Did I break my Mobo/CPU/RAM during CPU cooler install?

timmymagic07

timmymagic07

timmymagic07

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Good evening,

I recently received the new 5950x with the following CPU cooler, mobo and RAM;

CORSAIR Hydro H100i RGB
Asus ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING
Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 32GB 3200 MHz DDR4

My previous build was a 9900K with a 3080 that I recently received as well as 64 GB 3000Mhz RAM (I will test the above build with some of this tomorrow). In building the new PC I also added 2 sticks of the same RAM as above that I had purchased separately (4 sticks total), giving me a total of 64GB.

So on installing everything into the case and removing my old build I boot up the PC and everything works fine, I install Windows and everything seems great. The only slight issue is the temps I am seeing on the CPU, they seem a little high and I have a Liquid Freezer 2 360 hanging around from my 9900K build (the Corsair came pre-installed onto the CPU so I went with it) so I decided this evening to swap them round...

So on taking off the Corsair and putting on the LF2 everything goes OK - not fantastic, it was a bit fiddly as these things can be and the screwdriver slipped a couple of times but nothing worse than has happened during pretty much every PC build I have ever done. I am trying to be as honest as I can but I cannot remember anything happening that made me think 'oh ****, that might have broken something' and I got the cooler on OK - albeit maybe I tightened the screws too much? I say this as I cannot really thing of anything else. Maybe some thermal paste went somewhere it should not? I really cannot think of anything.

Anyway, on trying to boot the PC back up again it just hangs and does nothing, no display and just sits there. After trying again a couple of times I note the DRAM LED is amber which suggests RAM issue, so I remove a couple of sticks and try again, then remove all sticks apart from one in the third slot from the CPU (quick Google suggested this should be correct, but maybe on this mobo it isn't?) and get the same amber issue. I should note the RGB on the RAM sticks is fine as is the ASUS logo etc in terms of lighting up on the mobo and GPU.

I take off the CPU cooler, reset the CPU and reinstall it. Same issue. I remove the LF2 and install the Corsair again and once again the LED is amber and nothing happens.

So I am wondering what could be up, I have a feeling that maybe one of my screwdriver slips broke something on the Mobo? Maybe I crushed the CPU whilst installing the cooler (is that even possible anymore?)? As my old PC is Intel I cannot easily test the CPU or motherboard with other hardware, but I can try the other RAM tomorrow. I am at a loss though, I have a feeling I have broken something.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
 
Clear CMOS and take out some ram. Try it again. When doing cmos clearing make sure it is unplugged from psu and the psu capacitors are allowed to discharge (usually 10s but wait for 30s) before doing the cmos clearing.

Also check all the motherboard power connections and the GPU power connections etc
 
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Try boot without cpu cooler screws. Slap the cooler on top and hold it by hand.
It will rule out the possibility or overtightning and reforming the mobo.
 
OK so I tried those things and unfortunately no luck

One thing I have noticed however is that there is quite a lot of thermal paste on the mother board/CPU that I did not notice before, could that be causing the issue do you think? What is the best way to clean it up?
 
Post some pictures and I tell u if it's a problem.

Thermal paste can block signals if it gets into cpu socket.
I hope u don't have it were cpu pins are.

Any thermal paste outside of cpu socket is not a problem as long as it's not some stupid conductive liquid metal crap.
 
Benass said:
Post some pictures and I tell u if it's a problem.

Thermal paste can block signals if it gets into cpu socket.
I hope u don't have it were cpu pins are.

Any thermal paste outside of cpu socket is not a problem as long as it's not some stupid conductive liquid metal crap.
Click to expand...

Here you go;

https://ibb.co/FVW5JQM

Here is the underside of the CPU although that looks OK;

https://ibb.co/q084hXn

Not the greatest photo of the CPU but there isn't anything on it. Touch wood that hasn't gone as that would be a ball ache to get replaced.
 
Tetras said:
When you say screwdriver slips, do you mean, you hit the motherboard?
Click to expand...

Yes, basically. No different to what has happened with most other builds mind, not a massive smack or anything of the sort - just a little slip and contact made with the motherboard. I have built numerous PCs over the years and never damaged anything in that way. Maybe I have been lucky though and this is the time...
 
pc-guy said:
Amber light is DRAM issue. Have you tried single stick in a random slot does it post? If you anything spare can try it on.
Click to expand...

Yep tried that, had some 3000Mhz lying around that I tried too with the same issue. I am thinking CPU/Mobo is the issue here, the two most annoying parts to test as my prior builds have been Intel for many years now (14 in fact, but no more! :)).
 
Nope, no BIOS update either.

I am getting hold of the exact same motherboard on Friday to give it a go and see if everything works in that, if not I guess it might well be the CPU and I will send that back to get tested and checked out.
 
timmymagic07 said:
I can't get it to post, so can't really update the bios either
Click to expand...
Your motherboard has bios flashback feature which you can update the bios without a cpu installed.

You need to download the latest bios for your motherboard and put it on a usb drive.

Disconnect all your hardware just have the psu power to the motherboard, then put the usb drive into the correct flash port and press the flash button.


https://rog.asus.com/technology/republic-of-gamers-motherboard-innovations/usb-bios-flashback/
 
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