[SOLVED] Computer Not Starting After Stock CPU Fan Replaced

sickness335

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Hi All,

Specs:
ASRock X370 Killer SLI AM4 AMD
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
Seasonic 750W Prime Titanium
New CPU Cooler: Deepcool Assassin III (Amazon reference here )
NZXT H700i Tower

Recently noted the stock Ryzen fan wasn't performing as adequately as I would have liked (as noted by almost 30c temperature rise when playing 1440p Assassin's Creed Odyssey or 1440p Shadow of the Tomb Raider). Went ahead and ordered the Assassin III along with another fan (to replace a stock NZXT fan) for the front of my NZXT case. No problems with installations... motherboard LED light turns on as normal, however the PC does not start. Went ahead and did a little troubleshooting as follows...

Replaced lithium battery
Checked all cables leading from motherboard to PSU - nothing noted out of place - however I'm considering breadboarding it
To note: When taking the CPU & new cooler out I noticed it was pretty easy to take out... which lead to me to believe I simply did not "lock" the CPU in place. Redid removal of old thermal paste with 70% alcohol, applied thermal paste and placed it in correctly while ensuring it was locked in this time.
Originally: Assassin III cooler's wires were connected to the back of the tower where the stock fans were connected... rotated sites and plugged the Assassin cooler into the CPU connectors where the CPU stock fans were originally connected. Still nothing

Like I said, I'm thinking of breadboarding it. I may also replace the Assassin III with the stock - but will need to buy more thermal paste as I am out at the moment.

Any help is appreciated. Pictures can be provided if need be. Thank you!
 
Solution
Hi All,

Specs:
ASRock X370 Killer SLI AM4 AMD
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
Seasonic 750W Prime Titanium
New CPU Cooler: Deepcool Assassin III (Amazon reference here )
NZXT H700i Tower

Recently noted the stock Ryzen fan wasn't performing as adequately as I would have liked (as noted by almost 30c temperature rise when playing 1440p Assassin's Creed Odyssey or 1440p Shadow of the Tomb Raider). Went ahead and ordered the Assassin III along with another fan (to replace a stock NZXT fan) for the front of my NZXT case. No problems with installations... motherboard LED light turns on as normal, however the PC does not start. Went ahead and did a little troubleshooting as follows...

Replaced lithium battery
Checked all cables leading from...
Hi sickness335.

I would replace the new cooler by the stock one to see if you can even boot with that and at the same time look for bent pin.

And what do you mean by not start? no fan turning nothing or is the system booting just not posting?
 

sickness335

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Jul 25, 2010
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And what do you mean by not start? no fan turning nothing or is the system booting just not posting?

Will do, will try that with the stock cooler.

The system does not start, nor do the fans turn. The only "signs of life" I get is the LED lights on the motherboard (which is on normally when the PC is on).
 
Hi All,

Specs:
ASRock X370 Killer SLI AM4 AMD
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
Seasonic 750W Prime Titanium
New CPU Cooler: Deepcool Assassin III (Amazon reference here )
NZXT H700i Tower

Recently noted the stock Ryzen fan wasn't performing as adequately as I would have liked (as noted by almost 30c temperature rise when playing 1440p Assassin's Creed Odyssey or 1440p Shadow of the Tomb Raider). Went ahead and ordered the Assassin III along with another fan (to replace a stock NZXT fan) for the front of my NZXT case. No problems with installations... motherboard LED light turns on as normal, however the PC does not start. Went ahead and did a little troubleshooting as follows...

Replaced lithium battery
Checked all cables leading from motherboard to PSU - nothing noted out of place - however I'm considering breadboarding it
To note: When taking the CPU & new cooler out I noticed it was pretty easy to take out... which lead to me to believe I simply did not "lock" the CPU in place. Redid removal of old thermal paste with 70% alcohol, applied thermal paste and placed it in correctly while ensuring it was locked in this time.
Originally: Assassin III cooler's wires were connected to the back of the tower where the stock fans were connected... rotated sites and plugged the Assassin cooler into the CPU connectors where the CPU stock fans were originally connected. Still nothing

Like I said, I'm thinking of breadboarding it. I may also replace the Assassin III with the stock - but will need to buy more thermal paste as I am out at the moment.

Any help is appreciated. Pictures can be provided if need be. Thank you!

Unplug everything but the GPU and the CPU and Center CPU cooler fan.
Unplug power supply. Pull CMOS jumper. Push power button for a good 15 seconds.

If that doesn't work, I would go with Nemesia's suggestion and look for a bent of broken pin. I hate to say it, but when it comes to some thermal paste, they will yank the CPU out of the locked socket and will damage the pins. That's why the warm and twist then lift method is preferred. I've encountered 2 other people on this forum where the CPU just got yanked out of the socket when removing their old cooler with the old paste.
 
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Solution

sickness335

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Jul 25, 2010
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is it starting if you short the 2 power button pin without using the case power button?

I will attempt that. Thank you both for your comments.


I attempted your suggestion, Digitalgriffin, however with no luck.

Nemesia - In regards to a broken pin - I will take a look. The only issue with doing so is that I will have to take the CPU off the motherboard. I ordered some more thermal paste so that should come in by Friday. I had difficulty taking off the CPU originally - however I did the "warm and twist" method just with prior knowledge, but still needed to use quite a bit of force to remove it.

I plan on taking apart everything and putting it back together, along with the stock CPU instead of the new one. With any luck, it will work. Question about the new cooler though.... does it matter where those fans are connected? I never used after market CPU coolers (I connected them to the back like any other fan cord. Then switched to the "CPU Fan" connector on the motherboard - nothing happened either way since the computer didn't boot but thought it was related somehow).
 

Jogibearson

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I'm concerned about the "Easy to pick up" part when you switched the cooler. I have to confess that I more than enough times, ripped my poor ryzen out of his socket because the thermal paste didnt wanna let go but I never had it easy to pick it up. I also think its extremly unlikely that you didnt lock it in place since the handle would be up, interfering with the cooler...
If I would put my money on the motherboard being defective.
 

sickness335

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I'm concerned about the "Easy to pick up" part when you switched the cooler. I have to confess that I more than enough times, ripped my poor ryzen out of his socket because the thermal paste didnt wanna let go but I never had it easy to pick it up. I also think its extremly unlikely that you didnt lock it in place since the handle would be up, interfering with the cooler...
If I would put my money on the motherboard being defective.

That was my concern too - I wonder if I simply had the lever down before lowering the CPU and cooler down. After taking it off again though, I made sure it was aligned correctly and the lever was up, and made sure it was pushed down to lock it in place.

That's an interesting point - could the motherboard have simply been on it's final legs? Would have been an interesting timing.
 

sickness335

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So I went ahead and pulled everything out and started over. Same conclusion - motherboard LED light on but no power to the rest of the system. Tried jump starting but no power up.

Will try with the stock CPU fan once the heat sink arrives... but I don't think it's the new CPU fan, either.

I have another 750W PSU that's never been used I could try. Could the PSU be the issue?

I'll try that too, Jogibearson.
 

sickness335

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It appears some of the CPU pins were sadly bent... I'm guessing it happened when I was taking out the stock CPU fan (DOH!). Lesson learned I suppose.

Tried realigning them with a mechanical pencil but seems despite that, I'm not getting any signs of life other than that one LED on the motherboard. Tried with a different PSU but still nothing besides the one LED light. I was going to attempt with another CPU but realized my old Phenom II is AM3.

Guess now it's matter of considering what to do next. I could buy another 3900x or I could upgrade both CPU and motherboard (can't stand my ASRock to begin with).
 
It appears some of the CPU pins were sadly bent... I'm guessing it happened when I was taking out the stock CPU fan (DOH!). Lesson learned I suppose.

Tried realigning them with a mechanical pencil but seems despite that, I'm not getting any signs of life other than that one LED on the motherboard. Tried with a different PSU but still nothing besides the one LED light. I was going to attempt with another CPU but realized my old Phenom II is AM3.

Guess now it's matter of considering what to do next. I could buy another 3900x or I could upgrade both CPU and motherboard (can't stand my ASRock to begin with).

Get a B550 board with a Ryzen 5000 series CPU if you can find one. The single core performance is a lot better on Zen 3.

If I were you I would just buy a 3600 and wait until you can find a 5900X but that's just what I would do :)