Question My PC wont post, has a whine, and the DRAM light is on

Mar 16, 2023
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I was up for hours last night and I have no idea what to do. When I had first turned on the PC it had an odd smell and was making a whine so I turned it off pretty quickly just out of anxiety and looked around the pc. The smell was like a plastic / chemicall-y smell.
Later on I took the PC to my basement and turned it on a few more times and noticed the DRAM light was on but I smelled nothing. I was quick to assume that it was my ram and swapped it around in every position possible but still nothing worked and the whine persisted.
I tried to listen for the whine and when i heard it most it was around the graphics card so I unplugged the GPU but didn't take it out the slot and still heard the whine and no post, I used the motherboards integrated graphics for this test and still got nothing. could the card still whine if just in the slot but not getting any power? if so I will also test it again with it out of the slot.
My only possible guesses at this point are the CPU or Mobo.

CPU: Ryzen 9 7950x
Cooler: NZXT Kraken Z73
GPU: EVGA FTW3 GeForce RTX 3080
Ram: 64GB Corsair vengeance 6000MHz
Mobo: ASUS ROG x670E-F
Storage: 2TB Samsung 980 Pro
Case: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo
PSU: ASUS ROG 80+ Gold 1000W
 
Last edited:
Mar 16, 2023
21
1
15
What's the smell just plastic or burn plastic?
Have you checked all plastic power connectors coming from the PSU?
What's the PSU model ?

Test the system with just the CPU, and one stick of RAM on DIMM_A2 (2nd slot from CPU socket)
It smelled more like the cooling in the radiator heating for the first time, I checked for leaks and microleaks and got nothing and the smell went away so the radiator is fine.
My PSU is a 80+ Gold 1000W ROG power supply
The connectors I checked were the CPU, Motherboard, and PCIE connectors.
I didn't see any scorching on the mobo or PSU either.
When I get home i'll try putting the ram in the second furthest slot and let you know if I get anything different.

Edit: Just remembered I tried that with the ram last night and it actually didn't work. The CPU cooler didn't light up and it didn't post
 
Mar 16, 2023
21
1
15
What's the smell just plastic or burn plastic?
Have you checked all plastic power connectors coming from the PSU?
What's the PSU model ?

Test the system with just the CPU, and one stick of RAM on DIMM_A2 (2nd slot from CPU socket)
Just took out the CPU, reseated it, added new thermal paste, and put the cooler back on and the problem persists.
I removed the graphics card and tried to run it and the noise is still there so the whine isn't from the GPU.
and I tried only one stick of ram in the first slot and still no bios, post or nothing and the noise is still there.
I'm out of ideas completely. My only guesses are the mobo, PSU, or CPU.
 
Just took out the CPU, reseated it, added new thermal paste, and put the cooler back on and the problem persists.
I removed the graphics card and tried to run it and the noise is still there so the whine isn't from the GPU.
and I tried only one stick of ram in the first slot and still no bios, post or nothing and the noise is still there.
I'm out of ideas completely. My only guesses are the mobo, PSU, or CPU.
The RAM should be on the second slot (counting from the CPU)
Is the noise coming from the PSU or motherboard?
Turn off the PSU, remove the power cord from the PSU and remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard.
Just leave the CPU and one stick of RAM on DIMM_A2 (2nd slot counting from CPU socket).
Make sure the 24-pin and the 8-pin CPU power connectors are properly connected.
Place back the CMOS battery.
Connect the power cord, power PSU and power the computer.

See if the computer posts...it could take up to 4 minutes for the motherboard to train RAM for the first time...so leave the computer alone for at least 5 minutes.