VGA Light on Motherboard: Troubleshooting Guide + Easy Fixes

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Troubleshoot your VGA lights with these seven tips

Co-authored by Yaffet Meshesha and Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: November 6, 2024 Fact Checked

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Common Causes

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Top Fixes

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Is the VGA light white or red on your computer's motherboard? You'll see a different color based on the manufacturer of your motherboard, but the light generally means there's an issue with your graphics card or the connection. Read on to learn more about what the light means and how you can fix it, with expert advice from computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha.

Why the VGA Light is On

The VGA light on your motherboard will indicate an issue with your graphics card or the connection. This light means the graphics card either has loose connections, outdated firmware, poor power, or a faulty motherboard.

Section 1 of 2:

Common Causes

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Loose or faulty connections will cause the light to shine. You'll also notice poor graphics on your screen, including screen flickering and maybe complete system failure.
Outdated software is vulnerable to bugs and glitches and can cause a mess of issues, like turning on the VGA light on your motherboard.

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If your system doesn't have a solid power supply, you might notice the light on your motherboard, random shut-downs, or poor graphics.
When you use the graphics cards intensely, like graphic design or playing video games, your card will get warm. If there's poor ventilation or the card is covered in dust, it might overheat, leading to reduced performance, hardware damage, and/or thermal throttling.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 2:

Top Fixes

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You want to make sure the graphics card is firmly inserted into the motherboard's PCIe (PCI Express) slot.
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Change the PCIe slot (MSI Z790 Motherboard). This motherboard's top PCIe slot does not work with a certain BIOS.
- Fix this by installing your GPU into the second PCIe slot so you can update the BIOS effectively. Update the BIOS by downloading the file appropriate to your motherboard, extracting and moving the file to a USB drive, entering the BIOS, and selecting to update it from a USB drive.
- Note that the top NVME slot also doesn't work.^{[2]
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Update your graphics card drivers. Outdated firmware can cause many issues, like triggering the light on your motherboard. You want to keep your drivers updated to avoid any future issues.
- In most modern computers, running a system update will also update any outdated drivers.
- You can also update the drivers manually in Device Manager.
Make sure there aren't loose or damaged cables that could be the cause of power loss.
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Reseat the graphics card. Even if the GPU works fine, something could be wrong with that PCIe slot in the motherboard. Turn off your computer and remove the graphics card from the motherboard, then clean the ports on the motherboard and GPU to ensure there isn't any dust or debris preventing a connection between the two.
- Once you reinsert the graphics card, turn on your computer to see if the VGA light is still on.
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Check for hardware conflicts. Some CPUs that end with "-f" often have integrated graphics that are incompatible with external ones. In that case, enter BIOS and find the "Device" or "Peripherals" section.
- If your desktop computer or laptop has both internal and external graphics cards, look for a "Graphics" option instead.
- Turn off the integrated graphics and restart your computer.^{[3]
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- Your computer will now use the graphics card detected in the PCIe slots instead of any internal software.
- Computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha advises that you check to make sure new graphics cards or motherboards are compatible before buying them; different cards have different requirements.
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Check for overheating. Third-party tools, like CPU-Z or HWMonitor, can monitor your computer's components and ensure they aren't overheating. Better fans and ventilation will also help prevent your computer from getting too hot.
- If your entire computer, including the CPU, is overheating, you'll most likely see a "Your Device Ran Into a Problem" error message along with a blue or black screen. Read this wikiHow article to learn more about fixing the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). ^{[4]
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