Question System not posting, no debug lights, no caps/num, no screen

[TechyGuy17]

Hello! A few weeks back I bought a Ryzen 9 3900xt from a friend claiming he killed it through undervolting, I thought it sounded impossible so I bought it from him.
After testing it in 2 different motherboards of the same model (MSI B550-A pro) I conclude that it does not work. As the title states the issue is not very clear since all debugs lights on the board seems to indicate a working system (it shows CPU, blinks on RAM, blinks on VGA, back to CPU, turns off all debug lights). Ive tried the following:
* Reseated RAM and CPU
* Tried a second motherboard
* Tried BIOS update
* Tried a different GPU
* Adding more pressure on the socket
* Adding less pressure on the socket
* Another set of ram

The motherboards are working (tested with another CPU) so that is not the issue. No missing/bent pins

If you have any ideas/recommendations please leave them bellow!

Edit:
Should be noted that the CPU gets warm, so something is happening. Its not completely dead

 

[Aeacus]

A few weeks back I bought a Ryzen 9 3900xt from a friend claiming he killed it through undervolting, I thought it sounded impossible so I bought it from him.

You better start believing that undervolt can kill the CPU. And not just CPU, but any hardware in that matter.

Here's further reading: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/what-is-undervolting-a-cpu-explained-in-detail/

If you have any ideas/recommendations please leave them bellow!

You already know that the CPU is toast, so, what are you asking from us? Some divine words to magically fix the CPU?

 

[TechyGuy17]

You better start believing that undervolt can kill the CPU. And not just CPU, but any hardware in that matter.

Here's further reading: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/what-is-undervolting-a-cpu-explained-in-detail/


You already know that the CPU is toast, so, what are you asking from us? Some divine words to magically fix the CPU?

Hello!
I dont see how giving too little voltage to anything can damage it, since it doesnt compensate with amp the only thing that could happen is that it crashes, just like giving a car engine too little fuel doesnt make it explode. And after doing a lot of googling I havent found a single instance of a CPU that acctually died due to undervolt.

Yeah it sure does seem like its dead, just wanted to give it a last shot incase someone had a smart idea I thought computer wizards was a thing 🤪

 

[Aeacus]

I dont see how giving too little voltage to anything can damage it, since it doesnt compensate with amp the only thing that could happen is that it crashes, just like giving a car engine too little fuel doesnt make it explode.

While giving car engine too little gasoline can choke it and eventually stall the engine, engine itself is fine. However, if you do the same with oil, things are vastly different. Too little oil in the engine will seize the engine up. And once engine is seized, it will not run again. So, having something crucial too little can have devastating effects. Same with CPUs and undervolt. Or O2 and you. Too little O2 and you'll faint. If there's still too little O2, you'll end up 6 feet under.

And after doing a lot of googling I havent found a single instance of a CPU that acctually died due to undervolt.

5 mins of Google and;
topic 1: https://linustechtips.com/topic/778432-undervolted-vcore-and-bricked-my-computer/
topic 2: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/random-reboots-caused-by-undervolted-cpu.1660488/
topic 3: https://www.linuxquestions.org/ques...creen-modded-bios-undervolted-cpu-4175515197/

Google-Fu master has talked.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Hello!
I dont see how giving too little voltage to anything can damage it

You're right. You don't see. And that is USUALLY the problem, in almost every situation. And it IS in this one as well. Too much voltage is clearly worse, because degradation will happen much sooner than expected from standard configurations. But too little can also cause problems, not least of which is unstable configurations, hardware errors across the board (Because just like the PSU, most all hardware requires stable operation from the CPU as well) and there are other issues as well. ANYTHING that deviates from the standard configuration, which some of the absolute brightest engineers in the world agreed was the best configuration for THAT piece of silicon, could go either way towards instability or electro-migration and VT-shift. None of which is desirable and all of which could potentially, if not damage the hardware, certainly create micro-errors that rather rapidly tend to result in an unrecoverable level of data corruption. None of those are desirable outcomes.

 

[bit_user]

If you have any ideas/recommendations please leave them bellow!

This is just an off-the-wall idea, as I literally have zero experience with this sort of thing. You could try factory-resetting the motherboard(s). I once read someone claim this could force DRAM retraining, which doesn't sound like it's the issue, but you did ask for ideas...

Also, one experience I had with a temperamental Apollo Lake board comes to mind... I thought the board was dead and put it in a pile of e-waste for several years that I was too lazy to clear out. One day, after reading some more and playing with a Gemini Lake board, I was inspired to dig it out and try it, again. I eventually managed to get it to POST when I tried installing only a single DIMM in slot B and waiting for probably over 30 seconds. Yes, just using slot A wouldn't work. Populating both slots wouldn't work, either. But, I could put either DIMM in slot B and it would boot.

 

[TechyGuy17]

While giving car engine too little gasoline can choke it and eventually stall the engine, engine itself is fine. However, if you do the same with oil, things are vastly different. Too little oil in the engine will seize the engine up. And once engine is seized, it will not run again. So, having something crucial too little can have devastating effects. Same with CPUs and undervolt. Or O2 and you. Too little O2 and you'll faint. If there's still too little O2, you'll end up 6 feet under.


5 mins of Google and;
topic 1: https://linustechtips.com/topic/778432-undervolted-vcore-and-bricked-my-computer/
topic 2: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/random-reboots-caused-by-undervolted-cpu.1660488/
topic 3: https://www.linuxquestions.org/ques...creen-modded-bios-undervolted-cpu-4175515197/

Google-Fu master has talked.

Hmm interesting, I did find some cases were they claimed CPUs died of undervolt. But in the end it was caused by the software doing the undervolt, but those seem to actually be bricked. Thanks!

 

[TechyGuy17]

You're right. You don't see. And that is USUALLY the problem, in almost every situation. And it IS in this one as well. Too much voltage is clearly worse, because degradation will happen much sooner than expected from standard configurations. But too little can also cause problems, not least of which is unstable configurations, hardware errors across the board (Because just like the PSU, most all hardware requires stable operation from the CPU as well) and there are other issues as well. ANYTHING that deviates from the standard configuration, which some of the absolute brightest engineers in the world agreed was the best configuration for THAT piece of silicon, could go either way towards instability or electro-migration and VT-shift. None of which is desirable and all of which could potentially, if not damage the hardware, certainly create micro-errors that rather rapidly tend to result in an unrecoverable level of data corruption. None of those are desirable outcomes.

Yeah sadly it seems to have taken this CPU to the grave, I got it for dirt cheap so im not that sad if its broken, I just hoped to save a working chip from the landfill

Thanks for the answer

 

[TechyGuy17]

This is just an off-the-wall idea, as I literally have zero experience with this sort of thing. You could try factory-resetting the motherboard(s). I once read someone claim this could force DRAM retraining, which doesn't sound like it's the issue, but you did ask for ideas...

Also, one experience I had with a temperamental Apollo Lake board comes to mind... I thought the board was dead and put it in a pile of e-waste for several years that I was too lazy to clear out. One day, after reading some more and playing with a Gemini Lake board, I was inspired to dig it out and try it, again. I eventually managed to get it to POST when I tried installing only a single DIMM in slot B and waiting for probably over 30 seconds. Yes, just using slot A wouldn't work. Populating both slots wouldn't work, either. But, I could put either DIMM in slot B and it would boot.

Could you define factory resetting? Ive reset the BIOS multiple times, and I do not have the original motherboard that the undervolt was done in so it shouldnt be stored in the motherboard or ram either....


Thanks for responding and giving me some hope Will let it marinade in my drawer for a while

 

[bit_user]

Could you define factory resetting? Ive reset the BIOS multiple times,

Good question. I assume they just meant resetting the BIOS. If the motherboard has any factory reset switch or jumper on it, I'd try that.

 

[TechyGuy17]

Good question. I assume they just meant resetting the BIOS. If the motherboard has any factory reset switch or jumper on it, I'd try that.

Yeah it had a BIOS reset jumper, took out everything that could deliver power (including the battery) and shorted it. Also shorted the power button contact for a good 30 seconds to really drain all caps. But didnt help sadly