Help with new AMD build

Hello

A friend of mine asked if I could have a look at a new PC 15 year old her son has put together.

He can not get it to work. I have a fair bit of experience building computers but I would not say I am an expert.

The PC is:

MB: Asus ROG Strix B450-E

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

RAM: Corsair CMK Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4 3200 MHz

PSU: Corsair CV650

M.2: Western Digital Blue 3D NAND Internal SSD M.2 SATA 500GB

Case: NZXT H510 Compact ATX Mid-Tower PC Case

All brand new from Ebuyer (UK) from what I was told.

Any compatibility issues with that list?

I have never built an AMD system so I am a bit in the dark about some of the issues that I have reading about while looking into this.

Having had a good look at the PC it looks like he has done a fine job putting it all together.

When you switch the PSU on the LEDs on the motherboard come on.

However when the power button is pressed there is an audible click, but nothing happens. None of the fans come on no post, nothing.

The front panel cable is a bit strange and requires an adaptor. I am not sure if I have got it right (and it is not that clear in the manual).

However, I think I have a least got the power switch correct as the audible click on pressing the power button only happens when the front panel switch is attached.

I have tried one stick of the RAM and in different slots and removing the GPU so as to run it from the onboard graphics.

I have also taken all the power and connections out and putting back just the necessary essentials to get it running. Still, the same happens.

Have I missed something obvious?

Like I said I am not familiar with AMD. I have been building Intel systems since the late 90s and never had anything like this happen before.

I do not have a spare PSU to try and I donā€™t really want to dismantle my work computer to see if the PSU is the issue. I canā€™t imagine that it is the brand new PSU though!

Any help, thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

B

The B450s are not all compatible out of box with the Ryzen 3xxx CPUs. Some require a BIOS upgrade, make sure the box has an orange ā€œAMD 3000 Readyā€ marker.

Other than that, have you tried to short circuit the power switch pins with a screwdriver, just to eliminate the power switch?

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the mobo page says the board is 3000 series ready

power supply is actual garbage could be the issue?

if the power button is suspect just take a screwdriver or anything metal and try jumping the board on the pins themselves

if that doesnt work i usually just reassemble the entire pc to see if bad connections were the issue

Yes, but it may still need a BIOS update. My board is B350 and is Ryzen 3000 ready and compatible and and all the buzzwordsā€¦
My guess is BIOSā€¦

My guess is BIOS comaptibility thingieā€¦ Since itā€™s new just bring it back and ask them to update the BIOS or just resolve the issue, since itā€™s all from one placeā€¦

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

Yes, I had wondered about the BIOS update but it did come up in a list that said it was 3000 ready too.

I will try the jumper with a screwdriver.
If I have to try it with my power supply I will give it a go tomorrow morning.

Thanks again

All 450 support the 3000 series but it must have this marker on the motherboard box if it support the 3000 series out of box. You could have gotten some leftover inventory stock.

If the motherboard does not have this marker, update the BIOS that is most probably your problem.

When you push the power button and the audible click is heard, does any fan start spinning at all? Or LED light up? You said nothing happens, so Iā€™m expecting a front-panel connection issue. Most likely the cables arenā€™t plugged in where they should be on the motherboard. Both an online manual of the motherboard (or a physical one if it even has one anymore) should show you the + and - of each lead: Power, Reset, Power LED, HDD LED. The + and - are required to be in the correct order only for the LEDs to work. Plugging it the opposite way usually doesnā€™t do anything from my earlier experience. Usually the front panel connector layouts are pretty standard on all motherboards.

As trickkynickk pointed out, try shorting out the power pins with a screwdriver and see if any fans spin up.

Thanks for all the comments.

I got it to all turn on.

All the fans including the GPU fans are now all coming on.

Turns out it was a fan header that was causing the problem. When I swapped to a different header on the board it started to work. Maybe a bad header?

However, now I cannot get it to post, just getting a blank screen.

Again I have tried different RAM configs including one stick. I have also tried the GPU in a different PCIe slot.

So far no good.

Starting to think this may need the BIOS update? I have not got the box. I will ask the owner in the morning.

If it is the BIOS update, how does he go about it? Is the company that he purchased the CPU and MB from obligated to send a 2000 CPU to send back?

Again any suggestions would be great

Thanks in advance

B

Updateā€¦

It is the BIOS update. I have checked the link he got the MB from and it says Ryzen 2nd Gen.

I guess I am going to have to help him return the MB and get a different 3rd gen supported board.

AMD has a program where you can get a temporary cpu that will let you perform the update and then mail it back to them. Another option is if he bought it from a brick and mortar store to see if they offer a service to update the bios. Last is just get a 550/570 motherboard instead :slight_smile:

I will look into both options.

I feel bad for the lad. He had done such a good job putting it all together.
Just glad there is nothing terribly wrong with it all anyway.
Thanks

Yeah well it does not make much sense to buy an older gen 300 / 400 series motherboard at this point in time.

  • Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite.
  • Asrock B550 Steel Legend.
  • Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro.

Those are pretty good boards below the $200,- price range,
if you consider returning the board.

But if the cpu isnā€™t supported on the said B450 board out of the box.
Then the cpu fan etc should still basically spin up in most cases,
but just with no post.
A bad psu could definitelly also be an issue as well.

It sounds like you may have nailed it with the BIOS version.

But if not, I wanted to share the most annoying build problem Iā€™ve ever had, and it is:

The metal screw or other bit stuck under the motherboard!

If the build put a metal offset anywhere it should not be, or thereā€™s a lost screw under there it can be shorting important electric circuits. Nothing will work and everything looks broken.

If all else fails check for that.

I was able to get my hands on a Ryzen 2nd gen CPU off a friend and update the bios.

It worked and I can now get a post and into the bios with the Ryzen 3600 now re-installed.

However, it will only boot with one stick of RAM. I have tried different configurations, nothing works but one stick.

I checked on the Corsair site and it says that this particular memory is compatible but not Ryzen optimised.

Is there anything I have to change in the bios setting to get it to work, or is it looking like the memory will have to go back and be swapped for some Ryzen 3rd gen optimised RAM?

Thanks again for all your help.

B

Have you tested each stick on their own and in all slots? With any luck, one of the sticks are broken, else it is probably a soldering issue with the board, at which point you need to swap it for a new one. By trying the working stick in each of the sockets, it should quickly be obvious what the problem is.

Also, check memory speeds, start with 2666 MHz and slowly work your way up.

Also consult the motherboard manual for which slots needs to be populated: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B450-E-GAMING/HelpDesk_Manual/

Thanks for the suggestion.

Yes, I tried all four slots with both sticks.

The manual says to only use the ā€˜A2ā€™ slot for one stick of ram. This is the only slot that one stick worked with. It did not boot with one stick in ā€˜B1ā€™ or ā€˜B2ā€™.

I also tried the ram out of the Ryzen 2600 PC my friend let me borrow to do the BIOS upgrade. Again both sticks and one stick in all configurations. This ram was ā€˜Ryzen optimisedā€™. Still only one stick worked in the ā€˜A2ā€™ position.

I will try dropping the ram speed to 2666 MHz and see if I have any luck.

You need to put it in A2 and B2 I think, but you seem to have already tried that. Have you also tried A1 and A2, just to rule it out?

Then I suspect a broken RAM slot, but make sure itā€™s not the RAM speed first. :slight_smile:

Tried 2666 MHz with no luck.

In the end I have got the PC ap and running with just the one stick of RAM so the lad can at least use it for a bit.

I have suggested ordering a different, more up do date, Ryzen optimised 16Gb RAM kit and seeing if that works.

If not, then I guess the only thing left is to send back the motherboard and get a more up to date 550 board.

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

B

Unless you tested the RAM in another board with a different CPU donā€™t blame the RAM. It is also possible that the RAM slot or the CPU is damaged.

There have been many cases of AMD CPU pins being damaged during forceful removal of the heatsink.

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For closure on this thread; turns out the motherboard was damaged. It was returned and thankfully replaced. Now everything is working as it should.

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