactly how to do this on the same website. Some BIOS let you install the update directly through Windows, and some will want you to download software, put it on a USB thumb drive, and then install it through BIOS.
When the update is installing, have patience and wait for it to completely install, even if it seems to take a long time. Then, reboot your computer.