I've been going through mobo hell. I bought a B450 Tomahawk Max. The first time I got it I had to send it back; the second time I got the repaired board I had to send it back. They sent me a different board after the second time. I'm still having problems.
I have set up a minimum component test setup out of the case: mobo plugged into PSU with 24-pin plug; CPU plugged into PSU. With ONE stick of RAM in #2 slot (per mobo manual) CPU error light comes on for a couple seconds and then switches over to VGA error light. The same thing happens with either of the two sticks of RAM I have plugged into the #2 slot. With BOTH sticks of RAM plugged into the #2 and #4 slots, the DRAM error light comes on immediately and stays on. It doesn't matter which stick is in the #2 slot and which is in the #4 slot.
Per a suggestion from a local PC repair shop, I added the graphics card and monitor to the test setup. Their reasoning was that the VGA light came on because no graphics card was present (there is no on-board graphics component on this particular mobo). So I added the graphics card and the monitor to the test setup. With ONE stick of RAM in #2 slot everything seems to be fine – no error lights; image appears on monitor recognizing single channel of RAM. With TWO sticks of RAM, DRAM error light comes on immediately and stays on with no image at all on the monitor. So to me this would indicate the #4 DIMM slot is faulty since everything seemed to work ok with only one stick of RAM in the #2 slot.
Is there a way to get BIOS info without the monitor?
If so, I could find out if two sticks of RAM were being recognized if two were plugged in. If they weren't recognized that would seem to me to definitively indicate a faulty #4 slot since everything seemed to be fine with a single stick in the #2 slot.
MSI's answer is to send the mobo in to them again. This whole process has literally taken MONTHS since I bought all my parts, excited I was going to build a PC again. My first build might have been beginner's luck. I put everything together and it booted up the first time and has been running with no problems for 5-6 years. This new experience is the complete opposite and very frustrating. And now because of Covid everything takes longer. So I'm kind of fed up with MSI but I don't know what the best course of action to take is. I'm thinking I should get a different motherboard from another manufacturer. I'm not a computer guy so I don't know if this is just a string of bad luck with an excellent company.
Should I give MSI another go? If not, what is a comparable motherboard that the following parts would be compatible with?
Here's the parts I have purchased:
MOBO: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core, 12-Thread
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600
GPU: AMD Radeon Rx 590 - XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy Core Edition 8GB OC
PSU: Corsair RM 750x
CASE: NZXT - H510 Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with Tempered Glass
I have set up a minimum component test setup out of the case: mobo plugged into PSU with 24-pin plug; CPU plugged into PSU. With ONE stick of RAM in #2 slot (per mobo manual) CPU error light comes on for a couple seconds and then switches over to VGA error light. The same thing happens with either of the two sticks of RAM I have plugged into the #2 slot. With BOTH sticks of RAM plugged into the #2 and #4 slots, the DRAM error light comes on immediately and stays on. It doesn't matter which stick is in the #2 slot and which is in the #4 slot.
Per a suggestion from a local PC repair shop, I added the graphics card and monitor to the test setup. Their reasoning was that the VGA light came on because no graphics card was present (there is no on-board graphics component on this particular mobo). So I added the graphics card and the monitor to the test setup. With ONE stick of RAM in #2 slot everything seems to be fine – no error lights; image appears on monitor recognizing single channel of RAM. With TWO sticks of RAM, DRAM error light comes on immediately and stays on with no image at all on the monitor. So to me this would indicate the #4 DIMM slot is faulty since everything seemed to work ok with only one stick of RAM in the #2 slot.
Is there a way to get BIOS info without the monitor?
If so, I could find out if two sticks of RAM were being recognized if two were plugged in. If they weren't recognized that would seem to me to definitively indicate a faulty #4 slot since everything seemed to be fine with a single stick in the #2 slot.
MSI's answer is to send the mobo in to them again. This whole process has literally taken MONTHS since I bought all my parts, excited I was going to build a PC again. My first build might have been beginner's luck. I put everything together and it booted up the first time and has been running with no problems for 5-6 years. This new experience is the complete opposite and very frustrating. And now because of Covid everything takes longer. So I'm kind of fed up with MSI but I don't know what the best course of action to take is. I'm thinking I should get a different motherboard from another manufacturer. I'm not a computer guy so I don't know if this is just a string of bad luck with an excellent company.
Should I give MSI another go? If not, what is a comparable motherboard that the following parts would be compatible with?
Here's the parts I have purchased:
MOBO: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core, 12-Thread
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600
GPU: AMD Radeon Rx 590 - XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy Core Edition 8GB OC
PSU: Corsair RM 750x
CASE: NZXT - H510 Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with Tempered Glass
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