BIOS resets every power off

madteamkiller · 15 Jul 2019 at 13:42

So I have this issue with the new Gigabyte x570 Gaming X board. I'm using it with a 3700x at stock speeds ,DDR4 8PACK edition 3600Mhz RAM, AMD RX480 GPU, and a Seasonic Focus+ Platinum 550w powersupply.

I've noticed the BIOS only resets when I shut off the power at the plug. If I restart or shutdown and leave the power on at the plug, the BIOS settings will be fine on next boot up.

So this lead me to beleive the CMOS battery was dead. I've replaced it with a brand new battery. but the issue is still happening.

The other thing I have tried is unplugging all unecessary cables/periferals however, even that did not work.

Anyone know what might be the cause, I would appreciate the help, Thanks.

Stubbsy · 15 Jul 2019 at 20:07

Perhaps the battery power isn't getting to the motherboard. Does the clip that holds it in look secure on the board? It could have a dry joint under one of the two pads that connects it.
Or is there a tiny piece of metal touching the reset CMOS pin? (that seems unlikely i admit)

madteamkiller · 16 Jul 2019 at 16:06

Okay, I think I have the issue nailed down for anyone that has a similar problem.

It was the XMP profile that caused the BIOS to reset whenever I turned off the computer. After trying a bunch of memory settings, I've found the BIOS resets after a restart/shutdown when I set the memory frequency to 3600MHz.

I've tried 3200MHz and my bios doesn't get reset.

Now I guess the next issue is how do I get my RAM to 3600MHz without my BIOS clearing every time.

LuckyBenski · 16 Jul 2019 at 16:29

madteamkiller said:
Okay, I think I have the issue nailed down for anyone that has a similar problem.

It was the XMP profile that caused the BIOS to reset whenever I turned off the computer. After trying a bunch of memory settings, I've found the BIOS resets after a restart/shutdown when I set the memory frequency to 3600MHz.

I've tried 3200MHz and my bios doesn't get reset.

Now I guess the next issue is how do I get my RAM to 3600MHz without my BIOS clearing every time.

So what's happening is the PC fails to POST/boot and resets BIOS settings so it can. Standard overclocking rules apply... Raise clock speeds in small steps, raise voltage if need be, loosen timings at first then tighten.

Matheus Lima · 15 Feb 2021 at 01:19

madteamkiller said:
Okay, I think I have the issue nailed down for anyone that has a similar problem.

It was the XMP profile that caused the BIOS to reset whenever I turned off the computer. After trying a bunch of memory settings, I've found the BIOS resets after a restart/shutdown when I set the memory frequency to 3600MHz.

I've tried 3200MHz and my bios doesn't get reset.

Now I guess the next issue is how do I get my RAM to 3600MHz without my BIOS clearing every time.

Did you managed to get to 3600mhz without getting your bios reset in any way? I Have an B450 from Gigabyte and I'm having the same problem, but my ram are 3200mhz. I activate the xmp profile and my PC runs fine for the day, but usually the next day it starts normally, get to desktop for around 1 minute, then resets itself and won't start up until I unplug it completely . And when it turns on again the bios settings are reset (with an message saying that they are), windows clock is reset too, and I have to set up everything again. I have the latest bios version, no overclock, just set the xmp profile to 3200mhz and the infinity fabric to the same frequency (something you need to do to have the best performance with ryzen).
My config is:
Ryzen 5 3600
Gigabyte aorus B450 elite v2 rev 1.0
2x8gb adata xpg spectrix d41 3200mhz (sk hynix chip)
Asus tuf3 GTX 1660s
Samsung Evo 850 250gb ssd
Cougar sl600 PSU.
Sorry for my bad english guys.

adrichardson81 · 15 Feb 2021 at 14:45

3600 can be a bit of an ask for a 3700x. I couldn't even boot at 3600 c18, but was rock stable at 3200 c13. Thing to watch out for is it may be suitable on a soft boot but hangs in memory training.

Spiritwolf · 15 Feb 2021 at 16:09

During boot sequence, the system goes through memory training to sync the clocks between memory and CPU.

It is highly likely that is failing during cold boot, and thus your motherboard is resetting BIOs, it happens a lot on the over clocking scene.

If you are confident of the memory clocks, try turn on Fast boot, this will bypass memory training, this should also avoid BIOS resets.

Stubbsy · 17 Feb 2021 at 10:07

Spiritwolf said:
If you are confident of the memory clocks, try turn on Fast boot, this will bypass memory training, this should also avoid BIOS resets.

This is a brilliant tip and I wish I'd known this when I first posted way back in 2019.

@Matheus

Did you managed to get to 3600mhz without getting your bios reset in any way?

No. In the end I decided that memory probably wasn't causing a major bottleneck for me and reluctantly accepted that if I really wanted 3600 MHz I should have paid more for the memory. So it's clocked a bit above the 3200 MHz base, but not much, sorry.

Matheus Lima · 18 Feb 2021 at 22:49

Spiritwolf said:
During boot sequence, the system goes through memory training to sync the clocks between memory and CPU.

It is highly likely that is failing during cold boot, and thus your motherboard is resetting BIOs, it happens a lot on the over clocking scene.

If you are confident of the memory clocks, try turn on Fast boot, this will bypass memory training, this should also avoid BIOS resets.

I'll try the fast boot then to see if it works. It's strange because I kinda fixed it. I did basically 3 things: switched positions between the memory sticks using the same slots (A1, B1); removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes to reset bios; resetted the bios using the jumpers in my mobo; and the last thing I did was releasing a bit the pressure in the screws of my cpu cooler (it's the stock one that came in the box). I know this last one it's a bit weird and don't make much sense, but I saw something in another forum that someone was having an similar problem and solved it by doing this. It stopped resetting my bios for 3 or 4 days, but today the same thing happened. Failed to boot, gpu fans 100% and the only thing that I can do to turn off my PC is by removing the power cable or by the switch in the psu. Also the clock in windows is resetted every time this happens, as my memory frequency and infinity fabric frequency too. It looks a lot like bad CMOS battery, but I've changed it twice and it didn't help. I'm getting so frustrated man...

Matheus Lima · 18 Feb 2021 at 22:58

Stubbsy said:
This is a brilliant tip and I wish I'd known this when I first posted way back in 2019.

@Matheus No. In the end I decided that memory probably wasn't causing a major bottleneck for me and reluctantly accepted that if I really wanted 3600 MHz I should have paid more for the memory. So it's clocked a bit above the 3200 MHz base, but not much, sorry.

Good to know it's working at least. Mine is not working even with the xmp profile, everything on stock and Auto. The strange thing it's that this thing usually only happens once a day, on a cold boot or something. If I was doing an overclock on my memories or something else I would understand, but everything it's stock, only with xmp profile on 3200mhz. After I make this with optimized defaults on my bios my PC works fine for the rest of the day, even if I turn it off an on again, it boot's normally every time. And in the next day it will fail on a cold boot for sure...

LuckyBenski · 18 Feb 2021 at 23:14

Have you tried leaving the RAM stock and seeing if it does it?

Matheus Lima · 18 Feb 2021 at 23:27

LuckyBenski said:
Have you tried leaving the RAM stock and seeing if it does it?

No, in the beginning I've thought to try it without xmp as you said, but it will set my memory and infinity fabric on the lowest setting, causing some low frame rates in csgo, the game that I play the most. I can try it to see if the boot bug will stop.

Spiritwolf · 18 Feb 2021 at 23:50

Matheus Lima said:
I'll try the fast boot then to see if it works. It's strange because I kinda fixed it. I did basically 3 things: switched positions between the memory sticks using the same slots (A1, B1); removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes to reset bios; resetted the bios using the jumpers in my mobo; and the last thing I did was releasing a bit the pressure in the screws of my cpu cooler (it's the stock one that came in the box). I know this last one it's a bit weird and don't make much sense, but I saw something in another forum that someone was having an similar problem and solved it by doing this. It stopped resetting my bios for 3 or 4 days, but today the same thing happened. Failed to boot, gpu fans 100% and the only thing that I can do to turn off my PC is by removing the power cable or by the switch in the psu. Also the clock in windows is resetted every time this happens, as my memory frequency and infinity fabric frequency too. It looks a lot like bad CMOS battery, but I've changed it twice and it didn't help. I'm getting so frustrated man...

If boot works when you loosen a screw then the copper traces between the pcb has come de-laminated, or less likely the screw is causing a ground short. You will need to start thinking of a replacement motherboard, that thing won’t last much longer.

LuckyBenski · 18 Feb 2021 at 23:54

Matheus Lima said:
No, in the beginning I've thought to try it without xmp as you said, but it will set my memory and infinity fabric on the lowest setting, causing some low frame rates in csgo, the game that I play the most. I can try it to see if the boot bug will stop.

Yes but it will also identify whether the issue is elsewhere or if it's with memory clocks... It's simply a step in the troubleshooting process. If you haven't proven it works at stock, why do you expect it to work outside of stock settings?

Matheus Lima · 19 Feb 2021 at 01:25

Spiritwolf said:
If boot works when you loosen a screw then the copper traces between the pcb has come de-laminated, or less likely the screw is causing a ground short. You will need to start thinking of a replacement motherboard, that thing won’t last much longer.

I don't think this is the case here. My PC works normally if I set everything in the bios, no blue screens, no thermal problems, it never crashed. The only problem is in cold boot, it goes to the password screen in windows, then restarts itself, gpu fans 100% (and things...), dram led indicator in my mobo lights up and it stays this way until I turn my psu off. Maybe I didn't told you guys about the dram led in my mobo before, Just remembered that. But I think it's not an stability issue because I've ran every single stability tests for dram u can imagine and it passed in every single one with no errors at all. I think maybe it's a bug between my memory controller, my memory sticks, infinity fabric frequency and my bios on "cold starts", because if it was an stability issue or an incompatibility between them my PC would not work all day with no issues as he does.

Matheus Lima · 19 Feb 2021 at 01:31

LuckyBenski said:
Yes but it will also identify whether the issue is elsewhere or if it's with memory clocks... It's simply a step in the troubleshooting process. If you haven't proven it works at stock, why do you expect it to work outside of stock settings?

It totally make sense brother, I've just neglected it because in all my PC history this kind of thing never happened and because I was using just the xmp profile with everything else on default, for me it should work. Also I forgot to tell you about the dram led in my mobo as I said in my last comment, my bad, sorry. I'll try everything on default, including memory frequency and see what happens. I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to tell you guys what happened. Thank you for now!

pc-guy · 19 Feb 2021 at 01:44

When you say you lose your bios setting, what exactly do you mean?

Do you loose all the settings like as if the bios has done a CMOS clear. Or your settings are still shown in the bios such as XMP etc etc but when you get into windows RAM is not at XMP speeds etc.

If your bios is being reset and wiped and you have to redial all the settings then I suspect that is a motherboard hardware level issue.

however if you bios settings are still intact in bios such as XMP but when load into windows ram and CPU are not in the setting they should be at and you need to go into bios in order to activate those settings then it sounds like memory training issue or cold boot issue.

If it is cold boot issue it could also be related to PSU. Do you have another PSU to test with and how old is that 550w?

Matheus Lima · 19 Feb 2021 at 04:03

pc-guy said:
When you say you lose your bios setting, what exactly do you mean?

Do you loose all the settings like as if the bios has done a CMOS clear. Or your settings are still shown in the bios such as XMP etc etc but when you get into windows RAM is not at XMP speeds etc.

If your bios is being reset and wiped and you have to redial all the settings then I suspect that is a motherboard hardware level issue.

however if you bios settings are still intact in bios such as XMP but when load into windows ram and CPU are not in the setting they should be at and you need to go into bios in order to activate those settings then it sounds like memory training issue or cold boot issue.

If it is cold boot issue it could also be related to PSU. Do you have another PSU to test with and how old is that 550w?

Hey brother! Basically, this problem happens every time I turn on my PC after a long period of it being turned off completely (like 12 hours of no use). When I turn it on the other day it boots normally until I get to the password screen on windows. Then, after 5 or 10 seconds it will restart itself and, fail to boot, restart itself again, gpu fans spinning 100% speed non-stop (on a normal boot they do this for 2 seconds an then stop, just AMD things) and if lt will keep like this until I turn off my PC by disconnecting the power cable from the psu. When I turn it on again it boots normally, load windows with no restart. When I check on cpuz the memory frequency is on the lowest values possible (2466mhz or something like that) and infinity fabric frequency too. When I go to the bios it starts with an message saying "yours bios settings are been reset" (this message appears in both cases, if I hit DEL and go to my bios right after the restart before loading windows or if I load windows and then restart). Everything in the bios configs are on default, including any changes I've done on it before, memory frequency, infinity fabric, everything. It shows, on the same screen that I use to load optimized defaults/save changes and exit, the 3 profiles that I made and saved with different configs, so I can assume that only the current configs on the BIOS are been reset, it's not an complete wipeout (like a CMOS reset).
My psu is an 4 year old Cougar SL 600. It's not and state-of-the-art psu, but I'm using it for all this time in my old PC (same gpu with an FX 8350 that has double tdp) and never had any problems with it. Maybe it can be something related to it being too old and not being able to handle the way my system/mobo uses the power when it's turned off for long periods of time, I don't know. It's strange, the sintoms are exactly the same as if my CMOS battery is dead, but it's not. Unfortunately I don't have another PSU to test

Matheus Lima · 19 Feb 2021 at 04:14

I hope you understood what I mean, if you don't please ask and I'll try to say it in another way. I think it's something like you've said here:

"however if you bios settings are still intact in bios such as XMP but when load into windows ram and CPU are not in the setting they should be at and you need to go into bios in order to activate those settings then it sounds like memory training issue or cold boot issue."

But everything is on default (except xmp 3200mhz, that is the frequency of my ram, not an OC), I did multiple tests of stability, played games and never had an blue screen, not a single problem, except on the cold boot the next day. Everything software/driver related is up-to-date, except for the EC FW (something firmware-related) that I decided to don't mess with because I saw some people having problems after running it.

Matheus Lima · 19 Feb 2021 at 04:17

pc-guy said:
When you say you lose your bios setting, what exactly do you mean?

Do you loose all the settings like as if the bios has done a CMOS clear. Or your settings are still shown in the bios such as XMP etc etc but when you get into windows RAM is not at XMP speeds etc.

If your bios is being reset and wiped and you have to redial all the settings then I suspect that is a motherboard hardware level issue.

however if you bios settings are still intact in bios such as XMP but when load into windows ram and CPU are not in the setting they should be at and you need to go into bios in order to activate those settings then it sounds like memory training issue or cold boot issue.

If it is cold boot issue it could also be related to PSU. Do you have another PSU to test with and how old is that 550w?

And sorry, I don't know if you are replying to the original publisher or me (because you've talked about an 550w psu). He has already solved his problem (kinda).