Hi everyone... this just turned up yesterday. My R12 shutdown while playing BF6 and now will light up for a second on the front lights not the power button then click off seconds later. I have had this PC for four plus years with no issues. I upgraded over the years to the OEM Dell liquid cooling, Dell OEM 1000 watt power supply, Dell VRM heating and a OEM GTX 4070. Machine has been running fine for months with this video card. Temps on CPU and GPU were not hot as I closely monitored them. I have done this so far... pushed the power supply test button and it lights up and fans spin if held in. Reset video card and motherboard connectors, replace CMOS battery and also reset CMOS jumper and did the 30 second hold the power button trick. None of these worked. So in short no video at all and PC does not post boot only those lights in front turn on then clicks off and continues this sequence with no sound coming from fans or power supply. Im guessing motherboard??
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It does sound like a motherboard issue given the steps you've tried out and the PSU BIST is passing. That said, I would bring the unit down to minimum to post to see if you get any other signs of life. So that would entail fully removing the GPU, SSD, and RAM. With the parts removed, you'll then want to turn it back on to see if the power LED is flashing any diagnostic codes. A responsive motherboard should be 2 flashes at the power LED since it'll have no memory. If you get that, then I'd reinstall the parts one at a time to see what may be causing a short, if any. If you don't get that memory error, then motherboard would seem to be the way to go.
DELL-Daniel V #IWork4Dell Digital Support Forum Liaison
I agree with @DELL-Daniel V and the "simplification" of the system for troubleshooting, however, I don't usually go to those extremes.
Have your tried only connecting wired USB keyboard and mouse, and then also the monitor. Remove any USB dongles and any optional Add-In PCIe cards.
Does that system have on-board video you never use? If so, now would be a good time to remove the video-card and try to use it.
Remember to always dissipate the flea-power after it's been on, and you are getting inside again.
(edited)
Dell Rockstar
Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS Developer (Retired) - Like many of you, I can appreciate a good game-engine. - I answer questions here, but I'm not a Dell employee. - Consider giving posts you like a "thumbs-up" - Posting models-numbers and software versions speeds trouble-shooting. - Click "Mark as Accepted Answer" on any post that answers your question best.
2. Agreed (unless there was the occurrence of an "unusual event").
Dell Rockstar
Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS Developer (Retired) - Like many of you, I can appreciate a good game-engine. - I answer questions here, but I'm not a Dell employee. - Consider giving posts you like a "thumbs-up" - Posting models-numbers and software versions speeds trouble-shooting. - Click "Mark as Accepted Answer" on any post that answers your question best.
Our PSU's have 1 of 2 possible built in self tests. There is a button BIST and a buttonless BIST. In this instance with the R12, we should have a button BIST. Here is one of our articles outlining the steps and results of testing the PSU with each version:
DELL-Daniel V
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Posted February 25th, 2026 16:43
Contact Dell GHN (Get Help Now) chat technical support Monday through Friday. Click the blue "Get Help Now" on the right to start a private live chat session. Share the private Service Tag with them so that they can verify the ownership and warranty status. This will also generate a unique Technical Support case for your unique Service Tag. If already out of warranty, click here for the Dell out of warranty offerings.
It does sound like a motherboard issue given the steps you've tried out and the PSU BIST is passing. That said, I would bring the unit down to minimum to post to see if you get any other signs of life. So that would entail fully removing the GPU, SSD, and RAM. With the parts removed, you'll then want to turn it back on to see if the power LED is flashing any diagnostic codes. A responsive motherboard should be 2 flashes at the power LED since it'll have no memory. If you get that, then I'd reinstall the parts one at a time to see what may be causing a short, if any. If you don't get that memory error, then motherboard would seem to be the way to go.
DELL-Daniel V
#IWork4Dell
Digital Support Forum Liaison
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