Question No post on ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F Gaming Motherboard barebones setup

[bmenell]

Hey everyone, I have watched every YouTube video on this topic, and read every forum. I hope someone can help! Here's the setup:

• ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F Gaming Motherboard (New)
• Seasonic Focus 750W Power Supply (New)
• AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU with included Cooler (New)

I assembled this thing barebones on the box the motherboard came with (breadboard style) just to see if I can get the basics working. Plugged in the motherboard power and the CPU power, the cooler is also attached to its power on the motherboard. I used the motherboard's video out to a monitor, and the motherboard's USB for keyboard and mouse. I also attached the case's power switch to the motherboard, even though it's not installed in a case yet.

Here is the power on experience:

• Power on the PSU and the two small LED's on the motherboard light up amber.
• Press the power on the case and the motherboard's LED's light up (the accent lighting)
• The CPU fan starts spinning with all sorts of colors
• No post sounds and no video output.

This motherboard apparently has no speaker.
I thought all motherboards had a speaker, given that it's a two cent part and it's just a small little button, but after looking the motherboard and the manual over I don't see one. So I plugged my headphones into the onboard light green line out, and still can't hear any post beeps (and of course no video out).

Erased the RTC RAM.
Followed the instructions on the manual, and shorted the jumpers. But no luck, still doesn't post.

Double check the CPU installation.
The little triangle tells you the orientation and it sets in perfectly smoothly, and it clips in. There were no troubles there. The cooler snaps in, and its power cable is plugged in (as evidenced by the fan spinning and the LED lights).

Search the motherboard
Looked for shorts, burnt areas, to no avail because after all this is new out of the box.

Pulled the battery
Waited 5 minutes, put it back in, plugged in the power, headphones in, switch on, still no post sounds or video.

Any other suggestions for troubleshooting before I RMA this motherboard?

 

[rgd1101]

the motherboard have the bios version to support 2700x?

what the gpu?

 

[Crosslhs82x2]

That setup needs a gpu.
If you had a 2200g or 2400g you can use the onboard graphics.

 

[clutchc]

You know the iGPU ports are in-active with the 2700X, right?

 

[DMAN999]

Do you have any RAM installed ??
If not it won't boot and that's probably why the Amber light is lit up.
On my ROG Strix B450-F Gaming the Amber light on the MB indicates a RAM issue.
Check the Manual to see what those LEDs indicate for Your MB.
Also the 2700X doesn't have an onchip GPU, so you need to get a GPU and plug the monitor into whatever GPU you install.
Also you can buy a small speaker that plugs into the MB for about $5, that's what I use on mine.

 

[bmenell]

From the support articles I read, they said it's supposed to post even without a GPU or RAM. So just now I plugged in a brand new ASUS Geforce GTX 1070, and connected its power cable to the power supply. Then I plugged the monitor cable into the Geforce but same result.

I also added 1 stick of RAM farthest away from the CPU (read that tip somewhere) but same result.

The LED nearest the CPU is still amber even with the RAM, and the motherboard manual doesn't have any mention of what the LED colors might mean.

Any other suggestions?

 

[bmenell]

the motherboard have the bios version to support 2700x?

what the gpu?

The motherboard website lists this CPU as supported and recommended.

 

[drivinfast247]

The motherboard website lists this CPU as supported and recommended.

With what BIOS? There's a very good chance that motherboard has an old version.

 

[DMAN999]

^ That is true, you might need a Ryzen 1000 series CPU installed to be able to update the BIOS to a version tat supports the 2000 series CPU's.
And according to your manual if you only install 1 stick of RAM it needs to be in DIMM A2 (second from the CPU).

 

[bmenell]

With what BIOS? There's a very good chance that motherboard has an old version.

How can I tell what version of the BIOS it has, or upgrade it if I can't get it to post or get to the BIOS screen?

The box has a sticker on it that says "AMD Ryzen 2000 Series Ready" so I would imagine that I don't need to upgrade the BIOS to support it.

Any other ideas?

 

[drivinfast247]

How can I tell what version of the BIOS it has, or upgrade it if I can't get it to post or get to the BIOS screen?

The box has a sticker on it that says "AMD Ryzen 2000 Series Ready" so I would imagine that I don't need to upgrade the BIOS to support it.

Any other ideas?

I bought a Ryzen ready board that was ready for the 2200 and 2400 APUs(Raven Ridge) . It needed an update to run the other 2nd gen. CPUs(Pinnacle Ridge).

 

[bmenell]

Now that their tech support chat is open, they're suggesting a RAM compatibility problem. I looked at the CPU specs for RAM which said it supported 3200, but the motherboard only supports 2400. So I might be making a quick trip to Fry's for some slower DDR sticks, and I'll update this to let everyone know if that worked.

Also tech support says that it does need at least one stick of RAM in the motherboard in order to POST.

 

[bmenell]

A quick trip to Fry's to get some 2400 RAM and now it posts! The LED on the motherboard also shows green instead of amber. I had read somewhere that when that LED is amber it indicates a RAM issue. But with brand new RAM I thought it might have been something else.

Problem solved, and for any future people with this motherboard that can't get their system to post, check your RAM speeds!

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone!