Red CPU light Orange DRAM light on motherboard after replacing GPU/PSU
Posted by Draterder@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 23 comments
I replaced my graphics card and power supply today and it now won't boot. CPU light on motherboard is red and DRAM light is orange. This is on a MSI x670e Tomahawk Wifi. New power supply is the Corsair HX1000i.
The fans all run but there is no output.
I have checked that all the correct cables have been used and all connections seem secure.
I've tried using the old graphics card but this doesn't seem to change anything.
I've tried resetting the CMOS by shorting the JBAT1 pins.
Most posts around this suggest a problem with the CPU/ram although they both were working fine previously, so I'm hoping it's just something I'm misunderstanding with the power supply.
Any ideas would be much appreciated, thanks.
beczky21@reddit
did you fix it?
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Hi, yes in the end it turned out both the power supply and motherboard were faulty. My guess is something broke on the motherboard when the new power supply blew. I hope you aren't going through something similar.
thingsforyourhead@reddit
Shut everything down. Unplug everything and reseat everything, starting with what you just replaced.
Be calm.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
I've put the old graphics card back in and connected everything to the old power supply so in theory it should all be the same as before when it worked.
However I am still getting the same LEDs and no boot.
I think I'll have to try and strip it back more like the other comment suggested.
thingsforyourhead@reddit
Divide and conquer. You may have jarred something else loose. Believe me I have seen some crazy ass shit in my time. My theory when it comes to trouble shooting is simple divide and conquer and follow an order of logic that seems to make sense, but prioritize least expensive and easiest to replace when you can.
Also re-seat things that may not have been moved. Is this the first time you have powered it off in a while? Thermal creep is still a thing.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
I power it off every few days on average. I've now removed the graphics card and tried reseating the ram and running it with a single stick but still no luck.
I guess CPU will be the next step.
bluedoglime@reddit
What happens if you put no sticks of ram in? Just the ram led or does the cpu led also stay on?
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Both lights still.
bluedoglime@reddit
Any speaker header on the mobo in case the beep codes might tell you more?
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Not that I know of unfortunately.
thingsforyourhead@reddit
Check for little screws that came loose and maybe are shorting out hte motherboard somewhere, underneath. Reseat everything but the CPU, then reset the CPU. Pull the CR2032 and let it drain.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
I've just finished reseating the CPU without any improvement. I will try pulling the CR2032 next thanks.
bluedoglime@reddit
Might be time to consider breadboarding it ie. taking the motherboard out of the case and sitting it on a piece of cardboard. This should eliminate any accidental short of anything to ground.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
I've now breadboarded it and reseated the CPU and still getting the same LEDs. Guessing it's most likely to be a motherboard issue at this point.
bluedoglime@reddit
If it's not the CPU or power supply, and you've stripped everything off the board that you can, then yes, it is likely going to be the mobo. You could try replacing the CMOS battery in case it's voltage has sagged too much. More likely to be an issue if you regularly switch off the power supply at the mains ie. the switch on the power supply or unplugging it from the wall. If you regularly leave the PSU plugged in and switched on, when the computer itself is off, the battery won't drain. But that said, it is unlikely to be the issue.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Thanks, I'm currently waiting on some thermal paste to try to reseat the CPU again and if no success then will try this approach.
thingsforyourhead@reddit
Thats interesting. Something is changing that is causing the change. I'm thinking its got to be one of 3 things .. moisture, capacitance, or still a transient or loose connection. Hope it works out for you. Dont give up until you are absoutely positively sure you have to spend money to fix this
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Copilot has suggested this as the cause of the different startup behavior:
What the Change in Behaviour Means
Before reseating the CPU - Red CPU LED first, then after a few seconds yellow DRAM LED
- Power button did not turn the system off (you had to use the PSU switch)
Interpretation The CPU was getting partial contact in the socket: - It powered on enough for the board to attempt CPU initialization
- It then failed when trying to train the RAM
- The power button not working normally is a classic sign of incomplete CPU initialization
This pointed to poor CPU–socket contact, but not a total failure.
After reseating the CPU - Both CPU and DRAM LEDs light up immediately
- Power button now works normally to shut down the system
Interpretation The CPU now has better power/contact, but: - The memory‑controller pins (the pins that let the CPU talk to RAM) are not making proper contact
- Because the CPU cannot communicate with RAM at all, the board instantly throws both CPU + DRAM errors
- The fact that the power button works again means the CPU is at least being detected and powered correctly
This behaviour is extremely typical of bent or misaligned pins in the AM5 socket, especially those related to memory channels.
The Key Insight The change in behaviour strongly suggests:
The CPU is now seated more securely
But one or more socket pins related to memory communication are not making contact
This is why: - The system fails immediately
- Both LEDs come on at once
- RAM that previously worked now fails in minimal configuration
- The power button behaviour improved (CPU power/initialization is better)
What This Points To Most Likely 1. Bent or misaligned pins in the AM5 socket
2. Motherboard fault (if the socket looks perfect)
3. CPU damage (least likely, but possible)
RAM is almost certainly not the issue.
I believe I've eliminated most potential causes other than CPU/motherboard. I'm waiting on some thermal paste then will try to reseat again and check for any bent pins. I'm hoping I haven't just caused another issue while reseating it the first time...
thingsforyourhead@reddit
That certainly helps point things in the right direction. Let me tell you about my nightmare war story that shaped the way I do troubleshooting ever since.
This was back in 1990 or so. Maybe 1991. My first real job was working at AST Research at their corporate headquarters in Irvine, CA. You may now know these buildings as Blizzard Entertainment and they are at 16215 Alton Parkway, but to me it will always be the House That Safi Built (the "S" in AST).
I started off doing inbound tech support for their enhancement product line which was their legendary Six Pack Plus cards, Advantage, and Rampage cards. Also supported some of their terminal emulation products.
Then after about 8 months there I applied for a promotion and transfer to their MIS department (back before we called it IT) and got the job.
I did mostly desktop support at the time. Wasn't skilled enough yet to be a server admin. Back then 80% of the population was running on AST Premium 286's, maybe 15% Premium 386's a few 486's usually the executive managers.
A administrative assistant put in a ticket that her computer on occasion would flash "Not Ready Error Reading Drive C" This was even back before Windows was prevalent so she was running DOS and Desqview.
I dont know if you have ever seen old school Norton's Disk Doctor or not but it was ASCI based and this would have been the first logical troubleshooting step. It would run through the drive and ever several sectors or so, try to mark a bad sector. So, great .. bad hard drive, right?
Back everything up to the network, replace the drive, restore. Same problem.
Well then you are thinking its got to be the IDE card, right? Same problem.
And you work your way down the logical chain. Memory, Power Supply, Motherboard.
Same problem.
No you think this computer is posessed by demons and you're ready to throw it out the window.
Except back then these AT-class power supplies had an AC power out on the back of them and they were supposed to be for daisy chaining a monitor to them. They werent much back then, the original AT stardard I believe was 62 watts and AST's were like 150 or so, but it was written standard that only monochrome and CGA monitors were supported.
Most people had EGA's at the time and had no problems using them this way, VGA's were right out.
This lady had an EGA monitor. It should have worked. It was working for everyone else.
Unplug it from the power supply and run it to the wall .. problem goes away. Yep, that monitor was drawing a little more power than it should or was a little noisier than it should and it was brining the entire system to its knees.
Luckily for me back then, being the manufacturer, we had our own warehouse of spare parts to pull from for free and we didn't freak out about accounting too much back then. I needed something? I grab it and check it out.
Draterder@reddit (OP)
Stories like that really do put in perspective how methodical you need to be with these things. I'm definitely guilty of jumping too quickly to "my computer is possessed" and becoming frustrated. Just your initial comment saying to be calm probably helped more than any troubleshooting steps.
After reseating the CPU a second time and breadboarding the system I'm getting the same problem so I'm going to try and find a different motherboard to test with tomorrow.
Will get there eventually!
thingsforyourhead@reddit
yes, you will. Good job. I hope you dont have to spend money but if you do, may it be as little as possible.
1rkella@reddit
According to the manual, that indicates that both CPU and RAM aren't detected properly.
Unless your CPU is one of the F variants, you should be able to test without any dedicated GPU, which I would suggest.
The general steps for these sort of issues is to strip everything down to bare essentials. Best practice would be to remove the motherboard from the case, and try to get into BIOS with a single ram stick, CPU and cooler, and PSU installed. No SATA or M.2 drives, and no GPU as long as you have a CPU with an iGPU.
1rkella@reddit
Does it boot with your old GPU installed?