- Jul 12, 2012
- 14
- 0
- 10,510
Hello all- I have been working with an issue on my old rig for way too long now, trying to resolve the issue on my own with the plenty of resources available. Unfortunately at this point I am at my rope's end and wasting money on this thing when I could have put it towards a new desktop. I have read and tried everything stickied here and then some, and I have built a few desktops now. PSU tests fine with multimeter, I even bought a new one on Amazon to try and returned it after the results were the same.
Specs-
Sapphire Pure Black 990FX AM3+ board
CM Silent Pro Hybrid 1050 PSU
PowerColor Radeon 7970 3GB GPU
AMD FX- can't recall if it's an 8150 or 8350 with AMD FX Asetek Liquid Cooler
What happened: Haven't used my rig for much of anything intensive over the last few months until recently before the desktop died when I started gaming again. I first noticed it wouldn't come on and was giving the code "FF" on the LCD on the board with no beeps from the built-in speaker. On powering up, fans would spin but nothing else would happen besides the "FF". However after turning it on and off 2 or 3 times I noticed a faint burning smell. After scouring the internet and various forums including here, the consensus seemed to be board or PSU problems due to the code and burning smell, and that very rarely is it the CPU but could potentially be. Going off of this I started with the PSU which is confirmed not the issue. This week I tried the board- I found a used board on ebay that seemed to be compatible with most of what I have and dropped $130 on it (These AM3+ boards are hard to find apparently!). The board I got was an ASUS Pro R2.0 which I installed last night.
However, when it rains it pours and I accidentally dropped my old CPU when cleaning the paste off of it, bending some pins. I was able to get them back into place enough to seat in the board properly, so now I am not sure if I have a "which came first" issue now- but I kept going. One issue I overlooked is that this board did not have an on-board speaker. I ordered an external one from Amazon last night but it hasn't arrived so I have no idea if there are any beeps yet. However, on boot I get similar results to my old board- fans spin, except the red CPU light comes on immediately. After a minute or so, the entire thing shuts down. I also noticed that same burning smell on the first or second power on attempt- this time since I had everything open I was able to "sniff quickly" and it seemed to be coming straight from the CPU- though I can't be sure. I find it hard to believe it's the motherboard since this would be 2 now, and I am thinking my original motherboard may be just fine and I actually have a CPU problem although visually the CPU seems fine.
One thing to note is my old board has a molex connector built-in that one of the 3 heatsink wires was plugged in to. I used a different adapter to power it now because this board doesn't have a molex connector. I am wondering if the molex is required. I cannot find a manual for this heatsink anywhere, even after reaching out to Asetek and AMD. The fans/pump are supposedly controlled by the same wire and I get spinning fans so it seems to be working, but because of the way it shuts down after a minute or so I am wondering if it is overheating the CPU, or if the machine is just shutting down because it doesn't detect a working CPU. I've ordered a molex to PSU cable to try that as well.
This morning I also ordered a cheap, $15 CPU on Amazon that is supposedly compatible with the ASUS PRO R2.0. My next plan is to just pop this one in and see if the red CPU light goes away. If it does I think I am going to assume my old board is fine and buy an upgraded compatible FX CPU to put in it as the $15 ebay one I found won't work with it.
Is there anything else I could/should be doing to try to determine if my CPU or motherboard is bad? There are just too many variables in my head now and I don't know what else to try but I keep sinking money on unnecessary parts. I am also concerned with all these different CPU/Mobo combinations. Could the current board giving the red CPU light have anything to do with the Bios version being incompatible with the CPU? or would I get some kind of other indicator/not auto shutting off first? I figured if it was the BIOS it would at least boot to the BIOS and give me a chance to change things.
ANY advice is appreciated.
TL, DR: FF Code, No POST, Burning smell with 2 different CPUs, 2 motherboards both indicate a board/CPU issue, unsure of the best way to move forward without wasting more money.
Specs-
Sapphire Pure Black 990FX AM3+ board
CM Silent Pro Hybrid 1050 PSU
PowerColor Radeon 7970 3GB GPU
AMD FX- can't recall if it's an 8150 or 8350 with AMD FX Asetek Liquid Cooler
What happened: Haven't used my rig for much of anything intensive over the last few months until recently before the desktop died when I started gaming again. I first noticed it wouldn't come on and was giving the code "FF" on the LCD on the board with no beeps from the built-in speaker. On powering up, fans would spin but nothing else would happen besides the "FF". However after turning it on and off 2 or 3 times I noticed a faint burning smell. After scouring the internet and various forums including here, the consensus seemed to be board or PSU problems due to the code and burning smell, and that very rarely is it the CPU but could potentially be. Going off of this I started with the PSU which is confirmed not the issue. This week I tried the board- I found a used board on ebay that seemed to be compatible with most of what I have and dropped $130 on it (These AM3+ boards are hard to find apparently!). The board I got was an ASUS Pro R2.0 which I installed last night.
However, when it rains it pours and I accidentally dropped my old CPU when cleaning the paste off of it, bending some pins. I was able to get them back into place enough to seat in the board properly, so now I am not sure if I have a "which came first" issue now- but I kept going. One issue I overlooked is that this board did not have an on-board speaker. I ordered an external one from Amazon last night but it hasn't arrived so I have no idea if there are any beeps yet. However, on boot I get similar results to my old board- fans spin, except the red CPU light comes on immediately. After a minute or so, the entire thing shuts down. I also noticed that same burning smell on the first or second power on attempt- this time since I had everything open I was able to "sniff quickly" and it seemed to be coming straight from the CPU- though I can't be sure. I find it hard to believe it's the motherboard since this would be 2 now, and I am thinking my original motherboard may be just fine and I actually have a CPU problem although visually the CPU seems fine.
One thing to note is my old board has a molex connector built-in that one of the 3 heatsink wires was plugged in to. I used a different adapter to power it now because this board doesn't have a molex connector. I am wondering if the molex is required. I cannot find a manual for this heatsink anywhere, even after reaching out to Asetek and AMD. The fans/pump are supposedly controlled by the same wire and I get spinning fans so it seems to be working, but because of the way it shuts down after a minute or so I am wondering if it is overheating the CPU, or if the machine is just shutting down because it doesn't detect a working CPU. I've ordered a molex to PSU cable to try that as well.
This morning I also ordered a cheap, $15 CPU on Amazon that is supposedly compatible with the ASUS PRO R2.0. My next plan is to just pop this one in and see if the red CPU light goes away. If it does I think I am going to assume my old board is fine and buy an upgraded compatible FX CPU to put in it as the $15 ebay one I found won't work with it.
Is there anything else I could/should be doing to try to determine if my CPU or motherboard is bad? There are just too many variables in my head now and I don't know what else to try but I keep sinking money on unnecessary parts. I am also concerned with all these different CPU/Mobo combinations. Could the current board giving the red CPU light have anything to do with the Bios version being incompatible with the CPU? or would I get some kind of other indicator/not auto shutting off first? I figured if it was the BIOS it would at least boot to the BIOS and give me a chance to change things.
ANY advice is appreciated.
TL, DR: FF Code, No POST, Burning smell with 2 different CPUs, 2 motherboards both indicate a board/CPU issue, unsure of the best way to move forward without wasting more money.
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