PC Won't Boot – Error Code 97, B2 & 02

ReaverOP · February 8

A few days ago, my PC shut off while gaming and showed error codes 9E & 97. I looked it up, and everything pointed to a bad GPU, so I sent my MSI RTX 3080 Ti for RMA. Got the replacement today, but the issue persists—error 97 on boot and sometimes it shows B2, and when I remove PCIe cables, it shows 02.

I've tried:

Resetting BIOS & removing CMOS battery

Reseating CPU (Ryzen 7 5800X)

Changing PSU, RAM, and PCIe cables

Testing all PCIe slots

Using a different monitor/cable

Still no luck. Could this be a motherboard (ROG Crosshair VIII Hero) or CPU issue? No spare GPU to test. Any advice?

Mufpunter · February 10

It could be a motherboard issue. You've already got a good start on diagnostics. When you say you tested all the PCIe slots, what did you test them with? If you can get even a $10 generic GPU that is compatible with your system, that would be a good way to determine if the motherboard is the problem. The only other thing I would try is attempting to boot a USB os like tails, or a different boot SSD. It's not likely that your boot drive is the problem, but if you can rule it out, that would further narrow down your list of suspects to the motherboard.