New AM4 build issues

[FerK]

Hello, about three months ago I bought a small pc case with an already included 450w PSU with the intention of building a home server in a future. Some days ago I saw a few parts on eBay at a good price and decided to go for it, but I can't make it work properly and I'm already desperated. The build is the next:

Asrock AB350M-Pro4
AMD Athlon 200GE
4GB Ballistix Sport LT BLS4G4D26BFSE 2666mhz

I'm having a really weird issue that I never had before in any of my computers. The pc boots fine but after X minutes it seems like it's frozen, but I don't think that's the case. I've been trying to install Windows 10 but I only managed to do it twice, but then couldn't manage to get past the welcome screen (loading forever but with the words moving, not frozen), other times I get stuck at the installation process, not any special percentage, that seems random. I tried memtest86, the latest version on their page, it doesn't show any errors but sometimes it gets frozen (this time for real) but it usually pass three times without any errors.

What I tried to fix it:

-Ebay vendor told me to update bios; I did it, no change.
-Changed HDD, SATA cable and port, changed RAM from slot, it didn't solve anything.

Then I decided to use an Ubuntu Live usb, and I realized about something really strange for me. As I said, I don't think the system gets frozen, but after a few minutes (if the pc is turned on after a long time being off, it last longer) I suddenly lose access to the devices. Keyboard stops working (but mouse most times keeps working), no network connection, and GParted can't see the HDD as connected (I can see it at the start before everything goes off); as a side note, my keyboard is wireless and the light on the receiver is on at all times, seems like at least power is still on. However the system is still up, if the mouse is working I can open the settings, Firefox, GParted, app 'store', etc... The clock also keeps working and stays up to date with the current time. One time that I tried to re-boot into Ubuntu again after this happened but without waiting for a few minutes, it wouldn't work and there was a loop of an error message saying 'ubuntu pcie bus error data link layer'.

Where do you think the issue is? I just can't think of what could be the cause of this and I'm already out of ideas to test. I read this motherboard has some issues on some forums, but I don't think it's as bad as mine. The PSU perhaps? It has a 4pin CPU connector, the motherboard has an 8pin, but according to the motherboard manual it doesn't seem like it's an issue, it says to connect the 4pin connector at a certain position and that's all.

Regards.

 

[eidairaman1]

Return it

 

[FerK]

Return it

What exactly? Everything?

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Junk PSU included in a cheap case says it all, probably good for 200w in reality and even then doesn't have the correct connectors for a modern system, I'll bet it say's P4 compatible somewhere on it... I wouldn't use it, you can buy a corsair 550w /antec 450w for about $30. I did think HDD/SSD at first but as you have tried another my thought is that cheap lightweight PSU. Saying that could well be the motherboard though my first port of call would be the PSU in this instance? any model number or specs written on the side of it? also what bios do you have on the ab350m pro4?

 

[eidairaman1]

What exactly? Everything?

Yup if it's advertised as working but when you got it and it is not working, send it back.

Build from scratch.

 

[FerK]

Yup if it's advertised as working but when you got it and it is not working, send it back.

Build from scratch.

It's actually built from scratch, perhaps I wasn't too clear about it. RAM is from Amazon, motherboard and CPU are from different sellers in eBay. And the case from another store but bought a while ago.

Junk PSU included in a cheap case says it all, probably good for 200w in reality and even then doesn't have the correct connectors for a modern system, I'll bet it say's P4 compatible somewhere on it... I wouldn't use it, you can buy a corsair 550w /antec 450w for about $30. I did think HDD/SSD at first but as you have tried another my thought is that cheap lightweight PSU. Saying that could well be the motherboard though my first port of call would be the PSU in this instance? any model number or specs written on the side of it? also what bios do you have on the ab350m pro4?

Bios version is 5.50. Board came preinstalled with 5.10 I think, I asked the seller before buying it for compatibility issues with newer CPU. I didn't take the PSU out, however I read review about the case and there are pictures, this is the PSU, Nox is a spanish brand and it's usual to see their cases and PSU being used by an average pc user (in fact my current case is Nox and my father still uses my old Nox psu from 10+ years ago, when Superflower manufactured them). I think it's not as bad as other cheap brands here but obviously this psu quality should be far off the good ones. It's also a mATX version, not sure how many models are out there at a good price.

 

[eidairaman1]

It's actually built from scratch, perhaps I wasn't too clear about it. RAM is from Amazon, motherboard and CPU are from different sellers in eBay. And the case from another store but bought a while ago.



Bios version is 5.50. Board came preinstalled with 5.10 I think, I asked the seller before buying it for compatibility issues with newer CPU. I didn't take the PSU out, however I read review about the case and there are pictures, this is the PSU, Nox is a spanish brand and it's usual to see their cases and PSU being used by an average pc user (in fact my current case is Nox and my father still uses my old Nox psu from 10+ years ago, when Superflower manufactured them). I think it's not as bad as other cheap brands here but obviously this psu quality should be far off the good ones. It's also a mATX version, not sure how many models are out there at a good price.

Return that psu and fer a reputable model, it sounds like psu, ram, mobo at this rate

 

[Wavetrex]

You just bought defective 2nd hand garbage.
Return it (assuming you even can) all and tighten the belt a bit and buy new, with warranty.

 

[Totally]

Mine does this when the CPU isn't fullly seated. I usually get away with not having to completely reseating it by firmly but gently pushing down on the base of the cooler.

 

[robot zombie]

I had an msi b350 do that to me early last year. Exact same issues. Hard locks everywhere for no apparent reason. Tried swapping components, including the CPU. Board was just bad.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

It's actually built from scratch, perhaps I wasn't too clear about it. RAM is from Amazon, motherboard and CPU are from different sellers in eBay. And the case from another store but bought a while ago.



Bios version is 5.50. Board came preinstalled with 5.10 I think, I asked the seller before buying it for compatibility issues with newer CPU. I didn't take the PSU out, however I read review about the case and there are pictures, this is the PSU, Nox is a spanish brand and it's usual to see their cases and PSU being used by an average pc user (in fact my current case is Nox and my father still uses my old Nox psu from 10+ years ago, when Superflower manufactured them). I think it's not as bad as other cheap brands here but obviously this psu quality should be far off the good ones. It's also a mATX version, not sure how many models are out there at a good price.

thats a paper weight, probably not a good one either as I bet there's no weight in it, they were using them back in 2005 and they were bad then... but I'm of the inclination the board is bad, whether that is cause of the PSU or not, I would return the motherboard for a refund/replacement and junk that PSU in the process.

 

[FerK]

Return that psu and fer a reputable model, it sounds like psu, ram, mobo at this rate

Thanks for the answer. Would it be possible to test with another psu from outside the case? Just to be sure about it.

You just bought defective 2nd hand garbage.
Return it (assuming you even can) all and tighten the belt a bit and buy new, with warranty.

Both eBay stores have 30-day return warranty, and I guess that if there's any issues I can always go to PayPal.

Mine does this when the CPU isn't fullly seated. I usually get away with not having to completely reseating it by firmly but gently pushing down on the base of the cooler.

This is my first experience with AMD, I guess I did it right but who knows.

I had an msi b350 do that to me early last year. Exact same issues. Hard locks everywhere for no apparent reason. Tried swapping components, including the CPU. Board was just bad.

My model has a lot of forum threads about freezes, but they're different than mine. Some got random freezes but I can't even install Windows.

thats a paper weight, probably not a good one either as I bet there's no weight in it, they were using them back in 2005 and they were bad then... but I'm of the inclination the board is bad, whether that is cause of the PSU or not, I would return the motherboard for a refund/replacement and junk that PSU in the process.

I can confirm that the case with the PSU in it weighs very little. I always knew I wasn't buying the best of the best but I thought it could work for such a low power cpu and no discrete graphic card.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Have you tried pulling the board out and reinstalling it? I remember having an issue with something once and found I didn’t get a connector properly seated.

 

[eidairaman1]

Thanks for the answer. Would it be possible to test with another psu from outside the case? Just to be sure about it.



Both eBay stores have 30-day return warranty, and I guess that if there's any issues I can always go to PayPal.



This is my first experience with AMD, I guess I did it right but who knows.



My model has a lot of forum threads about freezes, but they're different than mine. Some got random freezes but I can't even install Windows.



I can confirm that the case with the PSU in it weighs very little. I always knew I wasn't buying the best of the best but I thought it could work for such a low power cpu and no discrete graphic card.

Yes bench run all parts

 

[NdMk2o1o]

as @robot zombie said he had the same board and had similar issues with it, and there's also a lot of similar reviews on newegg for that board (thankfully it's smaller brither the ab350m didnb't suffer with the same problems) send the board back if you can and buy a cheap branded psu, you don't need 600w gold rated etc though most branded ones will be better than that.

 

[newtekie1]

I'm guessing the motherboard is the issue as well.

And I'm also agreeing with replacing the PSU. One of the low power EVGA or Corsair units should only be ~$30 and do a lot better than the one that came with the case.

 

[FerK]

Have you tried pulling the board out and reinstalling it? I remember having an issue with something once and found I didn’t get a connector properly seated.

I just tried testing it outside the case, same issues.

as @robot zombie said he had the same board and had similar issues with it, and there's also a lot of similar reviews on newegg for that board (thankfully it's smaller brither the ab350m didnb't suffer with the same problems) send the board back if you can and buy a cheap branded psu, you don't need 600w gold rated etc though most branded ones will be better than that.

I'm guessing the motherboard is the issue as well.

And I'm also agreeing with replacing the PSU. One of the low power EVGA or Corsair units should only be ~$30 and do a lot better than the one that came with the case.

That's my first suspect as well. It was powered off for a couple of hours, then I pulled it and tried it outside the case, completed Windows installation but then got stuck at 'preparing devices' just after it. It seems that for whatever reason from cold start it can last a few minutes then something stops working and that's all. Turning it off for a couple of minutes and then you don't reach that far, it gets stuck earlier it's like something is heating up. It's not the CPU because it's at 30ºC on BIOS and the maximum I saw it was 42ºC during memtest86.

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I will try tomorrow with another PSU, and see how it goes. I can't really make more tests without spare parts.

 

[eidairaman1]

Psu, mobo, ram, ram from ebay is a hit and miss

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Another long shot is to remove the HSF retention bracket and make sure it isn’t warping the board. Really, it sounds like it’s either your board or your PSU. The CPU and RAM seems unlikely.

 

[spectatorx]

I would say it is most probably caused by incompatible memory. Ryzen cpus are really fragile on that part of the build. Replace ram with anything what says it is ryzen compatible and you will be ok. Trust me, i experienced exactly the same thing, i went through hell because of am4 platform being extremely picky on ram compatibility.

 

[newtekie1]

Ryzen cpus are really fragile on that part of the build.

They really aren't, they will work with any DDR4 at JDEC default speeds. They only get picky if you try to enable XMP or push the settings past JDEC defaults.

That's my first suspect as well. It was powered off for a couple of hours, then I pulled it and tried it outside the case, completed Windows installation but then got stuck at 'preparing devices' just after it. It seems that for whatever reason from cold start it can last a few minutes then something stops working and that's all. Turning it off for a couple of minutes and then you don't reach that far, it gets stuck earlier it's like something is heating up. It's not the CPU because it's at 30ºC on BIOS and the maximum I saw it was 42ºC during memtest86.

It might be the chipset getting too hot. I can't say I'm a fan of the super small heatsink and only two plastic push pins used to mount the heatsink. Can you try touching that heatsink to see if it is hot when the computer freezes?

 

[FerK]

Psu, mobo, ram, ram from ebay is a hit and miss

Yeah, but I made sure to pick reputable stores, they have 75k votes, 99%+ positives combined. Is still a risk but like with any used parts market, probably less, at least here I have a return policy. The PSU and case was from outside eBay, from a store during Black Friday, it should have the mandatory 2 years warranty.

I would say it is most probably caused by incompatible memory. Ryzen cpus are really fragile on that part of the build. Replace ram with anything what says it is ryzen compatible and you will be ok. Trust me, i experienced exactly the same thing, i went through hell because of am4 platform being extremely picky on ram compatibility.

I was under the impression that ram compatibility was more or less reduced with every agesa update, I also tried to run the memory at 2133 instead of 2666 just in case.

They really aren't, they will work with any DDR4 at JDEC default speeds. They only get picky if you try to enable XMP or push the settings past JDEC defaults.


It might be the chipset getting too hot. I can't say I'm a fan of the super small heatsink and only two plastic push pins used to mount the heatsink. Can you try touching that heatsink to see if it is hot when the computer freezes?

None of them seems remarcably hot. Chipset heatsink is probably the hottest, but it's barely noticeable. RAM is cold, vrm heatsinks are normal and cpu heatsink normal as well.
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I was doing another memtest right now, I even took a picture but while I was writing this post it got stuck at 0:27:13.

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By the way, another question, since I just touched the heatsinks. It is normal that the VRM heatsinks have some 'balance'? Sorry I don't know how to explain it, they seem 'mobile', they can be moved back and forward, I don't remember if this is the usual behavior but I would say it is since apparently the 'screw' seems designed for that.

 

[spectatorx]

Yes, agesa updates improved a lot but still cases like mine and yours seem to be happening. IMO your problem is ram compatibility. If you want you can replace all things in your build, some of them will reduce freezing a lot, some specific options in bios will reduce these even more but these freezes still will be happening. I had exactly the same problem and only real solution is to replace ram with anything what is labeled as ryzen compatible. For ryzen compatibility just go to ram's manufacturer's website and check if particular MODEL OF RAM (product number/asin) has compatibility with ryzen.

Do you mean ram sticks are loose? They should not be loose at all, they should be sitting in their slots as tight as possible.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I would say it is most probably caused by incompatible memory. Ryzen cpus are really fragile on that part of the build. Replace ram with anything what says it is ryzen compatible and you will be ok. Trust me, i experienced exactly the same thing, i went through hell because of am4 platform being extremely picky on ram compatibility.

ergh no, not since 1st gen Ryzen and the first 1 or 2 BIOS' since then there is little issue with RAM compatibility aside from getting above 3600, I've ran dual sticks of dual rank mismatched/seperate brands of RAM and still ran them at their rated speeds.

 

[FerK]

Yes, agesa updates improved a lot but still cases like mine and yours seem to be happening. IMO your problem is ram compatibility. If you want you can replace all things in your build, some of them will reduce freezing a lot, some specific options in bios will reduce these even more but these freezes still will be happening. I had exactly the same problem and only real solution is to replace ram with anything what is labeled as ryzen compatible. For ryzen compatibility just go to ram's manufacturer's website and check if particular MODEL OF RAM (product number/asin) has compatibility with ryzen.

Do you mean ram sticks are loose? They should not be loose at all, they should be sitting in their slots as tight as possible.

No I meant the heatsinks surrounding the cpu socket.