Question PC Black Screen, no POST CPU Dead?

[Renzbo19]

Need help, so PC was working fine, And the other day when I boot it up, it's just black screen with no POST whatsoever. PSU is working fine, Graphics card fans are spinning, tried with my cpu with integrated graphics and still black screen, changed and reseated cmos still no luck, reseated ram still no boot, checked if all psu cables are plugged all the way in, checked if boot drives are working fine and they are.

So I suspected that it's the motherboard. So I ordered a new b450m mobo from msi then transferred my cpu, gpu and ram on there and still no POST, just pure black screen. Tried connecting the HDMI from both gpu and motherboard and yep still no post.

Decided to take out my old mobo and put in my 3200g in there and also took out my spare 500w psu and connected the 24pin, 4pin on the cpu and of course the ram and still no POST, just black screen

So is it safe to say that the cpu is dead here? Since i'm planning to get a new one.

SPECS:
Ryzen 3 3200g
MSI Mortar B450M (also ordered the same model as my replacement)
2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3000MHZ
480GB SSD
RX 570
Corsair CX550

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

How old is the PSU in your build? As for the spare PSU, what is it's make and model and it's age? You're advised to work with a PSU that has at least 500W of power for the entire system. If the PSU is used or has aged, the advertised output of the PSU will be lower.

To rule out your APU being the root of the issue, try and plop it into a known working board owned by a friend or neighbor and see if comes up there. Mind, you, make sure that the BIOS version on their boards can work with the older gen APU.

 

[drea.drechsler]

It sounds like you have one system with a 3200G processor that works. Swap that processor with the 2400G to test it. Be sure to reset CMOS when you do. If it doesn't work, then the 2400G is most likely bad.

 

[Renzbo19]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

How old is the PSU in your build? As for the spare PSU, what is it's make and model and it's age? You're advised to work with a PSU that has at least 500W of power for the entire system. If the PSU is used or has aged, the advertised output of the PSU will be lower.

To rule out your APU being the root of the issue, try and plop it into a known working board owned by a friend or neighbor and see if comes up there. Mind, you, make sure that the BIOS version on their boards can work with the older gen APU.

The psu on my main rig is about 3-4months, still pretty new, haven't had any issues with it. As for the spare psu, it's an EVGA BR 500w, I used that one before switching to the cx550.
Sadly, I don't have any friends that lives nearby, they're about 8-10hrs drive from where I live. So I don't have really that much options to test out if my cpu is truly the problem.

 

[Renzbo19]

It sounds like you have one system with a 3200G processor that works. Swap that processor with the 2400G to test it. Be sure to reset CMOS when you do. If it doesn't work, then the 2400G is most likely bad.

Sadly, I don't have any spare cpus laying around, only the 3200g with me.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Sadly, I don't have any spare cpus laying around, only the 3200g with me.

All you can do then is be sure to reset CMOS anytime you install or swap hardware like processors or memory.

And when you start up the system check the troubleshooting LED's for which are lit if it doesn't start up.

Since it's an APU I'd remove the discrete GPU and use just the iGPU until you find out if it works. That will help eliminate that potential problem area.

 

[Renzbo19]

Then swap them in the same motherboard but you have to make sure the BIOS rev level supports both processors first. And also be sure to reset CMOS anytime you install or swap hardware like processors or memory.

When you start up the system check the troubleshooting LED's for which are lit if it doesn't start up.

I've already swapped the 3200g with the new b450m mortar board that came in and there's still no POST. Switched the 3200g to my old b450m mortar board and still no POST. Any ideas?

 

[drea.drechsler]

I've already swapped the 3200g with the new b450m mortar board that came in and there's still no POST. Switched the 3200g to my old b450m mortar board and still no POST. Any ideas?

Did you reset CMOS? and does the new board have a BIOS rev that supports 3200G (it should...but be sure)?

What troubleshooting LED's are lighting?

And completely remove the dGPU and use only the iGPU for now.

 

[Renzbo19]

Did you reset CMOS? and does the new board have a BIOS rev that supports 3200G (it should...but be sure)?

What troubleshooting LED's are lighting?

And completely remove the dGPU and use only the iGPU for now.

For the debug leds, the CPU debug led is turned on, so I'm guessing it's not detecting the cpu itself. I also resetted cmos on the new board just in case before swapping in the 3200g. GPU is also not plugged in on the PCIE slot, just the apu.

 

[drea.drechsler]

For the debug leds, the CPU debug led is turned on, so I'm guessing it's not detecting the cpu itself. I also resetted cmos on the new board just in case before swapping in the 3200g. GPU is also not plugged in on the PCIE slot, just the apu.

Assuming the new board's BIOS rev level is correct I'd strongly suspect the processor too. But that is the indication you'd get if it weren't correct.

3200G's are pretty long in the field so I'd really have to think any new B450 board would support it but there's always the possibility of old-stock sitting around. If you can, check labeling on the box for date of manufacture at least to gain confidence.

 

[Renzbo19]

Assuming the new board's BIOS rev level is correct I'd strongly suspect the processor too. But that is the indication you'd get if it weren't correct.

3200G's are pretty long in the field so I'd really have to think any new B450 board would support it but there's always the possibility of old-stock sitting around. If you can, check labeling on the box for date of manufacture at least to gain confidence.

Oh I forgot to mention, I got the MAX version of the b450m mortar which is the one that I ordered so I assume it supports 3rd gen out of the box. My old board is the b450m mortar variant, without the MAX in it but the 3200g still boots on it perfectly fine. But yeah to sum it all up, no POST on both boards

 

[drea.drechsler]

... My old board is the b450m mortar variant, without the MAX in it but the 3200g still boots on it perfectly fine. But yeah to sum it all up, no POST on both boards

That seems to be two conflicting statements.

Does it currently work on the B450 non-MAX board or not?

 

[Renzbo19]

That seems to be two conflicting statements.

Does it currently work on the B450 non-MAX board or not?

Both boards, MAX and non-max version no POST.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Both boards, MAX and non-max version no POST.

And getting the CPU trouble LED lighting...I'd say it's the CPU. Most likely.

How old is it? you can contact AMD to see about warranty support to get it replaced.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/warranty-information/warranty

 

[Renzbo19]

And getting the CPU trouble LED lighting...I'd say it's the CPU. Most likely.

How old is it? you can contact AMD to see about warranty support to get it replaced.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/warranty-information/warranty

Yeah I'll just return it. Thanks for the help!

 

[Karadjgne]

Ram will also pull a cpu led. Ram led only applies to the ram itself, but if a channel is bad, it'll cpu.

Try 1 stick in all slots, try the other stick in all slots.

Video out from an APU can be blackscreen too, try changing cables to the monitor, if using DP, switch to hdmi or vice-versa. A bad cable or even a bad monitor port can cause back feed or short and you'll get a cpu warning with an APU.

Check for bent pins.

The b450m max supports the 3200G out of the box, earliest possible bios revision.

 

[Renzbo19]

Ram will also pull a cpu led. Ram led only applies to the ram itself, but if a channel is bad, it'll cpu.

Try 1 stick in all slots, try the other stick in all slots.

Video out from an APU can be blackscreen too, try changing cables to the monitor, if using DP, switch to hdmi or vice-versa. A bad cable or even a bad monitor port can cause back feed or short and you'll get a cpu warning with an APU.

Check for bent pins.

The b450m max supports the 3200G out of the box, earliest possible bios revision.

I've tried VGA and HDMI from my motherboard with the APU in it to my monitor and there's still no POST. When I swapped the 3200g to the new board which is the MAX one, I've also checked the cpu pins and nothing seems to be missing or bent.

For the ram, I've tested out using 1 of the 2 sticks and vice versa, still no luck, did the same thing for the old mobo. Even tried removing the ram because iirc there should be something appearing on my monitor that there's no ram detected but there's literally no text, no nothing, just black screen.

 

[Karadjgne]

It seems you have done due diligence, tested everything and results have not changed. At this point I'd have to agree with your assessment that the cpu looks to be toast, barring testing it in a known otherwise working pc that should accept it.

Cpus are generally the hardest component to kill without deliberate abuse, but in every flock there will be a black sheep and unfortunately you seem to have found it.

Where you go from here will be up to you, but I'd not be in a hurry to reuse the old psu, the chances of cpu dying by itself are highly remote, chances of being killed by psu failure to regulate voltage or short circuit are far more common.

 

[Renzbo19]

It seems you have done due diligence, tested everything and results have not changed. At this point I'd have to agree with your assessment that the cpu looks to be toast, barring testing it in a known otherwise working pc that should accept it.

Cpus are generally the hardest component to kill without deliberate abuse, but in every flock there will be a black sheep and unfortunately you seem to have found it.

Where you go from here will be up to you, but I'd not be in a hurry to reuse the old psu, the chances of cpu dying by itself are highly remote, chances of being killed by psu failure to regulate voltage or short circuit are far more common.

Did some troubleshooting today and turns out it's the ram, never thought that it would be the problem. I did the pencil eraser trick on the gold lines on it, put it back on and pc booted perfectly fine. Thanks for the help though! 😁 I'll just lend the new motherboard to a friend or just let it sit incase some future problems arise.

 

[Karadjgne]

Huh, haven't seen that trick in a while, a good 8-10 years at least. But that was in a room with a heavy smoker. I'm guessing Vapes will have the same affect or plug-in oil scenters etc.