Question No POST on new AM5 build - - - CPU & DRAM lights are on ?

[Uknownflowet]

Okay so I built a new PC recently for gaming and I’m now running into the issue where it will not POST no matter how long it’s on for. The PC powers on fine, fans run and everything lights up but the CPU and DRAM ez debug lights immediately come on after powering on. I have no clue what the issue could be but hoping it’s a motherboard issue and not a CPU issue.

I have tried different RAM sticks that work from a friend as well as testing one at a time in slot A2 and nothing. Which is what leads me to believe that it’s either a motherboard issue or a CPU problem
(hoping not CPU).

I was test benching the components and the lights are still on with only the following parts:

Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi
CPU: Ryzen 7 9700X
RAM: G.Skill Trident Neo RGB 32GB (2 x16)

Any help would be appreciated before I just go off and buy a new board, thanks !

 

[punkncat]

Most likely a BIOS issue.

 

[Eliticus]

Yeah, I had this same problem with the same motherboard, the only difference is that one RAM stick would work on slot 2 and not any others and using both slots at once wasn't possible.
Some of the posters claimed the problem was my large and/or high speed RAM sticks, which isn't a problem for you. I think. What's the clock speed on those?
The only thing that helped was getting a different motherboard from a different manufacturer.
That seems an extremely common problem either for that specific board or the B650 chipset as a whole.
I went with the gigabyte x870 eagle wifi7 but you probably don't need that much for only 32 GB RAM.

 

[Misgar]

the CPU and DRAM ez debug lights immediately come on after powering on

Have you tried removing the CPU and looking for bent contacts in the socket?

Is the 9700X on the list of supported CPUs for your current BIOS version? This assumes you have some way to discover your BIOS version if nothing appears on the monitor screen.

 

[geofelt]

A motherboard will not post unless it can detect that a cooler is installed.
Usually done by seeing 500+ RPM on the cpu-fan header,

 

[punkncat]

A motherboard will not post unless it can detect that a cooler is installed.
Usually done by seeing 500+ RPM on the cpu-fan header,

Check out Greg Salazar's YT channel. He has a whole bevy of videos proving that theory incorrect. He often troubleshoots systems feeling for the CPU heating with his finger (no cooler) and post.

 

[dwd999]

With the RAM light, I just went through a similar problem yesterday. I found that I needed a really bright light to see if those dimms were all the way down in their socket and I needed to push them down really hard to get them fully firmly seated, especially on the right side where the clamp is. This was a new level of pushing down hard needed so maybe whomever manufactures those dimm sockets made them a little tighter than before or the dimms are a tiny bit off spec so it takes extra effort to seat them. So I would advise anyone not to underestimate the effort needed to push those dimms down into their sockets if their RAM light is on.

 

[JayGau]

You need to give more information than that about your specs. RAM clock speed and timing, PSU make and model, GPU, drive(s), CPU .

Also, it's not clear in your post if it has ever worked or you got this problem from the beginning. And why do you hope it's a motherboard problem? It's much easier to return and replace a CPU than a motherboard. Did you buy everything new?

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Okay so I built a new PC recently for gaming and I’m now running into the issue where it will not POST no matter how long it’s on for. The PC powers on fine, fans run and everything lights up but the CPU and DRAM ez debug lights immediately come on after powering on. I have no clue what the issue could be but hoping it’s a motherboard issue and not a CPU issue.

I have tried different RAM sticks that work from a friend as well as testing one at a time in slot A2 and nothing. Which is what leads me to believe that it’s either a motherboard issue or a CPU problem
(hoping not CPU).

I was test benching the components and the lights are still on with only the following parts:

Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi
CPU: Ryzen 7 9700X
RAM: G.Skill Trident Neo RGB 32GB (2 x16)

Any help would be appreciated before I just go off and buy a new board, thanks !

First steps, download the latest bios for your motherboard. Copy it to a thumb drive. I think the instructions say it must be called MSI.rom (or something very similar. Check the motherboard documentation, on line if needed and confirm. This is to be used for a processorless bios update.

Simplify your build, no need for anything but power to be connected. Memory, cpu, gpu are un-necessary.

At this point make a really thorough inspection of the cpu socket, look for bent pins. Take a photo and zoom in, don’t hurry in looking for pins that don’t lay correctly. They are small and an error can be subtle.

Reseat the cpu. Plug the usb drive you prepared according to the motherboard documentation into the slot highlighted for BIOS flashing… look at the documentation, follow the instructions again from the manual for bios flashing from the usb stick. The relevant pages in the manual are 22 and 55.

After flashing the bios the cpu should be recognised at boot. Try booting with the cpu and 1 memory module only, dimm a2 (page 28),
The cpu warning LED should extinguish, the ram warning LED will take longer as the memory will need to ‘train’ once trained it too should extinguish. Gracefully power the pc off.

Introduce the second dimm according to the drawing on page 28. Boot the pc and let the memory retrain.. from there .. power down, introduce your storage ssd(s) reboot and install your operating system.

 

[Eliticus]

You need to give more information than that about your specs. RAM clock speed and timing, PSU make and model, GPU, drive(s), CPU .

Also, it's not clear in your post if it has ever worked or you got this problem from the beginning. And why do you hope it's a motherboard problem? It's much easier to return and replace a CPU than a motherboard. Did you buy everything new?

Motherboards are almost always cheaper than CPUs. Which is why the AM5 socket switched it so the pins are on the motherboard instead of the CPU. This is no exception (189 vs 309).
If his motherboard was bought remotely recently, the BIOS version should already recognize the CPU. If it doesn't, AM5 doesn't have any low range CPUs so buying a different motherboard would be cheaper than keeping the existing one and buying the cheapest CPU possible just so you can install a new BIOS.

 

[JayGau]

Motherboards are almost always cheaper than CPUs. Which is why the AM5 socket switched it so the pins are on the motherboard instead of the CPU. This is no exception (189 vs 309).
If his motherboard was bought remotely recently, the BIOS version should already recognize the CPU. If it doesn't, AM5 doesn't have any low range CPUs so buying a different motherboard would be cheaper than keeping the existing one and buying the cheapest CPU possible just so you can install a new BIOS.

If he built the PC recently and all the parts are new (it's why I asked those questions), then it doesn't matter whether or not the motherboard is cheaper than the CPU. Just return the part that is causing the issue to the retailer and get another one. And if it's the board that doesn't recognize the CPU, then it's a motherboard problem.

 

[Eliticus]

It still matters in the sense that money is reserved until the refund is processed. And they might refuse a damaged CPU, but not a damaged motherboard. Seen it happen.
But until the OP says something else, there's no telling if it's any of that or just the memory training getting stuck because he didn't let it complete, which is also common for those who never used DDR5 RAM before and aren't expecting a long initial boot time.
If he resets the CMOS and leaves it alone for a while and it still doesn't load, 95% chance it's either that specific motherboard, that model, or the B650 chipset overall and in all cases the solution is replace the motherboard.

 

[chaz_music]

I saw the above posts, and they offer really good advice. Here are some that I have learned over time:

Try only having base components installed and see if the system posts. So no HDD/SSD, add in cards, front panel USB hubs (USB cables), etc.

Make sure the additional CPU power plug is attached to the MB. The CPU won't post without the added CPU plug on most MBs. Also, reseat the main PSU plug on the motherboard and make SURE that it is full seated. I will sometimes reseat several times to clear out corrosion on the connector pins. This is good advice for the high current paralleled pins used on large GPUs these days. Reseat them several times to clear out corrosion.

If the motherboard and CPU have built in video, see if that will post by itself.

Some posts are sometimes only beeps. Make sure you have a speaker attached to the front panel header while troubleshooting (power button and front LED header). This has saved my bacon many times.

In the same kind of thinking, some MBs can give a post message (video or beeps) with the RAM not installed. If you get a post message or beeps, try one RAM stick back in at a time to see if it is only one. Or it could be one slot that is bad or has debris in it.

Some of the help given above talks about bent pins. Another VERY common way to damage PC components is ESD damage. I read a paper that stated that they estimated nearly 40% of PC related failures are due to ESD, including failures that happen much later, even years after the installation. I do a lot of engineering consulting and have seen so many ESD failures, so this is no joke. Use an ESD wrist strap attached to your PC case when installing parts.

Hope these ideas help.