PC freezes even in BIOS — Mainboard defect? Need help before RMA
Hey everyone,
I've been dealing with random complete system freezes on my new build for a while now and I'm stuck. Here are my specs:
- **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 5 7500F
- **Mainboard:** MSI B850M Gaming Plus WiFi6E (MS-7E81) — BIOS 1.A40
- **RAM:** 2x G.Skill Ripjaws M5 Neo RGB DDR5
- **GPU:** AMD Radeon RX 9070
- **SSD:** BIWIN M350 1TB NVMe
- **PSU:** Corsair RM850x
- **Cooling:** Watercooling
- **OS:** Windows 11
**The symptoms:**
- System freezes completely — no BSOD, screen stays frozen, sound cuts out, USB devices reset
- Freeze happens even in BIOS
- After a freeze, restarting sometimes causes an immediate freeze again
- After completely powering off and waiting ~30 seconds, it runs stable again for a while
**What I've already ruled out:**
- PSU: Replaced with Corsair RM850x — still freezes
- RAM: Tested both sticks individually — both freeze (maybe both are the issue?)
- GPU: AMD Adrenalin logs show no errors before freeze
- SSD: CrystalDiskInfo 99% health, all SMART values clean
- BIOS: Updated to latest 1.A40 — problem persists
Maybe its AXMP or EXPO ?
The behavior (freezes in BIOS, immediate refreeze after restart, stable after full power off) points strongly to a Mainboard VRM/capacitor issue. MSI support also said it's likely a hardware defect.
Before I send it in for RMA I wanted to ask — has anyone experienced something similar? Is there anything else I should test? Could it still be the CPU? or somehting else ?