Question x470 Aorus Ultra Gaming failing to post + AM4 slot question

Apr 25, 2019
3
0
10
Hey all,

CPU: Ryzen 2700X
Motherboard: x470 Aorus Ultra Gaming
RAM: 16GB DDR4 Ripjaws 3200 CL14 (F4-3200C14D-16GVR)
SSD/HDD: Intel 660p NVMe 1TB
GPU: EVGA 1080ti FTW3
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G2, 80+ GOLD 650W, Fully Modular
Chassis: NZXT H440
OS: Windows 10 64-bit

I've had the board/cpu since September or so, working great without issue. I replaced the stock cooler with a Noctua NH-D15 in November, again worked without issue.
Yesterday, my PC failed to post. The troubleshooting leds were cycling between the CPU light for 3 to 5 seconds then to the DRAM light for .2 seconds. I ran though some general testing of components and couldn't get it to run with a different gpu that I know works. I do not have a spare stick of RAM that's compatibile so my testing of the RAM was swap to the other 2 ram slots and trying individual sticks on their own. Unless both sticks failed at once, it's not the ram. CMOS reset and swapping to the backup bios had no effect, but I'm not certain the swap to backup bios was successful? Neither of the 2 methods I tried seemed to do anything noticeable, but I'm not sure what to look for when determining what bios it's on.

So next step was to reseat the CPU. In removing the heatsink, the cpu came off glued to the heatsink even though the locking lever was in place. I did some reasearch and found that this was not uncommon for AM4 socket CPUs. Inspecting the CPU showed that a few pins on one side of the CPU were bent, but not severely and no pins appear to be broken or missing. I was able to straighten them out again with a razor blade and lead pencil tip. I'm not sure if they were bent from this incident, but that would be my bet. After cleaning the cpu, I opened the lever on the socket, placed it in, and closed the lever, but the cpu does not appear to be locked in place at all. In fact it comes out with very minimal force, almost like the lever is not closed at all. Is the socket damaged? Could it be possible that some of the pins are not quite straightened out and this is preventing the CPU from locking in place? I attempted to lock it multiple times and it seems to slot in properly, so I would be surprised if this is the case.

Any ideas on what could have caused the failure to POST or on if this lack of locking is normal for an AM4 socket would be helpful. I honestly don't remember 100% from the 2 times I've seated it in the past. Is it possible for the CPU pins to bend over time while in use and that caused the failure to POST?

I'm keeping the system disassembled for now since I don't want to put everything back together in a faulty socket. I've already put in a ticket to gigabyte, but more opinions can't hurt.
When I get home I can record a video of me placing the CPU, locking it with the lever, and removing the cpu with little to no force while the lever is still in locking position if that would be helpful in any way.

Thanks for reading!
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Can you please list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

You may want to try breadboarding the system and try working with only one stick of ram and the stock cooler. By CMOS reset did you remove the CMOS battery from the board for at least 15 minutes?
 
Apr 25, 2019
3
0
10
Can you please list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

You may want to try breadboarding the system and try working with only one stick of ram and the stock cooler. By CMOS reset did you remove the CMOS battery from the board for at least 15 minutes?
Updated the specs in the OP.
I removed the CMOS battery from the board for 1 minute as specified by the mobo manual.
I'll try breadboarding when I get more time over the weekend if you think it is safe to slot the CPU into the socket even though it's not locking.
 
To remove heatsink from CPU:
Twist the heatsink gently in a clockwise-counter clockwise motion until it comes free.

If you pull the CPU out of the socket, you may damage the socket and/or the CPU. Cost to replace socket last time I checked was about $100.
 
Apr 25, 2019
3
0
10
To remove heatsink from CPU:
Twist the heatsink gently in a clockwise-counter clockwise motion until it comes free.

If you pull the CPU out of the socket, you may damage the socket and/or the CPU. Cost to replace socket last time I checked was about $100.
Ah shit, hopefully the RMA dept is kind to me lol. I'll definitely try that method next time. I'm used to Intel where it's locked in there pretty good.