New 4970K build and won't start up. Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard

peterwalkley

peterwalkley

peterwalkley

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Solved: New 4970K build and won't start up. Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard

I am having problems getting a devil's canyon build to start up - I can't even get to a BIOS screen. It is stuck in a loop of powering up, stays on for about 5 seconds, then powers down ... then repeats this cycle until I switch off at the PSU. The fans all spin up as does the CPU cooler.

I have gone through Huddy's very handy troubleshooting guide and am not getting anywhere.

Components are:

Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard
Intel i7-4790K cpu with stock cooler
Corsair AX760 power supply

Things I've tried:
- All power connections reseated - many times ! The PSU works fine as I had it on a different build not long ago.
- Reseated the CPU
- Only a keyboard connected. There are no drives or cards.

I am using the on-board graphics and tried DVI and HDMI connections.


Just before it powers down, the status code on the MB display is C0 - which is just listed as "reserved" in the manual - so no help there.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions as I am stuck at the moment. It is particularly annoying as this is the build I wanted to watercool once at the workshop tomorrow.
 
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tried backup bios position on the mb?

what board did the psu work on before as haswell can be picky with psu's
 
If the above Bios switch and confirming PSU has no issues with haswell then I would go for:

1. Do a triple check on all the basics. Just in case.

2. Try run with the bare essentials. 1 stick of ram (try different slots as well) and no graphics card.

3. Build out side of the PC on the motherboard box using only essential parts again

4.If all else fails check for bent pins.
 
Flipping to the different BIOS had a small difference, it seems to stay on, but still nothing visible on screen and the C0 status code.

I will try Quitarah's suggestions and report back. Previous board is a gigabyte EXP58-UDP4 (5 years old !). The PSU is less than 6 months old.
 
Ok ... so moving memory around seems to have helped. I have two sticks and had plugged them into slots DDR3_1 and DDR3_2 (the two orange slots on the board) - which was my understanding from the manual of what to do.

With the two sticks plugged into slots DDR3_1 and DDR3_3 (i.e an orange slot and a black slot) I can get the the BIOS screen.

Hoorary !

Thank-you gents. I'll re-re-re-re-read that bit of the manual as I was totally sure I was doing it right.
 
It should be either two orange slots or two black slots to get dual channel operation.

Any bent pins in the socket?
 
No obvious bent pins. I have just tried both sticks in the black slots and it goes back to the original boot loop problem.

The memory is a 16GB Team group Xtreem kit I got a few weeks ago when it was on offer from OC. It looks like this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-015-TG&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387 but has different frequency and timing on the side. The label says DDR3 2666 and 11-13-13-35 CAS timings.

So - does this mean I have a faulty board, or did I go and buy the wrong memory on the cheap ?
 
That RAM is not cheap.

It could be your CPU's memory controller cant cope with it, but saying that, until you load XMP profile in the BIOS it will be running at 1333MHz.

Get the board working and try flashing the BIOS with the latest using Qflash within the BIOS.
 
Cheers Stulid :) ... especially for confirming I am capable of reading a manual correctly !

I'm considerably happier than an hour ago. I was wondering which of the expensive components was broken. Getting to the BIOS screen makes me happy.

This community is just brilliant.
 
Also...

If you have over tightened a cpu cooler that can cause the board to bend and mess up the contacts between socket and CPU.
 
Yeah ... that was one of the other things I'd tried. I originally had a Corsair AIO cooler in there, but suspecting a possible overheating problem I flipped over to the stock one for safely. The stock is just push pins, so you have to really try hard to get that wrong !

A clean & regrease likely needed when I feel up to putting the AIO back in.
 
An update (First thing I did was update to the latest BIOS - F6).

After lots of experimentation I still can't get dual channel memory mode working. The moment I have two sticks in the same coloured slots it goes into the failed boot loop and no BIOS screen even available.

I have tried both sticks individually in all the slots and all seems to work (at 1333 Mhz) fine. I can get the RAM clock set up to 2666 Mhz with one stick in the orange and one in the black, so I am as sure as I can be that neither of the sticks is faulty.

I have tried manually setting the RAM timing for both channels by letting the XMP stuff read the details for a single stick and then manually copying the values across to the other channel. This fails as soon as I power up after adding the second stick to the same coloured slot.

I'm stuck again :(

The only other thing I've found is that the memory I've got is not explicitly listed as compatible with the board in the compatibility list. How do those lists work - are they a list of the only ones that work, or just the ones they have tested ?

The part code number I have on the sticks is TXD38G2666HC11CBK if that has any meaning to anyone. CAS details are 11-13-13-35 1.65v.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions. I have a usable box with 16 Gig ram, but its just a waste not having dual channel working.
 
F7a made no difference. Even with XMP disabled it won't boot to the BIOS when the two sticks are in the same coloured slots. I've not tried the 2133 or 2400 speeds as I don't see them working if 1333 doesn't.

Am I doomed to single channel ?
 
Well something isn't right. Start thinking about RMAing.


However as a last ditch effort, upload a picture of the inside of your PC. One or two pics will do just get the essentials in view.
 
Hopefully this link will work for the pictures. The RAM is in the _1 and _3 slots at the moment. For testing dual channel I move the one nearest the CPU (in the black slot) to the currently empty orange slot. Slots _1 and _2 are where TFM tells me to put them for dual channel.

As you can see, its a minimal build at the moment.
 
any memory switches on that board? I know it has a lot of switches n dials,read the manual

only thing I can think of is bent cpu pins or bios incompatibility or mb fault

that ram should work ok
 
Maybe try run memtest on each individual stick, although I doubt it's that but do it to rule it out. One stick at a time.

Other than that, it sounds like a motherboard RMA. I really don't know why it won't work in duel chan at 1333mhz
 
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