Question Can't figure it out this time...

[aleader]

My son bought a new case for his PC (NZXT H510) and switched everything over to the new one. Now he can't get the PC to boot. There is power: MB lights up (ASUS Z97 Pro Gamer), all fans including CPU and GPU spin (CM Black RGB Hyper 212), but the keyboard and mouse don't light up and it never gets into the BIOS, just a black screen. In the past this has been me forgetting to plug in the CPU power cable. We have tried everything I can think of.

There were two standoffs that were stripped out of the box. So he pulled everything out and replaced those with new ones. One of the standoffs is the 'peg' type that just goes in the hole and holds the MB (no screw). I've swapped all of the SATA cables to the SSD, switched the power cables to the drives around, tried different SATA ports, tried a different monitor and cable, popped the CPU in and out, same result.

I also popped out the battery and put it in again. There is no reset switch just an HDD LED (I don't see a light for that on the case however), PLED, and power button. Only one SSD is hooked up, and only the mouse, keyboard, power cord, and video card. Could there be a short somewhere in the case, or is this a now dead CPU (i5 4670k)? That's my next step, swap the CPU with the spare 4670 I have. Any ideas before we go through that again? Bad battery maybe? It was working perfectly in his other case.

 

[aleader]

You posted this comment before you started having the power cycling issues. I would propose that is SUPPOSED to be a 5 second hold to power off and the fact that it is not, means your pin headers are wired incorrectly.

If it was me, I would recheck all of the basic stuff again now that you sourced your original issue. I've lost count of the number of times I've screwed things up while troubleshooting one issue that I then chased my tail until I checked the basics again to see my easy screwup.

Also, aside from popping your CPU, running without the cooler adds too many variables to be an effective troubleshooting method (i.e. thermal overload/shutdown as a failure mode). Therefore, you won't actually learn anything definitive anyway.

Actually I just asked him and he says he has to hold it down now to shut it off. I asked him why he needs the button and he said because he doesn't feel like shutting it down through Windows...as if that's such a chore. I of course admonished him for being so lazy! It's running fine with one stick of RAM. I'm leaving it up to my son when he wants to pull the CPU again and reseat it and/or try the other 4670 that I have. Doesn't look like he wants to deal with it anymore

 

[lane42]

. Just because something is old, doesn't mean you need to toss it.

Agree, I loved my Gigabyte Z97 and 4670k, but sometimes it's more trouble
then it's worth to trouble shoot, it's time to upgrade. Ill bet it's not the cpu,
it's just the motherboard's time, Good luck.

 

[Shmee]

There's also a lot of videos of people eating Tide Pods and ghost peppers.

It still doesn't make it a smart idea.

Ghost peppers can be very tasty though, especially in the right salsa / sauce.

My guess is this is a motherboard issue. But it could be something else, like CPU. Anyway, I would hope it works at least somewhat for a while longer, maybe you could get your son a new Ryzen 5600X based system for holidays.

 

[aleader]

Agree, I loved my Gigabyte Z97 and 4670k, but sometimes it's more trouble
then it's worth to trouble shoot, it's time to upgrade. Ill bet it's not the cpu,
it's just the motherboard's time, Good luck.

It could be, but I have two other H81 boards waiting in the wings

 

[aleader]

Ghost peppers can be very tasty though, especially in the right salsa / sauce.

My guess is this is a motherboard issue. But it could be something else, like CPU. Anyway, I would hope it works at least somewhat for a while longer, maybe you could get your son a new Ryzen 5600X based system for holidays.

I'm just going by memory that I had this issue before with the same board when I first bought it and the CPU re-seat fixed it. It's a nice board and actually has an M.2 slot, which was pretty ahead of it's time.

No 5600X for him....he has to fix a head gasket on his car next week If anything, I'll pass on my 3600 if the new Ryzens show actual performance gains in benchmarks of at least 20% with my setup. I'm not optimistic that will happen though, and I do need to wait for the BIOS update for my board too.

He just d/l the new COD Cold War yesterday and I watched him play for a bit (I made him turn Afterburner on). He gets an average of about 61fps on high/ultra, 1080p (GSync compatible 144Hz LG monitor), CPU usage is right at 100% most of the time (at 3.4, not the usual 4.5GHz), and system RAM usage is about 5.5GB. No stuttering that we could detect, nice and smooth. He finished in the top 3 every game, so it isn't affecting his 'performance' at all. What a stupid game . Run around the corner and shoot, rinse, repeat...

 

[aleader]

Not to resurrect an old thread, but I didn't want to start another one...someone may find this helpful. Today I was playing around with my leftover gear to get my 5700XT mining 24/7 on a separate PC so I can try out my new 3070. I wanted to figure out if I could still use this Z97 board or if I should just give it away with the memory issue.

While I was swapping CPUs around (4670k & 4670) between that an another spare Asrock H81m DG4 board, I noticed something odd looking on the socket of the Z97. Thinking it may be bent pins (something I've never had or attempted to fix), I got a needle from the wife's sewing kit and zoomed the camera on my phone. One pin was touching another one, and in another spot a pin was crushed down backwards.

I straightened out the one that was touching and tried to fix the crushed one but ended up breaking it off. Oh well, tried it with the 4670k and voila, problem solved! Must have been the pin that was touching and/or the crushed one touching itself or another pin. I can now put two sticks of RAM in any of the slots and they work.

The broken pin must have been one of the 'blanks' or filler pins?

 

[VirtualLarry]

The broken pin must have been one of the 'blanks' or filler pins?

There is a small number of "redundant" power and GND pins on the package / socket. (Used together to meet current specs for power-delivery for the socket.)

Losing one or more of those pins is not necessarily the end of the world, but you may have to power- or clock-limit the CPU to a certain point to avoid crashes. Or just don't overclock, and/or disable Turbo.

Other pins are unique signal pins, such as RAM data and clock signals, or PCI-E / DMI signals. Losing those from the socket can be very bad for proper functionality of the board.

 

[aleader]

There is a small number of "redundant" power and GND pins on the package / socket. (Used together to meet current specs for power-delivery for the socket.)

Losing one or more of those pins is not necessarily the end of the world, but you may have to power- or clock-limit the CPU to a certain point to avoid crashes. Or just don't overclock, and/or disable Turbo.

Other pins are unique signal pins, such as RAM data and clock signals, or PCI-E / DMI signals. Losing those from the socket can be very bad for proper functionality of the board.

I'm only going to use it to run HiveOS with the 5700XT so I'm assuming there won't be any issues as mining really doesn't even use the CPU, right? I was going to try and sell it with the CPU/RAM but I doubt it would be worth the cost of shipping.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was going to try and sell it with the CPU/RAM

If you meant that you were selling the RX 5700XT, I sent you a PM. If you meant the mobo, then ignore that PM, I guess.

Edit: OH! forgot that you were in Canada, NEVERMIND!

 

[aleader]

If you meant that you were selling the RX 5700XT, I sent you a PM. If you meant the mobo, then ignore that PM, I guess.

Ha, I just posted in the Ethereum thread about possibly selling the 5700XT with the stupid prices people are paying for them on Ebay...up to $910 CAD ($700 USD) for my card already...USED.