PC Building

[cpurpe91]

My specs are in my signature. I have received two 3950X processors and tried everything. On two separate boards I have reset the BIOS, reinstalled BIOS, unplugged everything except the CPU 8 pin and 4 pin the GPU power and 24 pin cables. I have also tried just running a single DIMM. Both machines work with their current configurations, but if I try either 3950X in either system they can't post.

All I get with my MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge Wifi is the red CPU debug light. On my B450 system I have tried multiple BIOS and the debug light switches between CPU and DRAM, B450 Aorus Pro Wifi Rev 1.0, AMD R5 2600X, 16GB 8x2 TForce Vulcan 3000Mhz RAM, Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super, Corsair CX750m 750watt PSU.

This has been a process. The only board I haven't tried is a B350 board from MSI that I planned to put the 3700X from my current build into and give to a friend this Christmas. I am beyond grateful for these parts. I have to be missing something. All suggestions are welcome.

[Deemon69]

Good day!

An interesting case is that both memory channels do not work at once. Have you tried running only the motherboard with a processor and no memory modules? Or with only 1 module in A1 or A2? Are the legs of the processor in good condition, not bent or broken off? And did you reset the BIOS settings to default after replacing the processor?

[MADZyren]

When you say reset BIOS, do you mean setting to default settings or clearing CMOS - Definitely try the latter if you havent and remember you need to have computer unplugged from wall, wait for capasitors to become empty before doing it.

Shake your computer to make sure there is not empty screw or something similar shorting the motherboard from behind.

If that doesn't work, unplug everything from your computer including all harddrives, SSD's, M.2's, speakers, USB-devices, DVD/CD-players, network adapter, sound cards, power led, hdd led, reset switch cables everything. Even DIMM's. GPU unfortunately has to stay as 3950X doesn't have integrated graphics. What does it do now? After this, install one DIMM to second slot from left and then hit start button, if you don't any picture to screen, restart and keep hitting del key, if nothing happeds, restart and press F1 multiple times.

[elstaci]

That CPU should work out of the box since the original BIOS version is 7C37v11 which is the BIOS Version needed to recognize and run that processor.

Sometimes incompatible RAM will give you the CPU Trouble LED light to come on. Check to see if your RAM is listed from your Motherboard's QVL List for the 3000 Series CPUs: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-X570-GAMING-EDGE-WIFI/support#mem

Or at AMD RAM List for processors from here: AMD Ryzen RAM Memory Compatibility Chart

I would disconnect all hardware from your Motherboard except your PSU and CPU. Make sure all power cables are connected from your PSU to your Motherboard.

Apply power. If your CPU is good and passes the BIOS test during POST the Mobo Trouble LED Light should go from CPU to DRAM Trouble LED light being lit.

If it stays on the CPU Trouble LED light then you probably might have a defective CPU or Mobo. But if it goes off then install one RAM Stick and see if the DRAM Trouble LED light goes off and the GPU Trouble LED lights up.

But after installing one RAM Stick (A2 DIMM Slot) and it goes to the CPU Trouble LED light being lit that would indicate you have incompatible or defective RAM since the CPU LED Light turned off initially without any RAM installed.

Note: If those two 3950X Processors were given to you by someone else then the AMD Warranty is voided but if you purchased those two CPU and it came in a sealed Official AMD Retail box then the AMD Warranty is valid for 3 years after the Retailer's Return date or Warranty expires.

EDIT: Since you have 2 Mobos and 2 identical CPUs you can switch them around to see if they both work or not in either Mobos.

Just make sure you have compatible RAM on both Mobos since they will have different QVL List for RAM for the 3000 series CPUs.

[cpurpe91]

I will try it all again in a few days. I was up until 10AM trying to figure everything out. I did clear cmos with a screwdriver and removing the battery. I will keep working on it at a later date. I have to be missing something because both machines work fine with their current setups. I appreciate all the help. If I still can't get them to work on my X570 machine I think I am going to buy a decent X570 board and try again on that. I was concerned it might be my PSU but neither of my machines work with the 3950Xs.

I have:

• Reinstalled BIOS
• Cleared CMOS
• Unplugged all power except to the GPU CPU and 24 pin
• Tried with one DIMM
• Reseated cables in the PSU and Motherboard and GPU
• Made sure RAM is in QVL
• Pulled out my hair

It just amazes me that I can somehow mess up something as easy as a drop in CPU upgrade. Lol

[cpurpe91]

I think it's time for plan B. Now it's not so much about getting the CPUs to work as it is about ensuring my setup is not broken. I'm going to buy the ASrock B550 Taichi and a new PSU. The odd part is when I install the CPUs either one in both builds my GPU fans don't even spin up.

My last attempt I left the CMOS battery out overnight and still the same issue. Just the CPU debug LED even with no ram or any other devices connected except my AIO.

Also I tried with a fan plugged into the CPU fan header thinking maybe the AIO isn't allowing for the first boot. Still no change.

I know the CMOS did reset as I had to reconfigure BIOS when putting the trusty 3700X back in.

I guess the possibilities are, my setup for whatever reason is not able to give enough power to the CPU to get it to boot due to either a motherboard or PSU problem, or the CPUs that I can bet do work just have some sort of incompatibility with my system.

I also should note my setup in my signature does function and it performs as expected in games and benchmarks, 3D Mark, and Cinebench R23. I am almost to a point where I want to install the CPU and take it to a shop to see why it isn't passing POST.

Here in this old house, while I do have a surge protector and my PSU has all the protections, it is still possible that a spike in electricity fried something and my PC just doesn't draw enough power to trigger any symptoms beyond the CPUs not working.

I am significantly less frustrated now and have yet to try again in my B450 setup so I will do that once more when I find time. If that doesn't work then I will move on to buying the B550 board I mentioned earlier and a new PSU. Total cost is just within my budget when I get paid next.

[BigAl01]

I like the idea of booting with no RAM installed to see if a different debug light comes on from the motherboard. This is a strange problem.

Do you have any other DDR4 RAM modules from another computer that you can try?

[Deemon69]

Good day!
Made a special test of the same motherboard and processor 3950x. There are only two options to run this board with this processor. The first option is to use only the 8 pin power connector for the processor, the second option is to use the power supply with cables with 8 and 4 pin connectors to power the processor. The 4-pin connector for powering the video card cannot be used for this motherboard, since in this case the motherboard will immediately go into blocking. So you have everything in order, this is how MSI provided.

[cpurpe91]

So I should try it with just the 8 pin and not the 4 pin?

[Deemon69]

Yes, use only an 8-pin processor power connector (it is enough if you do not overclock), or look for a power supply that has 4-pin and 8-pin processor power connectors (since you have a Corsair power supply, the Corsair CPU 8 Pin to CPU 8 Pin (4 + 4 Pin) power cable will do). But if I were you, I wouldn’t bother and leave only the 8-pin processor power connector.

[cpurpe91]

My issue is that I already have both the 8 and 4 pin in. I'll give it a try before swapping the board Monday, but it didn't work with the 8 and 4 pins connected last time I tried. Thanks for the attempt though.

[Deemon69]

Apparently translation inaccuracies, as I understand it, you use the 8-pin connector of the CPU power cable and use the 4-pin connector of the GPU power cable as an additional one. The 4-pin connector of the GPU power cable is not suitable for powering the CPU, although they look similar. That's what I wanted to say.

[cpurpe91]

What I mean is, my power supply has 2 8 pin (4+4) connectors for the CPU. I have 1 full 8 pin and one of the 4 pins plugged in. I am only using the PCIe connectors for the GPU. Sorry for any confusion.

I have a higher wattage PSU that is 80 plus platinum, a new motherboard, a PSU tester as well as a new surge protector on it's way here. It should all be here Monday. My current PSU is 850w 80 plus gold, but about 15 months ago I heard a loud pop sound in the area my computer is in. I wrote it off as maybe a soda bottle making the noise since I had no issues with either of my PCs after it happened.

I am unsure if my PC actually has any issues or if the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge Wifi just doesn't support the 3950X with the latest BIOS.

I have tried the BIOS that is recommended by MSI, and the latest BIOS.

I have cleared the CMOS with the jumper and removed the battery, going so far as to let it sit overnight.

I have tried with no RAM inserted.

I have tried with all components unplugged except my 24 Pin and the 8 pin and 4 pin CPU power cables.

I have tried with one DIMM in and moved it to different slots between testing.

The debug LED never moves past the CPU light.

The only thing I have yet to try is removing that 4 pin like you suggested, but to reiterate the 4 pin IS a CPU power cable and is labeled as such.

Also, this is the PC I am using to type this. It works fine with my 3700X.

[MADZyren]

Have you checked there are no broken pins on your 3950X or maybe they are just plain broken. Maybe someone who handled CPU's had tons of static electricity and they touched the pins or something.

[cpurpe91]

I did inspect them and neither seem have any pin issues as they slot right in with the sockets of all 3 motherboards I have. I would think ESD if it were just the one, but the amount of static electricity needed to damage a CPU, as tested by several YouTubers, is quite a bit. There are videos dedicated to debunking ESD as a common reason for hardware failures.

I am over 400 dollars into this rabbit hole, and if none of these work I will be picking up a 5800X or X3D as it is less than 400 dollars now.

The whole plan was to give my friend who works in freelance photography my old 3700X so he can move off of his current 4th gen Intel i5 and DDR3 platform. That hasn't changed and I am convinced one of these chips has to work. I have a motherboard and PSU on the way with a PSU tester too.

While this endeavor has been frustrating it prompted me to test my PSUs for damage from the bad wiring in my home.

[Deemon69]

In addition to trying to run the 8-pin power supply of the processor with one connector (as I suggested earlier), I also suggest connecting the good old speaker to the motherboard and already determining the malfunction using the old method by the BIOS sound signals

[MADZyren]

I know the video where electroboom and GN tried to fry memory chips, but haven't run into videos about CPU's yet. Have to check it. DYI motherboards are usually fairly well shielded. It's the CPU's I'm mostly worried about - maybe M.2's.

I can imagine how frustrating it is. Also very strange.

I suppose it can not be due to something like this: https://www.servethehome.com/lenovo-vendor-locking-ryzen-cpus-with-amd-psb-the-video/

[cpurpe91]

I have a new PSU coming with a Thermaltake PSU tester, and a new surge protector. If this all fails, I will be ordering an X570 Taichi from ASRock and taking my chances with it.

[cpurpe91]

HWINFO after browsing for a little bit.

[cpurpe91]

HWINFO after playing Control for about an hour.

If anyone see any inconsistencies in voltages or power draw and point them out to me that would be great. I'm excited for that PSU tester. I have a few PSUs that I suspected were going bad and now I will have something to do Monday.

[Deemon69]

In both screenshots, everything is within the normal range, except that the BIOS tells the processor that it is underutilized. This can often be seen when the PC is idle, but not after 1 hour of play. I suggest running a power test in OCCT.
I also came up with the idea that you can try to disable TPM in the BIOS before replacing the processor, there have already been cases when this module did not work properly and interfered, for example, when updating the BIOS.

[cpurpe91]

How long should I run OCCT test for?

[Deemon69]

5 minutes will be enough. After that, we look at the Power Reporting Deviation sensor in HWiNFO. If its value is below 90% at 100% load, then there is reason to think. In cases where the Power Reporting Deviation drops below this value, the Ryzen 3000 CPU runs outside of specifications, which can adversely affect its life.

[cpurpe91]

It was in the 80s.

[cpurpe91]

Will post screenshots in about an hour.

[cpurpe91]

OCCT power test after about an hour.

[Deemon69]

Power Reporting Deviation does not even rise to 90-95%. Do you currently have the processor power connected only to the 8 pin power connector? This behavior can be in two cases:
1. The motherboard (BIOS) sees that the processor power is not fully connected (only 8 pin processor power connector). At least one 8-pin processor power connector is more than enough (when using the processor without extreme overclocking), the motherboard just plays it safe and informs the processor about it.
2. Incorrect BIOS or incorrectly updated BIOS, or a malfunction in the VRM power circuits of the motherboard. This is an occasion to have a close chat with MSI tech support.

[cpurpe91]

Likely a VRM issue then. This board is notorious for bad VRMs. The power 8 pin (4+4) and single 4 pin are secure. I made sure they were as I was troubleshooting possible reasons the 3950X wasn't even getting past the CPU led.

Is this more likely to be an issue with the board or the PSU?

[cpurpe91]

Would you say it's unsafe for me or my hardware if I were to continue using the pc as it is, until Monday?

[Deemon69]

Until today, nothing happened to the PC, it continued to work like that, so you can safely continue to use it.

[cpurpe91]

Okay. I would set up my new motherboard, but I don't want to damage it if the PSU is the problem.

[cpurpe91]

Setting up Windows on the new board and PSU now will test using OCCT for power reporting deviation as soon as I can.

[cpurpe91]

Also the RM850x I had passed the tester so I don't know what to think on that part.

[cpurpe91]

These are the result of OCCT Power Test on my new board with my new PSU after about 10 min. 

[cpurpe91 · Accepted solution]

I set up the new parts, motherboard and PSU, and the 3950Xs just don't post. Gave me the old 00 on the debug and kept boot cycling. Good new though this motherboard has VRMs that don't reach the temperature of the sun and it's BIOS is very straight forward. I guess I will stick with my old 3700X until I can get my hands on a 5800x3D and give the 3700X to my buddy.

[ajlueke]

You could try booting the system without the GPU installed.  I had a similar issue on an X370 system with a 3900X CPU.  When the CPU and GPU were installed, the system would not POST, it just hung in a perpetual boot loop.

I eventually tried booting without the GPU, and the system passed the code it was stuck on previously but still did not POST as it was missing a display adapter.  After that, I reinstalled the GPU and the system did POST and boot.  So, it is worth a shot.

[cpurpe91]

I did try without the GPU on my MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge Wifi. I even tried with no RAM installed just to see if it would progress past the CPU check to DRAM LED. It did not. I went so far as to remove everything that was drawing power except the CPU my AIO and a fan plugged in the CPU fan header. No dice. I have them sitting in containers they came with on my desk but for right now I consider them dead. 3 boards no posting at all. B450 and 2 X570 boards all report the CPU LED and post code.

[BigAl01]

The 3950X is dead.  Consider it a paperweight.  Maybe mount it in a frame and hang it on the wall?