Is my motherboard dead?

unhappyface

unhappyface

unhappyface

Associate
Joined
27 Oct 2024
Posts
12
Location
Aylesbury
Firstly I'll explain this pc worked fine for 2 years.



Specs

Intel i7 13700kf

Asus tuf z790 D4 motherboard

Corsair 3600 ram in 8GB X4 sticks (new being the same but 32GB X4) both ddr4

Asus tuf 3080ti GPU

2 m.2 drives, 2 hhd, 1 SSD (boot)

Corsair hx850 plat psu

Windows 10



Story

Tldr I need more ram and now it 10/90 on if it boots but it doesn't work

I needed more ram for projects so I got some more

Tried going into bios before replacing the ram just to reset to default settings but for some reason I can't get into bios it would just boot straight to windows

Thought this was strange so I tried going into bios by windows advanced settings, nothing

I took the motherboard battery out and left it for about an hour (this was to try resetting bios to default)

After this I tried just putting in the new ram booted annnnndd

No display

I thought this was odd so I placed the old ram back in and booted trying to get into bios again it went straight to windows

But that's fine maybe I just got a DOA ram stick.

I'll test them in another pc but they worked fine



I went back to my main pc and realised I'm missing 3 drives (all important to me)

I checked every connection just to make sure and pulled out one drive to check if they are working and they are fine



Maybe I didn't seat the ram properly the first time so tried with the new ram just in case no boot but this time my speaker gave me an error code, great!

I have something to work with I thought (long beep 3 short beeps) it's a vga problem

I thought this was odd because the GPU just worked fine and I've never had an issue with it before but let's take it out and check it in the other pc. Worked perfectly



Maybe something gone wrong on my motherboard so I took the battery out and left it unplugged while I went to work (9 hours) came back and plugged everything in checking everything to make sure there's no bad connections and put the battery back in and the GPU and it's boots no error codes, awesome but when the windows login screen comes up the computer suddenly reboots again and then reboots 3 times before not turning back on

I tried turning it back on and I get a ram error code



So I've taken out all but one stick of ram but nothing then tried one stick of my old ram and got it to boot.

But again it turned it's self off

I started to think my PSU was the issue so out it came and back to the other computer (with the GPU just incase) everything worked fine and I tried putting it under load worked perfectly

Now every time my main computer boots most of the time I get nothing displayed

Sometimes the motherboard indicator lights are stuck on boot

Or it turns off randomly



Things I've tried and for what parts

Bios

WIndows advanced settings recovery (didn't boot into bios)

Unplugging everything and taking all drives out (didn't boot into bios)

Taking CMOS battery out (no change)

Leaving the battery out and pc unplugged to dis charge it (including holding down the power button for 20 second no change)

Force flash with usb (no change)



Ram

New sticks (no boot/random boot)

Old sticks (no boot/random boot)

1 of new then one of old (no boot/random boot)

Completely different ram (no boot/random boot)

Tried all sticks in a different pc works perfectly



GPU

random boots random error codes

Changed cables (no change)

Changed displays (no change)

Changed Rez and refresh rate (no change)

Tried in different pc works fine

Tried a older GPU in my main pc. (No change)



PSU

Tried a different power socket (no change)

Reseated all connections (nod change)

Tested in second computer, worked perfectly



Drives

Tried with no drives (no change)

Tested all drives in second computer, worked fine

Tested boot drive worked fine but felt very slow



Motherboard

unplugging everything (no chance)

Forcing a bios update (no change)

Reseated the CPU after checking for damage (no visual damage and no change)

I
s there any other troubleshooting I can do that I've missed or is my motherboard or something else dead?











Edited 9 hours ago by unhappyface
 
Oh dear, doesnt that CPU have onboard graphics, I may of missed it in you write up, but did you remove the GPU and try with the onboard graphics, sorry if it doesnt, I dont know Intel CPUs with all their K, KF, KS etc.

Also I understand that you removed the cmos battery to reset the bios, but if you left the kettle lead in or PSU switched on then this wouldnt of had any effect as this will still feed power to the bios, happened to me many times on many boards, the board should just have a clear cmos button or jumper on it, switch all power off, remove the kettle lead and and just use the button or jumper for a few seconds, also if it only has the pins on the board for clear cmos, be careful what you use for trying to clear, not everything metal works, ive tried a screw driver (failed), kitchen knife (failed) car key (successful)

Sounds like you have fastboot enabled in which case things like your USB keyboard......I take it thats what you're using.......isnt getting initialized until you get past POST, which is no good if you're trying to get into the bios.

Fianlly, I would try breadboarding, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, PSU, Board, GPU if needed on a box and see if things work
 
Last edited:
You supposedly can restart into bios from windows. As above, short the pins to reset the bios would be my first stop.

When changing ram settings on my amd system it takes ages and sometimes reboots before splash. I'm guilty of not giving it enough time on occasion.

I would unplug your important drives just in case.

Your CPU may be defective?
 
Jamin280672 said:
Oh dear, doesnt that CPU have onboard graphics, I may of missed it in you write up, but did you remove the GPU and try with the onboard graphics, sorry if it doesnt, I dont know Intel CPUs with all their K, KF, KS etc.

Also I understand that you removed the cmos battery to reset the bios, but if you left the kettle lead in or PSU switched on then this wouldnt of had any effect as this will still feed power to the bios, happened to me many times on many boards, the board should just have a clear cmos button or jumper on it, switch all power off, remove the kettle lead and and just use the button or jumper for a few seconds, also if it only has the pins on the board for clear cmos, be careful what you use for trying to clear, not everything metal works, ive tried a screw driver (failed), kitchen knife (failed) car key (successful)

Sounds like you have fastboot enabled in which case things like your USB keyboard......I take it thats what you're using.......isnt getting initialized until you get past POST, which is no good if you're trying to get into the bios.

Fianlly, I would try breadboarding, CPU, 1 stick of RAM, PSU, Board, GPU if needed on a box and see if things work
Click to expand...
The CPU doesn't have any onboard graphics unfortunately.
I don't touch anything inside the pc with the kettle cable connected
I have a jumper connector that I have used
I have never enabled fast boot
I have tried only the basic CPU 1 ram PSU and GPU
And it turns on like normal with the first beep giving the all clear then nothing and the motherboard boot light is stuck on but that's as far as it will get
Thank you for the help but I think it's lost
 
Forcing a bios update (no change)
Click to expand...

What do you mean by that? Has the BIOS been updated or not?

If it hasn’t, update it.

It could be that your system is RAM training and appears to be not POSTing but is.

Could also be that it’s trying to POST with RAM speed that it isn’t happy with with more than 2 DIMM modules installed.

Corsair 3600 ram in 8GB X4 sticks (new being the same but 32GB X4) both ddr4
Click to expand...

You need to verify that this is the case because even if the model of RAM is one letter off, it could be different RAM chips and the motherboard wont like that.

My go to would be update BIOS, BOOT into the BIOS and set the RAM speed to something slow like 2666 MT/s with all timings on AUTO, reboot and then once it’s POSTed into Windows, shutdown and add the other RAM and see if that works.
 
JollyJamma said:
What do you mean by that? Has the BIOS been updated or not?

If it hasn’t, update it.

It could be that your system is RAM training and appears to be not POSTing but is.

Could also be that it’s trying to POST with RAM speed that it isn’t happy with with more than 2 DIMM modules installed.



You need to verify that this is the case because even if the model of RAM is one letter off, it could be different RAM chips and the motherboard wont like that.

My go to would be update BIOS, BOOT into the BIOS and set the RAM speed to something slow like 2666 MT/s with all timings on AUTO, reboot and then once it’s POSTed into Windows, shutdown and add the other RAM and see if that works.
Click to expand...
I currently have no display in anyway the boot light on my mother stays on but I have nothings, I've put a clean drive in. Fresh boot drive. Nothing
I unplugged all drives and loaded the Bois latest update onto a usb stick.
It powered on and I left it. After 10 minutes it restarted but I still have no boot to bios (I got this from a post on Asus and followed the instructions for my exact board)

If my computer is ram training is there a way I can get it to boot eg do I need to leave it on for an extended time

I know the ram is default to 2666
 
mickyflinn said:
Have you checked the CPU socket for bent pins ?
Click to expand...
I have check the socket and the check the CPU for any damage. There is no bent pins or missing pins that I can see and I've had some else check just in case I had missed it.
All looked fine.
The cpu and motherboard are the only things I haven't tested in another system (only because I don't have a CPU of the same socket)
So I'm down to one of them having died
I have put a cheap CPU into the motherboard but still no display, no Bios and no boot (I used the integrated graphics for this so the GPU was not in the system in anyway)
But the same light on the motherboard and no display
 
unhappyface said:
I have check the socket and the check the CPU for any damage. There is no bent pins or missing pins that I can see and I've had some else check just in case I had missed it.
All looked fine.
The cpu and motherboard are the only things I haven't tested in another system (only because I don't have a CPU of the same socket)
So I'm down to one of them having died
I have put a cheap CPU into the motherboard but still no display, no Bios and no boot (I used the integrated graphics for this so the GPU was not in the system in anyway)
But the same light on the motherboard and no display
Click to expand...
Then that just leaves the motherboard, pull it out and do a minimal build on the box not the static bag.

There could be a short so pulling out will tell you .
 
unhappyface said:
The CPU doesn't have any onboard graphics unfortunately.
I don't touch anything inside the pc with the kettle cable connected
I have a jumper connector that I have used
I have never enabled fast boot
I have tried only the basic CPU 1 ram PSU and GPU
And it turns on like normal with the first beep giving the all clear then nothing and the motherboard boot light is stuck on but that's as far as it will get
Thank you for the help but I think it's lost
Click to expand...

Sorry, but a single beep means everything passed post, so if you're not seeing anything on screen, id be looking at monitor or cable, its not normal for the boot light to remain on unless theres a problem with the boot drive / cant find a boot drive.
 
Last edited:
Jamin280672 said:
Sorry, but a single beep means everything passed post, so if you're not seeing anything on screen, id be looking at monitor or cable, its not normal for the boot light to remain on unless theres a problem with the boot drive / cant find a boot drive.
Click to expand...
Changed monitors and cables even tried different cables (eg hdmi and display port) tried different ports. I checked with a different computer to see if they were working and it worked perfectly.
Taken the boot drive out and tested it. It wasn't running the fastest but it was working (SSD) tried a clean boot drive and without any drives in the computer all with the same resul.
No bios. No boot and the light stays on
 
unhappyface said:
Changed monitors and cables even tried different cables (eg hdmi and display port) tried different ports. I checked with a different computer to see if they were working and it worked perfectly.
Taken the boot drive out and tested it. It wasn't running the fastest but it was working (SSD) tried a clean boot drive and without any drives in the computer all with the same resul.
No bios. No boot and the light stays on
Click to expand...

Sorry I couldnt be more help, its a very strange issue, like I said 1 beep mean everything passed POST, so CPU, RAM and GPU, and youve tested everything on another system, I suppose it could come down to motherboard if thats the case, I dont see how, normally they either work or they dont, not an in between, but I also dont see how its not working.
 
Jamin280672 said:
Sorry I couldnt be more help, its a very strange issue, like I said 1 beep mean everything passed POST, so CPU, RAM and GPU, and youve tested everything on another system, I suppose it could come down to motherboard if thats the case, I dont see how, normally they either work or they dont, not an in between, but I also dont see how its not working.
Click to expand...
I'm in no way an amateur PC builder but this one has had me stumped as well for about 2 days as well.
The only thing I've can think of is a corrupted bios of some description.
I appreciate any and all help so thank you for trying with me.
I am going to order a new motherboard and see if everything works with it, if so I'll update this post incase anybody comes across this in the future with the same issue
 
Remove it all, build outside of the case.

Boot with a single stick of RAM only, and another GPU if you have one. Put in empty drive or drive you can wipe. re-install windows, then drivers. Also BIOS flashback your motherboard if you haven't already.

See how you get on, then work from there.
 
Journey said:
Remove it all, build outside of the case.

Boot with a single stick of RAM only, and another GPU if you have one. Put in empty drive or drive you can wipe. re-install windows, then drivers. Also BIOS flashback your motherboard if you haven't already.

See how you get on, then work from there.
Click to expand...
Done all of the above before but didn't have any luck but will try again just in case
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom