Faulty CPU or mobo possibly. Advice needed!

yoyo

Hi folks,

Been having a bit of a nightmare dealing with a new system upgrade (13700k). First board Amazon sent me was completely dead. Would not power up. Returned it and now have a new board (different make). This board will power up ok but it is stalling at the CPU LED diagnostic light. It will not boot.

CPU and socket look fine I think (see pictures). Finding it very difficult to find someone with a Series 13 socket system who could check the chip for me so I'm thinking either another dead motherboard or CPU. The board is a Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.1).

I've tried the usual tests, different ram in different sockets. Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to try another RAM brand just to see if it is something that simple.

Power wise it is a new Corsair RM1000e. PSU is good to power my old system. I did of course put in both 8 pin power connectors, makes no difference. My RAM is not on Gigabytes "Supported Memory" list. Could this cause the machine not to post? I've always seen those guidelines as something to do with the clock speed of the RAM, but board should be able to work using that RAM. Maybe with DDR5 that is different..

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Spear

What RAM is it? Are the two sticks being used? I only see one in the wrong channel in that image.

What cooler is being used? Was it connected to the right fan header?

Where are you located? I have spare DDR5 that could be used for testing.

Mech1

Make sure cpu fan is plugged in and running.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373063#Comment_121373063

Thanks Spear. This is the RAM: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7748PX5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Yes RAM has been moved around into multiple slots, I tried one then the other stick in each socket. no joy. The cooler is Noctua NH-D9L. Fan is connected to CPU_FAN header on board (and fan does spin).I put the RAM into B1 because I seen somewhere online someone said that fixed it for them, but no joy for me!

I am based in Citywest/Saggart area. Thanks for the quick response

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373085#Comment_121373085

It sure is. I notice on this board there is a CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT header. I used the CPU_FAN header because I understand the other one stands for optional looking online.

Another thing I tried was to boot the PC without heatsink connected. I did connect fan and it started spinning. CPU didn't warm up at all, not sure how valid this test is though

Mech1

Pull the board back outta the box and reset, boot everything on the table.

Makes trouble shooting much easier.

smuggler.ie

Just gona point to CPU 13700k support - marked after F2 BIOS update

https://gigabyte-data.com/products/page/mb/Z790-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-10/support#support-cpu

Could it be that it requires update before it can take it?

https://gigabyte-data.com/products/page/mb/Z790-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-10/support#support-dl

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373107#Comment_121373107

I will try that. I did try reseating CPU and no joy there.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373109#Comment_121373109

I ran into the same confusion Smuggler, you are looking at Revision 1.0. My board is 1.1. Click the 1.x button on the specs page and you will see 13700k support was added at the base firmware for 1.1 revision

Spear

That RAM should have no issue, not being on the compatibility list isn't a factor.

I doubt all the RAM is bad, but it's not getting past the CPU initialization anyway. DOA CPUs really are very rare on the other hand.

I'd suggest disassembling the parts from the case, and test it on a wooden surface with the bare minimum.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373127#Comment_121373127

Yes that is my belief. Ive never had either a CPU or Motherboard DOA and I've built many PCs over the years.

Be unusual for both sticks to be bad for the RAM also. I'll try booting it off the table. That is one thing I did not try

yoyo

Right I jerry rigged up a setup on the kitchen table using my old PSU (should be fine Corsair 650M for that load. Same issue. Here is a video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Aikzw37ay3c

As you can see the CPU light remains on. Here is a better picture of the pins, I'm certain none are damaged or bent?

Spear

I wonder if the first board fried the CPU at this point. And it wasn't failing to power up, but was actually shorted instead. If the CPU was DOA all along, the first board would have still powered on, even if it didn't POST. Unfortunately I don't have any socket 1700 CPUs to test with it.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373262#Comment_121373262

I'm beginning to think the same way Spear. I did read online that a bad CPU fan might cause CPU not to work. So To test this theory I put an old oem stock cooler I had lying around into the CPU_FAN header and the Noctua into the optional one. Alas both fans spin but the dreaded no signal.

One of my neighbours might have some DDR5 RAM I can borrow tomorrow, failing that I think CPU RMA is needed at this point I think?

minitrue

Looks like you have a 13700K so no need for the graphics card and I'd disconnect it and connect to the onboard graphics. If it gets past the cpu led check hdmi and displayport for output. TBH you don't even need a display connected until it gets past the cpu led.

I'd certainly also try resetting the cmos if you haven't yet.

If it's still not working then I'd probably take everything back out and flash the bios. If it won't even do that (which you will only really be able to tell by the fact it doesn't spend a few minutes flashing the led) you'll know the board is borked enough to be returning it. If that works but it still won't boot once you put the cpu/ram back then you can try more DDR5 if you can get your hands on some.

FTR I've no LGA1700 or DDR5 hardware.

Spear

It does seem the most likely suspect right now, but I personally would still prefer to see how it responds with another CPU. Does the neighbour have a socket 1700 system, if they have DDR5? You could also try your DDR5 in their system to check it's okay.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373456#Comment_121373456

Flashed latest bios using the button utility seems to complete successfully but still same issue. Nice catch on the CPU Graphics, thought it needed discrete card. Even without card same problem. CMOS also reset, no joy.

I'll try the memory tomorrow hopefully. Would you suspect another failed board, or CPU at this stage?

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373472#Comment_121373472

Unfortunately not, regretting the decision to be an 'early adopter' now 😂. He said he might have some in the office, I'll ask him if he can check my RAM tomorrow but think it would be odd for 2 sticks to be DOA with same symptoms. I'm still thinking the MSI Tomahawk might have taken the CPU with it.. But I did have a M2 and GPU on the same board, and they didn't fry. (I should also point out M2 and GPU are known working, running my old system currently now on this M2 and new GPU)

K.O.Kiki

Just an FYI but you should never put a motherboard & boot it on the outside of an anti-static bag.

The outside of the bag is where all the static accumulates.

Should be putting it on cardboard or wood.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373580#Comment_121373580

I've learnt something new, thank you! Was not aware of that.

minitrue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373538#Comment_121373538

I'd suspect cpu given the board managed to flash the bios and maybe even the first board was fine and it was just the cpu made it seem like the problem but it's also possible both were doa or the first board took out the cpu. I think Occam's razor says it was and still is the cpu but impossible really to know without a lot more detail about the problem with the first board.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373686#Comment_121373686

First board was basically no power. No lights, no debug led's lit, no fans spinning, no sign of life. I suspect first board did short CPU for that reason. but weirdly it had my M2 and GPU in it also which both fortunately survived!

I cannot really comment much more about the first board. Alarmingly a number of Amazon reviews reporting the board arrived DOA. For reference, the first board (filter one star reviews, a number DOA):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09Y1FJBHX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Going to try the new stick of RAM tomorrow hopefully, failing that I'm thinking CPU needs to go back and be replaced.

yoyo

So a bit of a interesting development here. Amazon won't accept a CPU replacement. They'll take it back and refund. I'd have to buy the CPU again however. I don't mind that but the price has shot up by £70! They are not budging, so I am just going to return everything. Maybe a blessing in disguise..

I can look into this project again another time, probably in the new year..

It is actually bizarre, they will be taking back: Memory, Motherboard, 8TB HDD (opened), south card, faulty CPU. I guess they don't care..

Spear

Some Black Friday deals may appear shortly, so keep an eye over the next two weeks anyway.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379906#Comment_121379906

The cynic in me that is probably why it went up!

I'm actually using gift card balance mostly for this purchase (work gift) so I'll probably wait until the new year before I tackle this project again. Don't want to be spending cash when have around 1500€ gift card balance (if I didn't have the gift balance, amazon would have been a last resort for computer parts!)

yoyo

Just an update on this. Everything went back to Amazon last November (took over 6 weeks for refunds!!) except PSU and Video Card. I ordered the same kit pretty much bar different CPU cooler (went with Corsair AIO cooler), Asus Z790 mobo and KF CPU model as didn't need integrated video. Had everything a couple of days later of course CPU was to take 10 bloody days..

Put everything together today and all is working as expected. Still not sure whether it was bad CPU or second faulty board, but happy to say this saga is over.

On another note Amazon definitely do sell opened items as "new". Ordered a 2TB Crucial NVME M2 and it had been clearly opened. Just going to use it for game installs so I'll hold on to it and get Amazon to hopefully give me something off it. But yes, Amazon do sell used stuff as "New". Doesn't inspire much confidence.. I'm guessing someone ordered it thinking all M.2 disks are the same, but SATA they all aint..

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121603701#Comment_121603701

Check the SMART data on the drive, and see what the power on hours are. If it's anything other than trivial, send it back.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121603708#Comment_121603708

Didn't think of that Spear, I think it's only been on 5 hours which is probably all by me! So I think it's fine to keep. I do intend getting amazon to give me something off it though.. It's only going to be a game data drive anyway..

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===

Model Number:            CT2000P3PSSD8

Firmware Version:          P9CR40A

PCI Vendor/Subsystem ID:      0xc0a9

IEEE OUI Identifier:        0x00a075

Controller ID:           1

NVMe Version:            1.4

Number of Namespaces:        1

Namespace 1 Size/Capacity:     2,000,398,934,016 [2.00 TB]

Namespace 1 Formatted LBA Size:   512

Namespace 1 IEEE EUI-64:      6479a7 82f0000060

Local Time is:           Thu Jan 11 19:41:28 2024 GMTST

Firmware Updates (0x12):      1 Slot, no Reset required

Optional Admin Commands (0x0017):  Security Format Frmw_DL Self_Test

Optional NVM Commands (0x005e):   Wr_Unc DS_Mngmt Wr_Zero Sav/Sel_Feat Timestmp

Log Page Attributes (0x06):     Cmd_Eff_Lg Ext_Get_Lg

Maximum Data Transfer Size:     64 Pages

Warning Comp. Temp. Threshold:   85 Celsius

Critical Comp. Temp. Threshold:   95 Celsius

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===

SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)

Critical Warning:          0x00

Temperature:            38 Celsius

Available Spare:          100%

Available Spare Threshold:     5%

Percentage Used:          0%

Data Units Read:          214,423 [109 GB]

Data Units Written:         202,286 [103 GB]

Host Read Commands:         507,069

Host Write Commands:        396,967

Controller Busy Time:        0

Power Cycles:            18

Power On Hours:           5

Unsafe Shutdowns:          7

Media and Data Integrity Errors:  0

Error Information Log Entries:   127

Warning Comp. Temperature Time:  0

Critical Comp. Temperature Time:  0

Temperature Sensor 1:        38 Celsius

Temperature Sensor 2:        50 Celsius

Temperature Sensor 8:        38 Celsius

Spear

A little odd, it's been on only a very short while, but was restarted a bunch of times fairly rapidly. I'd guess someone couldn't get it work properly in their PC or found it caused something they didn't like, e.g. set their GPU down x8 PCIe lanes. But it seems healthy otherwise.

yoyo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121603785#Comment_121603785

That was me, couldn't get RAM to play nicely with XMP profiles :) . so there were a couple of resets (bios update is a task for another day but my RAM isn't running at it's rated frequency). Amazon going to give me 10% off the disk so it's not too bad..

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121603797#Comment_121603797

Then it seems unused even if opened. 10% off for the sake of not opening a plastic seal sticker is okay then.