Well, with Triple-V, I finally got all the parts, and then, having been busy, finally had time this weekend to put it together.
I was slow and meticulous. I finished, then powered it on. The fans spun, as well as the LED on the CPU fan (didn't know until then that it had LED), but nothing else. No beep codes, no display, nothing. Tried two different monitors, and three different GPUs. Same results. Reseated RAM, GPU, and MB power connectors, to no avail. Tried single sticks of RAM, no go.
I looked at the box the MB came in, and it very boldly and clearly declares "3ʳᵈ GEN AMD RYZEN™ DESKTOP READY" and blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing it right. Despite this, I even tried downloading a BIOS revision that specifically stated 5600X support, and tried to use QFlash Plus. I was pleasantly surprised that this budget motherboard had it. I pushed the QFLASH button and... nothing. Am I really going to have to remove the CPU, cooler, RAM, etc to do that?
Despair set in . . did I actually bend CPU pins or something? Is it a defective motherboard? It's been more than 30 days, so I can't just do a swap at MicroCenter, it'll be a warranty swap. But how do I determine if it's a bad CPU or MB? Or maybe a bad RAM kit with both modules defective? That, along with the persistent thoughts of "I've done this several times before, could I have possibly damaged something while putting it together this time? Did I break it?"
That was Saturday. Sunday, in a bout of stubbornness, I searched online for how QFlash Plus works.
This time, with the PC off, the QFLASH button immediately started flashing the LED and installing the BIOS. I knew it would take a few minutes, so I did a couple of errands. When I came back up, the monitor showed a complaint about not finding any bootable OS.
Everything is fine. Well, except for the box that claimed the MB was 3rd Gen ready. But I will admit to being GREATLY relieved that I didn't have to pull things apart, and that I didn't break anything.
I was slow and meticulous. I finished, then powered it on. The fans spun, as well as the LED on the CPU fan (didn't know until then that it had LED), but nothing else. No beep codes, no display, nothing. Tried two different monitors, and three different GPUs. Same results. Reseated RAM, GPU, and MB power connectors, to no avail. Tried single sticks of RAM, no go.
I looked at the box the MB came in, and it very boldly and clearly declares "3ʳᵈ GEN AMD RYZEN™ DESKTOP READY" and blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing it right. Despite this, I even tried downloading a BIOS revision that specifically stated 5600X support, and tried to use QFlash Plus. I was pleasantly surprised that this budget motherboard had it. I pushed the QFLASH button and... nothing. Am I really going to have to remove the CPU, cooler, RAM, etc to do that?
Despair set in . . did I actually bend CPU pins or something? Is it a defective motherboard? It's been more than 30 days, so I can't just do a swap at MicroCenter, it'll be a warranty swap. But how do I determine if it's a bad CPU or MB? Or maybe a bad RAM kit with both modules defective? That, along with the persistent thoughts of "I've done this several times before, could I have possibly damaged something while putting it together this time? Did I break it?"
That was Saturday. Sunday, in a bout of stubbornness, I searched online for how QFlash Plus works.
- You don't have to have a bare board, it'll work with or without components installed
- You're supposed to have the PSU on, but NOT supposed to hit the PC's power button first. The PC should be OFF to do this
- According to one video, you also should use a lower-capacity USB 2 stick. I switched to doing so, but that seems like a kind of weird requirement.
This time, with the PC off, the QFLASH button immediately started flashing the LED and installing the BIOS. I knew it would take a few minutes, so I did a couple of errands. When I came back up, the monitor showed a complaint about not finding any bootable OS.
Everything is fine. Well, except for the box that claimed the MB was 3rd Gen ready. But I will admit to being GREATLY relieved that I didn't have to pull things apart, and that I didn't break anything.
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