New problem, comp dies but all lights are on and fans ramp up ramp up and stay on

[Sin Stalker]

4 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

So it's not Windows, it's not the boot drive, it's probably not the PSU, you can try running MemTest86 to see if there's anything up with your RAM. From there you could try swapping your GPU.

 

Any other AICs? NICs? RAID cards? HBAs? Sound cards? Capture cards? Etc?

So I think the system crashed while running memtest. It was more than halfway done with no errors. I was working on some HW and when I looked up, I noticed both screens were black.. It has been awhile since I used memtest86 and I don't think that's how it looks when it finishes.

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, Sin Stalker said:

So I think the system crashed while running memtest. It was more than halfway done with no errors. I was working on some HW and when I looked up, I noticed both screens were black.. It has been awhile since I used memtest86 and I don't think that's how it looks when it finishes.

No, it lets you see the results and you have to tell it to quit when it's done so it definitely crashed. You can also try removing one stick at a time and running the system. See if it stays stable or crashes.

[Sin Stalker]

7 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

No, it lets you see the results and you have to tell it to quit when it's done so it definitely crashed. You can also try removing one stick at a time and running the system. See if it stays stable or crashes.

Was way ahead of you.

 

Noticed when I tried to run memtest again, while looking up the recommended configuration for one stick of ram with my

motherboard, that it wouldn't post at all now. No splash, no bios, no memtest. I removed the ram and left in the one stick in the correct location. No post. Swapped it with the other ram stick, no post.

 

My system will not post now. All lights come on, but no display. The Q-Code reads "8 ", as in the first number is 8 and the second number is blank. I checked the manual and there isn't a code for that. 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-CROSSHAIR-VI-HERO-WI-FI-AC/HelpDesk_Manual/

 

I put both sticks back in and got a post. I'm thinking crashing mid-memtest messed something up. Going to retry one stick again.

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

Was way ahead of you.

 

Noticed when I tried to run memtest again, while looking up the recommended configuration for one stick of ram with my

motherboard, that it wouldn't post at all now. No splash, no bios, no memtest. I removed the ram and left in the one stick in the correct location. No post. Swapped it with the other ram stick, no post.

 

My system will not post now. All lights come on, but no display. The Q-Code reads "8 ", as in the first number is 8 and the second number is blank. I checked the manual and there isn't a code for that. 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-CROSSHAIR-VI-HERO-WI-FI-AC/HelpDesk_Manual/

 

I put both sticks back in and got a post. I'm thinking crashing mid-memtest messed something up. Going to retry one stick again.

Interesting. Sounds like it could be a problem anywhere in between CPU, motherboard, & RAM. For the most part the board is just copper traces between CPU and RAM so it's more likely to be either of the latter (CPU or RAM). CPU's are quite robust so I'd be incentivised to believe it's the RAM. Do you have any spare kits you could test with?

[Sin Stalker]

1 minute ago, Windows7ge said:

Interesting. Sounds like it could be a problem anywhere in between CPU, motherboard, & RAM. For the most part the board is just copper traces between CPU and RAM so it's more likely to be either of the latter (CPU or RAM). CPU's are quite robust so I'd be incentivised to believe it's the RAM. Do you have any spare kits you could test with?

Yes. I have another kit in the family media pc / vr machine. I'll pull that. 

 

I am still going through with each slot and each stick to see if it'll post with a single stick of either ram. So far one stick will not result in a post in any of the 4 slots. Switching to the other stick now. Then I'll pull from the other machine and try a single stick from there.

[Sin Stalker]

30 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Interesting. Sounds like it could be a problem anywhere in between CPU, motherboard, & RAM. For the most part the board is just copper traces between CPU and RAM so it's more likely to be either of the latter (CPU or RAM). CPU's are quite robust so I'd be incentivised to believe it's the RAM. Do you have any spare kits you could test with?

So a single stick of ram from the other machine gave me a post without issue. 

 

Does this mean BOTH sticks of my Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro are bad?

 

It seems highly unlikely both went bad. My thought is perhaps WHATEVER is wrong with my system (power delivery, motherboard controls, whatever) has killed the ram over this time. 

 

I think this because I have a hdd that went bad due to this instability. Something would cause one hdd to ramp up and down. It would disconnect and reconnect randomly. If I removed that HDD, the other HDD would immediately begin ramping up and down, and disconnect/reconnect. It is why I'd have to have only my NVMe and sata SSDs. No HDDs. 

 

I guess the next test is to stick both sticks of my good ram into the machine and see if there is any instability?

[Sin Stalker]

37 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Interesting. Sounds like it could be a problem anywhere in between CPU, motherboard, & RAM. For the most part the board is just copper traces between CPU and RAM so it's more likely to be either of the latter (CPU or RAM). CPU's are quite robust so I'd be incentivised to believe it's the RAM. Do you have any spare kits you could test with?

 

3 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

So a single stick of ram from the other machine gave me a post without issue. 

 

Does this mean BOTH sticks of my Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro are bad?

 

It seems highly unlikely both went bad. My thought is perhaps WHATEVER is wrong with my system (power delivery, motherboard controls, whatever) has killed the ram over this time. 

 

I think this because I have a hdd that went bad due to this instability. Something would cause one hdd to ramp up and down. It would disconnect and reconnect randomly. If I removed that HDD, the other HDD would immediately begin ramping up and down, and disconnect/reconnect. It is why I'd have to have only my NVMe and sata SSDs. No HDDs. 

 

I guess the next test is to stick both sticks of my good ram into the machine and see if there is any instability?

 

Nevermind! It is not the ram! While one stick of the other ram had it booting, two sticks of this ram resulted in the same 8 and blank code I was getting with the previous 1 stick of ram. 

 

So this narrows it to CPU or Motherboard??

[Windows7ge]

8 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

I guess the next test is to stick both sticks of my good ram into the machine and see if there is any instability?

Try putting them in the media PC and see if it comes back with any errors on MemTestx86.

 

If your HDD's were doing that that brings us back to PSU but problems on the data lines could also cause ramping up/down/disconnects/reconnects. This would bring your motherboard into question.

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

Nevermind! It is not the ram! While one stick of the other ram had it booting, two sticks of this ram resulted in the same 8 and blank code I was getting with the previous 1 stick of ram. 

 

So this narrows it to CPU or Motherboard??

Bad CPU memory controller or a problem with the motherboard yes. What are the chances you have a spare CPU that fits your motherboard socket and is compatible with your BIOS version?

 

If it still doesn't POST. R.I.P. motherboard. Is it still in warranty period?

[Sin Stalker]

20 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Try putting them in the media PC and see if it comes back with any errors on MemTestx86.

 

If your HDD's were doing that that brings us back to PSU but problems on the data lines could also cause ramping up/down/disconnects/reconnects. This would bring your motherboard into question.

Running memtest on the other system with the original ram now. 

 

For the HDDs, I was originally thinking PSU and talked myself out of it. Then talked myself into thinking it was the MOBO. I have heard about the lower quality first gen Ryzen boards being an issue and I've experienced this myself. My original motherboard was an Asus b350-f gaming motherboard. 

 

I was thinking it was an issue with Asus and their faith in AMD, but just recently there was a Jayz Two Cents video where he talks about the low qualify of the first gen ryzen boards. 

 

Both the previous board and this one were fine for a little over a year before they were messing up. 

 

 

17 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Bad CPU memory controller or a problem with the motherboard yes. What are the chances you have a spare CPU that fits your motherboard socket and is compatible with your BIOS version?

 

If it still doesn't POST. R.I.P. motherboard. Is it still in warranty period?

 

Very good actually. The media PC is a Ryzen 1600AF. After the memtest is done, I can swap them around.

 

But the mobo posts with one stick of the TridentZ I took from the media pc (not both) and will post with two sticks of the corsair vengeance pro rgb it normally has in it (but not a single stick config).

 

As for warranty, I'll have to check what Asus' warranty period is on this damned thing.

[Windows7ge]

 

24 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

But the mobo posts with one stick of the TridentZ I took from the media pc (not both) and will post with two sticks of the corsair vengeance pro rgb it normally has in it (but not a single stick config).

Gotta love troubleshooting PCs. This problem is indicative of everything we put up with for freedom.

 

When you can, swap the CPUs. If everything magically works with both kits it's the original CPU. Probably the memory controller. If the problem persists. Probably the motherboard. You can swap the GPU to take it out of the equation or use onboard if the CPU & motherboard are capable.

[Sin Stalker]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

 

Gotta love troubleshooting PCs. This problem is indicative of everything we put up with for freedom.

 

When you can, swap the CPUs. If everything magically works with both kits it's the original CPU. Probably the memory controller. If the problem persists. Probably the motherboard. You can swap the GPU to take it out of the equation or use onboard if the CPU & motherboard are capable.

Will do. Memtest is still running, so the CPU swap is going to be tomorrow.

 

I also just found out my mobo is still under warranty. So if that is the problem, I'm apparently covered. I'll use this thread as reference for when they start asking me what I've done to narrow the problem down to the motherboard. I'd also be tempted to upgrade to a x470 and resell the replacement x370. I feel like avoiding first gen ryzen boards like the plague at this point. Assuming the problem is the mobo.

[Windows7ge]

11 hours ago, Sin Stalker said:

Will do. Memtest is still running, so the CPU swap is going to be tomorrow.

 

I also just found out my mobo is still under warranty. So if that is the problem, I'm apparently covered. I'll use this thread as reference for when they start asking me what I've done to narrow the problem down to the motherboard. I'd also be tempted to upgrade to a x470 and resell the replacement x370. I feel like avoiding first gen ryzen boards like the plague at this point. Assuming the problem is the mobo.

If you upgrade just be careful. Due to limited space on the BIOS chip and people not wanting to pay for a new chipset to get on Ryzen 3XXX AMD dropped support for their lower end 1XXX & I believe 2XXX series chips. I need to re-look-up exactly which micro architecture series are affected by this but if you're using a low-end 1XXX series it may not work in an updated X470 board.

 

Look around. Find one that suits you and check the site for BIOS updates and see if it warns about it.

[Sin Stalker]

51 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

If you upgrade just be careful. Due to limited space on the BIOS chip and people not wanting to pay for a new chipset to get on Ryzen 3XXX AMD dropped support for their lower end 1XXX & I believe 2XXX series chips. I need to re-look-up exactly which micro architecture series are affected by this but if you're using a low-end 1XXX series it may not work in an updated X470 board.

 

Look around. Find one that suits you and check the site for BIOS updates and see if it warns about it.

Yeah, I Am conflicted to whether I want to grab a 2nd gen board like x470/b450, (which is fine with a 2700x) or if I want to go b550 (which would require a cpu upgrade to use).  I am also so frustrated by all this, I am tempted to go Intel again, grabbing an i5-10600k. Don't know yet. 

If the problem is my cpu, my board can handle a 3rd gen ryzen, so I'd probably do that.

 

Memtest came out completely green. I'll swap CPUs after class.

[Windows7ge]

9 minutes ago, Sin Stalker said:

Yeah, I Am conflicted to whether I want to grab a 2nd gen board like x470/b450, (which is fine with a 2700x) or if I want to go b550 (which would require a cpu upgrade to use).  I am also so frustrated by all this, I am tempted to go Intel again, grabbing an i5-10600k. Don't know yet. 

If the problem is my cpu, my board can handle a 3rd gen ryzen, so I'd probably do that.

 

Memtest came out completely green. I'll swap CPUs after class.

Your situation is actually quite lucky. Most people don't have the spare parts to do this type of troubleshooting.

 

Motherboards don't play a major role in making games or applications run faster. It's more about expansion & overclockability. If you don't need more ports, slots, or more RAM, and you either don't overclock or are happy with what you can achieve now there's no real point to upgrading.

[Sin Stalker]

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Your situation is actually quite lucky. Most people don't have the spare parts to do this type of troubleshooting.

 

Motherboards don't play a major role in making games or applications run faster. It's more about expansion & overclockability. If you don't need more ports, slots, or more RAM, and you either don't overclock or are happy with what you can achieve now there's no real point to upgrading.

I originally got this board because of the number of USB ports and sata ports. This was going to be my everything machine from normal fps gaming to VR, to school and projects. But the wife keeps using my office as a storage room. Instead of fighting it, I got her to agree for VR to be moved into the living room where there is more space. So I don't need as many ports on my current system.

 

However I do like to have the option to OC. With previous builds, I would take the time to play with overclocking over the summer or something. I wouldn't leave it on, but just run it to get some firestrike scores or something.      

 

Plus, I imagine the boost headroom is increased by having the overclockability (on amd). 

 

I also thought the quality of the board would be better than my previous b350-f board.

 

----------------------

 

Was bored during lecture and swapped the CPU. I put one stick of the original ram in, knowing it wasn't booting before with a single stick. It booted up right away. What I should have done was try to boot it with the original cpu instead. It could be the issue is gone for right now. Going to run some benchmarks and see if the system goes unstable again.

[Sin Stalker]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

Your situation is actually quite lucky. Most people don't have the spare parts to do this type of troubleshooting.

 

Motherboards don't play a major role in making games or applications run faster. It's more about expansion & overclockability. If you don't need more ports, slots, or more RAM, and you either don't overclock or are happy with what you can achieve now there's no real point to upgrading.

Game crashed as soon as map loaded. Problem is not with the CPU.

 

So I need to swap the PSU and if that doesn't fix the issues, its for sure mobo?

[Windows7ge]

If we've ruled out the GPU and a new PSU doesn't help I see no other component than the Motherboard to blame. That or some sort of incompatibility. Sometimes BIOS updates fix stability issues like this.

 

I'd google if other people who own your board are experiencing similar problems.

[Sin Stalker]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

If we've ruled out the GPU and a new PSU doesn't help I see no other component than the Motherboard to blame. That or some sort of incompatibility. Sometimes BIOS updates fix stability issues like this.

 

I'd google if other people who own your board are experiencing similar problems.

 

GPU is ruled out. PSU has not been replaced yet. But I thought, per the issues with the memory (1 stick vs 2 sticks of two different sets) that the problem was related to a memory controller issue? And that would be either CPU, RAM or MOBO. Since RAM and CPU check out, I thought that leaves the mobo as the only remaining option.

 

I need to weigh my options now. I am going to plan as thought its the mobo while the RMA PSU unit is in the mail. As soon as I get the PSU, I'll slap it in and double check. I will let you know if what happens.

 

Thank you so much for the help. I owe you.