Help! Pc wont post after enabling xmp even after cmos has been reset.

[JR Fox]

Hi all! I recently purchased a Pro z790-a motherboard and have paired it with an intel 13700k cpu and 2x16 gb g.skill 6000mhz ram. The pc booted up fine the first time and I was able to install windows and all of my drivers, but after going in to bios and enabling xmp, my pc wouldn’t post. My keyboard lights were going crazy and one of my fans stopped working. I unplugged and re plugged in my 24 pin power cable. I cleared cmos and switched the ram around to see if it was a bad stick and after some toying around, I was able to get the pc to boot normally. Neither ram stick worked Individually at first, but the second go around they both worked individually. I installed both ram back in to the correct channel and booted the pc again. The pc posted and I was able to install the latest bios update, but after attempting to enable xmp again the pc went to the same black screen and hasn’t changed since even after clearing cmos. I suspect either bad ram or a short in the motherboard. Any suggestions would be helpful and I really appreciate your time. Thank you! 

[goatedpenguin]

do the same thing when putting the ram one step at a time and then once booted into the bios try to enter the ram speed manually if this does not work than it may be most likely either bad ram, a driver fix needed or ur motherboard doesn't support it. Additional error codes on the motherboard may help and the specs of the system

[JR Fox]

24 minutes ago, swabro said:

do the same thing when putting the ram one step at a time and then once booted into the bios try to enter the ram speed manually if this does not work than it may be most likely either bad ram, a driver fix needed or ur motherboard doesn't support it. Additional error codes on the motherboard may help and the specs of the system

Thank you for the response! I have tried both sticks of ram individually and that worked the first time I tried to enable xmp, but this time neither stick will give signal to the monitor. I would try entering values manually in bios but I can’t even get to the bios screen. I would default to bad ram if it wasn’t for the strange power issues that are messing with my keyboards rgb. 

[goatedpenguin]

20 minutes ago, JR Fox said:

Thank you for the response! I have tried both sticks of ram individually and that worked the first time I tried to enable xmp, but this time neither stick will give signal to the monitor. I would try entering values manually in bios but I can’t even get to the bios screen. I would default to bad ram if it wasn’t for the strange power issues that are messing with my keyboards rgb. 

what are the error codes?

[JR Fox]

1 hour ago, swabro said:

what are the error codes?

I only have debug leds unfortunately but when powering on the vram light will light up for a few seconds and then turn off. Occasionally the cpu light will flash but only momentarily after start up. My Ram is rgb and still lights up so I know I am at least getting some sort of power. I just don’t get why one minute the ram would work fine and boot properly and then the next it would be trash. It’s almost like enabling xmp bricked my mobo. 

[goatedpenguin]

10 minutes ago, JR Fox said:

I only have debug leds unfortunately but when powering on the vram light will light up for a few seconds and then turn off. Occasionally the cpu light will flash but only momentarily after start up. My Ram is rgb and still lights up so I know I am at least getting some sort of power. I just don’t get why one minute the ram would work fine and boot properly and then the next it would be trash. It’s almost like enabling xmp bricked my mobo. 

Yes so what is the sequence when pc is booting up though?

[JR Fox]

31 minutes ago, swabro said:

Yes so what is the sequence when pc is booting up though?

My bad. It Seems to vary from time to time. I have seen it boot up and the vram light comes on, then a few seconds later turns off , and I have seen it boot up and go back and forth from cpu light to vram light twice and then turn off. It will occasionally throw a gpu light in to the mix but I am assuming that is because I don’t have a gpu plugged in and I am running off of integrated cpu graphics for now. I would say that is my problem but I have tried with a gpu in the pcie slot and it has made no difference. 

[Mark Kaine]

might be a buggy motherboard,  turn pc off, unplug it from wall, remove cmos battery for *30 minutes* (let the ram in the mobo, dont remove it) put the battery back, hold the power button for 30 seconds (while the pc is still being off) then turn it back on.

 

how I know this? i had a msi b350m board, that's how. = )

[goatedpenguin]

I agree it might be a buggy motherboard error codes should be fixed and not changing all the time and if not try to refer to your motherboard's manual for the error codes even if they are changing

[JR Fox]

5 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

might be a buggy motherboard,  turn pc off, unplug it from wall, remove cmos battery for *30 minutes* (let the ram in the mobo, dont remove it) put the battery back, hold the power button for 30 seconds (while the pc is still being off) then turn it back on.

 

how I know this? i had a msi b350m board, that's how. = )

Thanks for the idea! I am at work right now so I can’t actually try it, but I have already reset cmos multiple times in every way. I haven’t waited 30 minutes but I have taken the battery out, held the power button for 30 seconds, and waited 10 or 15 minutes. I have also shorted the cmos header multiple times with no results. If your idea does work, would it be worth it to replace the motherboard since it is bugged? Or could I go back to trying to overclock ram? Did you ever replace the b350?

[Mark Kaine]

13 minutes ago, JR Fox said:

Thanks for the idea! I am at work right now so I can’t actually try it, but I have already reset cmos multiple times in every way. I haven’t waited 30 minutes but I have taken the battery out, held the power button for 30 seconds, and waited 10 or 15 minutes. I have also shorted the cmos header multiple times with no results. If your idea does work, would it be worth it to replace the motherboard since it is bugged? Or could I go back to trying to overclock ram? Did you ever replace the b350?

i see... yeah i can't really explain it but *nothing* would "fix" this board other waiting *at least* 30 minutes,  like I tried 29 minutes once... nope! 30 mins minimum! lol...

 but at least that worked reliably. : p

 

i did replace it, but tbf a more or less random BIOS update fixed most of the issues this board had... more than 2 years after it came out...! So yeah not great but at least they were trying... and i didn't have this particular kind of crash afterwards so i cant *really* tell if it was really fixed... lol.

 

i have a b550m mortar wifi now and it seems pretty solid (old one was a b350 mortar...)  but the new one cost about double, so you get what you pay for i guess!

 

ps: as for intel boards, i have no idea... sorry, my last intel was a pentium 1 and it still works,  so definitely recommend!

 

 

[JR Fox]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

i see... yeah i can't really explain it but *nothing* would "fix" this board other waiting *at least* 30 minutes,  like I tried 29 minutes once... nope! 30 mins minimum! lol...

 but at least that worked reliably. : p

 

i did replace it, but tbf a more or less random BIOS update fixed most of the issues this board had... more than 2 years after it came out...! So yeah not great but at least they were trying... and i didn't have this particular kind of crash afterwards so i cant *really* tell if it was really fixed... lol.

 

i have a b550m mortar wifi now and it seems pretty solid (old one was a b350 mortar...)  but the new one cost about double, so you get what you pay for i guess!

 

ps: as for intel boards, i have no idea... sorry, my last intel was a pentium 1 and it still works,  so definitely recommend!

 

 

Haha sounds like a plentium 1 is just what I need.. I will definitely give the 30 minute reset a shot. If that doesn’t work I have new ram coming in to rule out bad ram and after that I guess the only option is to return the mobo and see if that fixes the issue. I really appreciate the help man! 

[JR Fox]

On 11/21/2022 at 6:59 AM, Mark Kaine said:

might be a buggy motherboard,  turn pc off, unplug it from wall, remove cmos battery for *30 minutes* (let the ram in the mobo, dont remove it) put the battery back, hold the power button for 30 seconds (while the pc is still being off) then turn it back on.

 

how I know this? i had a msi b350m board, that's how. = )

So I did exactly what you said and waited 30 minutes with the cmos battery out. I put my new ram in and it posted! I was able to clock my ram all the way up to 5800mhz. I tried to set it to the rated 6000mhz and it once again did not post. I made sure to watch the debug lights this time and it seems to flash consistently between the cpu and vram when It is doesn’t post. Not sure if that means my cpu is bad or just not compatible with the ram at 6000mhz? I’m not sure how stable 5800mhz is while running games I will have to test. 

[sailsman63]

According to The official Intel specs, the 13700k supports DDR5 "Up To" 5600. Be interesting to see if it's stable at 5800 for you.

[JR Fox]

1 hour ago, sailsman63 said:

According to The official Intel specs, the 13700k supports DDR5 "Up To" 5600. Be interesting to see if it's stable at 5800 for you.

Wow I didn’t even think to check maximum cpu compatibility. I figured the latest and greatest would support higher ddr5 speeds. Maybe I just got a bottom of the bin cpu that can’t handle any higher speeds, or maybe none of them can. To be fair, I really don’t think there will be much difference from 5600 to 6000. I guess I shouldn’t stress too much over it even if I do have to under-clock a bit more.