[SOLVED] (New PC) Fans don't spin, but motherboard's lights turn on

Santiago A.

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Aug 4, 2020
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(It's not my PC, btw)
I'm helping a friend, via discord to build his first PC. We basically live in the 3rd world so its a modest build, really basic. Athlon 3000g +Asus B450 motheroard + 2x4gb ram ddr4 2666+ 480gb ssd. All this is powered with a Gigabyte 450watt 80+ bronze PSU and mounted on a generic case. I checked that the motherboard supports that processor, so I don't think that's the issue in this case.

I told him where and how to put everything, this cable goes here this way, that goes there and so on.
When I tell him to turn it on, the motherboard's lights turn on, but the CPU fan doesn't. The monitor has no signal (apparently), he's no tech guru so I think the last part may be his fault, but I'm not there with him to give a diagnosis myself.
I told him multiple times to check that the CPU fan is indeed plugged into the CPU fan header, and it is there, but it doesn't turn on.

I already ran out of ideas here, I'd told him to reset BIOS but his monitor has no signal, so idk what to do.
Next stop would be a technician, I guess, but I dont think he has the money to afford it... Any ideas for a -possible- solution?

Sorry for any gramatical mistakes, and thanks for any reply.
 
Solution
You can try basic troubleshooting, Try only 1 RAM stick and swap it on each RAM slot and let it run. But if that doesn't do anything, I would suggest disassembling and reassembling it all over again(If he doesn't have thermal paste, do not remove the cooler and the CPU). and try that. If it still doesn't, there is a big change that the motherboard is DOA. He should get a replacement while he still can.

LazerTechX

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May 3, 2014
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You can try basic troubleshooting, Try only 1 RAM stick and swap it on each RAM slot and let it run. But if that doesn't do anything, I would suggest disassembling and reassembling it all over again(If he doesn't have thermal paste, do not remove the cooler and the CPU). and try that. If it still doesn't, there is a big change that the motherboard is DOA. He should get a replacement while he still can.
 
Solution

DSzymborski

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Moderator
What's the exact ASUS b450 motherboard? And do you see a BIOS version sticker there? This APU was released quite late in the cycle, well after the Zen 2 CPUs were out, and I'd be surprised if many b450 motherboards ran it out of the box without a BIOS update. Just checking two of the Asus b450 motherboards, they both require BIOS updates from right before the BIOS update for the Zen 3 CPUs.
 

Santiago A.

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Aug 4, 2020
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What's the exact ASUS b450 motherboard? And do you see a BIOS version sticker there? This APU was released quite late in the cycle, well after the Zen 2 CPUs were out, and I'd be surprised if many b450 motherboards ran it out of the box without a BIOS update. Just checking two of the Asus b450 motherboards, they both require BIOS updates from right before the BIOS update for the Zen 3 CPUs.

It's an Asus Prime B450M-A II, I asked for him to take a photo to the box to see if it has the sticker (it should, but who knows)
A stupid question maybe, but the Athlon 3000g isn't a Zen 1 processor? I'm a bit out of touch with hardware and stuff lately, but this one launched on november 2019 so the motherboard shouldn't have any BIOS issue... theoretically speaking of course.🤔🤔
Thanks for the response, really appreciated :)
 

Santiago A.

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Aug 4, 2020
11
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You can try basic troubleshooting, Try only 1 RAM stick and swap it on each RAM slot and let it run. But if that doesn't do anything, I would suggest disassembling and reassembling it all over again(If he doesn't have thermal paste, do not remove the cooler and the CPU). and try that. If it still doesn't, there is a big change that the motherboard is DOA. He should get a replacement while he still can.

I'll tell him to do that tomorrow. The motherboards LEDs turn on (it might still be DOA, i dont know, really)

Thanks for the response, I have some more options for him to try now. Thanks a lot, man.
 
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LazerTechX

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It's an Asus Prime B450M-A II, I asked for him to take a photo to the box to see if it has the sticker (it should, but who knows)
A stupid question maybe, but the Athlon 3000g isn't a Zen 1 processor? I'm a bit out of touch with hardware and stuff lately, but this one launched on november 2019 so the motherboard shouldn't have any BIOS issue... theoretically speaking of course.🤔🤔
Thanks for the response, really appreciated :)
The Athlon 3000G is Zen+, to be sure, the motherboard box should have a sticker or something saying its "Ryzen 3000 Ready", if it only has the "Ryzen 2000 Ready", a BIOS update may be in order.
 

Santiago A.

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Aug 4, 2020
11
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The Athlon 3000G is Zen+, to be sure, the motherboard box should have a sticker or something saying its "Ryzen 3000 Ready", if it only has the "Ryzen 2000 Ready", a BIOS update may be in order.
Yes, it has the Ryzen 3000 Ready sticker. I think we tried everything, only thing left is going to the store(s) (he bought it in different ones) and let them try each component I guess.
Thanks for the response :).-
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
It's an Asus Prime B450M-A II, I asked for him to take a photo to the box to see if it has the sticker (it should, but who knows)
A stupid question maybe, but the Athlon 3000g isn't a Zen 1 processor? I'm a bit out of touch with hardware and stuff lately, but this one launched on november 2019 so the motherboard shouldn't have any BIOS issue... theoretically speaking of course.🤔🤔
Thanks for the response, really appreciated :)

Just because it's based on the Zen 1 architecture doesn't mean that it will work without a BIOS update.

And I'm talking about the BIOS sticker that is frequently somewhere small on the motherboard or on the box that tells you the BIOS version, not the "Ryzen 3000 ready" sticker. That doesn't really help here; this APU came out about a year after the Ryzen 3000 chips came out.

The 3000G has been validated to run on this motherboard since the 2409 BIOS update. That's the same BIOS update that allowed the motherboard to work with the big four 5000-series CPUs. It was released in December.
 
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