500 USD P.O.S. ASUS motherboard
500 USD P.O.S. ASUS motherboard
Worked on my PC for two years, gathering and purchasing components. Most items were second-hand from eBay or reused from past builds. My first purchase was an Asus Crosshair VIII Impact DTX motherboard, and I assembled the rest around it. Below are the details (all acquired used on eBay): Ryzen 5600x 2x8GB, Patriot Viper 4000MHz CL19 DDR4, Dell OEM GTX 1060, ASUS Crosshair VIII Impact DTX Silverstone SX800-LTI PSU, Icegiant Prosiphon Elite CPU cooler, and various SSDs/HDDs from previous builds. Combined everything. Connected it to power, updated the BIOS via flashback on the motherboard, waited for it to finish loading (the board wasn’t compatible with the 5600x out of the box). Pressed power and got nothing. Motherboard lights stayed on, keyboard and mic lit up indicating power through the board. I tried re-flashing the BIOS again, which worked this time. Pressed power and still nothing. I stripped it down, took out the motherboard and swapped the CMOS battery—assuming it was dead since it had been stored in a box for nearly a year. Reassembled, but nothing happened. I shorted the PSU without the CPU, and it started; the HDD spun up. Now I don’t have funds for new parts because I stayed on a tight budget, but I didn’t want to settle for less. So I’m planning to discard the whole thing from my second-floor window.
You bought everything used and wondered if you checked the components thoroughly. Did you confirm it was the correct motherboard? Were there any signs of a faulty CPU, RAM issues, or power supply problems? Just checking if you trusted the sellers or verified everything yourself.
I just tried to put everything together and hoped each part would function properly. I’ve assembled many units using used components, but this is the first time something completely stops working—no power, no fans spinning. I’m confused about how the motherboard BIOS updates when changed but still won’t turn on or show any error messages. The motherboard seems to cost more than any other component in the system, and if it’s faulty, I’m really worried.
Disassemble everything and run a test build on top of the motherboard case.
Many individuals can assemble components and get a system running, but few possess essential troubleshooting skills and become stuck when things fail. When purchasing used equipment, it’s wise to focus on systematic and logical diagnostics. Break the problem down step by step—start with the motherboard, RAM stick, and power supply, not the more complex parts. This approach helps determine if the system can even power up before moving forward.
I cut the CPU power cable and attempted to boot using only the motherboard 24-pin and a red LED on the CPU 8-pin came on, showing there was a problem so the motherboard could sense no power was being supplied when I deliberately removed the CPU power.
I removed every SATA connection, took out all M.2 drives, the GPU, and the CPU. I only kept the RAM, two fans, and the PSU plugged into the 24-pin port. The CPU side had its 8-pin removed, and the PSU still wouldn’t power on when I pressed the start button on the motherboard. When I unplugged the 24-pin PSU and shorted it, the HDD started up. I don’t have any clear idea right now.