PC won't boot after memory timings change (AMD B350)

keenan · 27 Mar 2019 at 19:58

So I finally decided to upgrade my aging LGA1366 system with an MSI B350 Tomahawk, Ryzen 1600X and 16gb of Corsair LPX 3000Mhz CL15.

Everything booted up fine and I managed to get the 1600X to 4.2Ghz while keeping the core voltage under 1.4v. After some cinebench runs I decided to dial in the memory which is rated at 3000Mhz 15-17-17-35-1T.

After setting tge speed and timings manually the PC booted perfectly and the cinebench scores were getting better and better. I thought I would see if the memory could run at tighter timings and tried 3000Mhz 15-15-15-35-1T, rebooted and nothing!! I held down the power button to do a hard power off and then powered the PC back on only to be met with 3 long power cycles, 1 short power cycle and the a normal power up with no post at all.

I have since tried to clear the CMOS many, many, many times by shorting the pins while the power cord is both connected and disconnected. I have removed the battery for 10 minutes and tries a single stick of memory in a single slot at a time, but to no sucsess.

Could something really have failed as a result of the memory tweaking?

Any advice on more things I can try?

Thanks for any help..

CuriousTomCat · 27 Mar 2019 at 20:23

Unplug the power cord. Remove the CMOS battery. Hold down the power button for 45 seconds to fully discharge the motherboard. Then try it.

Thekwango · 27 Mar 2019 at 20:28

your board doesn't by chance have a dual bios?

i'd also leave the battery out for a bit longer. try half an hour (after doing the above) just to be sure the cmos settings are being cleared.

any fault codes, beeps or the like to help identify the cause? did you try the single sticks in every slot? it would be horrendous bad luck to have managed to somehow fry both sticks of ram but not impossible I guess.

keenan · 27 Mar 2019 at 20:45

CuriousTomCat said:
Unplug the power cord. Remove the CMOS battery. Hold down the power button for 45 seconds to fully discharge the motherboard. Then try it.

Just tried it and unfortunately still no luck.

Thekwango said:
your board doesn't by chance have a dual bios?

i'd also leave the battery out for a bit longer. try half an hour (after doing the above) just to be sure the cmos settings are being cleared.

any fault codes, beeps or the like to help identify the cause? did you try the single sticks in every slot? it would be horrendous bad luck to have managed to somehow fry both sticks of ram but not impossible I guess.

Sadly no dual bios. The board does have "EZ Debug LEDs", but none of them light up to show any issues.

I did take out the ram and turned the power on and the memory LED on the EZ Debug LED section did light up, so it does seem to show faults. I also tried a single stick of ram in every slot, but still no luck.

keenan · 28 Mar 2019 at 16:54

Thanks for the help guys! I ordered another set of memory and a replacement motherboard just to be sure I cover 2/3 angles.

Tried the new board on the box for a quick test and unfortunately it booted straight away. Turns out that it was indeed the motherboard that failed, so at least I know there's nothing further to try other than take it all apart and replace the darn thing!