Could there be an issue with the CPU or motherboard?
Could there be an issue with the CPU or motherboard?
I’m dealing with some unusual issues on my R5 2600 and B450 Tomahawk. When I power it on via Windows—especially during cold starts—I notice the mouse cursor freezes unexpectedly, the screen goes black, and the CPU debug light appears on the motherboard. I have to press and hold the power button to get back into Windows. Many people suggested replacing the PSU, which I did with a Corsair CX 650, but that didn’t resolve the problem. I reached out to MSI support who provided a beta BIOS for the motherboard, yet it still didn’t fix things.
What I’ve tried so far:
1. Replaced both CPU and RAM.
2. Switched to a higher-quality PSU.
3. Ran MemTest without errors for several hours.
4. Turned on ErP ready mode in BIOS (possibly lowered frequency slightly).
5. Activated Game Boost Mode in BIOS—achieved an all-core speed of 3.85GHz @ 1.300V, which seems to eliminate the issue most of the time.
6. When Game Boost is off, the problem still occurs regularly, sometimes with the cursor locking and then resolving itself, though the PC won’t shut down.
7. CPU temperatures are normal even when Game Boost is on (45°C during games, 62°C while running Prime95).
I’m unsure if it’s the CPU or the motherboard that’s faulty. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead of time!
System Specs: Ryzen 5 2600 MSI B450 Tomahawk (using latest beta BIOS from MSI)
Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000MHz (8Gb/2)
Corsair CX 650 PSU Sapphire RX 470 4G
I've tested both a single stick and turned off XMP settings. Both passed memtest86, but the red light appeared right after booting into Windows to copy files onto the USB drive for testing. I cleared the CMOS as MSI recommended, but that didn't resolve the issue. Reinstalling Windows twice helped. No overclocking except for the game boost in BIOS, which runs the CPU at 1.3V and 3.85GHz across all cores. This suggests the CPU might be struggling at lower voltages when the boost is off. I only enabled the boost after noticing this problem first.
I ran the DDU and reinstalled the AMD drivers once more, thinking the problem was fixed. Later I realized Game Boost was still active in the BIOS. I turned it off and then the CPU debug light came back on after starting Windows.