What are my options please

scrappysphinx

Hi all, on the 12th May i ordered 4 items from Currys online at a cost of roughly £800.

The items are 
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU
MSI X870E Tomahawk Motherboard
16GB (2x8GB) Crucial DDR5 Memory
MSI MAG 360mm liquid AIO cooler


The items were delivered yesterday but as i was busy i put them to one side till this morning when i had time to assemble them. 

I am no stranger to PC's, i have been building and maintaining them for about 25 years so i assembled these components replacing my older setup but keeping my GPU, PSU, SSDs and Case.

It booted fine and ran for a few hours, i played a game, did some benchmarks and did some web browisng but then it just switched itself off.
I have since been unable to get it to boot. I have stripped the pc back down to bare essentials removing my GPU and using the internal radeon from the cpu but each time i turn it on the lights come on and the fans spin for a few minutes before it powers down again. I have checked the CPU and motherboard to make sure i haven't caused any damage and there are no bent pins or anything of the like. The motherboard does have a small 2 digit dsiplay that shows whats known as POST codes to try and diagnose any issues when attempting to post along with 3 LEDs that light up if there are errors with the CPU, Dram (Memory), VGA (GPU) and a 4th led titled Boot (which should go green if all is ok).

I am getting 00 on the display with CPU lit up red and Dram lit up Orange. There is also a heatsink in the bottom left corner of the motherboard that is very hot to touch.

This would suggest either an issue with the CPU or Memory. I have tried some alternative memory from another PC but that has made no difference. I have tried another power supply and again no difference. 

I do not have another motherboard or compatible CPU i can try so i cannot say with certainty which part seems to be causing the issue but i suspect the motherboard because of the too hot to touch heatsink in the corner and the fact it all worked for a few hours. 

I went into my local store at first to see if they could help but was told that as i'd used FlexPay to purchase these items (i did and used the BNPL to pay it over 12 months interest free as i've done before for other components) the store team couldn't process a return or replacement and i would need to speak to the online team.

I know things happen so i went home and proceeded to give Currys a call to try and arrange for them to collect the items and either test then replace or just refund the order but thats not happening (yet).

So i spoke to a lady who firstly repeatedly asked me what make of computer or laptop i had bought and didn't seem to understand that i'd not purchased an actual computer i'd purchased components. 

After going round in circles for about five minutes she puts me on hold while telling me she'll come back in a few minutes. She came back about 5 minutes later and proceeds to tell me that as i have purchased components and that i have assembled the items myself that Currys will not offer support or warranty on the products as i may not know what i'm doing and could have damaged something in the process. 

I argued with her that thats not how it works and yes while yes i can see the angle she's coming from i don't think they can deny the support or warranty. 

She then puts me on hold a second time and returns five minutes later and informs me that they can process a return for replacement but not a refund but only for the faulty component. 

I explain to her that i cannot say for certain which component is faulty and that the rest of the order is useless to me (can't use a CPU without a motherboard and vice versa) so i wish to return the entire order.

Again i'm put on hold and she returns again to inform me that things have changed again and now we're back to its not our responsibility and that i must take my items to a 3rd part "qualified" repair store and pay for repairs myself. 

Having been on the phone for nearly an hour with someone who clearly didn't understand about computers and going round in circles i poltely told her that we were getting nowhere and thanked her for her time before ending the call.

I'm not unreasonable, i just want to build and use what i've paid for.

How would you recommend i proceed. Do i have the option to return the full order for refund, can i return the order to Currys for them to test it all and determine which part is faulty and replace? Do i have to get an independent report to determine which part is faulty? Do i go with my gut instinct and ask them to replace the motherboard? 

Thanks

Alderbank

I agree with your gut that on balance of probabilities it is the motherboard, but your gut might be wrong.

I think in your position I would tell them you wish to exercise your short-term right to refuse the goods because they do not function together as a system. You require either replacement of the components or a refund.
The onus is on Currys to prove that is not the case. I suspect, but do not know, that they don't have the technical skill to test them as a system so they might just accept that and refund or replace.
However there is a risk that they might say you have damaged one or more of the components by installing it incorrectly or operating it outside its safe operating range, such as by overclocking.

I realise that the following might go against your MSE DIY principles, but before disassembly and sending the bits back I would first enlist the help of a local computer repair guy to examine your setup with all the new components installed and confirm in a report that you have set up all cabling, connectors, jumpers, heatsinking, cooling, earthing, etc. satisfactorily.

scrappysphinx

Thanks for your reply, its a bit of a pain but there is a local computer shop that i've been using for years for smaller parts and things needed quickly. The owner is really a cool guy. I'll pop in there tomorrow and see if he will take a quick glance at it. 

Ergates

Some of what they said is nonsense.   Some of it is reasonable.

After going round in circles for about five minutes she puts me on hold while telling me she'll come back in a few minutes. She came back about 5 minutes later and proceeds to tell me that as i have purchased components and that i have assembled the items myself that Currys will not offer support or warranty on the products as i may not know what i'm doing and could have damaged something in the process. 

Yes, it's entirely possible that you damaged something during assembly.   But they cannot just refuse to even countenance a return on the basis of what *might * have happened - it's on them to prove this is what happened.  e.g. by accepting the return, then getting the items assessed by an expert.

She then puts me on hold a second time and returns five minutes later and informs me that they can process a return for replacement but not a refund but only for the faulty component. 

I explain to her that i cannot say for certain which component is faulty and that the rest of the order is useless to me (can't use a CPU without a motherboard and vice versa) so i wish to return the entire order.

Part of this is false.  This is an online order, which means that within 14 days you can return for a refund for any reason.  So you *can* return all the items.

However...If you're just returning them because you don't want them, they can reduce the refund on the basis of diminished value from your handling of the items.   For an PC component that has been installed in a a PC, that could be quite significant (what percentage of full price would you pay for a 2nd hand CPU?).

If you're returning an item because it's faulty then that doesn't apply.   

The argument of "the rest of the order is useless to me" falls into "Not our problem mate" category.  However, I don't know if all the items coming in one order would give you additional protections here.  If not, you could end up with a full refund for the faulty item, and a partial refund for the rest.


And, as an aside:   This is why you never order PC components from Curry's.   Scan, Overclockers, Ebuyer, to name just 3 better options - they're dedicated to selling components, so understand how to handle faults and returns much better.

Vectis

Ergates said:

...And, as an aside:   This is why you never order PC components from Curry's.   Scan, Overclockers, Ebuyer, to name just 3 better options - they're dedicated to selling components, so understand how to handle faults and returns much better.

Agreed. I'm a novice PC builder but, even so, I wouldn't even think of going to Curry's for computer components for a build. I must admit I never even knew they sold them, thought they only sold Dell laptops and the like.

To the op, I'd do what you're saying, bite the bullet and take it into a PC build/repair shop to find out, if you can, which component is faulty and then go back to Curry's and get that replaced.

bazdvd

are you sure you are seeing 00 on the display and not D0 ? If its DO that would also explain the red light indicating the processor is not detected.
Did you apply thermal paste and a compatible heat sink / fan?
Could you of fried the Processor?

scrappysphinx

Thanks for the comments chaps. 

Definitely 00 on the display. I did try using one memory module in each slot and got EC on 3 out of the 4 slots with the 4th slot (B2 which is the recommended slot for one module from the manual) returning to the 00 error. 

yes i fit a suitable cooler, an MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360mm AIO water cooler and yes i did remove the plastic seal from the copper plate which did not have pre-applied thermal paste so i used Arctic MX-6.

This evening i have done a No CPU Bios update as per the instructions in the manual and that did indeed bring the machine back to life for aprroximately 3 hours before it then powered itself off again and returned to the previous behaviour with the 00 error (see attached pictures)
 

Usually i would buy my components from Ebuyer, Scan or Amazon. The reason for using Currys is because i have used their FlexPay system to spread the cost using buy now pay later interest free over 12 months. I have used it before to pay for the RTX 4090 graphics card i am using and to pay for the Samsung Odyssey 4k monitor without issue and always paid it off before the end of the period. I figured after a couple of purchases without issue i would upgrade the rest of my PC but it has backfired thus far sadly. 

bazdvd

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/msi-mag-x870-tomahawk-not-booting-after-training-memory-fail-red-yelow-light-code-00-bricked.405922/

MattMattMattUK

scrappysphinx said:

Usually i would buy my components from Ebuyer, Scan or Amazon. The reason for using Currys is because i have used their FlexPay system to spread the cost using buy now pay later interest free over 12 months. I have used it before to pay for the RTX 4090 graphics card i am using and to pay for the Samsung Odyssey 4k monitor without issue and always paid it off before the end of the period. I figured after a couple of purchases without issue i would upgrade the rest of my PC but it has backfired thus far sadly. 

Slight side note, but I buy everything from Amazon, Scan or Overclockers, all three never have issues with faulty parts being returned opened. I would rather go without than use Currys, especially not on credit with 29.9% APR! Never buy non-essentials on interest charging credit, this is MSE after all!

I agree with others that is sounds like a motherboard issue.

scrappysphinx

So to update the post, i took the board, cpu ram and cooler into the local computer store today. He tested the cpu and ram in a different AM5 board and it booted right up. He tried the x870e board a few times swapping in different ram but using the 9800X3D cpu i had bought in but he couldn't get it to work either.

Long story short the motherboard is packed back into its original packaging and awating collection by DPD to be returned to Currys for replacement. They reckon it will take up to 14 days after they receive it back for them to ship out the replacement, i assume this is so they can inspect the board themselves.

Its not the end of the world, i have reinstalled my older i9 system and will await the replacement then try again 

scrappysphinx

Last update. 

This was resolved much quicker than I anticipated. 

DPD picked up the old board yesterday morning at 11:20, 4pm I had an email from Currys saying they had received it and were inspecting the package. 

8:30am this morning DPD delivered the replacement.

Cpu, cooler and ram fit and board boot straight up. Done the customary bios updates some stress testing and all seems to be well with the replacement. 

Now I've gotta strip the old machine down again and transplant my m.2 ssds over. 

I guess thread can be closed (if thats a thing). Thanks all for the replies.