Question My gaming PC won't POST after freezing ?

[Waterguy1]

Hi everyone!

My PC has been acting strange, and I can't figure out what's wrong with it...

I bought an almost new PC back in March, except for my ASUS TUF 3080 graphics card, which I purchased nearly 3 years ago. The PC has been running smoothly since March up until now.

My PC froze while playing ARK: Survival Evolved after 5 minutes, despite having smooth and good fps. It just froze. I waited for it to restart on its own, but it took a long time, so I powered it off using the power button.

It took quite a while to get any post on the PC; maybe about 30 seconds on a black screen, and then an error message appeared about POST error, prompting me to press F1 to continue to BIOS settings.

I tried again with ARK, and it froze again at the same 5-minute mark, completely locking up the PC. Now, the PC won't post or boot. The motherboard shows a yellow DRAM light for 5 seconds and then the light disappears, as you can see in the video.

Here's what I've tried:

• CMOS reset
• Removing and reseating RAM
• tried every RAM slot
• Tried only one RAM and another one
• Removing and reseating the CPU
• Removing the GPU and trying with integrated graphics, but it won't post either.

So, I suspected that it was the motherboard (ASUS Prime Z790-A) and PSU (750W) that were bricked. Therefore, I bought a new motherboard, ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-A, and a 1000W PSU.

I transferred my CPU, RAM, and GPU to the new motherboard, and everything worked fine. I installed Windows 11, drivers, and so on.

I tried ARK again, and the same thing happened; the entire PC froze after 5 minutes of playing. Now, the new motherboard won't post either.

The same problem as with the old motherboard, with the yellow DRAM light for 5 seconds. So, I was pretty sure it was a RAM issue. I borrowed a friend's DDR5 RAM, but that didn't work either.There no bent on CPU socket, see picture and another picture

What I've tried with the new motherboard:

• CMOS reset
• BIOS flashback
• Removing and reseating RAM
• tried every RAM slot
• Tried only one RAM and another one
• Removing and reseating the CPU
• Removing the GPU and trying with integrated graphics, but it won't post either

So that must be CPU problem?

New motherboard die too? How is that possible? Could it be the GPU or CPU that killed my new motherboard?

I'm confused about which component is causing the motherboard not to post.

Sorry my bad english. I using google translate..

My PC specs right now:

Seasonic Prime GX 1000W

ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-A GAMING WIFI - Intel Z790 - Intel LGA1700 socket - DDR5 RAM - ATX

ASUS TUF 3080

Intel Core i9 13900K

Lian Li GALAHAD 360 RGB WHITE V2

32 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-5600 C36 DC

 

[Darkbreeze]

When you say it won't POST, do you mean it won't complete the POST process, or that it doesn't power up at all, or that it powers up but there are issues with regard to beep codes, Q-codes or Qled lights? Does ANYTHING work? Lights, fans, etc.? Any onscreen display or no display at all?

Have you tried disconnecting ALL of your storage devices including SATA and M.2 drives, to see if maybe one of them is causing a protection issue or other malfunction?

Have you tried doing a hard reset of the BIOS by switching off the PSU, unplugging it from the wall or from the PSU, removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes and during that time pressing the power button for a few seconds in order to discharge any remaining power, then putting it all back and trying to power up?

I understand you are using Google translate, but we can figure this out. I've done this with non-English speakers MANY times before, so no worries there. We can make it work.

 

[Waterguy1]

I did post video and picture you can see in info.

PC is running, fan etc but black screen. Yes i did hard reset BIOS and I tried flashback to newest verison and oldest verison, none of them work.

Edit: Thank you for trying help!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you tried removing the graphics card and using only the CPU graphics through the motherboard? You will need to completely remove the graphics card, not just unplug it, to see if maybe IT is causing this problem.

 

[Waterguy1]

Have you tried removing the graphics card and using only the CPU graphics through the motherboard? You will need to completely remove the graphics card, not just unplug it, to see if maybe IT is causing this problem.

Yes i did removed graphic 100% and run with only CPU graphic through motherboard, but still same issues like you see in video

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the EXACT model of your memory kit?

 

[Waterguy1]

Here i bought the ram

https://www.proshop.no/RAM/Corsair-Dominator-Platinum-RGB-DDR5-5600-C36-DC-32GB/3036135

 

[Darkbreeze]

That page doesn't say anything at all about the model of that kit, which is rather strange to be honest. I've never seen any retail product that didn't list the model or part number.

On the box the memory came in OR on the sticker on the memory itself, or both, there should be a model number or part number.

 

[Waterguy1]

That page doesn't say anything at all about the model of that kit, which is rather strange to be honest. I've never seen any retail product that didn't list the model or part number.

On the box the memory came in OR on the sticker on the memory itself, or both, there should be a model number or part number.

Here i think: CMT32GX5M2B5600C36

 

[Darkbreeze]

Memory is compatible and listed as validated on the Corsair website for the ASUS Z790-A WiFi motherboard, so that shouldn't be a problem due to model.

You have D.O.C.P enabled in the BIOS?

 

[Waterguy1]

"You have D.O.C.P enabled in the BIOS?"

Nope. last I remember XMP was disabled.

 

[Darkbreeze]

ASUS boards don't have XMP. They call it D.O.C.P because they refuse to pay Intel royalties for using the XMP moniker.