PC freezing on boot after CPU upgrade, on multiple OS

hako · May 20, 2022

Recently I took my Ryzen 5800X out of my PC and put it into a different PC. I bought a 5950X to replace the 5800X, and it worked fine at first... sort of.

The PC booted without issue, and I tried to run a benchmark (FurMark CPU burner) to test max temp with a new cooler. While running, the PC shut down. Thinking it was an accident, I tried it again... only for the PC to shut down while I was out of the room. PSU is 850W; it's absolutely plenty for just a CPU benchmark, considering the following...

After reading a bit online, I saw that some suggested enabling XMP when they had the same issue. Another person suggested the VRMs were getting too hot and shutting down the computer; however, before I could test that theory, I enabled XMP, started Windows, and ran benchmarks again. It ran perfectly, running both the GPU benchmark and CPU burner at the same time, max temps were around 90C, and the VRM MOSFET seemed to only measure around 70C max. (CPU temp is acceptable, since it only reached 90C after about 20 minutes of continuous, 100% load, which is unrealistic in normal use.)

I shut down those few benchmarks and left it idling while I left the house to drive somewhere. When I came back, it had rebooted, and was on the Windows login screen, completely frozen. Keyboard and mouse were unresponsive.

After rebooting, the PC will no longer boot to any OS. Windows gets up to the spinning logo for three seconds, then it either reboots entirely or gets stuck. Linux Mint compatibility mode on a USB drive will boot up to a certain point, and then freeze, and the console cursor stops blinking.

So far, I've tried all of these with no success, and in no particular order:

- Took out my wireless NIC

- Took out my 10Gb NIC

- Updated/reflashed BIOS (B550 Aorus Elite, ver. F10 -> F15c)

- Swapped my known working RTX 3080 Ti for a known working RX 570
- Tried four, two, and just one stick of RAM, then reseated every one

- Unplugged all NVMe and SATA drives
- Disabled AMD fTPM (disabled ever since the PC was built, then enabled after the new CPU was installed)

- Reseated CPU, also checked all pins and socket... nothing is dirty or bent

- (Not troubleshooting) PC is now plugged into a power strip on a 1500VA UPS, instead of a power strip directly into the wall

A few other observations: it seems like it maybe "double POSTs" when I first turn it on; it sounds like does the 100% fan spin twice, instead of the usual one time. Also, I could stay in the BIOS for as long as I want, and it would never freeze; but as soon as it seems like the OS starts to do anything more complicated, it just freezes or reboots. And I doubt this matters at all, but MB 5V measured at about 5.1V, and 12V ~= 12.3V, last time I checked the BIOS.

Is there anything that I'm missing?? Anything else that I should try??? Replacing the motherboard is fine... but I really don't want to have a $600 paperweight on my hands. That's the only component that I can reasonably assume is the culprit at this point...

da na · May 20, 2022

Can you put the old CPU back in, and see if it works? That'd rule out the new chip as the problem quite fast

hako · May 20, 2022

12 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

Can you put the old CPU back in, and see if it works? That'd rule out the new chip as the problem quite fast

I did realize that I had to do this, right after I posted the question. Unfortunately I’ll have to try this later, since it’s now 9:50 am and I’ve been awake for way too long already [slowly fades away]

hako · May 21, 2022

After testing the 5950X in other computers, and returning the 5800X back to my PC, I’ve come to the conclusion that this processor is bad. It’ll run benchmarks just fine, and it’ll transcode media all day, but during normal usage, it will just randomly decide to reboot or freeze completely. I have never had this issue with my 5800X on a B550 or an X570 board, but this 5950X will not run stable on either chipset. I’m sending it back.