Did my CPU fail? AMD FX-8350 :(

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Aritria

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Nov 21, 2015
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I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a woman who has never built a computer from scratch and I just want to play some games, check my facebook and be a dork online. Approximately 5 weeks ago, I assembled a computer (it's going on 6 now).

I will also add that I have painstakingly done so much to troubleshoot. I follwed the guide here:http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

Here are the original specs:
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor
Gigabyte AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 ATX DDR3 1800 AMD Motherboard GA-970A-UD3P
ASUS Radeon R7 370 STRIX-R7370-DC2OC-4GD5-GAMING 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
CORSAIR Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model
Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MKNSSDEC120GB
Seagate Barracuda 3TB Hard Drive Internal
BitFenix Computer Case BFC-NEO-100-WWWKP-RP White and Purple

I put everything in the case. Pressed the power button and yay! I'm gaming! NOT over clocked and case totally open.

Two and a half weeks later I came home, turned on the computer, used it for 10 minutes (checking email, facebook and other nonsense) and the processes froze. It was the first time this happened that I remembered so I just hit reset on the case. The computer didn't reset. So I hit the power and that tured it off. When I turned it back on there was no video signal to monitor. Here is where the fun starts.

I went through all of the steps to try to troubleshoot. Since I have no speaker on the mobo or in the case, I have no motherboard beep codes to use. I don't own (and until now didn't know I could own) any diagnostic tools to troubleshoot.
So everything being new, I start returning and replacing components. I exchanged the motherboard for a new one. No change.

I bought a new PSU:
EVGA SuperNOVA 850 B2 80+ BRONZE, 850W Semi Modular NVIDIA SLI and Crossfire Ready 5 Year Warranty Power Supply 110-B2-0850-V1

I got a new video card:
Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 380 4GB GDDR5 DL-DVI-I / DL-DVI-D / HDMI / DP Dual-X OC (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11242-07-20G

I got more RAM so I can try another stick from something that wasn't in the computer when it crashed:
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (with Orange/Blue Light) Model BLT2KIT4G3D1608DT2TXOB

I got yet another motherboard:
MSI MSI Gaming 970 Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

I got new SATA cables, new thermal paste and a new SSD.

All the same. Powers up, everything spinning, video card fans stop and no video. So I brought it into work and 3 dudes check it out for me. One says I need stand offs. Well, I did install the ones that came with the case AND there are built in stand offs in the case.

The other two look at it for three hours. They test the motherboard, video card, psu...everything is good. They are using Intel so of course the one thing they can't test is the CPU.

I hear AMDs RMA process is a nightmare. So I'm wondering...do I just buy a new processor and see if this is the problem or do I throw the box out the window?
Could something like a power surge in my building have caused my CPU to fry if I wasn't on a power surge protector (yeah I know but the power strip LOOKS like a surge protector so I had no idea that it wasn't until the crash).
I'll admit it's nearly impossible to see if any pins are bent in that CPU and this is my first (and last) attempt at something like this but I am pretty sure I did everything right (all 8 times).

Thanks for reading <3
 
Solution
synphul
Sorry to hear you're having so much difficulty. With so many parts swaps it can be hard to narrow things down. I don't think it's necessarily an amd specific problem since many users have successfully built them. Problems can happen with any build but honestly I think you've hit more issues on this one build than I have in my last 4-5 builds combined.

Not detracting from your issues, just trying to point out that diy pc builds normally aren't this difficult or full of hurdles. It's unfortunate that this one has been. Removing the cmos battery has always been the most effective reset for me as far as that goes. While pc parts can become damaged the likelihood of a loose connection/cable/wire or other issue is more common than an entire...
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Wow that's quite a lot of troubleshooting. It seems you've replaced just about every component so chances of other things being the cause don't seem to be an issue. You took it to a different location which eliminates any potential power socket (at the wall) issues at your place. Cpu failures aren't overly common but it doesn't mean they can't happen. If there had been a power surge while you were away yes it could have damaged the cpu (or any of the components).

Power surges are one of those things that it's a roll of the dice, the power may go out momentarily 5x in a row and everything remains fine. It may blink once, surge when it comes back on and that's all she wrote.

At this point it sounds as if the only thing you haven't replaced is the cpu so that may be the next logical step since you don't have another amd system to test it in. I hate to say it but at this point there's nothing to lose. I think you've pretty well narrowed it down to the cpu being the common denominator in the system that still refuses to boot.
 
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Thanks synphul 😀 I'm just now looking around for used CPU. One of the boys said don't buy a new CPU...I was like well what's the option...only new or used. Seems at the price point it's not worth going used anyway - saving 50 bucks I guess. I don't think the AMD RMA process is worth my sanity when Amazon will have a new CPU to me by Monday anyway. :) I felt like I was going crazy there for a few days lol :)
 
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The msi 970 gaming does list the fx 8350 on their support cpu's, maybe you missed it. It's an 8+2 power phase board with heatsinked vrm's. Should be just fine, same as the gigabyte 970a ud3p. Both capable boards and the system isn't working with either one after just about every other component has been swapped clear down to the cables leaves the cpu.

Edit: The only warning at the top of the supported cpu list is that the msi 970 gaming doesn't support cpu's over 200w which would be the 9590, the 8350 is a 125w tdp chip. The 8370 is also listed under supported cpu's.
 
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Very helpful Synphul! the MSI does support this chipset/cpu. I didn't get it through amazon 🙁 That being said even if I did buy it there I think it has to be returned within 30 days for exchange.

I wish there was an onboard processor for booting...that would make things easier :)
 
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CountMike is correct. Pull the motherboard and other parts from the case and put it on a wood surface, preferably a ESD bag would be nice to have too, and set it up with the PSU, CPU and if needed GPU (of course RAM too). That would help eliminate a lot of variables.

Also check the case standoffs to make sure there are no extra standoffs in the wrong place. Some cases have stand offs in already but might have them in for a certain board specification such as mATX.
 
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Good advice except you should NEVER set up a mobo on an anti-static bag! The bag works because to dissipate ESD it is CONDUCTIVE and it can short out the exposed circuits on the underside of the mobo.

Yogi

 
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Whoops I meant mat. Sorry bout that. Forgot the words as it has been a while since I have actually used a ESD mat and sometimes my hands type faster than I think.
 
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thanks everyone. I did those things and had the same issues. I ended up getting a new processor on Wednesday. Installed it and it's working fine until today I tried to add a new SSD to the case and 2 more sticks of ram and guess what...now I'm having that same issue. I don't have any loose screws in the case, everything is seated correctly and before I freak out that something else is broken I decided to come post here.

I would never do this again. Something tells me if I pop that old processor on this mobo it might work. Is there any chance some charge is building up in the case over time and causing the processor to shut down so that after a few days of use it dies?

I'm at a total loss. I reset the CMOS and everything and it's not posting to the bios. Every component was replaced. It makes no sense considering it was working 30 minutes ago

EDITED: I am over this project clearly lol I didn't power the video card this time. I do have a SATA cable that isn't seating well on the boot drive as well but OMG I just about lost it lolllllllllll

IT'S "working". Now I just need to tweak the drive cable and should be ok.

BTW I'd never put anything on an static bag after reading all of the troubleshooting advice on this forum. I used cardboard for the outside the case assembly previously 😛

THANK YOU!!
 
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i'm having a lot of problems with this build for some reason. When I was trying to swap the SATA cable (with the computer turned off, completely at the psu) something blew the breaker in my building and now it won't power on at all so I'm guessing that the power supply is blown.
 
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is there a possibility there is a short causing it to not allow the psu to power on? I'm about to go get a new power supply and I'm thinking that something shorted. It's more likely than the whole power supply dying from just a screw loose or something orrrrrrrr am I crazy?
 
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I reset the CMOS twice by jumping it and then finally before I hit the road for a new PSU, i pulled the CMOS battery, disconnected all PSU from the board and put it back together...viola it's powering on. I didn't plug the harddrives in so I'm just in bios now but hey I'M IN THE BIOS! lolllllllllll that's worth a cocktail right there 😀

I have to say I really wouldn't recommend building your own pc unless you LIKE to tinker (i'm not a very manual labor type of girl) or have a person close by who does.

NOW to find out why my SSD doesn't work with any cable. I'm just monitoring the MSI bios screen now...it's looking like a small piece of heaven.
 
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Sorry to hear you're having so much difficulty. With so many parts swaps it can be hard to narrow things down. I don't think it's necessarily an amd specific problem since many users have successfully built them. Problems can happen with any build but honestly I think you've hit more issues on this one build than I have in my last 4-5 builds combined.

Not detracting from your issues, just trying to point out that diy pc builds normally aren't this difficult or full of hurdles. It's unfortunate that this one has been. Removing the cmos battery has always been the most effective reset for me as far as that goes. While pc parts can become damaged the likelihood of a loose connection/cable/wire or other issue is more common than an entire component mysteriously failing. You have to be gentle with components sure but they're not quite that fragile either.

If you experienced a power surge then it could have caused issues with attached components sure. Have you tried the sata cable for the ssd in another sata port on the motherboard? Basic troubleshooting methods apply, if your system was working and you added new hardware with the pc no longer working then it's best to try and go back to the last known configuration of parts that worked. See if you can get it working again. If so then try adding things one at a time like the ram. Add the ram and see if everything works. Adding multiple new hardware and resulting in an issue can be more difficult to diagnose.
 
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Solution


Congrats on getting into the BIOS! That IS cause for celebration!

Since you have Reset the CMOS, you need to go into the BIOS and "Load Optimized Defaults" or whatever it's called on your mobo. If you have trouble finding it in your BIOS, check the BIOS settings in your mobo manual.

Yogi

 
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Hello! I am currently having the same issue, may I know what your solution was?
 
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Did you try to use the old parts with your new cpu?
 
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I bought a new PSU:
EVGA SuperNOVA 850 B2 80+ BRONZE, 850W Semi Modular NVIDIA SLI and Crossfire Ready 5 Year Warranty Power Supply 110-B2-0850-V1

I got a new video card:
Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 380 4GB GDDR5 DL-DVI-I / DL-DVI-D / HDMI / DP Dual-X OC (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11242-07-20G

I got more RAM so I can try another stick from something that wasn't in the computer when it crashed:
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (with Orange/Blue Light) Model BLT2KIT4G3D1608DT2TXOB

I got yet another motherboard:
MSI MSI Gaming 970 Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

I got new SATA cables, new thermal paste and a new SSD.

When none of this worked I swapped out the CPU.
 
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Ohhh okay, what about all your old parts? lol What if they were working but it was the cpu the whole time?
 
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