PC won't POST or boot anymore Maximus Ranger VII

[dado98]

Hello everyone,

I have had this PC for 2 years and I was very happy with it, played a lot of Warzone and other games with this PC always on a steady 80 FPS. Used it for school and work as well. I wasnt really ever a PC gamer so I tried to get a budget gaming setup.

My specs are:

intel i7 4790k

maximus vii ranger

nvidia geforce GTX 1070

(cooling: quiet pure rock 2, power supply: seasonic b12 bc-650, 650w)

(btw, I bought this pc in covid times for around 600 euros)

my problems started last week friday, when I tried turning on my PC and it just didnt do anything... so I tried again, and it wouldnt POST (idk what this was before researching, I didnt think too much of it), I tried again a few times and then it worked perfectly for like 7h, in the evening I turned it off for 3h, came back to the pc at like 9pm and it wouldnt POST again, so I tried again a few times and it worked again! Again, didnt think too much of it. The first time it happened it went into the BIOS settings. For context: a friend of mine built this PC for me, I just bought the parts. He said he overclocked it a TINY bit for me (if this is neccesary information I will ask him that). And inside the BIOS it said something like: overclock failed. So I reset the settings back to factory settings.

now saturday comes, and my pc wont post again... I googled and googled, decided to check my CPU but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it wasnt burnt or anything, paste looked good. I unplugged my HDD, SDD and GPU to see if anything changes, nothing. All I see is code 00 (which according to ASUS doesn't mean anything) but CPU_LED light was on (which indicates something is wrong with the CPU). 

I then decided to flash bios, after trying for a few times I got it to update (flashing lights for about 5 mins), I tried the BETA version and the version before that (https://www.asus.com/me-en/supportonly/maximus%20vii%20ranger/helpdesk_bios/) but nothing, PC still wont POST. What is more weird, sometimes it wont even boot up, after trying for a few times...

A quick timeline:

Friday 10am didnt post for 5-6 times, then 7th time or so it worked, PC went into BIOS and said "Overclock failed" and I reset the settings to factory settings. played Warzone till like friday 6pm

Friday 9pm didnt post for a couple times again, then last try it worked again, played warzone for like 4h

Saturday 11am, PC wont post after trying 20 times. Checked CPU, nothing out of the ordinary, paste looked good, didnt seem burnt. Motherboard code 00 and CPU_LED is on (first time I noticed), and sometimes PC wont even boot up.

Tuesday 1pm (today) flashed bios and it updated it (it flashed for like 5mins or so, then stopped).

Then untill now (Tuesday) the same things basically happen, sometimes wont post, sometimes wont even boot, or it will boot after about 5 seconds after pressing the start button.

I think I can give up now, right? Motherboard is probably dead. Could get one for 50 euros in my area but not sure if its worth it.

[dado98]

I also tried removing the CMOS battery and leaving it out for like 2hours, putting it back in, nothing changed. also left the whole system without power for a night, then again, nothing changed. 

[Silent_Scone]

Hello,

The first thing I would try would be to remove the CPU and reseat it given how sporadic the problem is, as could well be a pin-pad contact issue.

[dado98]

hey thanks for your reply.

I have removed the CPU and reseated it. when I put it back in i have a feeling i can slightly "wiggle" it around? only like 0.5mm though. for the last 3 days my pc hasnt been able to POST... 😞 today Ive tried different BIOS updates for my motherboard, nothing worked, they did update though.

the weird thing is, my pc had this problem friday 2times but it was able to POST after a few times trying. now it doesnt post up anymore.

[dado98]

I tried reseating the CPU, didnt change a thing. However I feel like I can wiggle the CPU around a little bit when putting it back in? Only like 0.1mm though. 

[dado98]

Thx for ur reply

I tried reseating it (it means just put it out and back in?) but I felt like I could "wiggle" it for like 0.5mm or something. Nothing strange though.

[dado98 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your reply.

It didnt work 😞 I tried reseating it, nothing changed, it will now almost always boot, but never POST. When I reseated the CPU I kinda had the feeling I could "wiggle" it abit when putting it back in? Like only 0.1mm though.

[Silent_Scone]

Always boot but never POST? This statement doesn't make sense. Do you mean the system will power on but not POST?

There should be a degree of play in the socket, yes. Make sure you don't enable XMP whilst troubleshooting.

Problem is with the CPU or board. Given the CPU LED is lit when the system refuses to post, my money would be on the CPU.

[dado98]

Woops, replied twice. With booting I mean when I press down the button to start the PC, lights go on on my motherboard but it doesnt do anything, (so yes power on, no POST) just code 00 and CPU LED. 

what is XMP and how do I disable or unable it?

I tried everything I can think of and I think Ill just be getting another 2nd hand maximus ranger vii, they are €50 in my area. 

thanks for the help though

[Silent_Scone]

Don't worry about XMP (memory profiles) if you've not enabled it after clearing CMOS.

00 could be either the CPU or board at fault.