For now I have three questions (for Skybuck's Super PC 2023 build):

1. The CPU power, on the motherboard there are two headers/ports, two 2x8 power slots. Must both be connected with power cables ? The manual doesn't really say. Is there such a thing as delivering too much power to the CPU ?! ;)

2. The CPU pins ? I thought the pins were on the motherboard socket, but I did not see them. Since I have not unpacked the processor yet, maybe the typical golden pins are on the CPU itself ? and I am confused with threadripper ?

3. The BIOS flashback feature of the motherboard does it need RAM chips mounted to operate/work ? (It's supposed to be able to work without a CPU, but what about RAM chips, besides from power, does it need anything else ? Also a more detailed question perhaps, which power cables must be connected to operate BIOS flashback successfull ?

(Later I will augment this post with links to videos inspecting/pondering question 1 and question 2, question 3 will be a bit more complex and will require a second computer, usb stick, some kind of fat system and a bios file renamed to something peculiar/particular ;)

Bye for now,
Skybuck.

On 10/8/2023 2:31 PM, Skybuck Flying wrote:
> For now I have three questions (for Skybuck's Super PC 2023 build):
>
> 1. The CPU power, on the motherboard there are two headers/ports, two 2x8 power slots. Must both be connected with power cables ? The manual doesn't really say. Is there such a thing as delivering too much power to the CPU ?! ;)
>
> 2. The CPU pins ? I thought the pins were on the motherboard socket, but I did not see them. Since I have not unpacked the processor yet, maybe the typical golden pins are on the CPU itself ? and I am confused with threadripper ?
>
> 3. The BIOS flashback feature of the motherboard does it need RAM chips mounted to operate/work ? (It's supposed to be able to work without a CPU, but what about RAM chips, besides from power, does it need anything else ? Also a more detailed question perhaps, which power cables must be connected to operate BIOS flashback successfull ?
>
> (Later I will augment this post with links to videos inspecting/pondering question 1 and question 2, question 3 will be a bit more complex and will require a second computer, usb stick, some kind of fat system and a bios file renamed to something peculiar/particular ;)
>
> Bye for now,
> Skybuck.
>

https://download.asrock.com/Manual/B650E%20Steel%20Legend%20WiFi_English.pdf

(tab) (tab)
X X X X X X X X TDP PPT
X X X X X X X X Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16C / 32T 4.2 GHz 5.7 GHz DDR5-5200 128 MB 120W 162W

ATX12V1 ATX12V2
288 watt 288 watt

https://www.anandtech.com/show/18747/the-amd-ryzen-9-7950x3d-review-amd-s-fastest-gaming-processor/2

"We observed a peak power output of 144.53 W on the 7950X3D,
compared to 221.87 W on the 7950X"

All the figures so far, show ATX12V1 is sufficient for your build.
ATX12V2 would only be added for the 7950X, unlocked multiplier, liquid nitrogen, etc etc.

The yellow wires are good for 6 amps each. Four yellow wires is 24 amps.
12V times 24 amps is 288 watts. Note that when wires are in parallel,
the board layout is important to making sure each wire draws the same
current. You still are not remotely close to the limit of ATX12V1, to
worry about any current hogging effects. Molex pins vary in specification,
from 6 amps to 10 amps. We guess at "6 amps", to ensure the connector
is not overloaded. There is plenty of margin kicking around there.
The wire gauge used by the power supply, makes a slight difference to
how close to carrying 10 amperes per wire it could get. We assume a shitty
supply when picking the 6 amp number, one that used thin wire. All the
considerations are covered by margin, to some extent.

Make sure the 2x4 is fully seated, and the tab is engaged with its mate.

*******

Your processor uses a 1718 contact Land Grid Array (LGA) socket.
The contacts should be needle-sharp, and they dig their little
points into the flat gold pads on the bottom of the CPU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM5

Be careful to not bend or snap the LGA contacts in the socket.
For example, dropping a screwdriver tip, into an uncovered LGA socket,
could mess up a spring in there. Only uncover the springs, when
you're ready to insert your nice clean shiny CPU. Do NOT touch
the gold pads on the bottom of the CPU. Handle the CPU by edges.
Skin oil on gold pads, is not a good thing. While the LGA method
has a lot going for it, if your lab is dirty enough, you might
eventually foul a contact.

Keep the PNP cap, in case you ever need to cover up the socket
with the CPU out of the thing.

This is unlike AM4, which is a pin grid array, and the socket
has holes in it. Doing a ZIF with 1718 pins, that would have been
difficult, which is why they switched to LGA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM4

*******

There is more than one BIOS flashback method.

My 4930K, has a Winbond flasher, and it needs... nothing.
You can flash a bare motherboard straight from the store, using
just a USB stick and a pushbutton and a power supply of course.

The AMD flashback, it seems to be using the hardware, at least
on my cheap AM4 board. That means it could well be using the
CPU and RAM. Only if they paid an extra few dollars for the
Winbond flasher chip, would it not need RAM.

Your Asrock user manual page 50 - it would seem to have a standalone flasher chip.
It does not mention the brand of flasher.

ASRock BIOS Flashback feature allows you to update BIOS
without powering on the system, even without CPU.

Plug the 24 pin power connector to the motherboard. Then turn
on the power supply's AC switch. *There is no need to power on the system.

What that means is, you don't need to press the power button on the
front of the PC. You don't need to have the Front Panel header wired
(which has the Power button and Reset button pins on it).

By connecting the 24 pin supply, the motherboard is receiving +5VSB
from the power supply. You switch ON the power supply, at the back
of the PC. That causes the board to receive +5VSB. The Asrock board
seems to have no dedicated +5VSB indicator LED (that's a standard
feature on Asus motherboards, a green LED tied to +5VSB).

When you switch on the power at the back of the PC, the fan on the
PSU does not spin. That's not an indicator it is making +5VSB.
It makes +5VSB, silently.

It's possible some other LEDs may tell you power is present. It
all depends on what hardware functions are tied to +5VSB. Some USB
functions are tied to +5VSB for example (that's how the "wake" functions
work). The Flashback USB port, likely has +5VSB permanently running on it.

If there is no CPU inserted in the 1718 socket, then the RAM
cannot work anyway. The RAM connects to the CPU. With the CPU not
needing to be present, the RAM if it was there, would not be
connected to anything anyway.

"If the LED light turns solid green, this means that the
BIOS Flashback is not operating properly"

With my MSI AMD motherboard, it took me multiple tries to
get the USB format "just right", and I was getting the
error pattern each time I tried to flash. Do not panic if
it turns solid green the first time. Make sure, that if the
flasher needs FAT16, or FAT32, or whatever, that you have
tried all the possible variations before getting into a panic :-)

The user manual for mine, didn't even tell me anything about
possible LED responses. At first, I thought the damn flashing
LED on mine was a "good" indicator, when in fact it was the "bad" indicator.
This is how you lose your hair, doing this stuff. Read the
manual, and get all the available info regarding LED patterns.
At least your manual has some hints.

Paul

Will it hurt the processor if both power cables are connected to it ???

Bye and thanks for the replies ! ;)
Skybuck.

On 10/10/2023 7:05 AM, Skybuck Flying wrote:
> Will it hurt the processor if both power cables are connected to it ???
>
> Bye and thanks for the replies ! ;)
> Skybuck.
>

It's not a problem to have both connected.

That's because all of the outputs are traceable
to the same 12V transformer and rectifiers.

common-12V-output-cct ----------+--> ATX12V1
+--> ATX12V2
+--> PCI Express connector
+--> PCI Express connector
+--> Two yellow wires on 24 pin main connector

This supply has a single 12V source, and the 24 ampere limit
is done by a current limiter on the two sections of loom.
Each 12V section has its own current limiter, but all of the
current comes from the same transformer. Your supply will
have more 12V rail amperes total, than this one.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/Tw25nNmn/PSU-with-common-internal-supply-source.gif

Paul