Fixing a Viewer's BROKEN Gaming PC? - Fix or Flop S5:E5

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Welcome to Fix or Flop! We're up to Season 5, Episode 5. This viewer's gaming PC doesn't work! Can it be fixed? By the way, if you live in the Orlando, FL area and have an issue with your PC, apply to have it (possibly) fixed for free today! gregsalazar.co...
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Audio-Technica AT2035: geni.us/xvQc
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#FixOrFlop

[@BLOoMIND]

YT algo loves this series. I have been getting constant top row placement over the past few months, within minutes of publishing. 1 minute ago today!

[@GregSalazar]

Wish it was that way for everyone! Compared to earlier seasons, these don't quite gain the traction they once had. Still grateful for all the support!

[@cris1735]

Same. I saw this video as soon as I opened the KZbin app.

[@altus8312]

@@GregSalazarpopped up for me 14 min after posting!

[@RayPearcetv]

Same with my algorithm. Soon as I opened the app it was the top video

[@LionTree]

Same! I've learned a lot from this series

[@DarkroeTech]

My guess is that the previous motherboard had either BIOS issues, power delivery issues, or both. Meaning I think the AIO pump was not being given enough power to properly cool the CPU / move the pump effectively, causing the cold plate to get very hot and warping the plastic of the socket, which was a symptom of the motherboard's failures, and a red herring to the actual problem. Well done identifying that issue!

[@benjaminsmekens2344]

That board is a complete POS, they literally forgot to make it usable, and I'm not the only one, just search for X670E aorus master and boot/post issues... You'll be surprised for a so called "premium" board. I'm contemplating switching to a MEG X670E GODLIKE, fuck Gigabyte, not buying their stuff again until they fix this dumpster fire. However, since the timing of the zen5 release and the fact that my computer 'works' just fine apart from the random no post/booting issues (~95% of the time it shits the bed on boot, so takes me around 15-30 minutes to get it fully booted into windows), so my temporary work around is to never turn it off. It will handle reboots fine for updates, etc, but cold start is a dumpster fire. Just my experience

[@ghoffmann821]

100% power. Either overvolting the CPU or not powering the AIO. My guess is, failed cap(s).

[@Rushil69420]

I just got so paranoid after reading this lol.

[@MatFoxSimRacing]

fun fact: Greg chooses his lottery numbers based on that week's Dr Debug codes

[@RDJ134]

TBH it's a good idea to run those numbers :)

[@YouEnvyMe28]

Found you on YT about two years ago and always watch every episode. So excited to see the new house getting set up, congrats!!!

[@GregSalazar]

I really appreciate it!

[@Lagg_007]

Greg's Gremlin keeps turning off the power strip on him. Your not supposed to feed them after midnight 😂😂

[@adamtajhassam9188]

bios update time checking bent pins on that board i liked when he did that b4

[@murraystechtime8530]

I've been an electronice repair tech since 1973 and a computer repair technologist since 1978, you are doing a great job at troubleshooting. I did do repair to component level but that was a long time ago. Great video...

[@GregSalazar]

I appreciate that!

[@LimbaZero]

I follow few YT repair channels that do board level repairs. Usually case is that you would need to rebuild whole system or it's laptop motherboard.

[@murraystechtime8530]

@@LimbaZero Louis Rossmann when he was in NY, I saw him and a few asian places it was Taiwan or China I think. You need some special gear if you do that now a days, or have a lot of patience and a heat gun and soldering station.

[@LimbaZero]

@@murraystechtime8530 Soldering station with heat gun is mandatory for board level fixes. I have watched some Louis videos. Other what I have watched is Adamant IT is from UK and he also show how to fix bit rot bios. He mainly fix different laptops or fix those dell/hp desktops where you can't get new motherboard so easily.

[@murraystechtime8530]

@@LimbaZero I saw them do surface mounted IC's you have to use a lot of flux and just the right amount of heat alot of cleanup and prep to resolder the replacement IC. Mybe one day I'll try but it will have to be soon as I am 68...

[@x8jason8x]

Complete bricks are always fun to diagnose! Said no one ever. 😂

[@MaheerKibria]

This was an easy diagnosis. I appreciate how he went about showing how to diagnose it without relying on the debug code, but the debug code told us everything we needed to know which is that the Northbridge initialization was failing which on a Ryzen means that there were problems communicating with the IO die. CPU or motherboard. A closer inspection showed a warped socket. Content aside This is why I love POST/Debug/Q codes.

[@johnt.848]

Actually I love trying to diagnose them, they challenge me.

[@x8jason8x]

@@MaheerKibria Yeah the Dr Debug is a winner.

[@zadekeys2194]

I'm 90% sure a BIOS flash will fix this board. Sad to see he didn't try it.

[@x8jason8x]

@@zadekeys2194 Yikes... the L is very big... massive. Just what do you think a BIOS flash is gonna do for a warped CPU socket? 😬😬😬

[@MaheerKibria]

So 15 is a pre-memory Northbridge initialization. 46 is one of the ones gigabyte doesn't tell us and just tells us it's reserved. 00 is a restart. That told me that it was never the memory. This narrows it down to CPU or MB. For some reason, the motherboard is having trouble communicating with the IO Die Those codes are useful if you know how to read them. Once we saw the socket was warped it was definitely the motherboard not making good contact. I know a lot of people think debug LEDs are good enough and 90% of the time they are but in cases like this you could have diagnosed this in like 5 minutes by just reading the debug codes. I feel like this should be a standard feature. I miss the days when you could just add a post card and read post codes by plugging it into the LPC debug port or PCIe bus.

[@RichWhiteUM]

46 is also a memory code, I just don't remember which sequence it is.

[@shiftto]

work as you said how can we have a length enough videos to enjoy at free time, take it easy

[@sir_whocampsalot2876]

i also found it odd he didnt google the codes but i also believe in the end it didnt matter and the board needed to be replaced anyway

[@RichWhiteUM]

@@sir_whocampsalot2876 My guess is that the board's memory slots got borked.

[@GregSalazar]

The codes were sporadic. 00 = dead CPU if it hangs. 15 = memory training (normal process). 46 = memory initialization error. The codes did NOT tell me much of anything in the moment other than that an issue _may_ have been present with RAM. This was isolated and removed as a variable early in the video. Wouldn't have been a 5 minute diagnosis. Bit silly to claim this in hindsight after watching the video.

[@Fredfox85]

So, as soon as you showed the specs of the PC I immediately knew it was the motherboard. I as well was upgrading a few parts in my PC, and when turning on the PC, I was getting the same LED bug. Fortunately, I was able to do a return exchange with Newegg and got it replaced. I was able to test it and now have a working PC. Gigabyte may have a know issue with that version of the motherboard because the new motherboard I received is version 1.2, and the one I returned was 1.1.

[@GregSalazar]

Interesting note! I had no idea there were different revisions of this board.

[@Fredfox85]

@GregSalazar the only reason I realized is because I went to do a bios update on gigabyte website they have bios updates for 3 different versions of this motherboard.

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

A lot of the time different revisions are just about the WiFi card that comes preinstalled these days, e.g. on this board rev 1.0 comes with an Intel AX210 and rev 1.1 ships with an AMD RZ616 Mediatek job. 1.2 is not yet listed, unfortunately.

[@TheSjuris]

The issue he had was typical of a bricked bios not a motherboard issue. It had already checked the chip and ram.

[@SteveMosetiAliyebarikiwa]

does the board have bios flashback? maybe that would fix it@@GregSalazar

[@georgekofinas1057]

Hi Greg ! When you installed your 7600X, if you check closely, you didnt mount it good, one side was like abit on the socket plastic, that is why it couldn't turn on :) Peace !

[@RybekRybs]

Yeah, looks like the OG CPU was sitting in the socket just fine, and if it wasn't sitting in tight before, Greg might have actually warped the socket himself 🤔. That's why I always give any CPU I install a little wiggle to make sure it's sitting correctly in the socket, just like Papa Linus taught

[@TheeRadioDJ]

I caught that right away! It was clearly not fully seated in the socket. I was practically yelling at Greg through the monitor to fix it. 🙄

[@t3mpl3tw3]

A new episode of fix or flop, the computer is not the only thing that is bricked right now.

[@SirClicks.]

Amazing double Enchantra

[@h3lldude]

@@SirClicks.DOUBLE ENTENDRE

[@ixperimental9268]

@@SirClicks. double Enchilada

[@JDL16]

@@SirClicks.Bone apple tea

[@simon2dogs]

Good job, again, Greg. People should note that fixed is not the same as repaired.

[@Lemurion287]

As a technician, I agree completely with the just replace the part ethos. It works. As a viewer, I do enjoy when you dig into things to troubleshoot on a deeper level because I'm always curious as to what actually caused the problem. Still, this is by far my favorite series you do.

[@wesleyschick3841]

I definitely would have recommended to try a BIOS flashback to an older version. There's a strong possibility that doing that might have fixed that board.

[@chexmixkitty]

reminds me when I pushed down on my 3700x to realign the pins. Heard a crunch, but ran perfectly fine lol. I bent the pins because my cpu fell right out of the socket. Pushed the CPU into the socket to align the pins back to stock and amazingly didn't break any pins.

[@oui_ofc9751]

ouch @ 8:40 that processor is not seated flat

[@Beary98]

Even my wife spotted this! She's built 1 very guided computer lol!

[@Jacko_486]

I was watching the debug LEDs jump from CPU to ram and back, exactly the same issue with my new gigabyte B650 elite/7900X build. Cleaning CPU with IPA and reseating the CPU and it posts! Idling at 27c here in the UK brass monkey weather. Another great vid Greg, keep them coming.

[@michaelthompson9798]

Like Greg, I always keep a budget end GPU for testing that I know it works ….. used GT710/750 etc are dirt cheap (in many regions) and is a quick diagnostic tool to have on hand. I always have the following spare parts for diagnosing my pc issues (very very very few and minor): - Spare cheap low end GPU….. for me a old GTX1050 😉with no pci-e requirements - Spare name brand working psu 750w (I personally have a higher end 1kw psu for day to day use) - a few Spare SATA cables - a spare cpu HSF (Heatsink & Fan) cooler (as I have an Liquid cooling setup for day to day) for testing purposes only and quick change over when needed - pc screwdriver repair kit (knock off I-Fix-It) which I got for about $15 AUD containing all the screw fittings and hex keys for my water cooling setup. - A spare NVME 256gb and SATA drive (capacity doesn’t matter as long as windows can be installed on it) -My mobile phone or tablet device for internet KZbin etc troubleshooting tips your not aware of😇👍 - Diagnostic software tools on a USB thumb drive (16-32gb is usually enough) such as anti virus / anti malware detection, memory testing software, DDU GPU software uninstaller to name a few. - Fresh copy of Windows on a USB drive for reinstall (16gb is more than enough) or repairing windows boot loaders etc. Download directly from Microsoft’s website. You can easily scale back your spare psu etc costs dependant upon your pc setup.😁but these are

[@tomr3422]

I have a GT 730, dont remember what it cost, I think I got it in 2015, Its powered via PCI and a easy check, a old Antec HCH 750 watt psu - and a shoe box of cables. The one thing I love is part of a front panel with a power button. I am a engineer and only dabble in PCs for family and a friends - I like to tinker with stuff- If you got a software issue - I say take it to a profession

[@adams4075]

My 3 criteria when I build my first AM5 system are as followed. (1) Wi-Fi 6 or better (2) PCIe 5.0 for gpu and top m.2 (3) usb 3.2 10Gb preferably with type A (I already have 10Gb compliant usb A to C cables and C to A converters 10Gb compliant.

[@maddog2010p]

what i love about the series here, is random broken pc's that a common person has and you are showing testing methods on how to find whats wrong with said pc.

[@zadekeys2194]

I've been in I.T/networking/technical services for over 15y - one of the biggest basic diagnostics he is missing is the diagnostic speaker. No beeps = bad ; long beeps = ram issue etc etc . I'm 95% this is a Bios corruption issue, which is simple to fix, I'm surprised he didn't try it...

[@rakitakhan]

Nice video Greg ! I loved the "WTF!?!?!" look on your face when the system didn't boot after installing the new mobo. We've all been there.

[@qT_p13]

Wouldnt be Greg if he didnt forget to flick the switch to "on." Classic Greg.

[@Bunch007]

8:39 CPU was not set in the socket properly. You can clearly see it. That's what probably caused the lopsidedness/warping of the socket later on in the video.

[@KingRom3K9]

i saw that too and came straight to the comments to see if anyone else saw it

[@Bunch007]

@@KingRom3K9 After watching the rest of video, it wasn't the CPU causing the issue anyway, but yeah, it still wasn't seated properly, thus giving him no signs of life there after he installed the CPU and attempted a boot.

[@johncenakiddo]

It hurts my soul when he push down the lever

[@TheSkepticSkwerl]

I was trained in component level repairs. And we replaced the broken board on everything that was still in stock. We only ever replaced components when a machine was too old to have replacement parts.

[@LegitJoyRL]

So far the series is doing well. love the series as always but i hope someone doesnt try to take advantage of the kindness of your heart cuz theres always that one person who mess it up for all.

[@1nv1c7u5m4n30]

The no ram, gpu, boot analysis told me it was the motherboard. 👍 Thanks for your diagnosis reviews. Love ❤️ your content!

[@zadekeys8304]

Agreed, but he REALLY should have flashed the BIOS... It's a basic troubleshooting step, before replacing the board.

[@stephanhart9941]

All X670 boards should still be under warranty and eligible for an RMA. Any DIYer should always save thwir boxes (and socket covers) just in case. It doesn't hurt resale value either. I had a Gallahad clog up, very easy and fast process for the recall. It only clogged because I didn't swap it right away after getting the replacement. It only effected the early units. Mine was a pre-order.

[@VGShrine]

At 8:42 it seems the CPU wasn't placed property in the socket 😮 At 7:30 the original CPU was placed properly but after 8:42 probably the socket got damaged as the CPU wasn't placed properly before securing the bracket.

[@GregSalazar]

Watch a bit later in the video and you'll see why :-)

[@VGShrine]

​​@@GregSalazarat 7:30 the original CPU was placed properly. After 8:42 it seems the socket got damaged as the bracket was closed with the CPU not placed properly.

[@dieseldrax]

@@GregSalazarPause at 8:43 as you're closing the bracket, the CPU is not properly aligned and isn't sitting fully inside the socket. At 7:35 the original CPU was properly seated before you removed it. Therefore, you installed the CPU incorrectly and didn't catch it until the system failed to power on at all and then, because you missed your mistake, suggested the socket was warped or damaged prior to your mistake. Ultimately moot since the motherboard needed to be replaced anyway, but I was watching you inserting that CPU and yelling "Nooooo" at my screen as you were talking and closing the bracket. However, the main point is that you missed this when you were doing it on video, whether the socket was already warped before that or not is of no consequence. We all make mistakes, unfortunately making mistakes while troubleshooting can end up taking you down a different road if you don't realize you made a mistake.

[@VGShrine]

You can see the damaged frame at 12:14 in the bottom right corner the frame got warped as the CPU didn't seat properly in the previous installation. At 7:41 you can see the socket without damage before the CPU swap.

[@jackieyip359]

I think around 8:42 of the video is where the CPU didn't look fully inserted. I caught a glimpse of it but wanted to wait until further in the video to see if anything happened. I suspect whatever happened before was maybe a mistake by the viewer or if it was just a defect of the motherboard. So while not the most expensive mistake, its another good lesson to take the extra 5-10 seconds to make sure the CPU is inserted correctly.

[@xos]

I noticed it then too, and had that panic moment of, "oh no! That's not in properly!". Funny since I think that would be much harder to spot from Greg's angle, where you're looking more directly down on it.

[@xbrunnx]

Yep, The Galahad 360 is a good AIO but my pump died on my first one within 2 years, luckily Lian li has great customer service so they sent me a brand new one in just a few days time.

[@GGigabiteM]

You may want to invest in an EEPROM programmer and some basic board level rework tools. I've seen an increasing number of motherboards with corrupt BIOS/UEFI firmware, and I've had to get out my programmer to fix them. For motherboards with SPI flash chips (most boards these days use them), you can sometimes get away with one of those clip programmers. But more often than not, you have to remove the SPI flash chip to program it. Other things on the SPI bus can drag down the bus so the programmer can't read the flash chip.

[@andrewthornley5172]

As a technician who runs a business myself, I really respect that you know your limitations. Additionally your comments at the end about the economics of replacement VS repair are spot on. Love your vids.

[@lewworthem8483]

Greg, Fix or Flop videos are the best. They bring back painful memories

[@duaneha]

Love the videos, very informative, I am a field service engineer in the medical field working on X-ray systems, very cool to hear a little of your fathers background

[@Donkies_for_sale]

I will say, being this is my PC, seeing how we both had similar thought processes, is comforting. I know we talked about how we both went down the same paths, but i don't think i had enough time for me to explain all I did. I am glad you were able to figure it out though, and I thank you for this!!!!

[@Donkies_for_sale]

I'm also mad the RGB went back to rainbow. Just a nitpick lmao

[@darthwiizius]

My experience in consumer electronics is that repairing devices comes down to what is possible. If, for example, you're repairing an Apple device you can just [cheaply and quickly] replace every part except the main PCB. So sometimes the only option is board work, but most of the time you just the replace the peripheral parts. Lois Rossman would love me, Apple named me in a cease and desist once. We did a repair for an insurance company and the customer sent it to Apple, they stated that not one part that we returned was original. Of course I said that was nonsense, the main PCB was original, hehe, I got the rest [including the case, flexes, LCD etc] from Shenzhen. And I mean the rest. I never did get sued by Apple in the end. 😁

[@Justin-eu3yd]

this series is so satisfying to watch from beginning to end. this is one of the last pc centric channels i still pay attention to

[@techluvin7691]

Once the memory does train on AM5 you can enable “memory context restore” and “power down enable” in the memory timings section of bios. Along with these, look for “fast boot” in the “boot” section of bios and enable it. Usually doesn’t fast boot until the next restart from a power off condition. It will result in a faster boot…….but not as fast as an AM4 rig.

[@----.__]

We used to repair the multilayer PCBs on F18's in the early 2000's in the Aussie air force, not because it was cheaper, but it was the fastest and quickest way to get the parts serviceable again. Beyond high intensity environments, or where extremely bespoke/rare parts are required, board level repairs are seldom the most cost effective vector of repair. I got out the air force and in to pure engineering, designing reactors, oil rigs, refineries etc. and in that environment with pretty common hardware (in most cases) for the control systems it was just a throw away society. Siemens, Allen Bradley, Rockwell, Honeywell, all produced exorbitant amounts of hardware where it was cheaper to replace than to repair when something went wrong. I'm lucky to now be working for a large aerospace engineering company designing weapon systems for the MoD and DoD. Almost nothing uses existing hardware and everything needs to be made from scratch besides some rudimentary control. It's a lot of fun, but it sends the cost through the roof. You're extremely wise to be replacing parts instead of fault finding to component level in the PC builders world. If you have to spend more than a handful of hours isolating a fault you're already losing money.

[@KapitanOppa]

Totally agree with all you said. My dad also used to worked in the hospital fixing medical equipment and does the same. Relate so much.

[@TheFloofyPoofy]

Im surprised you didnt try re-flashing the bios of that motherboard. Would of been one of the things I would of tried.

[@vest816]

I think that might've been it. When I saw the memory codes on the board, I was curious and looked them up on Google. The top result was a forum thread of somebody experiencing the same issue, and rolling back the motherboard BIOS version fixed the issue.

[@johnt.848]

Yeah, noobs think flashing everything is the answer.

[@BowsettesFury]

gee thanks YT for no alert. beautiful build, love the way the fans lights up they're exactly what I've been looking for.

[@bryans8656]

I really like how you explain what you're doing and why. It's like a tutorial and I've picked up many tips from you.

[@danielmorcillotrigo3017]

You can see that the original cpu was seated correctly in 7:30 but when he puts in the new cpu in 8:43 it is not full in. I suspect that this could have killed the socket

[@AmrasLP]

I think that you never ever had a negative encounter maybe is because of you. You are such a kind, humble and likable person. And as we all know: Kindness always comes back... or at least sometimes. 😁

[@giorx5]

Fixing the PC is the purpose here, so whatever means used to achieve that is great. Fixing components is one of the ways to do so but not the only one and for sure the most difficult one. Learning with you on broken PCs is useful Greg. Keep it going!

[@fafnirymd]

1:35 I saw blue eyes toon dragon, relinquish and jinzo back there!

[@MGCMorph]

You opened this video with the message from user regarding an update. I suspect he updated the bios and has bricked the board..

[@bjammin7d]

Right on time with lunch break! 😄👍

[@matthijsvandeweerd1415]

Have a good lunch break :D

[@GregSalazar]

Hope you enjoy!

[@JustTheRat01]

i love that fixing vs replacing advice, its such good advice

[@seanduffey5162]

Flash bios may save the board.

[@gamerdweebentertainment1616]

It's ridicilous how many PCs stop working and then you update bios... works now. Doesn't make sense.

[@little0gamer]

bios update would have been my first goto considering the symptoms

[@hypevisions4242]

I agree

[@ChristopherM]

When the message from the owner said "I just updated my bios and now it won't post" and the title of the video says "bricked pc" , sounds like a bad flash to me. I would have tried Q-Flashing it right off the bat.

[@adamtowsley3526]

Wouldn’t have fixed the warped cpu socket

[@TheTechJS]

I am trying to start my own little pc business(In and around the Syracuse area 😂) for rebuilding older pc/building/repairing and I LOVE these videos. I just had a dead board on an Optiplex 9020. Luckily, it was just a $25 fix, and I had another happy customer!

[@TheTechJS]

Woooooo I got a like from the man himself lol. Before I even finished the video. Keep it up man!

[@gianttrance5180]

Greg, I enjoy your channel above all other "tech / computer" ones. You show a measured methodical approach to the subject, which can hopefully be emulated by some of your viewers, to show them they can at least have a crack at fixing their own gear. I like that you don't do "WOW" builds, and crazy stuff that just wastes money, and provides nothing to help out the community in general. Thanks for doing these videos, and all the best from an old guy, all the way over the world in New Zealand. Thank you.

[@piman2boek364]

I started out replacing integrated circuit chips on boards. Later we would just replace the board with a note as to which chip was defective and send it back to the factory. Eventually it was more expensive to repair the board then replace it at which point I would gather a bunch of defective boards and take them to a recycle center.

[@CiTRU5]

Did you swap the CR2032 battery? I've seen some WEIRD shit happening because of the battery being dead/sending the wrong output voltage.

[@RainyFox-ot9qn]

he does check those sometimes, even voltage with a meter.

[@CiTRU5]

@@RainyFox-ot9qn yeah, I know; but didn't see Greg doing that with this one ...

[@matthenderson94]

This might be the coolest looking system I've seen in any of these videos. (at least in my opinion)

[@kch7964]

that is the advantage or disadvantage (i guess depending on how you look at it) of COTS.... the more generic and widely used a part is the easier it is to justify replacement of the component rather than repair....I do like vendors that ask for the part/component back so they can examine the part to figure out what went wrong and if there is a bigger widespread problem that needs to be addressed.

[@Beary98]

8:44 My duuude! My wife was even screaming that cpu ain't seated!!!!

[@hardcoreschnitzel]

at 12:05 you can see part of the plastic on the lower right hand corner of the socket sticking out towards the pins. same is visible at 20:33 lower left hand corner. since its the side where the CPU didn't seat all the way, whether it got stuck under the CPU or even unter pressure went between the pins and CPU contact patches

[@bearpuf]

Hi Greg, I truly appreciate your candidness to what you know and don't know as well as your very thorough diagnostic procedures dealing with these broken systems. I enjoy watching you sleuth through each episosde as you explore as well as teach the process of hardware repair. Thanks

[@blademasterzero5295]

It’s always a good day when Greg posts!

[@certs743]

I agree that not repairing parts when you can swap them out makes the most sense most of the time. I went to school to be a computer tech and actually learned how to do repairs to motherboards and various circuit boards for printers and all kinds of hardware. And when i started working I was told to forget all of that because nobody does that anymore......in 2005.

[@Digitoxin1]

I have an Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra motherboard. I upgraded it to the latest bios provided by Gigabyte and experienced a similar issue where the motherboard would no longer post. I had to use bios flashback and revert back one prior bios release before the system would post.

[@shanenorman7262]

I work for a major imaging company. I agree , the longer the system is down the more money it costs the customer. Identifying the problem to a component/ board unit and replacing the high level component is the most cost effective solution.

[@waynerowlinson6177]

Frustrating scenario for sure. True story: About 10 years ago my wife's AM3+ system quit working. I didn't have a replacement motherboard, but did have everything else. I swapped out every part one at a time... EVERY part, and used a known good power supply and it simply didn't work. Fast forward to a couple about 3 weeks ago - I was cleaning out a room in the basement, and there sat her old case with the motherboard still in it. Nothing else. I slapped a couple components in it, hooked it up, and voila - it works! It is now my "new" home server system. I stress tested it for a few days before swapping everything over, and it has been running as a server flawlessly for a couple weeks as well. I think that is the longest troubleshooting timeframe I've ever had 😀

[@GamerDave1974]

This was a nice looking system man. Loved the RGB layout.

[@muramusan]

Reslly loved this series since the first episode 😢 but maybe it was a bios issue of support with the GPU but i know gigabyte always has motherboard issues more then anyone....would be cool if you could get a thermal camera to see if a component is shorted or try to fix it. 😮

[@anonymoustruckdriver8096]

as soon as you said that the MB was gigabyte i knew it was the board.. gigabyte boards are crap and they should never be used.. and b4 anyone flames me.. been building,repairing, working on computers for over 30 years.. have build thousands of them and whenever i have used gigabyte boards, 90 percent have ended up being replaced..

[@johnDingoFoxVelocity]

I agree dumpster fire boards

[@llwellyncuhfwarthen]

Ok, yes motherboard pooped some where, I would wager (without looking up the error codes) that either the motherboard was shorted to the case, or the motherboard was flexed so much that it was short grounding or bypassing a voltage step. If you ever wonder, a trick for reading all the error codes is to video record them, and then play the video back in extremely slow frame mode, because sometimes the numbers flip by too fast for you to 'see' them.

[@ZaGoudou]

This is one of the best channels on YT for all us computer nerds ✌

[@Artimidorus]

I know his issue - his replacement was Gigabyte. Might as well have replaced the board with a broken etch-a-sketch. Glad to see you got it up and running though, really wish I knew you guys were in Florida. Would have loved to contribute parts/older PCs for sciencing.

[@eizomonitor6003]

Bios flash saved me. Had the very same issue. On top of that, one of the top tier amd mobo had an issue with the regular bios update method(basically, I wasn't able to put any newer version of bios) The flashback without CPU or even with CPU works fine.

[@Goldstacker1972-kp2bh]

I used to do board repair but like you said its just not worth the time unless its something shorted you can pick up on a fleer camera. Even at that point sometimes the pars arent available unless ypu have a similar donor board to pull the part off of.

[@kenabi]

might be related to that overheating issue killing either boards, chips, or both, from what was it.. 6? 8 months ago? asus msi and gigabyte were companies known to have boards that would have issues. gamesnexus has a few videos on the topic if you haven't seen them, or heard about the issue. the firmware updates may have largely fixed it, but who's to say we're not going to see some dead components down the line from it, because it wasn't caught quite in time for some few unlucky people?

[@troyizzo7907]

Board repair is so much fun. I love the hunt.

[@twyzted2008]

It was clear as day when you were first putting the 7600X into the socket how lopsided it was. That's wild.

[@Beary98]

16:50 You've had a flir this whole time?!?! That'd be wicked for finding shorts I can understand not using it to keep things relatable but that's a great tool

[@gerydblackmore5484]

Plus labour cost can cost more to fix the components on the board than buying a new board; plus you get a new grantee with the new board. Labour costs are high here in the uk

[@anthonyg9197]

hey dude i found this channel last week and i love it lol I grew up around 436 and 50 so i was really loving the fact you are in the O!!! Liked and subscribed!!!

[@sovereigntyofvoyagers7380]

The huge amounts of heat on the AIO cold plate and warped socket makes me think it could be related to the "exploding CPU" issue that AM5 had, where the board would just keep pumping more power into the CPU to a point where it'd desolder itself. Obviously it was fixed through bios updates, but the earlier motherboards without revisions might have those issues. Gamers Nexus had a series of videos investigating this.

[@johnt.848]

Then the CPU would be as hot or hotter than the cold plate on the AIO, and it wasn't.

[@South_0f_Heaven_]

@@johnt.848owner tried a Bios update and either installed the wrong one or turned it off when updating and bricked it. Would have liked to see a BIOS Flashback done first or w/e Gigabyte calls it. High end board will have an easy way to do it.

[@johnt.848]

@@South_0f_Heaven_ That is possible, but doesn't explain why the AIO was very hot and the CPU wasn't.

[@South_0f_Heaven_]

@@johnt.848 simple, The owner bricked his system, put the junk motherboard back in without the cpu being even seated properly. Could have oc’d it not knowing what they were doing and overheated the PC easily by not having enough airflow. Happens all the time people build very nice systems, refuse to turn the fans up to a proper speed to keep cool air flowing thru the case then smoke what they have. All because “fans are too loud” Pump could have been spinning at 200rpm pushing zero water thru the AIO causing the hot cold plate. Anyway that motherboard is new enough it can just be RMA’d and replaced which should have been done to begin with.

[@johnt.848]

@@South_0f_Heaven_ Finally, you address the fact the pump possibly being faulty is why it was so hot, and the CPU wasn't. That was a lot of waffle to say I was right.

[@Valfaun]

you know, in cases like this where people already replaced components on their own before dropping it off they really should provide both the old and new parts. the systems are handed over in person anyway, so what's an additional box alongside the PC. and it might help with troubleshooting

[@NordicPlaysYT]

nice work, my pc wasnt turning on and i replaced cmas battery and its started fine

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

Bottom left of that socket, I can see a small bit of plastic bent up at 20:34. I wonder if that is stopping some pins contacting fully?

[@skeetssaer2018]

Hi, just in case you don't know. If you update the BIOS on Gigabyte boards you sometimes need to take out the battery and replace it before the system will boot again.

[@xxrune909]

When I upgraded my CPU from a 2700x to a 5800x3d on my asrock, it wouldn't boot either, but I later found a solution that was to do a BIOS update without any CPU, even if you already had the BIOS version that worked with your new CPU, and that did the trick. I could now use my 5800x3d on my Taichi X570. I hope it helps someone struggling like I did.

[@Enjoymentboy]

I definitely like your troubleshooting process and I do very much the same. One thing I always try to do whenever possible is not just finding out what went wrong but WHY. Figuring out why something happened is often more valuable than just fixing it. I've had cases where a problem had been fixed only to return again later on and no one ever tried to figure out the root cause. If a component on the motherboard died I'd like to find out what caused it because that might just lead to a bigger issue just waiting to return...at the worst time.

[@GregSalazar]

We try to answer the "why" as often as possible in this series. Sometimes, there won't be an explanation or anything obvious to blame given the limited board testing we often perform.

[@Enjoymentboy]

@@GregSalazar Absolutely. And please forgive me. This was not a critique. I was referencing why the board went bad. If a single component failed, like a mosfet for instance, I want to know why. Was it under rated? Was there a further failure upstream that caused an over current situation? Things like that. 😊

[@tonidell2011]

With gigabyte motherboards, it's a trick to reset the bios and the startup errors! You can do this physically!! That's what you forgot to do on the motherboard. You had to press reset plus power on/off for 20 seconds, then release the reset button, and after another 5 seconds the power button. AND the motherboard came back to life. That's the gigabyte trick. If you did this trick, you wouldn't change anything! Anyway, congrats on the videos!

[@tordoff80]

i love my b650 its never really gives me any probs that taking cmos batt out doesn't fix and that's usually cos I'm stupid and try overclock stuff lol im glad ya fixed that guys pc

[@tommccallister]

I would like to see a few episodes outside of FoF where you attempt to repair the parts that were swapped out on old projects and see if you could make a working rig.

[@M.Godfrey]

12:08 definitely warped from the heat

[@zwerker]

Top content, as always. But you know: I've got a fever, and the only cure is... MORE PCDC! Please please please reboot that playlist.

[@fliporflop7119]

i'm at 10:44 so far, i've encountered a similar issue because of corrupt bios, one cpu working but no post, another good cpu no power at all. I took the bios chip out, reprogrammed with CH341A , put it back, and worked after.

[@nushnume]

12:09 also it looks like there's a small plastic piece that's broken in the bottom right corner

[@ScottADunn]

Had two bad Galahads. Went Deep Cool AK620 Digital air cooler when I upgraded to AM5 a few days ago. Disappointed in those pumps.

[@Pc_OhKay]

Literally just went through this 2 days ago with brand new parts from micro center. Happened to be a faulty motherboard from the factory. Good thing the parts were just purchased and I was able to exchange it with no problem.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

It's also very likely that it's not possible to fully repair the motherboard. Especially if something is damaged. And like you said, the cost of doing so would exceed the price of the board unless it was one of the super expensive ones. It's always best to test and swap the easy to replace stuff first, even if you do suspect the board. Because more often than not, it does turn out to be something else. And going right for the motherboard ends up being a waste of time unless you've proven that's what it is. As for DOA boards, it happens. When I built a computer for a friend of mine, the first board we got was dead out of the box. No power to anything (and we had verified every other component in my system).

[@CrimFerret]

There are electronics worth doing board level repair on, but most PC components are just so inexpensive that, as you said, it's not time/cost effective. With the plethora of different manufacturers and models. Good luck getting the schematics much less replacement parts. Even the companies that make the components don't repair them when they are returned.

[@garyhome7101]

I waxed a bios chip back in '99 by static discharge. Ended up being a board replacement because replacing the chip on the board would've cost more than getting a new board. I went with a dual chip bios on a Gigabyte board available at the time.

[@99mage99]

40C in BIOS is pretty common, at least on Ryzen. From my 2700X to my 5900X, they've always idled at around 40C in BIOS. CPU might just be idling, but it uses more power to insure stability while in bios, especially in the event of a BIOS update.

[@aliensounddigital8729]

Very good build. No video card bracket hurts though. I see that sag.