Is my new Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 Intel Z68 board dead?

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 12:49

Just assembling my new SB system & the new board appears to be dead.

Instead of getting the POST passed beep or some fault beeps, the case speaker just makes one small click, all fans spin up but then after 5 seconds they stop, then the whole thing starts again. I tried starting with just one RAM module, cpu fan, 12v supply & main mobo supply cable connected but its exactly the same.

I assembled everything on a bench except a hard drive to see if I could get a display, tried a different graphics card but in the back of my mind I knew it was pointless (even tried a different case speaker). I've tested my power supply & its fine. I've cleared CMOS, removed the heatsink & reseated the cpu but to no avail, something must be wrong with this board.

Any ideas?

Surveyor · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:24

bainbridge said:
12v supply & main mobo supply cable connected but its exactly the same.

Is that the 24 pin and the 8 pin connections?

Have you connected any power cables needed by the GPU's you tried?

Did you use the standoffs when installing the motherboard in the case?

Kouba · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:31

How about the possibility of the CPU being dead? although thats rare =/

JasonKnights · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:37

does your power supply have the correct plugs for your motherboard , the pci express leads also have 8 pins and are different to the 8pin plug for motherboard? Im assuming your using you exisiting 450w psu which might not be enough for your new system?
when trouble shooting your pc only install the minimum amount of components to get it working. CPU. memory your board will have onboard gpu so leave other out for now and re test . if it comes on then add each device individually untill it wont turn on again then that will be your culpret!

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:43

Surveyor said:
Is that the 24 pin and the 8 pin connections?

Yes, both of these are connected.

Surveyor said:
Have you connected any power cables needed by the GPU's you tried?

Yes, x2 12v cables for the GTX460 & x1 12v cable for the X1950pro. The psu, cpu & graphics card fans spin up for 5 secs & then stop, this is the same is no graphics card is installed.

Surveyor said:
Did you use the standoffs when installing the motherboard in the case?

I didn't use standoffs as I was testing on an insulated bench.

Racking my brains to think of anything else it could be.

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:46

Dirty-Blade said:
How about the possibility of the CPU being dead? although thats rare =/

I considered that, its a brand spanking retail 2500k, visually it appears to be in perfect condition.

When I originally seated the cpu I noticed I could see the edges of the pins on the lower edge of the socket, but when I reseated its exactly the same, the notches are lined up & its seated correctly.

Surveyor · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:52

bainbridge said:
I didn't use standoffs as I was testing on an insulated bench.

Aaah, I thought you meant you tried this when it wouldn't work in the case.

So what exactly is the motherboard sitting on?

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 13:56

JasonKnights said:
does your power supply have the correct plugs for your motherboard , the pci express leads also have 8 pins and are different to the 8pin plug for motherboard? Im assuming your using you exisiting 450w psu which might not be enough for your new system?

I'm using an OCZ Stealth Xtreme 600w, its 3 years old but in good working order, the voltages are good on all connections (tested it today).

JasonKnights said:
when trouble shooting your pc only install the minimum amount of components to get it working. CPU. memory your board will have onboard gpu so leave other out for now and re test . if it comes on then add each device individually untill it wont turn on again then that will be your culpret!

That's what I've done, I test as I build then when I get a display & the system fails to find a hard drive I then install the components in the case.

PSU & both graphics cards are fine, I haven't another DDR3 board to test the RAM on but have tried each module on its own in all channels to no avail, the results are the same. Also have no other 1155 board to test the CPU, though I doubt the processor is at fault.

Just about given up :mad:

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 14:06

Surveyor said:
Aaah, I thought you meant you tried this when it wouldn't work in the case.

So what exactly is the motherboard sitting on?

Its sitting on a rubber mat which is on a thick book to give a bit of an overhang at the edge of the board to accommodate the bit that sticks out of the bottom of the graphics card.

JasonKnights · 5 Jun 2011 at 14:09

Will the z68 board except hybrid graphics? As it already uses the intel 3000 onboard gpu and the 460 you have? Aswell as the ATI card. Have u tried to boot with descreet graphics cards?

JasonKnights · 5 Jun 2011 at 14:10

Sorry just seen you have tried without gpu's ?? Weird 1

bainbridge · 5 Jun 2011 at 14:23

Just been looking on the board & there are no intergrated graphics ports, seems a bit daft for a 1155 socket.

QuackPot · 5 Jun 2011 at 16:00

bainbridge said:
Just been looking on the board & there are no intergrated graphics ports, seems a bit daft for a 1155 socket.

The upcoming GA-Z68XP-UD4-B3 will have a HDMI port on it. No idea why Gigabyte didn't release it in the firstplace. Makes the Z68X kinda pointless now.

robin66 · 5 Jun 2011 at 22:16

Sounds like you have the boot loop problem I had with a Z68X-UD4, that I was putting together the other day. Even tried everything you've done above, and even swapped in a new CPU to try and fix the problem. Came to the conclusion that it was the board it's self and sent it back.

RMA has gone through and I should receive the replacement on Tuesday.

I have another Z68X-UD4 in this system I'm using now, and it's been working fine for the last couple of weeks.

And I did read on another forum, that a possible course to this problem is if you use the reset button. So I disabled the one in my system for now until they issue a bios fix.

bainbridge · 6 Jun 2011 at 22:57

robin66 said:
Sounds like you have the boot loop problem I had with a Z68X-UD4, that I was putting together the other day. Even tried everything you've done above, and even swapped in a new CPU to try and fix the problem. Came to the conclusion that it was the board it's self and sent it back.

RMA has gone through and I should receive the replacement on Tuesday.

I have another Z68X-UD4 in this system I'm using now, and it's been working fine for the last couple of weeks.

And I did read on another forum, that a possible course to this problem is if you use the reset button. So I disabled the one in my system for now until they issue a bios fix.

Ahh, thanks for this robin66, your boot loop problem exactly describes what was happening with my board, since doing the RMA request I've been wondering whether it was the new CPU or RAM at fault rather than the board itself.

Regarding the reset button, it wouldn't have triggered the boot loop in this case as I only connected the power switch the the front panel, but will bear it in mind when I get a replacement (i hope).

Stryda09 · 7 Jun 2011 at 12:06

Have you tried resetting cmos using the jumper?

robin66 · 7 Jun 2011 at 13:06

Stryda09 said:
Have you tried resetting cmos using the jumper?

Mentioned in the first post.

Evoss · 7 Jun 2011 at 13:44

QuackPot said:
The upcoming GA-Z68XP-UD4-B3 will have a HDMI port on it. No idea why Gigabyte didn't release it in the firstplace. Makes the Z68X kinda pointless now.

Do you know the release date for this board? Not much on Google.

Cheers

bainbridge · 10 Jun 2011 at 19:03

Well ocuk have tested this board & it posted fine, they've updated BIOS to latest version, hopefully this might sort out any incompatibility issues, if not I'm stumped

Lelouch · 10 Jun 2011 at 19:08

Hope issue with your mobo gets resolved mate. It's frustrating when you get your stuff and get really excited to fiddle with it and then you discover a problem and have to wait to get it sorted.