This here is...
another Viewer's Broken Gaming PC,
and this one apparently doesn't post.
I'm told by the owner that it's probably a CPU issue,
kind of odd that he's so specific on that,
usually folks that send stuff to me they have no idea.
But this owner seems to be pretty dead set
on it being a CPU problem,
that might influence my troubleshooting steps
that you see in this one.
We'll still run through the general things
that we always do in the beginning, but who knows?
Could be anything,
and hopefully by the end of this one
we can have it back up and running for him.
Are you ready?
You know what's coming next, stay with me.
NZXT's H7 Series cases offer plenty of hardware support
and a clean aesthetic sure to complement any build.
Choose between white or black variants
as well as standard flow or elite trims
for the right mixture of airflow and beauty.
There's plenty of from up top for a fan red combo,
larger than just a single 120 or 140,
and support for up to a 360 mill upfront exists
for a beefy cooling, wherever it's needed.
You'll also find several fans included
depending on the model.
If you choose the white one, you'll get white fans,
so that's nice.
NZXT cases are overall great values as you'll find,
and you can learn more about them
by clicking the link below.
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode
of Flip or Flop.
In this playlist, we attempt to fix viewers computers
in and around Orlando Florida free.
We charge nothing for the service.
And as a result of that, folks have been
actually pretty cool about driving out to meet me,
that that's kind of the trade off here,
especially with gas prices being as high as they are now.
It's not easy to just drive across the city
especially in Orlando traffic at rush hour
to drop off a system for somebody.
So the fact that we don't charge it all,
I think offsets that, it's nice.
It allows us to continue making videos like these.
This is how we make our money monetize these videos.
We have sponsors in these as well.
And so as a result,
I don't offload any of that implied cost to the viewers.
We're already gracious enough
to loan us systems for a few days.
I don't know too much about the system specifications
apart from the obvious.
The graphics card is an SFX RX 588 gig
and of course, a Ryzen platform.
So some sort of Ryzen CPU in here,
a Tomahawk Max motherboard from MSI
and the stock raid cooler.
The case here is from Phanteks.
I think this is the P350, if I recall correctly,
I'd have to go back and look.
The build overall is a bit dusty, bit dirty
but that's not what we're tasked within this one.
We're not gonna deep clean it, we're gonna try to fix it.
So with that outta the way,
let's get straight into the troubleshooting process.
You guys know, by this point
what we need to do is attempt to power the system on
and replicate the issue described by the owner.
In this case either a no post or no power scenario.
Portable monitor check, HDMI cable check,
power supply switch check,
and let's see what we've got going here.
This button's a little stuck,
but it doesn't seem to wanna fire up.
Let's try to jump the system manually with the screwdriver.
Shh, still nothing.
The reason I check this first is because,
like I said the power button's a bit sticky.
The APDPS of top looks good, 20...
You know what?
His 24 pins not slotted in all the way.
Not sure how well we'll be able to see this
from your vantage point,
but you can see that little gap right there.
If you can, that shouldn't be there.
You should be able to push this all the way in like that.
Now I bet we can get some power.
I'm just gonna jump straight into another power on attempt
because that very well could be explaining
what we were seeing.
Well, that worked for like a split second.
Let's try again.
Oh man, really.
Power cycle completely.
Nothing, we had power for like a ugh fraction of a second
and now it's gone.
So it wasn't just the 24 pin.
Now you'll notice as I attempt to clear the CMOS here,
after holding this down for, oh, just blink there,
hold this for a few seconds and then I'll remove my tool.
And there was just flash for a split second.
And I notice on the debug LEDs above the 24 pin,
that the CPU light lights up
for just a fraction of a second again,
and everything shuts back off.
This very well could be a CPU issue.
Could also be a power supply issue.
This is the two things off the top
that I think we're gonna dive deeper into, first.
I doubt the card is keeping the system from posting.
Usually if it's a card issue,
the remainder of the system will still power on.
The 24 pin and the eight pin up top are connected.
We've got everything else disconnected.
So non vitals are no longer in play here.
I forgot to disconnect this extra USB cable.
Let's try again.
Still no power.
And if we attempt to clear CMOS again,
we just got that quick flash.
So yeah, let's dive a bit deeper.
We've got our PassMark Inline PSU Tester here.
I know the camera seems bit dark,
just so you can read the screen.
So we're gonna hold down the power button
that should turn the PSU on.
And we're just gonna check for let's see.
Yeah, everything looks good.
We're also getting LEDs.
I've got the other stuff connected.
The moles data to the things in his rig.
I can see that there are some lights powered on below.
So everything here looks good.
There is an issue for sure, with his platform.
By the way, that's a spider web.
Not sure if the camera's focusing on it,
this is why the wife absolutely loves what I do for work.
This isn't normally the first place I would start.
But like I said,
I've got reason to believe the CPU is the problem here.
Maybe the viewer knows something that he's not telling me.
It definitely looks like a platform problem though.
Let's remove this cooler
and see what CPU we're working with.
This could potentially be a bios incompatibility issue.
Although this being a Max motherboard
I doubt that's the case.
Still worth checking though.
We also might have, gotta get this just a bit of a wiggle.
We also might have an issue with either the pins
on the chip or the socket, which we've run into in the past.
There we go.
And let's see, ah, very interesting,
throwing it back just a tad, Ryzen seven 1800X.
Now on the other side of the chip
I don't see any missing pins.
There are no bent pins either.
There actually looks really good back here.
There's a bit of over bleeding thermal paste.
I cleaned it up for him.
So the chip looks basically brand new again,
but I'd be ashamed if this was the reason
why I wasn't posting.
I think what I'm gonna do is swap this out
for a known working chip that I have.
And we'll try our luck there.
I have here Ryzen seven 1700X,
which is very close to his 1800X,
same generation at least, same core count and everything.
So this is as apples to apples we can get
given what I have on hand.
We'll put this in the rig and we'll fire it up.
Now, I've actually got all of his
regular components connected to this makeshift test bench.
The only change again is that CPU.
I don't suspect anything else is wrong with his rig,
which is why I'm doing things this way.
So let's make sure the power supply is powered on
and we'll jump to power pins.
It just did it again.
It just cut in and out again.
So it's not a CPU.
Wow, it's probably the motherboard.
I can't believe it's the...
There's no way it's the card.
That's the only other thing here that we haven't tried
that I would think would be obvious by this point
given the symptoms we're seeing, ugh.
We'll check just to be on the safe side.
I'll swap in my GT7 10 just to get it outta the way
before we swap the motherboard
because that's the most labor intensive process
of all of this.
And we only wanna do that if we absolutely have to.
In she goes, and in one continuous shot here
we'll go ahead and try powering on as well.
So switch at the rear and power pins.
No way.
What, no way. (laughs)
I can't believe, it was the card.
I've never seen a graphics card do that before.
The system is fired up.
We have no LED debug lights indicated on the board.
So we should be getting a post any second now.
This isn't what I had in mind.
So at this point, I'm suspecting the motherboard.
I mean, what else could it be if my GT7 10
that always works is not working.
Then I think the board needs to be replaced.
I guess that's better than the CPU.
I don't know which one's worse at this point.
One thing that I am going to try though
before swapping it out is updating the bios.
And we can do that with this port
because this has a flash bios function
that does not require a compatible CPU
already be present in the socket.
So that's what's happening now, I think.
Pretty sure I did that right.
And once this fully updated the system should restart
and then maybe just maybe, we'll get a post, we'll try.
Well, I'm not sure if this is an improvement or not,
but the system is now displaying the CPU
debug LED permanently.
It's just always on.
If I can get it to focus, there it goes.
And the LEDs behind them on the board have also changed.
They're no longer red.
They're like a bluish color.
So yeah, I mean, we still don't have a post, there's that.
Without system RAM, I can trick it
into displaying the DRAM LED instead of the CPU light.
I think it'll pivot back to the CPU though,
at some point here.
Nope, still staying on DRAM.
So that's weird.
You know what, maybe we'll try re flashing this bios
one more time.
Yeah, that didn't do anything.
So I think before I keep giving this motherboard
chances that I shouldn't be, I'm gonna try my 5700G here
and I'm using this specifically because,
swapping out the graphics card
at least got us a bit further.
Although I have no reason to think his card is dead.
This has integrated graphics.
So maybe if we just bypass it discrete card altogether
we can get a post.
Maybe I'd also like to note
that throughout this entire process
our 1700X did not get hot at all.
I could just touch it straight up right out of the system.
And that's not how it should be.
And we're back to the exact same symptom as before.
I've given this motherboard enough tries.
I really, really thought we could bring it back
from the dead with that bios update
but we're still getting the same, no post,
no picture out scenario and the same doctor debug behavior
where the CPU light, well's not doctor debug,
but the same LED debug behavior
where the CPU light turns on for a few seconds,
shuts off immediately.
No other debug light pops up.
And yeah, we just sit here with the black screen.
Very odd.
Now I really did not want to do this.
And I'm actually running out of B350, 450, 550 motherboards
'cause I've had to replace so many on this playlist.
I'm gonna swap his board.
The only one I have left is a micro ATX B450.
So similar in terms of chip set,
but obviously not form factor.
It's not the end of the world.
He wasn't using the additional PCI slots anyway
but it's just gonna look a bit more tacky than before
but hey, he's getting it for free.
So come on.
So now everything in this platform is the same
as what was in his original rig
with the exception of the motherboard.
I even put his original CPU back in here, the 1800X
and you can see his original graphics card as well.
So the only variable is the board.
Let's try powering it on.
Wow, that powered on for a split second
and then turned off again.
How many things are wrong with this system?
I was not going into this
expecting to replace the entire system.
This does not wanna power on either.
I can't believe that.
Oh my gosh. (sighs)
Yeah, it's what it looks like.
So swapping out his RX580 here, allowed the system to post.
I've never seen personally a graphics card
cause the system to flicker on and off.
As quickly as what we saw here, it would literally power on
for a split second and power back off again.
The viewers suggested that it was a CPU
but it actually is the graphics card.
The other odd thing is,
well why wouldn't the old board post
with either of our chips?
And even after a bios update, we had nothing.
I mean, I put Jesus, my 5700G in there,
still wasn't working.
So it's possible there's some sort of relationship
between the the graphics card issue and the motherboards.
But as of this point, from what I can see here
in the office, they're two separate issues
and both would need to be remedied here
in order to get the system back up and running again.
And I'll be honest with you guys.
I don't wanna replace the card.
At least we know it's bad,
but I mean, I'm already replacing the motherboard for him
and I'm running low on those as it is.
Graphics cards I haven't restocked
because prices are still coming down
and I don't wanna buy up cards at this point.
So this is gonna have to be one of the rare flops.
Not that we couldn't figure out what's wrong.
But just I'm not willing to put so many components
into this to make it work again.
I mean the motherboard
and the graphics card are two very important things.
And I just don't have the resources right now
to replace both for him.
He'll have a new motherboard
or a well a board that works at least.
The same chip set family
but he'll need a new graphics card
to get the system up and running
the way that we have it here.
But before we end this one,
knowing that the graphics card is the issue.
One last thing I wanna do is try to get another system
unrelated to his, to power on with this card.
I don't wanna tell him that this is broken
only for it to be, I don't know some issue
maybe with the AMD platform,
maybe it works fine with Intel rigs.
I'm gonna put this in my personal rig.
I don't like doing that with components I suspect are broken
'cause I don't wanna nuke my own system,
but I just wanna see if we can replicate
the flickering power issue that we saw with his platform.
My system, by the way, obviously works.
It was working a few seconds ago.
Just swap the card out.
Single eight pin, it looks awkward
'cause these are bridged PCI cables but anyway,
we're gonna power the system back on.
That's cool.
So the motherboard LEDs are lit.
Let's see what happens.
Yeah, (chuckles) same problem.
The power just flickers on and off for a split second.
We don't get LEDs in this board like we were before
but I mean it powers on and off so quickly
probably just doesn't register.
Yeah, it does not like it.
We try to start button up here, nothing.
So this card is fricking toast.
The CORSAIR HS65 SURROUND Gaming Headset,
delivers all day comfort and sound with memory foam leather
at ear pads, lightweight aluminum reinforced construction
and Dolby audio 7.1 surround on both Mac and PC.
You can even use IQ software with sound ID
to customize audio profiles for unique experiences
in game and in chat.
As always you can learn more by clicking the link below.
Well, I hate to be the bear of bad news, but yep.
I'll flop for the books.
And like, again,
it's not because we couldn't figure out what was wrong.
In fact, there were two things wrong with this rig
and I mean, I just don't wanna give two things.
I'm used to giving one upgrade, one swap,
So yeah, we'll leave it at that.
If you guys have broken systems,
maybe live in and or around Orlando Florida
and you want a chance to have me fix your rig,
if it's maybe not turning on or not posting
or what have you, feel free to reach out.
We have a link in the description.
You can enter your details there and submit a form.
We'll get back to you at the earliest convenience.
And we'll let you know if you're accepted
or rejected just based on the symptoms you described
and whether or not we have hardware to replace
what might be broken in your rig.
Thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment down below
and yeah, catch in the next one.
Sorry for being so unenthusiastic at this point,
but yeah, thanks for watching.
My name's Greg.
Thanks for learning with me.