Discussion Help! Building my first PC in 25 years, it's a Dan A4 SFX + RTX 3070 + Ryzen 5600x, and I don't really know what I'm doing ?

[simonlessing]

Hi all,
just registered to this helpful forum after having read some threads the past days, as I've embarked on building my first PC since I was a teen.
I love small, elegant, silent computers. I've done some research on parts the past months and have been waiting for RTX 3070 and Ryzen 5000 to be released.
Just got the Ryzen a couple of hours ago, so now I got enough stuff to start building!

• Dan A4 SFX v4.1
• Gigabyte x570 I Aorus Pro WiFi (rev. 1.0)
• Ryzen 5600x
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 Eagle OC 8GB
• Kingston 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3600MHz CL18 Fury
• Corsair SF600 600W 80+ Platinum
• Screen: LG UltraGear 27GN950-B

I feel that this is going to be a great machine, if I just get the thermals under control. Right now I just have the stock cooler on, but I have a Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 and a
Alpenfohn Black Ridge incoming, I'll probably go for the latter.

To my current problem: I've installed the 3070 and the power supply in the case, I have the motherboard outside and have connected everything. But now when I turn things on and hook up a screen to either the Displayport or HDMI, nothing seems to work. Unfortunately, I don't have any other PC to switch parts with and do some basic troubleshooting.

My only theory right now is that it's the bios of the x570, that it doesn't support Ryzen 5000. Would a too low bios version give me a system that shows nothing ? Are the HDMI ports on the x570 just for processors with built in graphics? There's no way to get rudimentary display support? I picked the x570 because I thought it was supported "out of the gate", but that seems to have meant that there is a bios version out, but that I need to update myself? If so, do I need to disconnect everything, or is it possible to have things connected while doing this?

Thank you so much! ?

PS. very curious on any tips you have for thermals / underclocking / etc, but first things first, I guess...

 

[rfarmer]

Odds are any motherboard you buy currently will not yet have an updated BIOS and this is likely your problem. You will need an older CPU that is already supported by the motherboard, 2000 or 3000 series. If you are close to a MicroCenter or other computer shop they can update the BIOS for you. AMD also offers a boot kit for those unable to update their BIOS. To answer your other question you can't use the DP and HDMI on the motherboard because your CPU does not have integrated graphics.

 

[Diamorif]

are you able to boot to bios? if so, just download the most recent bios for the board off of another device (if you have one) to a USB and do a bios update there. I think 500 series mobos have a feature that killed the requirement of a last gen CPU to update, but maybe wrong. It's kinda scummy, but you can also just order a cheap ryzen 2 CPU off of amazon, do the update, and return it.

for a less scummy approach that should help with any troubleshooting down the line, grab an APU to update and hold on to it. I bought a 3400g for $80 second-hand and have it in a CPU tray to use in case anything goes wrong with my builds. the integrated graphics are useful for fixes without a dGPU. Newegg has the 3200g on sale for $115 currently

 

[tinyitx]

For Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi (rev. 1.0) , you need BIOS version F30 or later to support AMD 5000 series CPU. So, it is either F30 (15th Sept) or the latest F31e (29th Oct). I suggest the later.

Here:-

X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI (rev. 1.0) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

Make sure you read and re-read the flashing BIOS procedure before actually doing it.
Not building a PC in 25 years really requires you to take the time to do this right.

 

[simonlessing]

Thanks everyone ?

I'm getting a completely dark screen, the RTX doesn't seem to be outputting anything at all.

I don't have another processor to use, so I had to resort to Gigabyte's other solution, which seemed nice: Q-Flash Plus lets you flash without anything but cables connected to the motherboard.

So I bought a USB thumb drive today, hooked it up to a friend's PC and followed all the instructions very carefully to format and download the bios etc.
I've watched a bunch of videos of people doing this, e.g. youtube

But unfortunately, the board doesn't give any sign of life if I try to turn it on without the processor installed. No matter what I do, the Q-Flash Plus LED never flashes.

I know this is a longshot, but does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers,
Simon

 

[tinyitx]

You did rename the de-compressed file, did you not? (note the name is case-sensitive)
And, only the PSU is connected (24-pin and 8-pin CPU) and nothing else (including cpu, ram, display card, monitor...etc), correct?
Used the dedicated 'white' USB port?
USB thumb drive formatted properly?

(https://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_x570-features.pdf)

If the above is all 'yes', then I would suggest trying F30 instead of F31e.

 

[simonlessing]

Thank you!

Finally got it to work! Bought a new USB drive which somehow did the trick. Used it without formatting or anything, just deleted what was on it: Sandisk Ultra 3.0 USB-32 GB