Rampage Extreme V - Dead CPU?

[Arne Saknussemm]

Have you reflashed the BIOS ?

BIOS flashback method?

Maybe replace BIOS battery on the board...

Best BIOS for Haswell E was end of 2xxx series....

[Eikonic]

I updated the bios to the final version for the board a while back. Maybe a year ago? I haven't touched it since. By BIOS flashback i assume you mean the button on the back of the board? Because obv I can't get into the system any other way to do a bios flash. I suppose it's worth a shot, but I did also try switching back and forth between bios 1 and 2 (theres a switch on the board to toggle). The prob is it's not even getting that far. It's not passing POST. If I can't is post, then I can't even get into bios.

[Eikonic]

I just did another ram test. I tried different sticks again, but this time I tried the MEMOK button on the board. It did 2 fast power cycles, but then it held. The ROG panel showed "MOK NG", then started cycling between "DDR" and "CPU". this just kept looping for about 45 secs, at which point I powered off. I tired again and the same thing happened. The manual says the test should only take 30 seconds , and the DRAM led should light while different test phases are happening. I got no led action. The manual also suggested unpluggging for 15 second would stop the memok test, so I did that, but I continued to keep having that show up on the panel. So now instead of it doing it's normal boot sequence where it would check DDR and then turn off at CPU, it's stuck in some loop I can't break. Google tells me nothing about "MOK NG". ... Which im guessing means it's doing the memok check, but I have no idea what NG means.... Not Good!

[drop4205]

Have you taken out of case and breadboard the system? Reflash the bios as Arne has suggested? I donmt know. Trial and error. Id breadboard it anyway to see. Bare minimum stuff

[Eikonic]

Ya I'll try that in a couple days when I have my friends old system. Then at least I can trial and error with parts that I know are working, to help narrow it down.

[drop4205]

good luck. I still have my R5E build that I did a while ago. Still pop on it once in a while.

[Eikonic]

damn, i just found out (after he looked closer) that this potential test system i was gonna get my hands on is a ddr3 system, not ddr4... so its useless. now i dont know what to do. if i go ahead and order a new CPU and MB, theres no guarantee either of those were the cause of the problem. if it was the ram, and i stick my defective ram sticks in a new system, it will no doubt present as a new set of problems.

so now what? like alot of people these days, work has been very slow due to COVID, so i dont have piles of extra money to throw at the problem. in other words, i cant just order a new one of everything and basically build a new system. even when i was thinking of upgrading last year, it was still just a CPU/mb upgrade. all my other parts would have been resused.

[xeromist]

So, if you are limited on funds but can take an extra couple of days I looked on Ebay after you posted this and there are socket compatible CPUs for 20-30 CAD. It wouldn't be up to the performance of your previous chip but it would allow you to eliminate the CPU as the potential issue for less than the cost of a diagnostic at a PC shop. I'm not convinced it's the CPU but a socket compatible board to test your existing CPU would be more expensive.

As for the memory, I think it's highly unlikely they all failed so even if you have a few flaky sticks a new system should be able to use at least some of them to get up and running.

[Eikonic]

thanks xero. good suggestion. i didnt think of getting a realy cheap hasswell, instead of another 5960x. ill see what i can find, but apparently PC stores are still open around here. i did try calling last week, but no answer. i will try again today. my issue with doing anything online is the time it will take. its a balance between a cheap diagnosis from online parts that will take maybe weeks to get here, or paying a bit more to have a shop troubleshoot it in 1 day... if i can find one thats open. at this point, time is more important because while i cant necessary afford to just buy a new one of everything, i probably cant afford being down for 2 weeks even less. at that point it will to costing me work, which will cost more than the cost of fixing it potentially.

... its a sticky situation, but i appreciate the input.

[Eikonic]

Got my new parts. Was able to test the ram while rebuilding. The ram was fine. The cpu probably also fine, though I can't test it... But how often do CPUs actually die?! So 99.9% sure it was the board.

Anyway, onward with life. Thanks too those who weighed in on this. I switched to MSI for this "new" system as honestly, this rampage board was a headache from day 1. After 5 years of flakey behavior, and lots of bad reviews on Asus boards when trying to decide on a replacement, it's time for something different. Not to say there were not also positive reviews, but in comparison to the MSI board which was almost all positive, I just didn't want to take the chance. Once burned, twice shy, as they say.