think my motherboard has died!

I posted here in 2019:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058007505/first-ever-build-feedback-welcome

I got a MSI B450I motherboard at the time:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FNMLCTC

I'm thinking it's failed. PC gets power but nothing happens...no POST or anything. For some time previously the PC would hard lock/freeze whilst gaming. I tried to troubleshoot, thought it might be bad RAM took out a stick of RAM and it was fine for a while (about two months). I'm thinking it was the mobo all along and taking out the RAM helped for a bit? Dunno really.

Anyway as for a replacement I was looking at this:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B089VYCHMG

Is that suitable? i.e compatible with the RAM, CPU, GPU and PSU I already have from the original post?

Thanks!

K.O.Kiki

That motherboard doesn't support Ryzen 5-2600.

It needs A320, B350, B450, X470 or X570 chipset.

e.g. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07FVVNDFX

Yup just realised all the compatible mobos are practically all gone from sale. Guess it's just old and out of date.

Curry Addict

before going for a new mobo make sure your system is free of dust, particularly the CPU heatsink. reseat your graphics card. Reseat the cpu, repaste and refit the heatsink. borrow a PSU and try it. After that then a new Mobo.

Ooof that sounds like a lot of effort for my lazy ass....:D

By the way is buying a used motherboard on eBay a very bad idea? Was looking at this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255911426366

Obviously buying new is the way to go but beggars can't be choosers...

Spear

Like Curry Addict above, I'd still caution you to make sure it's the board before parting with your cash to replace something that may not be dud. Any number of dud components could be misbehaving in a way that prevents a proper POST, and that includes something with a borderline physical connection.

would you not try replacing the RAM first since that was what solved the problem initially?

i can’t imagine the board being fecked and pulling a stick helping temporarily it seems more like one DIMM died & the other ones followed.

The Continental Op

Another one I always check are the case and motherboard USB connectors someone really heavy handed can easily damage the connectors leaving a short to ground. The usual result is PC starts for a split second then goes off.

OK guys I hear you, I'll double check the existing components as advised (just have to try and find the time).....thanks for the help.

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120094315#Comment_120094315

Do you have access to parts to swap out to test with? Where are you located (broadly), in case someone nearby can help?

like the way I’d be going if I were you and the board actually is dead is selling anything that’s working and going with a new gen board and cpu.

Your PSU, case, GPU, SSD etc can all be moved across so it wouldn’t be that expensive. If you luck out and just need a new cpu and board won’t even cost that much.

nothing wrong with buying a used motherboard but the other side is you don’t know for sure how much use it’s had, was it looked after in storage (if applicable) or will you buy it and in another month or two find it’s dead too so you’ve effectively wasted that money.

Obviously this assumes you have the budget for it.

Homelander

Kinda agree with the above. The Ryzen 2600 is pretty old at this point, though personally if it is the board I would just get a €60 A320M and call it a day.

I wouldn't invest bigger money in a 2nd hand board. At this point you'd get a Ryzen 5600X and A520M for what, €250? And it would absolutely trounce the 2600 performance wise.

platinums

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093783#Comment_120093783

lol, Time or Money - which one will you pay with.

I went back to this today (I have other gaming devices I was using in the meantime). Anyway I was surprised to see that there were signs of life! I pressed the power button, the light turned on and the fan inside was working. Think I could hear the hard drive whirring as well. I connected up a HDMI cable but sadly there was no output.

Bizarre that it's at least turning on now when it was completely dead before. Anyway would I be right that this means it's not a faulty PSU or motherboard? Given that the fan was moving and there was a light on inside?

So that leaves the GPU or CPU....I guess I'm going to finally have to do what Curry Addict advised above. I'm more motivated this time than when I first posted back in January.

Homelander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120740489#Comment_120740489

A working motherboard will still operate fine with the cmos battery.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120092869#Comment_120092869

I spent the morning sweating in this heat doing everything you said. I turned it on and after five minutes of the monitor showing "standby mode" I eventually got a BIOS screen! And then got into Windows.

Whilst I'm not 100% sure it was the solution thanks for the suggestion! But why do all that? It's not like I was moving the PC around so that stuff could come loose. It was completely in situ.

The reason I'm not sure is before I left it dormant for six months it was showing no signs of life. Yesterday before I cleaned things out it was at least powering up.

It occurred to me when I was using it I had it plugged into a 12 way extension tower....I wonder are PCs too power hungry for such a thing and it wasn't getting enough juice?

I don't suppose there's any diagnostic things I can do now that it's working again to figure out what went wrong?

Anyway thanks again for all the replies and hopefully it'll stay working (even though it's fairly outdated now).

The Continental Op

I'd be thinking it might be something to do with capacitors. https://www.geeksinphoenix.com/blog/post/2013/08/11/How-to-check-your-desktop-computer-for-failed-capacitors You might just have one thats iffy.

Sounds very possible. May I ask what would you recommend in that scenario? Buy a new mobo OR get the soldering iron out?

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120748797#Comment_120748797

If I could see caps that were obviously bulged then provided you can use a soldering iron its worth a shot. Desoldering is the biggest part of it. An old mobo might be handy for donor parts and to try you skills out on.