New Motherboard, No post, CPU Error Light

[xebadir]

Ok so I have a rather weird set of problems related to my new build no longer posting. 

Full Specs:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v349Jb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard   
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory 
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB STRIX GAMING OC Video Card  
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P600S ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply 

 

 

Initial build was completed a week ago on all new components, system posted first try, setup BIOS, updated the BIOS, installed Windows 10, no issues, installed NVIDIA drivers, updated windows, system booted and ran fine for the first day, with restarts etc. Installed Subnatica, played a little World of Warships, and was really happy with the system. Second day, system seemed to be a little reluctant to communicate with monitor, but was ok, ran Subnautica for a few hours. Temperatures looked good.

 

Next day - system no longer displays, despite booting with LEDs in case being on for all components, fans on for all parts of system, getting a display no signal error for every port/method of connection.

 

Given everything seems to be functional (thus is probably not the PSU), suspect its a display port error and thus assume its the ASUS PB278Q I bought for this system, so try different cables and other computers, find the HDMI works for my Mac, but no signal for HDMI or Displayport on the new build. Order a new (better) monitor (LG UK27), thinking I landed a dud, arrives, and sure enough - no signal display error remains, despite system waking up. Also now notice a VGA error light on the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max. First decided to try and reseat the graphics card, thinking bad connection possible, no change but VGA light went off for some restarts. Went through the first 10 suggested steps in the Posting guide at the start of this forum, including test RAM for functionality (seems fine). The only time that I've seen a response on the monitor, I saw a flickering '_' as the only signal, and I'm not sure if that was driven by the monitor or the system actually communicating. At this point, I'm suspecting either a bad motherboard, or a bad GPU.

 

I have a friend who has a spare GTX 1050TI that is willing to let me try it to see if that posts this evening, but wondering if there anything else I can check.

 

I don't have any other RAM available, or another board handy to try, but would appreciate any suggestions if anyone has run into a similar issue with this board or components. 
 

 

 

[xebadir]

So tested with the GTX 1050TI - no joy. At a loss at this point and suspecting the MOBO - anyone else have experience with a problem like this?

[xebadir]

Well, continuing this theme, I'm now at the point where I'm pretty sure my motherboard has an issue. I cleared CMOS, tried every combination of RAM/PCIE slots with both cards, and still no display. Going to try a breadboard tonight (did it initially, but it was fine so shrug), but ordering a new board in the meantime, as I'm sick of waiting on this. 

[xebadir]

Well, I'm at a loss, having tried all my options with this Motherboard. I'm going to take the step of trying a new one. Decided that because I intend to keep the board for a while longer, and will probably upgrade components and play with OC down the road (CPU, GPU), that I'm going for something a little higher tier, so settled on the MSI MEG X570 Unify - really nice board that doesn't look like a Vegas night club, and has all the features I feel that I'm missing on the B450 board, while also being forward compatible. Will arrive tomorrow, so planning on rebuilding from scratch and seeing how the system goes then.

[thedangerine]

You may want to try updating the bios for that board, it's not uncommon for a board of a different generation to require one to work correctly even if it says it doesn't. A lot of amd boards have bios flashback which will allow you to update it even without a cpu or ram installed. It probably is just a bjorked board but a bios update is the only other thing I could think of based on what you already tried

[xebadir]

Thanks for the suggestion. So I updated the BIOS when I first set everything up to the latest version, before the Windows install, but had no issues before this no POST. I have a flashback button, so I might try that as well. First I'm going to try a long CMOS battery removal just to see if that makes any difference. Figure its worth checking every possibility. 

 

I'm a little worried about the fact there may have been a power surge that caused this issue - getting a surge protector just to cover that possibility.

[xebadir]

So I just tried a battery removal CMOS reset again for a longer time period on the Tomahawk (my Unify board just arrived) and all of a sudden getting a CPU error light setting up. I still suspect the board as a potential instigator, but anyone know what this might mean? Going to do the breadboard next, and try bios flashback just in case before doing a piece by piece on the new (and much nicer) board.

[xebadir]

Ok - so breadboarded, no joy with the B450, even with the Bios Flashback attempt. So onto the new board.

 

So I installed everything on my new X570 Unify (exactly the same as the ACE), installed 1 RAM stick, CPU, cooler and GPU - it starts up, but I get a CPU error light on the motherboard - tried my other stick of RAM, no joy (no error code other than 00). The only thing I can't control for is that I do not have a spare 4+4 CPU cable to run CPU2 slot power, so this could be the problem (I don't think it should be based on what Ive read, but would appreciate help). So am I at a point where I can point the finger at the CPU? Anyone have suggestions about what I should do next?

[xebadir]

So excited to say that we have finally solved the mystery. 

 

It was a bad Ryzen 3600 CPU chip. I don't what caused its issue, but I went to Best Buy and picked a new one up, and replacing that part resolved all issues and got to a successful post. Going to get the system rebuilt and will post if any further issues, but if you run into a similar issue - don't assume the processor is good.