PC Building

[CountRiario]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping you could help me, since I'm somewhat new (and bad) at building my PC (only done it once before), and could use some advice.

Last week, my PC build from 7 years ago crashed. That's okay, I needed to replace parts anyway. So I ordered new parts:

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE V2

CPU: Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

CPU cooler:  Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH Edition 

GPU: ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6600 

RAM: G.SKILL Memoria DDR4 3200 16GB C16 GSKILL AEGIS K2 2X8GB 1,35V

After installing them all, the PC turned on nicely, and seemed to work fine for that day.

However, on my second day of using the PC, I came back from dinner and noticed that my screens were black. The PC was still on, but nothing seemed to show up on the screens. When I tried to turn the PC off with the power button on my PC, it was non-responsive. So I turned the PSU off, and after a second or so, turned it on again. The power button on my case worked, but still no screen. After a minute or so, I tried again, and this time (without changing anything), it worked. The PC fully turned on again. After about 10 minutes, however, the exact same thing happened. That was the last time my PC worked. 

I decided to check all the parts, and see what was wrong. I immediately noticed that the motherboard does not turn on anymore. Whereas before it lit up orange as soon as the PSU was turned on, it now doesn't anymore. All it does is flash a white light near the USB ports. (At first I thought this may have been sparks, which scared me, but after some research this is just the white LED lights on this motherboard that apparently do get power for a split second. 

I checked the motherboard fully, but could not find any damages, did not smell anything burned, and did not find anything wrong in the pins or cables.

What I did not do while building this new set, was change anything in my case about the standoff setup. I noticed there was 1 screw in the case, that did not line up to my new motherboard, and removed it. It had been there when the PC worked for the time.

I then checked to see what happened when I took everything out of case, and just plugged the PSU, RAM, CPU into the motherboard. I got the exact same result: Motherboard does not light up/work. The Processor, by the way, also does not start working. 

I tried this with different RAM sticks and different PSUs. Still no difference. I'm afraid I have fried a circuit on my motherboard, though I have no physical proof of this. Do any of you have something I could try/do? I know I can RMA something, as all things listed are literally bought last week, but I can't find a fault that would indicate what it is. 

I would appreciate any and all advice, as I am stumped.

[MADZyren]

"What I did not do while building this new set, was change anything in my case about the standoff setup. I noticed there was 1 screw in the case, that did not line up to my new motherboard, and removed it. It had been there when the PC worked for the time."

So you had one standoff behind the motherboard, which did not line-up with screw holes on motherboard, but originally missed it and used the computer with that standoff, before removing it?

There is unfortunately a good chance that short circuited and broke something. See if you can see any damage on the back side of motherboard, where that stand could have contacted motherboard.

In case it didn't: You could try to clear CMOS (unplug computer from wall socket, wait until all LEDs go black, connect Clear CMOS jumpers or remove CMOS battery, wait a couple of seconds, then put things back and try to restart).

Also there is a possibility your power supply is at fault. Which brand/model is it and how old? If you unplug PSU from motherboard and GPU (uplug everything else, but leave power-button cable and start PSU - does its fans spin at all?). Would be great if you had a PSU tester at hand.

Considering you likely removed the motherboard, are you sure you plugged all the cables back in? 

- 24 pin to motherboard?
- CPU power connectors to top left corner?
- You installed the tiny PWR cable, Reset cable aso... ?

[CountRiario]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply!

Correct, I originally missed that I had 1 standoff that wasn't connected to anything on this motherboard. I do not see any damage on the motherboard where that standoff made contact with it, or anywhere else on the motherboard, frankly. 

My PSU model is: Corsair TX-M series: TX650M, also brand new bought this week. 

Interestingly, no, the fans on the PSU do not spin when I only power the PSU with no cables connecting it (besides the obvious power outlet)

Do I just have a faulty CPU?

EDIT: To answer your last questions, yes, I plugged all those cables back in correctly. 

[elstaci]

as for the PSU:

First a PSU needs a signal from the motherboard to turn on. For the PSU to turn on without being connected to your motherboard you need to short two pins on the Motherboard 24 pin PSU cable.

Second the latest PSU have Zero RPM feature which means the PSU Fan won't start working until the PSU is under a certain amount of load or Temperature. This is prevent the PSU fan from having a short lifespan by running 100% all the time like in the older PSU models.

You can check your PSU by shorting out the two pins on the 24 Pin Motherboard cable. Then connect a 12vdc Case fan to see if it starts working on all applicable 12vdc cables. This is if you don't have a Multimeter to physically check your PSU.

This website shows you step by step how to do the above: https://howchoo.com/computers/how-to-diagnose-a-psu-without-any-tools

Most likely your motherboard may be have shorted out as suggested by MADzyren even though there are no burn marks.

I would RMA the Motherboard and see if the replacement works.

[MADZyren]

I wonder what I was thinking 🙄

Maybe not enough sleep

In order for the power switch to work (or even be connected to PSU in any way), PSU would have to be connected to motherboard. 

Yes, you actually need to connect the pins.

[eebiii]

And I would say since your PSU is new, it may have come with a black cap for the 24-pin connector to do the jumper for you.

[BigAl01]

I once caused some sparks to come from a motherboard that I had mounted in a Thermaltake tower case - it was an extra standoff that was behind my motherboard that didn't line up with the hole in the motherboard.  The short basically damaged the motherboard and I had to order a new one.  The RAM, CPU and PSU were not damaged however.  I always check the standoff locations now, especially when using a new case.

As for your motherboard, since you tried a different PSU and RAM sticks, it's likely your motherboard is damaged.  I would RMA it if possible.