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1st build - power on but no boot...

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tobypsl

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So I built the following this weekend:

Ryzen 7 3800X
ASUS TUF Gaming X570 Plus
Gigabyte GTX1660 Ti GPU
Corsair 650TX PSU
1 M2 SSD
32GB Corsair RAM

The motherboard lights up, case fans work, CPU fan, GPU fan. But it doesn't boot.

There are 4 LED's that light up in following order:
Orange, turns on, then off then
Red turns on then off then
White stays on then
Green stays on

I have a monitor plugged in to the graphics card via HDMI. Also tried plugging it into a mother board but makes no difference.

I found it hard to see where the POWER SW panel connector went and guessed in the end - the 3rd and 4th top row pins. The HDD pins are 1st and 2nd bottom row. Both with writing down.

The HDD pins are just for HDD lights on panel? and if power was in wrong location it wouldn't turn on?

There are 2 pcie slots Graphics card is in top slot (with machine stood up) ie. closest to CPU. That shouldn't make a difference to booting (maybe performance but not actual booting)?

Any ideas? What is the logical sequence to test?

Thanks.
 
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tobypsl

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Watched a video online - the white light means graphics error. I didn't set the monitor input to HDMI, when I test this later I'm hoping that resolves that error.
There is no HDD only an SSD. I think the last light corresponds to a bootable drive issue. Can having the HDD power cable connected with no drive in be an issue?
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

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It's been a while since I've used the X570 TUF, but if I remember correctly, yes, the white indicates a problem with your display card and the green means a boot issue.

The HDD pins are just for HDD lights on panel? and if power was in wrong location it wouldn't turn on?

Yep, if the power isn't installed correctly, the system wouldn't power on at all.

Can having the HDD power cable connected with no drive in be an issue?

No, I don't think that should be a problem.

Try removing your graphics card (and power cables) from the slot and re-seat it.

If it's still not working, do you have another GPU (any would do) to test? That's by far the easiest way to troubleshoot these issues.
 
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tobypsl

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Thanks Jerry - I noticed after I plugged the monitor in to my existing computer it's a VGA input whereas I used a HDMI to hook up to the new build - but hadn't changed the monitor input. Might that explain the White light? (ie. if I change monitor input to HDMI that might resolve?). I will try this later, I'm in work mode now so haven't time.

For the boot drive I can insert a SATA SSD and see if that works. Am I right in thinking the M2 has no power supply ie. no pins on the motherboard to hook up?
 
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tobypsl

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OK I couldn't wait - I tried changing the monitor setting to HDMI and it booted. I really didn't think having no monitor would stop a computer from booting. I guess it might not have - maybe it was just stopping me seeing it. Anyway I saw the BIOS screen. The 4th light - the green light stayed on, am hoping this doesn't signal an issue. Will try installing windows later.

Now that it works I can admit that I attempted to install the GPU without taking the cap off the card (yes, really) - much frustration and swearing before I noticed. If ever a DIY job has convinced me I really need to get some glasses it's this one.
 
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Jerry James

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That's quite interesting :D Well, now we know. I've never come across the graphics card debug LED lighting up just due to the monitor input. Curious. Or maybe I've never really checked for it either.

And that's correct, M.2 is simply plugged into motherboard and done. No other connections needed.
 
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tobypsl

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All is working.
 
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nb50733

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OK I couldn't wait - I tried changing the monitor setting to HDMI and it booted. I really didn't think having no monitor would stop a computer from booting. I guess it might not have - maybe it was just stopping me seeing it. Anyway I saw the BIOS screen. The 4th light - the green light stayed on, am hoping this doesn't signal an issue. Will try installing windows later.

Now that it works I can admit that I attempted to install the GPU without taking the cap off the card (yes, really) - much frustration and swearing before I noticed. If ever a DIY job has convinced me I really need to get some glasses it's this one.

I'm glad you got everything easily sorted but it does sound hilarious that the reason you couldn't see your computer booting was because you didn't switch to HDMI.

I could imagine the hours of troubleshooting that could go in to trying to make this work and then the sheer amount of rage/joy when you find out that it was such a simple fix after all.
 
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