[SOLVED] Asus ROG Strix X470-I - BIOS upgraded, cannot boot with 3600X CPU

[ocharles]

Hi all,

I'm just in the processing of setting up a brand new build, and having some difficulty getting everything to boot. My build is:

• ASUS ROG Strix X470-I
• Ryzen 5 3600X
• Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 (2 x 8GB) PC4-22400 3000MHz
• EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC ULTRA GAMING Graphics Card
• Corsair CX Series CX450M 450W 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular ATX PSU

Initially I didn't even know that the 3600X was unlikely to work with the X470-I without a BIOS upgrade, and proceeded to build as above. This failed to do anything other than spin the fans - no Q LEDs or POST at all. I swapped out the graphics card for something really basic just to see if I could get a display, still nothing. Finally, I figured it must be due to old BIOs and bought an Athlon X4 950, and everything boots with just the CPU swapped out.

Using this CPU, I've upgraded just the BIOS through EZ Flash in the BIOS menu to the very latest (2019-08-20 is the reported date in the BIOS). Unfortunately, putting the 3600X back in still doesn't POST. It does get further than before - the fans spin, the graphics card fan adjusts it's speed from maximum, and the red Q LED (CPU) is on.

I'm at a loss at what to do next. Any ideas?

 

[Lutfij]

The latest BIOS version on Asus's site say 2703 but the dates do not match up with you. Try with one stick of ram, next time. See if you can reflash the BIOS, manually with version 2703. To ask, out of curiosity, which version of the BIOS were you on initially? You didn't jump to the latest BIOS, now did you?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Does it post with the athlon?

Sometimes the new 3rd gwn bios does not support the older am4 cpus so it may have prevented an uograde.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

After updating bios's, clear cmos on board then boot to bios and load default settings before changing cpu.

 

[ocharles]

The latest BIOS version on Asus's site say 2703 but the dates do not match up with you. Try with one stick of ram, next time. See if you can reflash the BIOS, manually with version 2703. To ask, out of curiosity, which version of the BIOS were you on initially? You didn't jump to the latest BIOS, now did you?

Correct, and I find this very strange! But I am at 2703, yet the date on the BIOS menu doesn't match what the website says. The date I report is what I read on the BIOS read out.

Try with one stick of ram, next time.

I'll give this a try, though it does boot with both sticks on the Athlon.

You didn't jump to the latest BIOS, now did you?

I did, but only because I couldn't see anything that suggested an incremental process was necessary. The only notes in the changelog suggest updating chipset drivers.

 

[ocharles]

After updating bios's, clear cmos on board then boot to bios and load default settings before changing cpu.

Ok - I did clear the CMOS after installing the CPU by shorting the pins with a screwdriver as the manual suggested. But you think I should do that before installing the CPU/first boot with the new CPU?

 

[ocharles]

Does it post with the athlon?

Sometimes the new 3rd gwn bios does not support the older am4 cpus so it may have prevented an uograde.

Yes, it is fine with Athlon - that is what I had to use to flash the BIOS to 2703.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Yeah so put the Athlon back in, sorry, post to bios, set to default settings. Change to 3600x cpu and hopefully it will post.

 

[ocharles]

Alright, I'm finally in business! Lutfij had me questioning the BIOS upgrade, so I grabbed another USB stick. The stick I used before failed to copy the Windows 10 ISO, so I think it might be dodgy. Anyway, I reflashed the BIOS (still got the same dates) and it finally POSTs (after rebooting a few times with the new CPU). I should also note, I followed Fix_that_Glitch's advice of doing a BIOS-menu "reset to default" before swapping CPUs, which I did (though it said there were no changes).

Thank you very much to everyone for providing such prompt help!