[SOLVED] DRAM LED lit, no POST, run out of ideas to try

[Ross1111]

Hello

My PC had a sudden failure to reboot during a clean installation of Windows to a new SSD, DRAM LED lit orange on the motherboard and no POST. Can not reach BIOS. Tried a few of the obvious things like BIOS flashback and cmos reset but that didn't seem to work. Transferred CPU to a completely new Motherboard also with new RAM and I am still having the exact same issue.

Current Hardware tested on:
Ryzen 7 3700X
ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING WIFI II
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600 MHz (2x16 GB)
Corsair RM750x [EDIT: Previously posted wrong name on accident mixing up with old spare PSU]

I have tried all of the following with nothing changing what happens:

• Booting with bare minimum hardware. CPU, RAM, Motherboard,PSU & Monitor connected directly to Motherboard with HDMI.
• Trying out all 8 possible single stick RAM configurations with both new sticks of RAM, also trying out configurations of the old RAM which previously worked fine for years.
• Taking out and inspecting the CPU for bent pins, carefully cleaning any left-over thermal grease residue with isopropyl alcohol and suitable equipment, the CPU appears perfectly fine.
• Triple checking for loose PSU cable connections.
• BIOS flashback update to newest version available.
• Clearing the CMOS.
• Mashing the delete key on keyboard while booting to attempt to reach BIOS.

The motherboard has a q-code led display which always displays 0d (Reserved for future AMI SEC error codes) which doesn't really help. I don't see how it could be the power supply since the system is definitely receiving power just fine. I could imagine it possibly being the memory controller on the CPU but I don't know and that would seem unusual to me? I didn't mess with my CPU or touch anywhere near it before or during when the PC failed.

At this point I'm complete out of ideas and would greatly appreciate any help.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Corsair CX 750 PSU
How old is the PSU in your build?

Monitor connected directly to Motherboard with HDMI.
You won't get any display out of the motherboard since you don't have an APU(or that the processor lacks an iGPU).

 

[Ross1111]

Corsair CX 750 PSU
How old is the PSU in your build?

Hmm, old enough but not extremely old. maybe around 4 years. When pressing the power button the fan wills spin-up and any LED remain turned on and stable. Also I just realised I made the silly mistake of mixing up the PSU I posted with one from a much older build, sorry it's not a Corsair CX 750 , it's a Corsair RM750x

Monitor connected directly to Motherboard with HDMI.
You won't get any display out of the motherboard since you don't have an APU(or that the processor lacks an iGPU).

Ah okay, I'll have a go at seeing if anything is visible with GPU plugged in and Monitor connected to that although I don't think it will make a difference as it was previously the same when I still had it in.

 

[Lutfij]

4 years is a long while for a PSU to be in use.

Regardless, you might want to see if the processor you have works on a known working, donor motherboard. You can later try transplanting all your components(except your storage) onto said donor board and see if the issue persists. Have you tried with one stick of ram in slot A2 on your current motherboard?

 

[Ross1111]

4 years is a long while for a PSU to be in use.

Regardless, you might want to see if the processor you have works on a known working, donor motherboard. You can later try transplanting all your components(except your storage) onto said donor board and see if the issue persists. Have you tried with one stick of ram in slot A2 on your current motherboard?

Transplanting the components to a new motherboard is kind of what I've done already, was previously using a ROG STRIX B550-F (WI-FI), and the issue is persisting with components plugged into the new and unused ROG STRIX X570-E WIFI II. I don't have any other Motherboards to test on besides the 2 mentioned unfortunately.

I have tried one stick in the A2 slot as well as every single other possible single stick configuration with 2 new sticks of RAM, and tried using the previously used RAM sticks (4x8 GB) and none of those seem to work either so I do not believe the issue is with RAM given the abundance of sticks I have to test on.

 

[Lutfij]

If you're certain that both boards have the right BIOS version for your processor and you know that both boards are in working order, including all your other components, it's possible that the CPU conked out. You could doublecheck with a donor system(friend's or neighbors) to corroborate that hunch. Notably, it might be that the memory controller on the processor, conked out.

 

[Ross1111]

Notably, it might be that the memory controller on the processor, conked out.

This is my primary suspicion right now after already doing so much testing and everything seems fine. Unfortunate if the CPU failed but I guess the system lasted me long enough. Plan now is to replace everything, and when I isolate the one non-working part maybe make a cheap backup PC. Thanks for the help!

 

[Lutfij]

You'll see a lot of Ryzen 5 3600's also suffering from a memory controller issue or even a conked CPU.

Welcome! Do provide a followup to the matter.

 

[Ross1111]

Update: Took a long time to get a replacement CPU between seller stock issues and Brexit making UK shipping to here a bit slower but I finally got one and it's immediately solved my issue with the DRAM led and not booting up. So it appears the CPU memory controller was indeed the issue, I have no more hardware issues now.