In the context of a modern motherboard — usually something from 2015 and later — there

are often multiple LEDs in a cluster, usually at least four and sometimes a bunch more, to
help you debug issues that, in general, occur before your system will boot. So it’s kind of
weird to see a red CPU LED and still have what appears to be a working system. This
particular setup is MSI’s “Easy Debug” setup, split into LEDs for CPU, DRAM, VGA, and
BOOT. What can these indicate? All sorts of stuff. Don’t worry about lights that blink
when booting up, but if one’s on steady, you may have a problem.

CPU LED

This is what you’re seeing, of course. And it’s enough of an issue that some main boards
break things down into additional diagnostics, like separate power supply LEDs, etc. I’m
sticking with the minimal model that MSI and some others use, but this is not specific to
MSI. Possible meanings:

CPU isn’t fully supported by BIOS. This would usually result in a non-

booting condition, but you never know. You may need a BIOS update.
This wouldn’t be a thing I’d expect for a new system bought as a whole,
but if you’re integrating your own, then yeah, it’s a thing.
 CPU power may have a problem. Check your cabling, including extra
CPU power cables, and check that your power supply is sufficient for
what you’re including in the system, including DRAM and GPU(s).
 CPU not seated properly. You’d expect this to prevent booting, but this is
one of the reasons for the LED to be lit.
 CPU bent/broken pin. For PGA packaged CPUs, you could have a bent or
broken pin and still be able boot with a bent or missing CPU pin, but
something might not function properly. This could also be detected as a
DRAM error.
 CPU is defective in some way. Did you buy from a legit source?
 Socket bent/broken pin. For LGA packaged CPUs, the CPU just has pads,
which rarely fail. The pins are in the socket, and as with the PGA CPU, a
few bent pins might be detectable but not affect boot. I had this actually
happen. I was building an AMD Threadripper system (typing on it now)
and the main board I ordered had, somewhere in shipping, dislodged the
plastic cap that protects the socket. I didn’t notice when setting it up, but
that had bent a whole mess of pins (with 4094 pins its not hard to miss
one or two being FUBARed, but I probably had about 50 messed up pins).
 CPU heat problems. Check you cooler and case to ensure the fans work,
there’s no obstruction, the fans is plugged into the correct fan header, etc.
Did you put “bird shit” (aka, thermal paste) between the CPU and heat
sink, if required?
 BIOS problems. The BIOS in a weird state, or with a failing “CMOS”
backup battery, may be confusing the boot process. Replace the battery,
reset the BIOS, etc. if you’re running out of options.
 Since you are booting, boot into the BIOS menus and see if there’s any
additional information being offered by your system.
DRAM LED
Since today’s CPUs directly address DRAM, it can actually be a problem with the CPU
that’s affecting a memory failure. So if you’re debugging this kind of issue, understand that
you need to check both. Possible meanings:

 DRAM module not properly seated, or other DRAM functional failure.

Ensure the DIMMs are seated and snapped in.
 DRAM module in wrong slot. Some main boards want a particular order
of module population.
 Bad sock or other main board issue preventing a DRAM from
functioning.
 Bad BIOS settings related to DRAM.
 If you’re seeing a DRAM failure, test one module at a time. Try several
sockets.
VGA LED

This is for the graphics card or graphics processor. But it’s really about the system interface
to those devices. It’s not an indication of a GPU card malfunction per se, but it could be an
issue of the CPU to GPU interfacing. Possible meanings:

For CPUs with integrated graphics, it could be some of the issues noted

for the CPU LED.
 GPU card not seated properly. Reseat it and latch it in place.
 GPU card not powered properly. Most but not all GPUs need one or more
PCIe auxiliary power cables. Ensure these are connected to the right
sockets on a modular power supply, and that all the connectors are
correctly snapped in place.
BOOT LED

This is about booting up from a storage device. Possible meanings

Boot device malfunction. Check your M.2 card for proper insertion.

Check your SATA cabling. Try a different SATA port — could be a main
board issue.
BEEP CODES

Here’s another thing to consider: BIOS Beep Codes. Do you have a speaker attached to the
main board? If you have a speaker and know your BIOS company, you might get some
more information listening to beep codes on startup.

BIOS INTERACTION

Since you’re working, boot into the BIOS… after you update it, of course. Look at the main
status page. Run any diagnostics it offers. All BIOS start with POST (power up self test)
which is the originator of at least some of the errors reported by the LEDs. It speaks
English (and probably other languages) so it may be able to tell you more than the four bits
of data you get from the LEDs.

BASIC DEBUGGING
While it’s certainly a pain in the ass to have to take apart an almost-working system, that’s
sometimes what you have to try to find problems. Update the BIOS. Change the “CMOS”
battery. Take everything out of your system. Reinstall the CPU, put in one DIMM. Look
for problems. Still getting that CPU light? Move the DIMM. If it’s good, built up from
there. If not, maybe you have a bum CPU. I’ve sent them back before. And main boards,
and all kinds of stuff that wasn’t working correctly.