Question Ryzen 7 3800 on Gigabyte Aorus 570 Elite: no USB power, no screen

[Gus Gearloose]

Hello there,

on a fateful day in August I decided to switch from Intel to AMD. So I bought myself an AMD Ryzen 7 3800 CPU plus motherboard, first a MSI branded with x570 and a Scythe Mugen 5 cooler. I reused my old RAM (2x8 GB Viper 2133 Mhz CL14, never any problem on Intel) and my Geforce 1070 Ti GPU.

After starting the new hardware it became obvious, that something was going wrong: the machine always crashed after 5-15 minutes. Windows showed most of the times the stop code MEMORY_MANAGEMENT. Strangely though a stress test using Passmark's Memtest86 was able to run for over four hours and reported zero errors.

So I changed the PSU, it's now a be quiet straight power 11 650 W. Nothing changed, still the same error. So I replaced the motherboard with a Gigabyte Aorus 570 Elite, and the problem was a little bit better: now the machine ran over 2 hours without problems, suddenly at least I could work with it again. In my opinion there is a sufficient air flow in the case, there's a cooler running at the front and back side.

Since I am now over three weeks without a working computer, I've ordered today new RAM to also eliminate that as potential error source.

But in the mean time a new error was born after I ordered it: suddenly the machine refuses to start up properly. When pressing the power button the CPU coolers start working, but that's it - the screen is black and no power on any USB port (since my keyboard is LED backlit I notice it easily enough when its working right).

So I pulled the CMOS battery twice, shorted CLEAR CMOS on the main board, pulled all HDDs and SDDs and USB devices, except a keyboard which is known to work, pulled out the GPU and tried to start the machine with a) 8 GB RAM only (switching both between one power cycle), b) 16 GB RAM and c) no RAM installed.

In the end the error is still here, the system simply refuses to start now at all.

So what's in your opinion more likely broken - the RAM or CPU? I really doubt that the motherboard is the problem, since I've already replaced it one time.

Is there something else I could do in the mean time which might lead to a solution of this problem?

Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback.

 

[mdd1963]

You can check your RAM in another system that works...

There is little reason to suspect a CPU previously working simply 'died' in it's slot after a week of operation, so, certainly the mainboard and PSU could be and are your prime suspects... (you can fall back to a single RAM stick, and clear CMOS, allow a full 2-3 minutes for an initial POST to occur afterwards...)

swapping the PSU with a known good one is far easier initially. (Do NOT reuse any modular cables from old PSU with new one whatsoever)

 

[Gus Gearloose]

Well the PSU I am using is merely about two weeks old; it is brand new, because I replaced the old one to rule out that possibility. And I don't expect such a part from be quiet! to get broken so fast.

Also 650W should be plenty of power left for my build, meaning not even scratching the maximum performance potential of it.

So, mainboard is it probably again...

 

[guanyu210379]

Even new items can still be defective. This is why manufacturers gave RMA as possibility. A good product should not have higher than 3-5% RMA frequency...if you are unlucky, you could still belong in this 3-5%.
Yes, your new PSU can still be the culprit. You can not simply rule it out just because it is new.

 

[Gus Gearloose]

My brand-new RAM gets delivered today. If the machine boots up with it - error found.

If not, I'll attach my spare PSU to it and try again, just to be sure.