[SOLVED] B450-F MB and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X not Booting - Black Screen

[Comotose53]

I have a few issues doing here. First the new build:

CPU - Ryzen 7 3700X w/ Wraith Prism Cooler
MB - ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
RAM - OLOy Warhawk 3200 2x16g RGB (On MB compatibility List)
GPU - AMD Radeon RX 5700
PS - EVGA supernova 650 watt

Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2
Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm


Biggest Problem:
Will not boot. Plug display into the GPU and just a black screen. When tower is powered on, all RGB lights are working. However the Wraith Prism Cooler fan starts and stops almost instantly and remains off. I have read that this is a BIOS update issues with the compatibility between the Ryzen Gen 3 and 450 Mb's . Additionally, the motherboard has a yellow LED indicator light on that the user manual says is a problem with the RAM. The two sticks are located in the A2 and B2 slots on the MB.

I have submitted a request with AMD for the "boot kit offer" but I don't know if this is going to fix my issues or not...I am pretty frustrated at this point and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deleted member 1560910]

Can you even pair the 3700x with a B450 motherboard ? Why did you cheap out on the motherboard not to mention. If you were going that high up the AMD cpu chain you should of got a proper x570 board with good vrm cooling

 

[tennis2]

Your moobo didn't come with the 2301 BIOS needed for Ryzen 3000 support and it doesn't have BIOS flashback feature (which allows you to update the BIOS without a CPU installed).

You'll need to find a friend with a Ryzen 2000 series CPU, or go to a physical computer store to have them do the update for you.

 

[Nemesia]

Your issue is the BIOS. That board needs a BIOS update to support the 3700x. You have to wait for that AMD lending kit and you will be able to install that CPU and flash the BIOS and swap the CPU to your 3700x and it should boot fine after that.

https://i.redd.it/7n48gewun0p21.png

You bought a low end VRM's motherboard. It will work but don't get surprised if you see your VRM's at 110C

 

[Nemesia]

Your moobo didn't come with the 2301 BIOS needed for Ryzen 3000 support and it doesn't have BIOS flashback feature (which allows you to update the BIOS without a CPU installed).

You'll need to find a friend with a Ryzen 2000 series CPU, or go to a physical computer store to have them do the update for you.

He requested that AMD CPU lending kit from AMD. He will be fine.

 

[Deleted member 1560910]

I remember back in the day i had a AMD system with AM2 socket board with a Phenom 2 chip and it was able to boot but only ran at 800mhz until i did a bios update. Its kinda weird the new gen isnt the same but hats off AMD for doing this

 

[Comotose53]

Thanks for all of the quick responses.
Can anyone recommend a proper x570 board with good vrm cooling? I don't mind swapping out the MOBO for something a little more appropriate given the issues I'm having. What would be a good substitute?

 

[Nemesia]

Thanks for all of the quick responses.
Can anyone recommend a proper x570 board with good vrm cooling? I don't mind swapping out the MOBO for something a little more appropriate given the issues I'm having. What would be a good substitute?

X570 Asus TUF Gaming
X570 Aorus Elite

https://i.redd.it/timhhrx2d2631.png

Look at the x570 VRM tier list picture.

 

[DMAN999]

That Motherboard will run a 3700x just fine.
I had my 3700x installed on my ROG Strix B450-F for about a month and it ran very well.
You just need to have decent case airflow and it will be perfectly fine.
It performs only slightly better on my current ROG Strix X470-F.

As far as the BIOS goes, does it have the Ryzen 3000 Desktop Ready sticker on the box ?

https://imgur.com/Dvi8Egm

View: https://imgur.com/Dvi8Egm

If it does that means it already has a Ryzen 3000 compatible BIOS, if it doesn't then it may or may Not have an updated BIOS.
But I believe it might already have the updated BIOS, does the RED CPU light on the MB come on then go out when you attempt to Boot ?
If it does then it is recognizing that CPU and the RAM is the problem (since the Yellow RAM light stays lit).

I would remove the RAM and try booting with just one stick in slot A2 and see what happens.

If the yellow LED stays on then try the other RAM stick in slot A2.

 

[Comotose53]

The box has the
"AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop Ready" tag on it. That being said I'm still not sure what the issue is if its not the BIOS.

Regardless, I think im going to return it for a better mobo. In the meantime, i'm going to try different RAM configs but I think the computer would still boot even if a ram stick was bad.

 

[DMAN999]

It is apparently a RAM issue, which is why the Yellow RAM light stays lit.
You really should try each RAM stick one at a time in each slot and see if it will boot with just one stick installed.
Once you figure out the RAM issue it should boot.
And you can certainly get an X570 MB if you want, BUT I can assure you that the ROG Strix B450-F will run a 3700x very well and there is no need to replace it unless it is defective.

Once it actually boots I would go into the BIOS and go to the Monitor Tab (in Advanced Mode) and scroll down to QFAN Config and set the CPU QFan lower limit setting to Ignore (or 200 rpm, which is the setting I use) like this:

https://imgur.com/OcS9fkm

View: https://imgur.com/OcS9fkm


That should allow the PC to boot even if the Cooler fan doesn't spin up at boot up.
Just be sure to watch and make 100% sure the CPU cooler fan does spin up once it boots.

 

[Comotose53]

If I could boot the BIOS then I would try this suggestion. When powered on the screen just remains black as it currently stands.

 

[GarrettL]

Have to ask the obvious, monitor is plugged into graphics card and not the mobo?

 

[Comotose53]

Haha Yes sir. I meant to include that into the original post.

 

[DMAN999]

Have you tried loosening the CPU Cooler (just unlock the latch) ?
It might not have anything to do with your issue, But sometimes if a CPU cooler is too tight it can affect the IMC and cause the RAM not to be recognized properly.

It could also be as simple as a bad CPU cooler.
I helped a guy the other day that had similar issue and it was a bad Wraith Prism cooler.
It worked fine when Not on the CPU but would NOT spin up once he tightened it down onto the CPU.
He replaced the cooler and everything worked like it should.

 

[Comotose53]

Update time.

After moving the RAM around and unlatching and re-latching the fan mount, the yellow light has now gone away only to be replaced by alternating red and yellow for 2 seconds each when first started followed by solid white remaining on (VGA indicator). The CPU cooling fan is now spinning.

However the HDMI output still is not working at all. If only I could get to the BIOS... This is all still leading me to believe there is some incompatibility between the 450 chipset and 3rd generation Ryzen.

 

[Nemesia]

Even if the board has the BIOS update for the CPU it doesn't mean it has the latest BIOS update for the RAM compatibility. BIOS update add PCIe compatibility and memory compatibility in their updates.

So your issue could still be a BIOS update issue.

 

[DMAN999]

There is NO incompatibility with the B450 Chipset and the Ryzen 3000 CPUs.
I had my 3700x running perfectly on that same MB for a month.

Since the RED and Yellow lights flashed on then off that means the CPU and RAM are being properly recognized.

I would make 100% sure the GPU is fully seated and that you have the correct cable from the PSU fully plugged into your GPU.

 

[Comotose53]

PSU is fully engaged in all elements including the GPU. The GPU fan is also running so I know its getting power. Anyways, a new Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite is on the way. Hopefully this solves the issues...

 

[DMAN999]

PSU is fully engaged in all elements including the GPU. The GPU fan is also running so I know its getting power. Anyways, a new Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite is on the way. Hopefully this solves the issues...

Hopefully it works well for you.
It looks like a decent Budget board:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-x570-aorus-elite-atx-motherboard,6252-4.html

 

[GarrettL]

It's a good mobo, you'll like it.

 

[Nemesia]

I bought the Aorus Elite for my 3900x and it's working good. Nice VRM's temperature. Good board for the price. For me it was the X570 Asus Tuf Gaming but I wanted INTEL LAN so I bought the Aorus Elite.

 

[Nasty Gareth]

Hi, forum newcomer here, but had to reply since I had what appears to be a similar issue couple of weeks ago with my 3600 build with the same mobo.

Basically, it wouldn't POST. The CPU fan would spin up, I'd see a flicker of the BIOS on a monitor, then the board LEDs would cycle through all the colours, on a loop.

My issue was that I'd put my M2 in the lower slot, and this did not agree with me having five SATA devices (ports 1 thru 5).

The ASUS mobo manual isn't remotely clear on this, but it's quite sensitive as to where you stick devices. Only SATA 5 and 6 worked with the M2 in the lower slot. However, rather than just disable the SATA slots, it went through this baffling pre-POST routine, with no help from the board LED.

Try the M2 in the upper slot (the one nearest the CPU), and SATA in 1-4. 5 and 6 will be disabled.

Took me ages to figure this out (thought I'd had a device die on me between rigs, or a bad cable), basically tried every permutation. Then I found something on another forum mentioning how the PCI lanes are divvied up on this mobo, and it slowly began to sink in.

I did spend hours doing every permutation of drive, port and cable and GPU slot before I hit on moving the M2...

Good luck.