PC will not power on

AgentMilkshake1

AgentMilkshake1

AgentMilkshake1

Associate
Joined
23 Jul 2021
Posts
16
Location
England
Hi all,

For over a month now, I've been without my Desktop PC.
The PC one day failed to power on - not even reaching POST.

Core Hardware:
  • MSI Meg X570 Ace motherboard
  • AMD Ryzen 4 5950X
  • Nvidia RTX 2080
  • 2 x 32 GB RAM (Corsair)
  • CPU cooler (Corsair)

As most the components were only a few months old, I initially did an RMA on the motherboard. Point of purchase ran a full stress test on it and found everything was in order and returned it back to me.

I then RMA'd the CPU which has been replaced with a brand new one.

Now all of my parts are back with me, I'm now still running into the same issue.

Running a breadboard test (necessary components on a wooden surface) results in the same issue, thereby making it unlikely that the case is the issue.

As the RAM is totally brand new, and I've tried multiple other sticks of RAM, I'm pretty sure this isn't the issue.

The CPU has been fully replaced, therefore this is unlikely the issue.
The PSU is brand new and includes a self test button that confirms it is functional.
My GPU I have swapped out for an older GPU I own (GTX 980).

With all of the above in mind, what on earth could be the issue? It's driving me up the wall.

The motherboard is clearly receiving power as the on-board power button is lit up, and the overclock dial (set to zero) is lighting up too.

When I power on the PC (via onboard mobo button) nothing happens. No system fans start up, no digital numbers appear on the mobo digital display. Nothing

Any and all advice is super appreciated, I've spent so many hours attempting to resolve this issue and I'm getting nowhere.

Thanks
 
AgentMilkshake1 said:
After the problem started. I have tried with both PSUs

I have indeed cleared the CMOS. I'm currently flashing the BIOS with a USB drive. I'll post an update here if it does anything useful
Click to expand...

Ah I realised I didn't say in the original message - I had a PSU (old one I've used for 5+ years) so I purchased a brand new one that has a built in self tester that confirms the PSU works.
 
wookiee87 said:
have you tried running just one set of 32gb of ram, ryzen are pretty good with all 4 dimms but with regard to such high capacities it may be throwing up a post error, do you happen to know which led's the board gets stuck on or is there a post readout on your board like 00 or something?

exact ram spesifications would be handy, if its an older set that can be a issue with amd's newest chips
Click to expand...
I've attempted with a single stick of 32GB RAM, but also with a single stick of 8GB I had available.
My new RAM is Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO DDR4 32GB 3200MHz (2 sticks but testing with 1)

neur0maniak said:
This has me stumped too. I'd be definitely be questioning what was involved in the motherboards 'testing'. (tested with or without hardware attached)
Only thing I can think of is that maybe there may be a problem with the ram/gpu slots on the motherboard, maybe some conductive debris, bent contacts or warping.
Click to expand...
My point of purchase (Scan dot co dot uk) tested the motherboard with the following report back from the engineer:
"It has been tested with known working components and is not showing any faults. Motherboard has been tested with Ryzen 3900X turn on and post fine boot to windows no issues, X30 Resets, stress test with AIDA64 for and hour .NFF"

In terms of my own tests, basically breadboard testing with the various components I have available to me. After all my testing I'm a little suspect of the report I got back from SCAN, especially given all the other components have been replaced in some fashion.

mickyflinn said:
Long shot but are both 8 pin cpu power connecters connected ?
Click to expand...

Yup! Got 2 8 pin CPU connectors attached at the top of the motherboard and of course attached at the other end to the PSU :)
 
wookiee87 said:
ideally need the serial number, chck the side of one of the sticks and report back, also the other retailer tested with a 3900x which is a older cpu, that to me sounds like the bosi isnt supporting the 5950x, fair enough if they tested with a 5950x that would have been ok but to test with a older chip that will work no prob, seems a bit hmm!
Click to expand...
Assuming I've read the correct string- Serial : CMW64GX4M2E3200C16
 
wookiee87 said:
that'll be it one sec i'll have a look online and see :)

everything seems to be in check, regarding your mobo its definatly 5000 series ready? ie been updated to run the newer chips, or came pre installed with the newer bios
Click to expand...

Weird thing is - this motherboard and CPU worked for 3 months (with the occasional unprompted restart) so it certainly did work with the 5950X for that period of time.

Mel_P said:
I would have said check no short to earth but you have taken out the motherboard / psu and replaced them.

Have a look at power on push button and wiring. Does sound like a short somewhere but you have tried it "bare" with same result.

Have you tried it without any drives attached?
Click to expand...

The push button is on the motherboard itself, so that's fine. As for the sound, when I breadboard test is there is a slight sound that omits from the PSU the first time I attempt to power it on. I then have to turn it off at the wall to get it to make the same sound.
 
Cadder said:
The supplier tested the board with a 3000 series Ryzen CPU but you have a 5000. Might you need to flash the BIOS? If you have, are you positive you have done it correctly? I don't know how experienced you are, but I was a total novice when I built my PC and I tried to flash the BIOS just with the downloaded file copied on to a USB stick. I didn't realise I needed to rename the file so it would successfully update. Have you done that?

I also read somewhere that fixing the CPU cooler on too tight can cause the PC to decide not to boot up. Not sure how accurate that is but when I was trying to get mine started I relaxed the cooler a little. I may have had it a bit too tight.
Click to expand...

I tried flashing it a little earlier, I did indeed rename the file to MSI.rom

As for the CPU cooler, I can relax it a bit but I don't think it's incredibly tight at the moment - tight enough to keep consistent contact for sure, but I didn't want to make the loops on the bracket pop out of their hooked notch.

Cadder said:
Also - you're certain you have connected every single cable? If there is absolutely no reaction when you press the power on button - ie as though it is switched off at the wall, maybe the cable between the case and the mobo isn't properly connected? Or maybe the switch at the wall is off (silly I know, but I may as well throw it out there).

Is there a way to boot it straight from the mobo?
Click to expand...

I've definitely connected every single cable, I've re-seated all of them several times as well
 
wookiee87 said:
with regard to the new unit then i guess its a fully modular unit, you did remember to plug in both ends of the 24 pin on the psu side, if you only plug one half in there will be no power at all, can be easily done tbh, so just double check to be sure
Click to expand...
Yup both bits are plugged in

My old unit was also modular (Fairly new thing at the time of it's creation I think) and was working fine with this motherboard and CPU. Then I started having this power issue and swapped the PSU, leading to the same results.
 
wookiee87 said:
????? man this is a tricky one, last thing you could try is take the cpu,ram and storage drives off, then try and power on the board if it suddenly turns on then start adding components back and repeat until you get the no power issue, at every stage power down to avoid damage, may give you some incling as to what is going wrong
Click to expand...

I think I might have to at this point - I've been building/maintaining my own PC for 10+ years and I've never had problems like with this current build!

I'll let you know how it goes...
 
Okay, so I just unplugged all components from the motherboard. It's literally just the PSU and the motherboard. The motherboard is receiving power (can see from the power button being lit up same as before) but it's still not powering on, and the PSU makes the same noise.

As I said before, the PSU has a built in self tester and that works, so all signs point to the motherboard right?
 
wookiee87 said:
whops yeah cpu and cooler, but be sure to not over tighten, just a heads up you have a max 15 posts a day so you have 2 left publically you can use, by all means drop me a msg and i can assist further
Click to expand...

I just attached the CPU cooler (fresh thermal paste, not too tight) and plugged in the 2 necessary cables to the motherboard (CPU fan, and USB for the controller box). Same results.

Also noted! I might DM you on reply to your next post, thanks!
 
Hi all
As a follow up to close this post, I've finally got my PC back up and running.

I'd been supplied with the incorrect 8-pin for my PSU from an online retailer. Apparently there's a difference between brands, and I'd been sent an 8-pin CPU power cable for an EVGA power supply and not for a Corsair power supply.

Due to my RMA's any potential damage from the wrong cable has been nullified and after being powered on for a few hours now, doing high intensity work, everything seems to be behaving as expected!

Let that be a warning to anyone else who might be having power-on issues. Ensure you're working with the correct brand of power cable suitable for your PSU!
 
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