[SOLVED] Help Figuring Out Which Component(s) is Broken!

[jsdsparky]

Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock AB350 Pro4 (BIOS version: P5.80)
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (also tried Ryzen 5 1600X)
RAM: EVGA SuperSC 2x8GB DDR4-3000MHz
PSU: Thermaltake 750W Toughpower RGB 80+Gold

A couple weeks ago I upgraded from my Ryzen 5 1600X to a Ryzen 7 3700X, and it worked great until tonight. I was watching Youtube (so, a light load) when Chrome crashed, and then a minute later I got the Windows BSOD. Then, another Windows BSOD a couple minutes after it restarted, and that's the last time it was booted into Windows. When I tried turning the system on again, the fans spun (except for one case fan which normally works properly) for about 10 seconds before it turned back off (without POSTing) and turned back on automatically, leading into a boot loop. I pulled out my graphics and wifi cards and got the same result. Next, I tried different combinations of my RAM and found that when "stick 1" is in at all, it does the boot loop as described above, but if only "stick 2" is in by itself, I get a POST code of 5 short beeps (which apparently means a processor failure) and the case fan that didn't turn on before does turn on -- and then it boot loops, but with the 5 beeps each time. I tried swapping to my old Ryzen 1600X, and I got the exact same behavior with the same RAM combinations.

So my question is: which is broken, my motherboard or my RAM? (or something else?) The thing with the one case fan, as well as the processor failure code despite the CPU clearly not being the issue, makes me think it's the motherboard, but I'm looking for a second opinion or more troubleshooting ideas. Thank you!!!

Notes:

• I've tried resetting the CMOS several times
• I've tried re-seating the RAM and CPU several times
• Motherboard and RAM are both about 2.5 years old
• I can't get into the BIOS (the system just boot loops whether I get the 5-beep POST code each time or not)
• I don't have access to other DDR4 RAM or another motherboard
• There is no visible damage to the motherboard, like a blown capacitor or anything like that

 

[white.a.drew]

Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock AB350 Pro4 (BIOS version: P5.80)
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (also tried Ryzen 5 1600X)
RAM: EVGA SuperSC 2x8GB DDR4-3000MHz
PSU: Thermaltake 750W Toughpower RGB 80+Gold

A couple weeks ago I upgraded from my Ryzen 5 1600X to a Ryzen 7 3700X, and it worked great until tonight. I was watching Youtube (so, a light load) when Chrome crashed, and then a minute later I got the Windows BSOD. Then, another Windows BSOD a couple minutes after it restarted, and that's the last time it was booted into Windows. When I tried turning the system on again, the fans spun (except for one case fan which normally works properly) for about 10 seconds before it turned back off (without POSTing) and turned back on automatically, leading into a boot loop. I pulled out my graphics and wifi cards and got the same result. Next, I tried different combinations of my RAM and found that when "stick 1" is in at all, it does the boot loop as described above, but if only "stick 2" is in by itself, I get a POST code of 5 short beeps (which apparently means a processor failure) and the case fan that didn't turn on before does turn on -- and then it boot loops, but with the 5 beeps each time. I tried swapping to my old Ryzen 1600X, and I got the exact same behavior with the same RAM combinations.

So my question is: which is broken, my motherboard or my RAM? (or something else?) The thing with the one case fan, as well as the processor failure code despite the CPU clearly not being the issue, makes me think it's the motherboard, but I'm looking for a second opinion or more troubleshooting ideas. Thank you!!!

Notes:

• I've tried resetting the CMOS several times
• I've tried re-seating the RAM and CPU several times
• Motherboard and RAM are both about 2.5 years old
• I can't get into the BIOS (the system just boot loops whether I get the 5-beep POST code each time or not)
• I don't have access to other DDR4 RAM or another motherboard
• There is no visible damage to the motherboard, like a blown capacitor or anything like that

try a basic rebuild pull everything and rebuild with the original cpu, ram ,mobo, and psu reset the bios before rebooting again. and boot the pc with just cpu, ram, and mobo. Do not include a hdd or m.2, wifi card, gpu "unless no onboard video port", or ext "if no on board and reseating the gpu doesn't work try a different gpu slot".

 

[jsdsparky]

try a basic rebuild pull everything and rebuild with the original cpu, ram ,mobo, and psu reset the bios before rebooting again. and boot the pc with just cpu, ram, and mobo. Do not include a hdd or m.2, wifi card, gpu "unless no onboard video port", or ext "if no on board and reseating the gpu doesn't work try a different gpu slot".

Thank you very much for your response! I was so caught up in trying to reduce the problem to find what was wrong that I pulled out the graphics card, forgetting that my Ryzen chips don't have iGPUs! After putting it back in, it became clear that the problem was RAM "stick 1".