Question Difficult to diagnose PC issue ?

[ssjvash]

I have a system that started freezing on POST out of nowhere. It's got an MSI X570 Gaming Edge WiFi motherboard with a Ryzen 5800X CPU. I initially thought my CPU had died as the CPU debug light on the mobo came on. I swapped in an old 3600 that fixed the problem, but then the 5800X worked fine on another system. I swapped it back and it booted right back up.

I ran a full suite of benchmarks (cinebench, 3dmark, heaven, etc) and everything went fine with good results afterwards. The next day, the exact same freezing problem reoccurred. This time, the DRAM debug light was lit up instead. I had 2 sticks of Corsair Vengeance Pro 16gb. I proceeded to swap them around in various combinations again, with the system posting with each stick individually. This made me think I had a bad slot, so I moved my set to 1 & 3. AGAIN, my problem returned the next day with the memory in channel B.

Now my debug light shows CPU again. At this point, I'm presuming to have to replace my x570, but I can get to bios fine (flashed it fine between these sporadic uptimes) and can still run my NVME integrity tests still. I just can't post. I've swapped all my cables and removed my UPS from the equation, but i just can't reliably reproduce or isolate something. Can I get any recommendations so that I can be sure I'm not wasting money on a new board that might not solve the problem?

System Specs:
MBD: MSI X570 Gaming Edge Wifi
CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: Radeon 6700 XT
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 16GB 4000MHz CL18 x2
Sabrent Rocket Q 4tb
Sabrent Rocket 4 1tb - Boot OS, Windows 10

 

[CountMike]

I have a system that started freezing on post out of nowhere. It is an MSI X570 gaming edge wifi with a 5800x. I initially thought my CPU had died as the CPU debug light on the mobo came on. I swapped in an old 3600 that fixed the problem, but then the 5800x worked fine on another system. I swapped it back and it booted right back up. I ran a full suite of benchmarks (cinebench, 3dmark, heaven, etc) and everything went fine with good results afterwards. The next day, the exact same freezing problem reoccurred. This time, the DRAM debug light was lit up instead. I had 2 sticks of Corsair Vengeance Pro 16gb. I proceeded to swap them around in various combinations again, with the system posting with each stick individually. This made me think I had a bad slot, so I moved my set to 1 & 3. AGAIN, my problem returned the next day with the memory in channel B. Now my debug light shows CPU again. At this point, I'm presuming to have to replace my x570, but I can get to bios fine (flashed it fine between these sporadic uptimes) and can still run my NVME integrity tests still. I just can't post. I've swapped all my cables and removed my UPS from the equation, but i just can't reliably reproduce or isolate something. Can I get any recommendations so that I can be sure I'm not wasting money on a new board that might not solve the problem?

System Specs:
MSI X570 Gaming Edge Wifi
Ryzen 7 5800x
Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 16gb 4000MHz CL18 x2
Radeon 6700 xt
Sabrent Rocket Q 4tb
Sabrent Rocket 4 1tb - Boot OS, Windows 10

You can flash newest BIOS without entering BIOS/UEFI. using Flashback feature and button. Before that, reset CMOS to defaults.

 

[boju]

Has XMP been enabled to 4000 in all circumstances prior to these symptoms? Wondering if memory is too fast, creating instability with CPU's memory controller. Manually run ram at 3600 maximum, you'll have a more stable and better performing system.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-worth-g...the-difference-noticeable-in-gaming-scenarios

 

[ssjvash]

As stated in the original post, I have already flashed the BIOS, also I have tried CMOS reset already too. I have essentially manually tested swapping most BIOS settings individually, as well as completely factory reset. I did previously have XMP set, but I highly doubt system instability. Though it is was on of the settings I tried turning off, I ran several years with a CPU and GPU OC that I tuned to be stable enough that I don't recall a single crash or shutdown in the past year. This system was a daily driver various types of production work and off hours gaming, so it did have some miles on it, but only so many as the parts are only a few years old.

Another addition I forgot to mention, I tried testing this to run on a completely different power breaker, and pulled to power supply to test running a separate system too. These seemed to run as normal and appeared inconclusive. Although I appreciate the recommendations for setting testing options, I'd also like to get opinions regarding replacements too. I'm at an impasse since I'm not quite ready to move onto AM5 just yet, and intel is just in a nightmare situation currently, so I'd like to reasonably restore this rig without losing significant power/features (i.e. not putting the 3600 back in). I expect another year or so before a full replacement. Mobos in general seem to have inflated in price, and several comparable CPUs are also getting harder like the 5800X3D. Thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

You may well have had the PC run fine for a while with the settings previously mentioned - primarily the RAM speed - but there can be a degregation in the memory controller if pushed too hard. The issues exhibited can manifest in a similar way to what you are seeing.

As highlighted above 3600 is the sweetspot for your ryzen chip. Anything above that often will not work at all or can have a negative effect due to the correlation with the Infinity Fabric.

If you run the ram at base spec without XMP enabled do you get the same issues (reset CMOS and BIOS to defaults first).

What BIOS version are you currently on?

 

[ssjvash]

It is currently on version 7C37v1P (released on August 9th), which I updated to during this process. I have updated the BIOS twice in the past, but I don't recall which version I was on when this issue began. It is worth noting that this update was already applied before I had done my 3600 swap, so by the time I first put the 5800x back in and ran R23 it was already updated. I think my benchmarking ran about 2 hours or so before I shut it down and then got the problem again maybe 8-10 hours later. During this time, there were no overclocks of any kind and XMP was off.

 

[boju]

Is the other system in your house? Try that ram in yours.

 

[ssjvash]

Is the other system in your house? Try that ram in yours.

Unfortunately, it is not. It is now a NAS and was given to a friend. I borrowed it temporarily for testing before, but I can't get immediate anytime access to it. At the time I did my original RAM swapping, I did test those sticks, but when I simultaneously saw mine were running fine in the other system I swapped back, leading to it working again as noted in my previous post. At that time, I only tested 2 of my RAM slots with other memory. Regardless, every instance led to a complete boot. It almost seems like every time hardware of any kind changes it miraculously starts working again, but once I shut it down, the problems return.

New update, as I've been discussing this I decided to attempt to turn it on with no changes. The debug lights don't come on at all anymore, but it still won't go past the splash screen. As a side note, given the track record of it booting up again each time I change hardware, what value is there to identifying my issue if I make an alteration that manages to get it up and running and then logging some tests? As stated before, I ran benchmarks and performance, thermals, fan curves, etc all seemed normal at a glance. I'm not educated enough to be able to derive anything from logs while it is running.