Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5P Help needed

Hi all,

I think I'm having trouble getting my motherboard configured to run correctly with a Samsung 950 pro SSD and windows 10.

I'm trying to get windows 10 installed at the moment and I can get as far as the Windows loading circle as installation begins before the entire system locks up and becomes unresponsive for a time and then reboots to start the process again.

I've been fiddling around in the BIOS with different legacy and UEFI settings and can only get the SSD to be visible under legacy boot options but even this doesn't seem to make a difference to the lock up.

I've ruled out most obvious hardware issues as well, having tried single sticks of RAM, different graphics cards and target HDDs for the windows install and even went as far as RMAing the mobo as I thought that might be the issue but the problem persists.

If it makes a difference the system was running fine up until recently when an unexpected power off (through leaning something on the power button on my case) seemed to corrupt the windows install.

I've managed to access the SSD using a linux mint live USB and format it so I'm essentially working with a blank disk.

I'm really tearing my hair out here now. Could anyone offer some advice?

I should probably have mentioned the rest of my specs as well.

• i7 5820k @ stock (previously overclocked to 4Ghz)
• 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000Mhz (2 x 16GB kits)
• Superflower Leadex Gold 850W Fully modular PSU
• MSI GTX1080 Gaming X

Have you tried running the RAM without XMP enabled?

Strange that the drive only shows up under legacy. I've got the same board as you - I used to have a 5820K and 3000MHz RAM as well until recently. My SSD is an SM951, but it's the same type of NVMe drive. I can look up my BIOS screens tonight if it might help.

Have you got another drive you can try? E.g. try to install to a HDD and see if it works. You may have tried this already

Borealis said:

Have you tried running the RAM without XMP enabled?

Strange that the drive only shows up under legacy. I've got the same board as you - I used to have a 5820K and 3000MHz RAM as well until recently. My SSD is an SM951, but it's the same type of NVMe drive. I can look up my BIOS screens tonight if it might help.

Have you got another drive you can try? E.g. try to install to a HDD and see if it works. You may have tried this already

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Borealis, XMP is currently disabled.

Yeah I thought that too, I'm not sure if its because when I did the format using Linux I think it used an MBR partitioning system rather than GPT.

I have tried installing to a spare mechanical HDD that I have lying around and the problem persists with the system hanging as soon as the Windows installer tries to load up.

If you could look up the BIOS screens that would be super helpful as I feel like I'm fumbling about in the dark at the moment when it comes to potential fixes.

I'm currently running the F22 BIOS revision which seems to change the layout of the BIOS screens quite considerably. Hopefully all the relevant settings will still be there.

I'm usually pretty good at troubleshooting, but this has me totally flummoxed and I'm getting frustrated to the point of thinking about starting again with a new Skylake set up rather than faffing with this any more.

Ah, OK then. I'm still on BIOS F1 - the release BIOS. As everything has been working fine, I haven't updated it. I can still look the stuff up for you though.

Going to sound stupid here, but is it the same install media you've been using each time? If the install media is damaged/corrupted then it could well just keep bonking out at the same point.

It might be worth going to the microsoft website and using the media creation tool to create a fresh installation media.

There's no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to troubleshooting as far as I'm concerned.

I have varied the install media up, using two different USB sticks and a variety of methods of bootable stick creation (Windows media creation tool and Rufus + ISO). I even had a root around in my 'bits box' and found an old optical drive to try a disk based install.

Interestingly I have the same problem in exactly the same place regardless of whether I'm trying to install win 8.1 or 10 from the optical drive (I gave that a go as I have old 8.1 discs lying about).

All of this is what led me to the conclusion that it could be some sort of config balls up or motherboard problem as all of the separate elements seem like they're working independently but for whatever reason all conk out when used together.

The only hardware I haven't been able to conclusively rule out is the PSU and processor. But if I can run a Linux live disc with no issues I suspect the processor is OK and as far as I'm aware the Superflower PSUs are pretty bomb proof.

I'm guessing there may be a config screw up. I'll have a look at my settings tonight. Failing that, it could be a board issue.

With the wide range of install media you've tried, it's fair to say it's not corrupted install media!

Do you have another PSU handy to rule that out?

Yeah that's really all I'm left with as I recently RMA'd the motherboard and received a replacement from Overclockers that exhibits the same behavior.

I do have a spare PSU but I don't think it'll have enough grunt to power everything as it's only a 430w from an old media PC build.

Yeah, with a 1080, you ideally want a 550W PSU. Of course, with it being X99 you don't have onboard graphics either.

It could actually be a bad CPU. I know someone else here had a strange issue and it turned out to be a borked CPU.

I'll see what the BIOS settings should be tonight.

I'm primed and ready whenever you get a moment Borealis. If you could list the BIOS settings or upload pics I can feed them into mine and have a go.

Your help is much appreciated.

Problem Solved.

I took the plunge and ordered a 6800k to ensure it wasn't a failing CPU and it worked first time.

I have a similar issue, but find mine is more tempremental than that, Win 10 is installed but often won't boot (and just reboots, have RMAed the board new one has the same issue), so now questioning the CPU.

To the question
@Scurra is your's (on the 6800k) working fine without issue?