New CPU and mobo bootup issue I have?

[LucShep]

31 minutes ago, The_Nephilim said:

Well the tech help is wanting me to RMA the board so they can inspect it. I am really not wanting to do that at this point. I fear either they will do somethnig to break it or just say nothing is wrong with it. I am not even sure what else can be done.

 

I did find out when I disabled the XMP PRofile while the CPU was still OC I did not have the bootup issue.. So it is memory related but not sure if it is the slot, the memory or the IMC??

But I do not want to be without a pc for up to 2 weeks, I could reassemble my old PC but I don't have a windows for it.. and I really dont feel like assembling it and then dissassemble the reassemble the new pc haha!!

Yes, it's a PITA, you'll have to pay the shipment of the board to them, trust the hardware gods that your motherboard will be correctly handled during all the time (can take a while), and in the meanwhile you'll be deprived of the system (or then need to mount your previous system components if you need a gaming PC to work). 

But in the end it may be better.
Worst case scenario usually is that they tell you the motherboard has no problem whatsoever, that the problem lies elsewhere (RAM, CPU, PSU, etc), and they send it back. 
Best case scenario (and the intended result, I guess) a defect is found and you're either given a replacement (same product or direct equivalent) or a refund.

https://softhandtech.com/how-do-you-rma-a-motherboard/
(and before anything, contact the shop/seller where you got that motherboard and enquire for their direct assistance in the process)

The thing I'm still not understanding when you mention that disabling the XMP profile presentes no issue is...
1) ...is this with the basic (safest but slower) auto speed/timings?
2) ...or is this if you manually insert "XMP-alike" values for speed, primary timings, correct gear mode, and the right voltages (etc), does it then work fine with no bootup issue?
 

Edited April 5 by LucShep

[The_Nephilim]

1 hour ago, LucShep said:

The thing I'm still not understanding when you mention that disabling the XMP profile presentes no issue is...
1) ...is this with the basic (safest but slower) auto speed/timings?
2) ...or is this if you manually insert "XMP-alike" values for speed, primary timings, correct gear mode, and the right voltages (etc), does it then work fine with no bootup issue?
 

1. Yes the default Momory settings and timings..

 

2. No I did not adjust the memiry besides turning off xmp and just default settings for memory..

 

I might send it back still undescided..

[BitMaster]

Windows runs fine w/o activation. The only thing which won't work is Desktop bling bling, that's all, colors and Wallpapers.

 

Before you touch any dials and mess with them, be sure to have the correct dial !!!  SA-Volts is a VERY sensitive setting as said above...that was close to sudden CPU death

[The_Nephilim]

2 hours ago, BitMaster said:

Windows runs fine w/o activation. The only thing which won't work is Desktop bling bling, that's all, colors and Wallpapers.

 

Before you touch any dials and mess with them, be sure to have the correct dial !!!  SA-Volts is a VERY sensitive setting as said above...that was close to sudden CPU death

yes I know but the assembly is going to take some time..

 

Yes well it was close but I thought It was the correct dial.. but a adverted a disaster..

[pegasus1]

On 3/29/2025 at 6:14 AM, The_Nephilim said:

What happens is when I do a coldboot the PC turns on then after a couple seconds it turns off again then turns on automatically then boots normally.. I only hit the power button once.

 

 

This is normal, my Asrock x570 Taichi does this everytime i boot, no issues, applies the right BIOS settings and gets straight into the OS.

 

[SharpeXB]

7 hours ago, pegasus1 said:

This is normal, my Asrock x570 Taichi does this everytime i boot, no issues, applies the right BIOS settings and gets straight into the OS.

 

The PC powers on and off while starting up? That seems strange, I’ve never had one do that. Except when installing updates but not every time I start it. 

Edited April 15 by SharpeXB

[Lange_666]

7 hours ago, pegasus1 said:

This is normal, my Asrock x570 Taichi does this everytime i boot, no issues, applies the right BIOS settings and gets straight into the OS.

 

It's NOT normal. If it does there certainly is an issue while booting the first time.

[pegasus1]

1 hour ago, Lange_666 said:

It's NOT normal. If it does there certainly is an issue while booting the first time.

Depends very much on the hardware and Bios environment. That Mobo did the same with anything from a 1080Ti to a 4090, from a 3700x to a 5800x3d. The most stable rig i think ive ever built.

1 hour ago, SharpeXB said:

The PC powers on and off while starting up? That seems strange, I’ve never had one do that. Except when installing updates but not every time I start it. 

Press the start button, it powers up for a second then resets and boots fine.  I had that rig for maybe 3 years and never a stability issue, all the haerdware ran fine.

Ive known it to happen when a mobo boots and resets the RAM to a custom Bios setting.

[Hiob]

On 3/29/2025 at 5:14 AM, The_Nephilim said:

 

I am on my last leg here to try and determine why I have this issue with my PC. What happens is when I do a coldboot the PC turns on then after a couple seconds it turns off again then turns on automatically then boots normally.. I only hit the power button once.

 

I think your PSU is faulty or underspecced. When the Computer was off, all capacitors are depleted and everything draws a lot of current (rel.) momentarily after switch on, which trips the PSU. The second time around the capacitors are (partly) loaded and the current draw is reduced which lifts it over the edge.

That would be my guess of what is happening here.

[SharpeXB]

7 minutes ago, pegasus1 said:

Press the start button, it powers up for a second then resets and boots fine.  I had that rig for maybe 3 years and never a stability issue, all the haerdware ran fine.

I’m no expert but I’ve never seen this behavior in any PC I’ve ever used. 

[Hiob]

11 minutes ago, Hiob said:

I think your PSU is faulty or underspecced. When the Computer was off, all capacitors are depleted and everything draws a lot of current (rel.) momentarily after switch on, which trips the PSU. The second time around the capacitors are (partly) loaded and the current draw is reduced which lifts it over the edge.

That would be my guess of what is happening here.

actually I only experienced this behaviour with Audio-Amplifiers that would trip a fuse on turn-on. Of course they have much(!) bigger capacitors. But its the only idea that I can come up with that fits the symptoms.

[The_Nephilim]

Well I had another PC do this 2 systems ago. In that PC 2 systems ago I tried another PSU and it did the same thing.. so I am a little leary in getting a new PSU as this one is a decent one. it is a corsair RM850e..

 

 

[BitMaster]

That's odd, something is likely not right. Some Dell Workstations Series I serviced do this, but they selftest, reset and go booting, with Status LEDs etc..  a feature, not a bug.

Whenever I had that on my own or Client PC's it was mostly RAM related. If it doesnt do it with JDEC defaults or another brand you have to look no further....

But it can be also be a hardware/firmware issue, you'd have to swop parts and start simple too, no gimmicks, no LEDs etc.. just bare bones and then see

when the error comes in when you add hardware as needed. YOu dont need any drive attached or NVMe inserted to test bios init and CPU/RAM test, all you get is a No Bootdrive found.

1 RAM module, 1 drive, use iGPU if possible first, the least amount of variables, one by one...  no OC, no XMP

[The_Nephilim]

2 hours ago, BitMaster said:

That's odd, something is likely not right. Some Dell Workstations Series I serviced do this, but they selftest, reset and go booting, with Status LEDs etc..  a feature, not a bug.

Whenever I had that on my own or Client PC's it was mostly RAM related. If it doesnt do it with JDEC defaults or another brand you have to look no further....

But it can be also be a hardware/firmware issue, you'd have to swop parts and start simple too, no gimmicks, no LEDs etc.. just bare bones and then see

when the error comes in when you add hardware as needed. YOu dont need any drive attached or NVMe inserted to test bios init and CPU/RAM test, all you get is a No Bootdrive found.

1 RAM module, 1 drive, use iGPU if possible first, the least amount of variables, one by one...  no OC, no XMP

Well,  that is the thing I have done all that and only when I turn off the XMP Profile the PC coldboots normally even while the CPU is still OC to 5.5ghz.. I am am not sure why it does this only when the XMP PRofile is on. so fault lies there but it could be incompatibility with the RAM ir the IMC is being funky..

 

[Hiob]

7 hours ago, The_Nephilim said:

Well,  that is the thing I have done all that and only when I turn off the XMP Profile the PC coldboots normally even while the CPU is still OC to 5.5ghz.. I am am not sure why it does this only when the XMP PRofile is on. so fault lies there but it could be incompatibility with the RAM ir the IMC is being funky..

 

Points to RAM instability. Try to increase the Voltage for the XMP profile slightly (in .05V increments) and see if that improves stability. A better way would be to adjust the timings but that is easier said then done when you aren't familiar with the process.

[The_Nephilim]

11 hours ago, Hiob said:

Points to RAM instability. Try to increase the Voltage for the XMP profile slightly (in .05V increments) and see if that improves stability. A better way would be to adjust the timings but that is easier said then done when you aren't familiar with the process.

well I tried messing with the voltage settings that did not help. I can mess with the timings and I am familiar with the process so it should be no issues I will try and loosen them up a bit. I will report back in a bit.. thnx

Edited April 16 by The_Nephilim

[The_Nephilim]

OK I toiled with it for about an hour nothing I did worked. I tried loosening the timings and change the voltage manually. the only thing that works is when I set the XMP PRofile too off and just use the regualr setting for the memory..

 

I am unsure what else to try. I really had a near meltdown a few times where the PC would not even boot. 

[Hiob]

7 hours ago, The_Nephilim said:

OK I toiled with it for about an hour nothing I did worked. I tried loosening the timings and change the voltage manually. the only thing that works is when I set the XMP PRofile too off and just use the regualr setting for the memory..

 

I am unsure what else to try. I really had a near meltdown a few times where the PC would not even boot. 

Well if it reliably works when XMP is off, it has to do something with the Memory, no? Either there are some very messed up (sub-) timings or the xmp profile is changing other things too. (Which I’m unaware of, but maybe I’m not up to date).

How many sticks do you have? Can you test them one by one. Maybe one is faulty?

[Hiob]

Maybe have a look in stability related CPU settings as well, things like loadline calibration and such.....

[The_Nephilim]

8 hours ago, Hiob said:

Well if it reliably works when XMP is off, it has to do something with the Memory, no? Either there are some very messed up (sub-) timings or the xmp profile is changing other things too. (Which I’m unaware of, but maybe I’m not up to date).

How many sticks do you have? Can you test them one by one. Maybe one is faulty?

Yes, that is what I was thinking that it has to be memory related.. I did test them one by one and in all the slots it did the same bootup issue.. I have 2 sticks of DDR5 for a total of 64GB. I can check the sub timings but not too sure what they should be..

 

I did set my LLC to high not sure what ither setting to change there either.. I will have to do some digging I guess to see what these settings should be at..

[Hiob]

4 minutes ago, The_Nephilim said:

Yes, that is what I was thinking that it has to be memory related.. I did test them one by one and in all the slots it did the same bootup issue.. I have 2 sticks of DDR5 for a total of 64GB. I can check the sub timings but not too sure what they should be..

 

I did set my LLC to high not sure what ither setting to change there either.. I will have to do some digging I guess to see what these settings should be at..

Everything related to Voltage (loadline affects how fast and strong the voltage reacts to load requirements, improving stability but hitting the system harder) is a compromise of stability vs. longevity. Basically, a higher voltage will increase the stability but also heat, which will age the components faster. So you want to have it as high as needed and as low as possible.

This guy has some serious expertise and if you are lucky even a bit about your specific RAM: https://www.youtube.com/@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking

 

[Art-J]

Not going to help here much, but just to chime in, I was having the same symptom with my current old'ish rig, albeit it was intermittent, happening occasionally every few weeks or so. No stability or any issues otherwise at all. One of BIOS updates for my Gigabyte Z390 mobo seems to have fixed it for good.

Granted, being a boomer not interested in tinkering with hardware anymore, I run my rig with all stock settings and whatever XMP profile that was suggested by new BIOS.

Edited April 17 by Art-J

[kksnowbear]

@The_Nephilim

Just to make sure, I don't recall seeing confirmation this memory is on the manufacturer's QVL.  I could've overlooked this, and it's likely the memory *is* on the QVL - but I'd want to confirm that first.  Memory *not* on the QVL often works, yes - but if you're having issues, it's something that bears confirming.

Something else:  Looking over Gigabyte's notes on the BIOS webpage, I see this note in several of the fairly recent BIOS updates:

This is interesting because you've consistently seen your symptoms occur when setting the XMP profile (and *only* then), but other changes don't cause it.  Since this particular mode (Low Latency) is automatic whenever an XMP profile is applied, it would probably be worth trying with the "Low Latency" *disabled*.  This is covered on p.13 in the manual:

(Incidentally, the most recent BIOS doesn't specifically mention this...did they take it out?  I dunno...try it - although you said you'd already tried F16.  Just a thought.)

FWIW I think I'd also consider disabling the "High Bandwidth" setting, if only for testing.  I'd try disabling one of these two settings, the other, or both.

While the manuals do sometimes mention these settings, they usually just say something completely meaningless and unhelpful, like saying a setting enables or disables a certain feature while saying nothing about what the feature actually does.  Unfortunately, this is typical - so we don't really know what the setting might be doing or not.

As has been mentioned, I also believe what you're seeing is related to memory.  I'd suggest that pages 13-15 of the manual might be helpful; these are all settings that govern the way memory behaves, especially at boot.  Worth considering IMHO.

Finally, a question, just to be sure:  The PSU's switch isn't being turned off in between boots, correct?

It's not "normal" for a machine to shut off then restart every time - but with many boards it *is* normal behavior, when the power is removed/switched off at the PSU (and also when certain BIOS values are entered/changed).

HTH

Edited April 17 by kksnowbear

[The_Nephilim]

2 hours ago, kksnowbear said:

@The_Nephilim

Just to make sure, I don't recall seeing confirmation this memory is on the manufacturer's QVL.  I could've overlooked this, and it's likely the memory *is* on the QVL - but I'd want to confirm that first.  Memory *not* on the QVL often works, yes - but if you're having issues, it's something that bears confirming.

Something else:  Looking over Gigabyte's notes on the BIOS webpage, I see this note in several of the fairly recent BIOS updates:

This is interesting because you've consistently seen your symptoms occur when setting the XMP profile (and *only* then), but other changes don't cause it.  Since this particular mode (Low Latency) is automatic whenever an XMP profile is applied, it would probably be worth trying with the "Low Latency" *disabled*.  This is covered on p.13 in the manual:

(Incidentally, the most recent BIOS doesn't specifically mention this...did they take it out?  I dunno...try it - although you said you'd already tried F16.  Just a thought.)

FWIW I think I'd also consider disabling the "High Bandwidth" setting, if only for testing.  I'd try disabling one of these two settings, the other, or both.

While the manuals do sometimes mention these settings, they usually just say something completely meaningless and unhelpful, like saying a setting enables or disables a certain feature while saying nothing about what the feature actually does.  Unfortunately, this is typical - so we don't really know what the setting might be doing or not.

As has been mentioned, I also believe what you're seeing is related to memory.  I'd suggest that pages 13-15 of the manual might be helpful; these are all settings that govern the way memory behaves, especially at boot.  Worth considering IMHO.

Finally, a question, just to be sure:  The PSU's switch isn't being turned off in between boots, correct?

It's not "normal" for a machine to shut off then restart every time - but with many boards it *is* normal behavior, when the power is removed/switched off at the PSU (and also when certain BIOS values are entered/changed).

HTH

OK I can try switching those off but your last question has me wondering. the PSU I do turn that off at the switch on the PSU, so you are saying it is normal for the PC to do the issue when booting up if I turn the power off at the switch after I turn off my PC?

 

I do that because the restart issue only happens when I do a fresh boot like the day after when I turn on my pc after having it off all night.. but if I just do a restart it is fine when doing that also..

[kksnowbear]

41 minutes ago, The_Nephilim said:

OK I can try switching those off but your last question has me wondering. the PSU I do turn that off at the switch on the PSU, so you are saying it is normal for the PC to do the issue when booting up if I turn the power off at the switch after I turn off my PC?

 

I do that because the restart issue only happens when I do a fresh boot like the day after when I turn on my pc after having it off all night.. but if I just do a restart it is fine when doing that also..

I kinda thought so.  That's exactly why I asked the question about the PSU

Yes, on many boards** it is perfectly normal behavior if you turn off the switch at the PSU.  The machine will turn on, start running, then shut down, restart, and boot normally.  This has to do with 'initialization' and doesn't indicate a problem - provided it only happens when you disconnect power to the PSU entirely.

(** I say 'many' because I won't swear they *all* do it, but it's not at all uncommon in my experience - seems maybe your old AsRock board did it, the MSI socket 1700 board didn't do it, maybe...and now the 890 board does.  Someone might not have seen this unless they've worked around a lot of different boards.)

Note that some units will only do this depending on BIOS settings/changes (usually involving memory, like with your XMP - which might explain why it doesn't happen if XMP isn't enabled - but I would say it's worth checking the settings above, too).

Thing is - not a lot of people realize this - the PSU has a 5 volt 'standby' voltage (5VSB) that is always present, even if the machine is shut down.  This is not the same as the 5v supply on the other PSU pins - back in the day when the cables were still color-coded, the 5VSB was purple IIRC and the other 5V lines are red.

So the machine 'knows' when you kill power to the PSU, because it loses 5VSB.  This will cause the machine to do what you see.  It's also why you should never plug/unplug components when the PSU is still turned on/connected to 'line'.  There is a 'hot' voltage present at points, even if the machine is not running.

To be clear: You're saying it does *not* do the start-shutdown-restart thing if you don't switch the PSU off?

(BTW, do you switch the PSU off as a habit?  I know some who do, and you can - but it's generally not required.  Often, concern for power surges is why people do this...I recommend a good UPS or at minimum a high-quality surge suppressor.  Shut the machine down at night when you're done for the day.  Realistically, switching the PSU off won't really help much if there's a big surge near your house.  The potentials common with lightning can easily jump across an open switch.  Unless you unplug it, it's not as effective - and again, a better option is to get some sort of decent surge suppression.)

Edited April 17 by kksnowbear