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Lazran · ‎02-11-2016

I was planning on upgrading my working Crosshair V + AMD 965 gaming system to the Crosshair V Formula z + AMD 9590.
I pre-assembled the motherboard, CPU, PSU, RAM, and GPU outside of the case. Connected the 24 (Main), 8 Pin (EATX12V_1),
4 Pin (EATX12V_2) and the 4 Pin Molex (EZ_Plug), added two sticks of RAM and a stock AMD cooler to the CPU.
I know this is a water cooler required CPU but just wanted to see if the system would post.
At this point I started her up and it seemed to boot fine, screen showed that it indeed detected the 9590.
The system was on for all of about 10 seconds or less.

Knowing that all parts were working I started to assemble everything into my CaseLabs SM8 Case and installed my water cooler.
After all parts were in the case I tried powering it up again and now I get POST Code FF and nothing else.
I swapped out the 9590 with my 965 and the system booted up perfectly. I installed windows 10 and drivers and called it a night.
While I was setting this system up I had the temp displayed on my ROG connect device and the temps never got above 38c.
The next day when I went to turn it on the system will not boot and gives me a POST Code 36 (CPU post-memory initialization).

I’ve tried every combination of memory sticks and memory slots but get the same code.
I tried clearing the BIOS and even used flashback to install BIOS Ver. 2101. None of this seemed to make any difference.
At this point I took everything back out of the case and tried it again on my workbench, and got the same result.
Since I still have my original Crosshair V board I moved the 965 and RAM back and tried again hoping to get a clear answer.
When I try and boot up the Crosshair V + 965 (Which had been working fine for years) I get POST Code 4F (DXE IPL is started).
I have tried this with two high end PSUs to eliminate a power issue (Corsair AX860i & Ultra X4 1050)
At this point I feel that I have tried every combo of hardware I have available and am at a complete loss.
My only guess that that both CPUs are dead.

I have emailed AMD about getting and RMA for the 9590 but have read in forums that they are unlikely to grant this.
Any help or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you for your time.

IMweasel · ‎02-11-2016

Does plugging in a keyboard make any difference?
I'm prone to say that either a processor works or it doesn't. It sounds like something is shorting.
Check if the backplate of your watercooler on the CH5-FZ is causing any shorts... Check if all pins of the cpu´s are ok...
Maybe open up the socket of the CH5-FZ to check for bent contacts. Order a new pre-flashed BIOS chip (ebay) and see if it helps?

Lazran · ‎02-11-2016

Thank you IMweasel for your suggestions. I have checked the CPU pins on both my 9590 and the 965 and they are all defect free.
The 942 sockets on both the C5F and C5FZ motherboards are clean and free of damage.
So it truly does not look like the issues is due to physical damage. The bracket I connect my water block to is the stock bracket
that comes with the boards so i know its seated correctly. Even connecting a keyboard does change the outcome.
The CF5Z supports USB Flashback and has been flashed but I doubt that the BIOS on both boards is bad but the new chip/flashed
and shipped is only $14 so I'm willing to give it a shot.

Has anyone every heard of a board killing a CPU?

I filled out AMD's RMA forms and am currently waiting to hear back from them. In the mean time I found a guy down the street from
me selling a AMD Athlon II 170u AM3 for $10. CPU-WORLD.com** says the 170U supports AM2+ DDR2 and AM3 DDR3 so it sound like
it should be enough to tell me whether its the CPU or the board.

**http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Athlon%20II%20170u%20-%20AD170UEAK13GM.html

Lazran · ‎02-11-2016

I forgot to mention that both of these boards are currently being tested outside of a case on there retail boxes.

IMweasel · ‎02-12-2016

Could be worth the try to use this spare cpu...
It doesn't matter that the boards are lying on your desk...the psu should provide enough grounding,however,it might be worth a shot to connect an extra ground wire.
The bios chips of the CH5 are known to be weak,even if you flash them,it doesn't help restore a corrupted chip. I wonder if replacing it changes behaviour.
At last,also check your PCI-E card for damage. If there's any damage to a contact,it might interrupt the posting process as well.

Lazran · ‎02-12-2016

IMweasel wrote:

The bios chips of the CH5 are known to be weak,even if you flash them,it doesn't help restore a corrupted chip. I wonder if replacing it changes behaviour.
At last,also check your PCI-E card for damage. If there's any damage to a contact,it might interrupt the posting process as well.

Thank you for your reply IMweasel and your suggestions! I'm picking up and AM3 170u this afternoon and if I'm still having trouble at
that point I'm ordering a replacement BIOS chip. Additional grounding is a good idea regardless of whether it fixes the issue or not.
As for the the PCI-e slots, I've tried two separate cards in all 4 slots on both boards.

I'm really hoping to get a clearer idea of the issue when I try another CPU, and will report back my findings this afternoon.

Again thank you for taking the time to reply to my post!

Lazran · ‎02-13-2016

So I picked up a spare AMD 170U and tried it on my C5F MB. Unit turned on and POST perfectly.
Moved the AMD 170U from the C5F to the C5FZ and that POST and boot into windows fine.
System continued to work for the rest of the night with CPU temps that never got above 31c.
Next morning I go to turn it on and once again, no POST, Q code FF. So either my C5FZ is majorly
defective or I have no idea. What I do know is, I have 3 CPUs that all went from working to not
working after being in the C5FZ motherboard. The only other constant in this equation is the
Corsair AX860i PSU. So I have it connected to an old Lenovo system. It that turns on fine for the
next morning or two I'll feel confidant that its working fine.

I've put in a tech support ticket with ASUS and AMD approved my RMA request for the 9590.

ShrimpBrime · ‎02-12-2016

I know this is a water cooler required CPU but just wanted to see if the system would post.

THIS is the major issue. You cannot post a processor at 220w with air cooling. ThermTrip is 85c (core temp). When this cpu gets to this temp, it will not post, shut down or hang the motherboard.

Please properly cool your AMD FX-9590 so you can have a good experience.

The motherboard is fine.

Lazran · ‎02-12-2016

ShrimpBrime wrote:
THIS is the major issue. You cannot post a processor at 220w with air cooling. ThermTrip is 85c (core temp). When this cpu gets to this temp, it will not post, shut down or hang the motherboard.
Please properly cool your AMD FX-9590 so you can have a good experience.
The motherboard is fine.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. The 9590 was air cooled for less then 10 seconds to confirm POST prior to build and has
been water cooled hence forth. The the advanced thermal protection built into AMD CPUs aka Therm Trip would have taken effect during the >10sec
of air cooling of there was an issue.

I'm picking up a spare AM3 this afternoon to test in both my C5F and C5FZ. And will report back and progress.

Again a big thank you to everybody that has taken the time to reply to my post!

IMweasel · ‎02-15-2016

So uhm, after the AMD 170U was in the CH5FZ, did you move it back to the CH5F? And it failed too?
Still thinking about this case!
edit:
I stick to bios corruption. I think it has to do with the cpu microcode patching part. Not sure if this part is being pushed or pulled at boot,but if a corrupt BIOS block would be used,the outcome could be bad.
It might still be worth a shot to swap the bios chip,although i cannot say for sure if the ´bad´ cpu´s will immediately work again.
It could be worth a try,the cost is not too much.
As far as i was able to find out,the microcode patches reside in a volatile memory part of the processor. Meaning,it can forget that part.
Try to -carefully- short all pins of a processor by wrapping it in aluminum foil. And/or put that foil between every line of pins.
Don´t bend any pins! Leave it overnight.
If you unwrap it, and put it back in the CH5F,and it is working again,my theory would be correct.

Crosshair V Formula Z, 9590 POST code FF, 965 POST code 36 !!Help!!