[SOLVED] One PCI-e slot and one memory channel not working on new build ?

[waytoosexy]

Hello there,

So I bought a new set up yesterday. Had some nasty trouble building. I'm going to lay it out exactly as it happened to try and give the best picture.

So the specs are:
5600x
x570 Aorus Pro
Some 3400mhz Kingston Hyperx memory 2x8GB
Kingston NVMe SSD
1650 Super
bequite! Pure Power 700w

Let me jump straight to the trouble. The CPU cooler I got had the worst mounting design ever as well as the manual was all wrong. First I was having trouble positioning the clamps on the backplate screws, it was then that I pulled the CPU out of the clamped down socket with the thermal paste. Visually there were no bent pins or anything but that did happen.
When I finally figured out that the manual was wrong and had them positioned even bigger problem occured. The backplate screws were too short for the spring loaded standoffs/female screws to catch them. When I finally got 1 I figured it's possible to do the rest, it was excrutiating but I was too desperate to finish the build. I ended up striking the mobo with the screwdriver pretty hard several times, there is no visible damage other than a tiny dent on one of the capacitors. The mobo was also bending quite a bit as I was intalling the cooler, however it does seem to be straight now.

When I was finally done building there is no picture on boot and the VGA led is on. Tried it in the second PCI-e and it worked. When I got into BIOS I see that my system only sees 8GB of memory, swapping slots/channels did nothing so it seems like I've got a non working channel.

A friend tells me to flash to the lastest BIOS (I have F30 right now), but I am concirned I could have physically damaged the card, yet it is my impression that most mobos would withstand that sort of abuse.
The worst about this is that there's no way for me to do any diagnostics as I don't have any similar hardware and don't know anybody who does. The way I see this it could be a bad CPU just as well as a bad/damaged mobo, so I don't even know what I should be RMAing.

Open to all and any ideas (long as they are not efortless). Do you guys think a BIOS flash might help. I'm kinda concirned, back in the day that used to void warranty, though it seems like those days are gone.

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"I am concirned I could have physically damaged the card, yet it is my impression that most mobos would withstand that sort of abuse. "

No. Maybe in days past stronger materials, simpler designs, construction, etc. provided some cushion with respect to assembly problems but abuse is "not covered" and how manufacturers define "abuse" can be very broad. And very apparent on a diagnostic test bench.

And:

"The backplate screws were too short for the spring loaded standoffs/female screws to catch them. "

If the installation documentation does not match the physical components that is an immediate all STOP. Your descriptions of the encountered problems seems to indicate that the retention plate may not have been removed.

In your case consequently hitting the motherboard with the screwdriver several times likely caused damage - perhaps just a cracked trace. Punctured capacitor, etc... that is all it takes to ruin a motherboard.

Bending the motherboard to fit on a cooler that did not want to fit on also likely caused more unseen damage. Once cracked, broke is broke no matter how straight things end up afterwards.

All I can suggest is that you take a 3 or 4 close up photographs of the motherboard, cooler, and damage sites. Post via imgur (www.imgur.com).

I doubt that the situation is salvageable. No harm in posting the photographs to get a better look at things.

Hopefully I am wrong about it all.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I ended up striking the mobo with the screwdriver pretty hard several times

Congrats.
1st - you may want to visit some anger management specialist.
2nd - get a new motherboard.

 

[waytoosexy]

This:

"I am concirned I could have physically damaged the card, yet it is my impression that most mobos would withstand that sort of abuse. "

No. Maybe in days past stronger materials, simpler designs, construction, etc. provided some cushion with respect to assembly problems but abuse is "not covered" and how manufacturers define "abuse" can be very broad. And very apparent on a diagnostic test bench.

And:

"The backplate screws were too short for the spring loaded standoffs/female screws to catch them. "

If the installation documentation does not match the physical components that is an immediate all STOP. Your descriptions of the encountered problems seems to indicate that the retention plate may not have been removed.

In your case consequently hitting the motherboard with the screwdriver several times likely caused damage - perhaps just a cracked trace. Punctured capacitor, etc... that is all it takes to ruin a motherboard.

Bending the motherboard to fit on a cooler that did not want to fit on also likely caused more unseen damage. Once cracked, broke is broke no matter how straight things end up afterwards.

All I can suggest is that you take a 3 or 4 close up photographs of the motherboard, cooler, and damage sites. Post via imgur (www.imgur.com).

I doubt that the situation is salvageable. No harm in posting the photographs to get a better look at things.

Hopefully I am wrong about it all.

I did a close visual inspection of both the mobo and the CPU and it all seems completely fine other than the tiny-tiny dent on a capacitor. I may have overexaggerated about how hard the strikes were. And as far as I'm concerned there is no way for me to know whether the unit was faulty in the first place. I am going to try and RMA it.

 

[Ralston18]

Do bear in mind that the seller/manufacturer may deny a replacement or refund.

Remember that they most likely see many, many, returns and can quite quickly determine damage (visible and invisible) that was likely due to end user errors or actions.

Probably just a matter of a few minutes on a test bench to examine the motherboard physically and to plug in a couple of diagnostic devices designed for more specific troubleshooting.

 

[waytoosexy]

It ended up being a very slightly bent pin in all likelihood. Wasn't able to spot that myself. It all works now.