I rebooted my PC and now my motherboard is giving me a CPU Fail error.

[Rhapsodic]

I recently assembled my computer, adding a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM. The computer worked fine for the time being, and I played a game on it for a bit.  I fiddled with MSI Command Center and turned on OC Genie (although I rebooted after this and didn't run into this issue the first or second time around...).

 

Sometime later on that night, Radeon CCC was telling me that it recovered from a WattMan error or something along the lines of that, so I rebooted, and that's when this happened. My motherboard is an MSI Z270 PC MATE, so it comes with LEDs to indicate the problem. In this case, it's lighting up the CPU LED, which the manual says indicates that the CPU isn't detected or failed. Thinking this might be OC Genie's fault, I went ahead and tried resetting the CMOS by removing the battery for a minute and holding down the power button for 15 seconds (with power disconnected). When that didn't work, I also tried shorting the 'Clear CMOS' pins to no avail; I still get the same error.

 

To wrap up, here's some facts;

 

1. I got this motherboard yesterday and the CPU five days ago, so it's highly unlikely it failed.
2.  BIOS is inaccessible. There's no POST screen nor any video output (via graphics card).
3. This setup was working fine for a span of around six hours or more.
4. RAM is *not* the issue. I've tried booting with only stick and besides that, the LEDs work in a sequence (CPU/DRAM/VGA/BOOT). If something in that sequence failed, it'll show up in that order. As it stands, the CPU light lit up, not the DRAM light.
5. There are no beep codes, the speaker is attached and it has beeped before while I was setting it up (due to the RAM not being plugged in).

 

Here's a relevant list of parts;

 

CPU: Intel i7 7700k
Mobo: MSI Z270 PC MATE
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: XFX R9 290X
PSU: 750W Rosewill brand (can get exact model at request)

 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[stratege1401]

OC a system could fry it in less than 5 mns. Having bought your hardware 5 day ago is NOT a proof it did not failed.

 

So say ram is not an issue, and also Dram light did not show up... for me this is conflicting. If ram is not an issue, it should be light up, no ???

 

My first step, would be to search for cmos clear jumper and do a full bios reset. ( bouton, jumper, check the mobo docs )

 

And again, OC might have killed yor hardware.

[Guest]

I've heard reseating the CPU can help, maybe give that a try.

[redscape]

The Wattman error is related to Radeon GPUs. But CPU failure with GPU error is something ver unlikely. This has occured in laptops with radeon cards, and had to do with windows tellin the mobo to go to sleep state. But for a desktop, I have no idea.

Spoiler

 

 

[jamesc639]

Check the cpu power supply cable and make sure it isnt loose and make sure ram as well as all other cables are properly seated and if nothing seems to do the trick its mostly likely either the mobo or cpu if at all possible use another sytem to troubleshoot but if not rma the board and see what happens if still no dice rma the cpu

 

[stratege1401]

reset jumper is JBAT1 position 36 diagram from https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-PC-MATE.html#down-manual

[Rhapsodic]

2 minutes ago, stratege1401 said:

OC a system could fry it in less than 5 mns. Having bought your hardware 5 day ago is NOT a proof it did not failed.

 

So say ram is not an issue, and also Dram light did not show up... for me this is conflicting. If ram is not an issue, it should be light up, no ???

 

My first step, would be to search for cmos clear jumper and do a full bios reset. ( bouton, jumper, check the mobo docs )

 

And again, OC might have killed yor hardware.

The LEDs indicate a failure, not a success. That's why the CPU LED is lit up. 

1 minute ago, namandoesnotpanic said:

I've heard reseating the CPU can help, maybe give that a try.

I'll give it a shot in a few hours since I can't right now. 

1 minute ago, Red____14 said:

The Wattman error is related to Radeon GPUs. But CPU failure with GPU error is something ver unlikely. This has occured in laptops with radeon cards, and had to do with windows tellin the mobo to go to sleep state. But for a desktop, I have no idea.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I'm not sure the occurrences are even related but I'm being thorough. 

[paddy-stone]

It's almost certainly the OC genie that is at fault IMO... I hate that shit.

 

reset CMOS and boot into the computer again.. with any luck it was just too high of an OC for the system to boot.

[stratege1401]

This sound like a fried cpu !!!

[Rhapsodic]

1 minute ago, jamesc639 said:

Check the cpu power supply cable and make sure it isnt loose and make sure ram as well as all other cables are properly seated and if nothing seems to do the trick its mostly likely either the mobo or cpu if at all possible use another sytem to troubleshoot but if not rma the board and see what happens if still no dice rma the cpu

 

Cables are all good. I want sending those back to be a last resort, but I'll do it if it's what I end up needing to do.

Just now, stratege1401 said:

reset jumper is JBAT1 position 36 diagram from https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-PC-MATE.html#down-manual

Already did this as per what I said in the post. The motherboard didn't come with a cap for this so I shorted the two pins by having them both touch a screwdriver head for 15s (power not on). 

[Rhapsodic]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

It's almost certainly the OC genie that is at fault IMO... I hate that shit.

 

reset CMOS and boot into the computer again.. with any luck it was just too high of an OC for the system to boot.

At this point a fried CPU is becoming a bit more likely given that doing so either didn't work (for whatever reason) or did nothing of value; I tried resetting by removing the battery and then by shorting the Clear CMOS pins with a screwdriver, neither of which worked. 

[stratege1401]

1 minute ago, Rhapsodic said:

Cables are all good. I want sending those back to be a last resort, but I'll do it if it's what I end up needing to do.

Already did this as per what I said in the post. The motherboard didn't come with a cap for this so I shorted the two pins by having them both touch a screwdriver head for 15s (power not on). 

I do believe you need to power up for clearing cmos with jumper 

[paddy-stone]

NO offense to the OP at all here, but this is one of the reasons I hate it when people say building a PC is like building lego... that really annoys me!

[stratege1401]

dont take last comment in consideration, bad timing

 

[stratege1401]

realllly sound like a fried cpu !!! 

[Rhapsodic]

3 minutes ago, stratege1401 said:

I do believe you need to power up for clearing cmos with jumper 

Bad idea according to this. 

[Natsoup]

13 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

NO offense to the OP at all here, but this is one of the reasons I hate it when people say building a PC is like building lego... that really annoys me!

iirc they say something more along the lines of "it's like building legos for adults."

[Rhapsodic]

I was looking around and apparently some motherboards have a CMOS Reset switch on the back. Can anyone find details on if mine is one of those, since I can't find anything on it?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Rhapsodic said:

I was looking around and apparently some motherboards have a CMOS Reset switch on the back. Can anyone find details on if mine is one of those, since I can't find anything on it?

If you have a CMOS reset switch, you should be able to see it on the board, or on the back at the I/O shield.

 

From your manual, it seems as though you don't have such a button. Manual source: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-PC-MATE.html#down-manual

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Natsoup said:

iirc they say something more along the lines of "it's like building legos for adults."

Yeah, it's still insulting for system builders that make a living from this though and have spent years gaining knowledge to deal with problems that arise... and it's also not good for noobs that are given a false impression of what can be involved if the system build doesn't go smoothly for them. Yes it can be easy if people read up on it first and gain some knowledge of what's involved, then if the actual build goes smoothly, then it's no problem... otherwise it will be a very painful experience for them emotionally as they have possibly spent thousndns of dollars on something that won't work at that point. They may end up having to get a professional to help them after all.

 

I would liken it more to assembling ikea furniture, professionals know what they are doing regardless of the instructions usually.. and if they run into a problem it can be fixed relatively easily, but for noobs, they should read the instructions thoroughly and be prepared to spend possibly many hours troubleshooting.

[paddy-stone]

5 minutes ago, Rhapsodic said:

I was looking around and apparently some motherboards have a CMOS Reset switch on the back. Can anyone find details on if mine is one of those, since I can't find anything on it?

It doesn't make any difference if you have already removed the battery for 20 seconds or so as you said earlier.

 

[edit] OP,  what is your computer competency like building wise?  Is this your first computer build?

[Natsoup]

9 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Yeah, it's still insulting for system builders that make a living from this though and have spent years gaining knowledge to deal with problems that arise... and it's also not good for noobs that are given a false impression of what can be involved if the system build doesn't go smoothly for them. Yes it can be easy if people read up on it first and gain some knowledge of what's involved, then if the actual build goes smoothly, then it's no problem... otherwise it will be a very painful experience for them emotionally as they have possibly spent thousndns of dollars on something that won't work at that point. They may end up having to get a professional to help them after all.

 

I would liken it more to assembling ikea furniture, professionals know what they are doing regardless of the instructions usually.. and if they run into a problem it can be fixed relatively easily, but for noobs, they should read the instructions thoroughly and be prepared to spend possibly many hours troubleshooting.

Well said. I think it also depends on the complexity of the system. It can be very simple or very complex depending on part choice and customization.

[Rhapsodic]

1 hour ago, paddy-stone said:

It doesn't make any difference if you have already removed the battery for 20 seconds or so as you said earlier.

 

[edit] OP,  what is your computer competency like building wise?  Is this your first computer build?

This is my first build but keep in mind this is me adding parts to it as opposed to installing them for the first time, so it's not like I don't know anything. That being said, I've been working on this since Saturday due to various problems with parts (prime example being that I got a Z170 motherboard initially but it didn't work since it didn't have the BIOS update needed), so I'm at a breaking point right now where I really don't want to have to send back parts for a replacement again. 

[paddy-stone]

OK,

2 hours ago, Rhapsodic said:

This is my first build but keep in mind this is me adding parts to it as opposed to installing them for the first time, so it's not like I don't know anything. That being said, I've been working on this since Saturday due to various problems with parts (prime example being that I got a Z170 motherboard initially but it didn't work since it didn't have the BIOS update needed), so I'm at a breaking point right now where I really don't want to have to send back parts for a replacement again. 

OK, I still think it'd be better to do an out-of-case troubleshooting for now. You can try:-

 

1. Reset the CMOS again, by turning off the PSU at the siwitch on it, discharge the capacitors by pressing and holding the PC start button... take the battery out. Don't put it back just yet.
2. Take the GPU out, we'll try the iGPU for now, so hook it up to the motherboards output for now.
3. Take out all RAM except 1.
4. Dis-connect all peripherals except keyboard for now.
5. replace the BIOS battery.
6. try to POST again.

If the above still fails to get a signal, try a different monitor lead. try a different ram module, Then try re-seating the CPU and heatsink. The reason I am asking you to do the above is trying the easiest things first, then moving onto more difficult.

 

 

If still no luck, it might be time to start from scratch and take the mobo out of the case for testing, and go through above steps again. Do you have a linux liveUSB by any chance? this might also come in useful at some point, but don't worry if you don't have one at the moment. Once you have tried all the above and you still get no luck, it might be time to RMA the hardware if you don't have spare hardware to test with. Another option would be to ask a friend if they have a compatible CPU that you can borrow to try and see if it POSTS then... or you could buy the cheapest CPU available for that socket to test. If not then you are most likely going to have to RMA stuff and start again. If you end up RMA'ing stuff, with the new hardware check for POST outside of case first to check hardware is working, then move onto the build and take your time and check stuff over many times if needed to make sure you have it correct... I'm not blaming you or anything, I'm just saying it's a good rule to double/triple check your work when you're new to building or have been interrupted at some point. If you miss a step it could lead to disaster.

I hope some of this has been helpful for you, and hope you get your problem sorted.. I know how disheartening this can be for someone to go through, even pro builders have these moments from time to time, but luckily we have other hardware we can use for testing purposes when troubleshooting. Good luck

 

[Rhapsodic]

@paddy-stone

 

Reseating it appeared to work.

 

ive got to say, that entire process was a gigantic pain in the ass and I can only hope it doesn't happen again. Give that reseating it fixed it, I doubt it was OC Genie, but I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole now. Thanks for the help, if any more issues arise I'll post here.