Thoughts before I RMA board?

daphatgrant said:
If anyone wants to see it doing nothing, lol. When you see the keyboard lights go out after the post screen it's about to reboot.

Ubuntu attempt


Windows attempt


I did try another keyboard as well, because why not, no change.
Click to expand...


I'm guessing you need more RGB...I keed I keed
 
I think I am late to this party.

A repeating reboot, with an AMD system particularly, makes me think of the RAM timings trying to stabilize. Have you tried forcing the memory to the defaulting voltage? Maybe force 1.35 volts and also maybe a lower clock speed. I had one system like this and using this voltage with the assigned profile helped it boot.

I seems like you have already done a lot of other things I would have done. Try a different power supply unit though. I don't think this will help, but it is always something to try for weird issues.

Something to think about is that this occurred during a BIOS upgrade. You have already had the motherboard RMA'ed so that should be a good motherboard. I think the BIOS upgrade you were using also has microcode for the AMD Ryzen processor in it, so it didn't only just upgrade the motherboard, it also changed the way the CPU works. With the AMD CPU being in charge of the memory, it could be just a little bit off causing these issues from a bad flash. You could see if a different Ryzen CPU will work on the motherboard and memory. I suppose you could buy a test CPU if you needed, AM4 socket AMD Athlon 200GE CPUs runs about $57. It might be cheaper to try to RMA the CPU if everything else fails to resolve the problem.

Good luck, and please let us know what you find out.
 
Slacky said:
I think I am late to this party.

A repeating reboot, with an AMD system particularly, makes me think of the RAM timings trying to stabilize. Have you tried forcing the memory to the defaulting voltage? Maybe force 1.35 volts and also maybe a lower clock speed. I had one system like this and using this voltage with the assigned profile helped it boot.

I seems like you have already done a lot of other things I would have done. Try a different power supply unit though. I don't think this will help, but it is always something to try for weird issues.

Something to think about is that this occurred during a BIOS upgrade. You have already had the motherboard RMA'ed so that should be a good motherboard. I think the BIOS upgrade you were using also has microcode for the AMD Ryzen processor in it, so it didn't only just upgrade the motherboard, it also changed the way the CPU works. With the AMD CPU being in charge of the memory, it could be just a little bit off causing these issues from a bad flash. You could see if a different Ryzen CPU will work on the motherboard and memory. I suppose you could buy a test CPU if you needed, AM4 socket AMD Athlon 200GE CPUs runs about $57. It might be cheaper to try to RMA the CPU if everything else fails to resolve the problem.

Good luck, and please let us know what you find out.
Click to expand...
Unless they’ve changed it, microcode updates are non-persistent. Once the system is rebooted, the update is lost and the CPU will go back to its factory microcode. So it should return to a working state.

What may have happened is the new BIOS was a little too aggressive configuring the processor and ended up damaging the It... or it was just pure coincidence.

One thing I have had happen is the BIOS update also included a platform controller update (in my case Intel ME) that caused a ton of critical CPU errors. Flashing back to a previous BIOS did not downgrade Intel ME firmware, so I had to reflash the chip with a programmer to roll back the ME version and get the CPU working again.


It could be that AMD behaves the same way with their PSP firmware, but a new board should have ruled that out unless it came already updated.
 
starting to look like a defective cpu as hard as that is to believe or he got 2 back to back faulty MB's. (maybe a bad batch?) ASUS bios can be quirky, but are 99% of the time fixed with flashing/cmos resets/ updates. IF he had a microcenter in range that make picking up a new board or cpu/power supply to figure out WTF is going on.
 
It sounds like a bad CPU.

I pretty much did just about the same thing as OP with a bad 9900K and a 2700X earlier this year.

Juggling mobos, psu, gpus, ram, and so on.
 
DTN107 said:
It sounds like a bad CPU.

I pretty much did just about the same thing as OP with a bad 9900K and a 2700X earlier this year.

Juggling mobos, psu, gpus, ram, and so on.
Click to expand...
you seriously had a 2700x do that? we hardly expect them to die with out any over volting or over clocking. One of those rare things that do happens once in a while?
 
primetime said:
you seriously had a 2700x do that? we hardly expect them to die with out any over volting or over clocking. One of those rare things that do happens once in a while?
Click to expand...

It was actually a used 2700X I picked up from Craigslist that I got burned on.

I dunno what the previous owner did but he killed it for sure. I was fortune enough that AMD allowed an RMA for it though.

Intel however... sort of "honor" the warranty but couldn't provide a replacement since they are not stocking any 9900K cpus for warranty replacements. They would however provide a refund if I can provide proof of purchase. Which wasn't great because... again.... I bought this used from craigslist.

The Intel rep tried his hardest though but the higher-ups wouldn't bulge.
 
DTN107 said:
It was actually a used 2700X I picked up from Craigslist that I got burned on.

I dunno what the previous owner did but he killed it for sure. I was fortune enough that AMD allowed an RMA for it though.
Click to expand...
How long is the RMA for AMD cpus? How much down time and shipping cost?
 
primetime said:
How long is the RMA for AMD cpus? How much down time and shipping cost?
Click to expand...

It arrived on a Monday and they shipped out a replacement the following Friday. So roughly two weeks down-time including the shipping there and back. If it matters, my friend's i7-4790K RMA with Intel was roughly the same amount of time.

I don't see how shipping cost is a factor to be worry about. It is a CPU and not a computer case. It only costed about $6-7 USPS priority flat rate.
 
Randall Stephens said:
I'm guessing you need more RGB...I keed I keed
Click to expand...
I don't think it's possible :p

Slacky said:
Have you tried forcing the memory to the defaulting voltage? Maybe force 1.35 volts and also maybe a lower clock speed. I had one system like this and using this voltage with the assigned profile helped it boot.
Click to expand...
I've tried a bunch of different docp profiles as well as the default or compatibility settings with no change unfortunately. I know the ram works as it passes through memtest86 fine and was stable with prime95 and memtest helper 2 before the issue started.

Slacky said:
I seems like you have already done a lot of other things I would have done. Try a different power supply unit though. I don't think this will help, but it is always something to try for weird issues.
Click to expand...
I'm going to try this tomorrow, it's kind of my last hope, I'll switch the gpu to the 2nd x16 slot as well and try a 2nd gpu there. After that I've got to make some decisions which links into the next part of your post.

Slacky said:
You could see if a different Ryzen CPU will work on the motherboard and memory. I suppose you could buy a test CPU if you needed, AM4 socket AMD Athlon 200GE CPUs runs about $57. It might be cheaper to try to RMA the CPU if everything else fails to resolve the problem.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking about this, I'd probably get a single stick of ddr4 to try as well, just because. I've kind of got to hurry because I'm lucky to have a return window for the board if I decide to give up.

Fremunaln said:
If you tried testing RAM, MB, and no hdd. Then you have PSU issue, cpu or, mounting hw issue (maybe a short to system).
Click to expand...
Trying different psu and x16 slot tomorrow, x16 slot shouldn't matter though as it did the dame thing with the different cards.
 
ryan_975 said:
It could be that AMD behaves the same way with their PSP firmware, but a new board should have ruled that out unless it came already updated.
Click to expand...
Replacement board came with the original bios which still didn't work, update to current bios didn't help either unfortunately.
 
Well I tried a different PSU today, no luck, same thing. To be completely honest I only used the spare psu for board, cpu and gpu and let the original psu run the fans and everything else not that that really matters. I also tried the gpu in another slot and tried ubuntu on another usb stick.
 
daphatgrant said:
Well I tried a different PSU today, no luck, same thing. To be completely honest I only used the spare psu for board, cpu and gpu and let the original psu run the fans and everything else not that that really matters. I also tried the gpu in another slot and tried ubuntu on another usb stick.
Click to expand...
yea in my experience a bad supply will totally shut off the pc in every case anyway...so im not real surprised there. Ram will create either a audible error or strange restarts/ instability. What your seeing comes down to the cpu or board. (mostly the board) and you already replaced the board. You already tried the motherboard in a bare mode and swapped out the gpu. (no change there) So there is nothing left but the cpu (unless you some how got 2 bad boards back to back, unlikely) The only thing left is the CPU

can you post some picks of the cpu and pins and what not?
 
Last edited:
primetime said:
yea in my experience a bad supply will totally shut off the pc in every case anyway...so im not real surprised there. Ram will create either a audible error or strange restarts/ instability. What your seeing comes down to the cpu or board. (mostly the board) and you already replaced the board. You already tried the motherboard in a bare mode and swapped out the gpu. (no change there) So there is nothing left but the cpu (unless you some how got 2 bad boards back to back, unlikely) The only thing left is the CPU

can you post some picks of the cpu and pins and what not?
Click to expand...
Yeah I didn't have any reason to think it was the psu, as long as you go name brand with a 80+ rating you are usually guaranteed a workable unit. On the chip I'll grab some pics of the pins as well as the top. I've got to disassemble it anyways
 
primetime said:
Can you post some picks of the cpu and pins and what not?
Click to expand...
About as good as I had patience for :p

241728_IMG_3515.jpg
IMG_3514.JPG
 
Last edited:
ok have you ever heard of Electro static discharge?.....Be carefull putting stuff like that on carpets cause it can kill them very quick:( I can believe the cpu is bad lol Im sorry but you might have done some damage

Se it on a wooden table or something that doesn't hold static charge in the future...Carpet is the absolute worst for building up static. I think you might be getting ESD damage possibly- im mean it COULD explain things
 
Last edited:
primetime said:
ok have you ever heard of Electro static discharge?.....Be carefull putting stuff like that on carpets cause it can kill them very quick:( I can believe the cpu is bad lol Im sorry but you might have done some damage

Se it on a wooden table or something that doesn't hold static charge in the future...Carpet is the absolute worst for building up static
Click to expand...
Placing it on a towel on the table isn't going to hurt it but that's a separate conversation ;).

At this point I'm seriously considering grinding the pins off and mounting inside the case at the back as a reminder to stick with Intel, lol. I'm most likely going to RMA it with AMD and sell the replacement when I get it.

I truly appreciate all of the time everyone spent looking over the issue and trying to come up with a solution. I've been building PCs for a long long time now and have never had a bad cpu. I certainly have a new found level of respect for those that have suffered a faulty cpu. Especially so on a new platform as spare parts to swap out might not be available as it was for me.
 
lol dont grind the pins off....sorry it looked like carpet from the picture. (yea towel is ok for sure) You have to RMA it no matter what at this point...Should be easy to sell unopened for actual cost (shoot i might even want it) No one has got the dang items in stock to buy these days, so it would sell in couple hours
 
primetime said:
lol dont grind the pins off....sorry it looked like carpet from the picture. (yea towel is ok for sure) You have to RMA it no matter what at this point...Should be easy to sell unopened for actual cost (shoot i might even want it) No one has got the dang items in stock to buy these days, so it would sell in couple hours
Click to expand...
Lol, yeah I was zoomed in pretty close so I can certainly see it looking like a carpet, lol. I started the cpu rma process, I've never rma'd a cpu before so this'll be a new experience.
 
Personally, I'd keep the chip. I realize this experience has soured you, but honestly, if you have gone through all of that you might as well reap the rewards of your labor. Also, a failed CPU is super-rare for both AMD and Intel. You just happened to win (lose?) the lottery and get one.

Sure, you can encounter problems on the AMD platform (especially when it is a new release like the 3000 series chips) but they are usually ironed out in a couple of months. Actually defective CPUs are not that kind of problem. Like I said, they are super-rare and sometimes happen to Intel as well. I shall refrain from going into the whole Intel x99 platform debacle :).
 
mvmiller12 said:
Personally, I'd keep the chip. I realize this experience has soured you, but honestly, if you have gone through all of that you might as well reap the rewards of your labor. Also, a failed CPU is super-rare for both AMD and Intel. You just happened to win (lose?) the lottery and get one.

Sure, you can encounter problems on the AMD platform (especially when it is a new release like the 3000 series chips) but they are usually ironed out in a couple of months. Actually defective CPUs are not that kind of problem. Like I said, they are super-rare and sometimes happen to Intel as well. I shall refrain from going into the whole Intel x99 platform debacle :).
Click to expand...

I agree, I see absolutely no reason to sell off everything just to go Intel. Not for what is an extremely rare event. It sucks that your CPU died but that's not a reason to swear off AMD unless you're also going to swear off Intel for dead CPUs they've had.
 
Yeah, I've seen way more faulty and also straight up DOA Intel chips than I have AMD.

When I was doing onsite warranty repair for Dell systems I ran into a couple Pentium IV chips that had the cache going bad on them and also a couple DOA Pentium IV chips. Also saw a few more that were just acting strangely and replacing the CPU fixed the problem.

I only ever saw one bad AMD CPU. It was an Athlon 64 something or other that just died.

As for personal chips, I had an Intel i7-920 start acting up and then completely die and I think take the motherboard with it. Either that or the motherboard killed it. Either way, they both died at the same time.

I also have a random LGA1366 XEON engineering sample that may have started having issues. I upgraded the machine that had it in it and haven't really bothered to see if it was really the CPU causing the problems.

Thing is, usually a CPU will die pretty quickly if it is going to die. No real way around a few getting out in the wild that test fine at the factory and then die soon after put into actual service.

I would just RMA the bad CPU and put the replacement into service. That is one awesome CPU you have there and moving over to an Intel setup just because of one bad experience is just silly.
 
SmokeRngs said:
I agree, I see absolutely no reason to sell off everything just to go Intel.
Click to expand...

cyclone3d said:
I would just RMA the bad CPU and put the replacement into service.
Click to expand...

I've cooled down and have gotten over my switching to Intel idea :p. I'm sending back the first board and will keep the 2nd. I've started the rma process with AMD which hopefully won't take too long to complete.
 
Just a little update, while doing some research I ran across a reddit post of someone having the same exact issue so I guess it's not just me.

So I was sitting here, watching twitch and browsing reddit while all of a sudden my PC just shut down and began rebooting. It then got to the spinning dots before launching W10 and just as the spinning was over, it rebooted again... and again... and again.

I could still enter BIOS without an issue, no debug LED warnings, temps around 30°C, M.2 drive found and everything looked good.

Tried booting into my W10-install-USB and that's where things got weird... I still got a reboot just as anything of value was about to be displayed on screen. Same thing when trying to boot an Ubuntu Live-USB, it got through some initial wall of text and then instant reboot.

I managed to press F1 during the initial boot of Ubuntu to run memtest though, which ran through one pass without an issue.
Click to expand...

 
daphatgrant said:
Just a little update, while doing some research I ran across a reddit post of someone having the same exact issue so I guess it's not just me.



Click to expand...
holy cow.....that was your check list verbatim:) and here's the thing....in the old days a bad cpu would not even get you into the bios iirc......times have changed lol

Edit: look at the bright side- This thread will sort out the next person who has the same symptoms and is using a Ryzen 9 3900x.
 
Last edited:
Well... I went to grab the latest bios and apparently Asus's bios revision history has changed. My original board came with 0702, I upgraded to 0803, then 1001 (ABBA) which came out on 9/12. I updated on 9/14 and it never worked again. Looking at Asus's page now there is a 0901 that came out on 9/20 and a 1001 that came out on 9/25. The 1001 version that I downloaded and updated to on 9/14 is gone off of that list. Weird. I'm starting to wonder if somehow that old 1001 bios somehow damaged the chip.
 
you ready to sell me that 3900x yet? lol Hows the rig running:) Oh well maybe by black friday amd will get some in stock to sell at original/normal msrp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top