4090 vertical mounting issues

[WhatEvenAmI]

I recently built a new high end system with a ROG Strix 4090, Z790 Hero, and 128GB of ram. Originally, I was going to vertically mount the GPU, using a the bracket that's available through EKWB using the 4.0 LINKUP riser cable.

 

However, when I booted, the system would either freeze just before loading the OS or the system would boot to the OS but, program windows were invisible and after about a minute, the system froze and required a forced reboot. 

 

If I changed the speed of the pcie slot to 3.0 the system would boot and work fine for a seemingly random amount of time but then froze and required a forced reboot. 

 

So I eventually drained my loop and just mounted the GPU horizontally and now everything seems to work fine.

 

But in case I decide to try mounting my 4090 vertically again, I'd like to figure out what was causing the issue. Either:

 

1. There's a fault with the motherboard (oof)

2. There's a fault with the GPU (big oof)

3. Maybe there's an issue with the CPU?

4. Somehow the 128GB of ram is causing an issue?

5. The Z790 or Strix 4090 just doesn't like LINKUP riser cables.

 

I'm pretty sure Linus was using a Z790 motherboard with a riser cable in the 1000W GPU video so...I'm hoping it's scenario 5.

[Fred Castellum]

I'm willing to bet this is a riser cable issue, are you able to test out another one? 

For the motherboard, you can make sure it's running the latest revision of the bios. 
You can do some GPU stress tests but your system freezing seems random like earlier. 
CPU issues tend to be bsods in my experience, really quick bsods. Have you changed any CPU settings at all?
If you want to, you can run you ram with 1 stick and try out different sticks to see if the freezing still happens. But I believe it's unlikely to be a ram issue, you can also turn off expo or XMP settings to further test to see if it's a ram issue. 

What are you full specs? 

[WhatEvenAmI]

18 minutes ago, Fred Castellum said:

I'm willing to bet this is a riser cable issue, are you able to test out another one? 

For the motherboard, you can make sure it's running the latest revision of the bios. 
You can do some GPU stress tests but your system freezing seems random like earlier. 
CPU issues tend to be bsods in my experience, really quick bsods. Have you changed any CPU settings at all?
If you want to, you can run you ram with 1 stick and try out different sticks to see if the freezing still happens. But I believe it's unlikely to be a ram issue, you can also turn off expo or XMP settings to further test to see if it's a ram issue. 

What are you full specs? 

ROG Strix 4090 OC

ROG Maximus Z790 Hero

i9-13900K

128GB of G.skill Trident Z5

Corsair RM1000x

 

A 4TB and 2TB Kingston Fury M.2 SSD and an 8TB HDD

 

Running Windows 11 (tried using 10 as well)

 

All custom watercooled in a Lian-Li O11 Dynamic XL with EKWB parts.

 

I don't think it's a ram issue either but just threw it in there as a possibility.

 

Bios is updated, XMP doesn't work on the Z790 with 128GB of ram at the moment so it's not enabled, CPU settings were unchanged at the time. 

[Fred Castellum]

15 minutes ago, WhatEvenAmI said:

ROG Strix 4090 OC

ROG Maximus Z790 Hero

i9-13900K

128GB of G.skill Trident Z5

Corsair RM1000x

 

A 4TB and 2TB Kingston Fury M.2 SSD and an 8TB HDD

 

Running Windows 11 (tried using 10 as well)

 

All custom watercooled in a Lian-Li O11 Dynamic XL with EKWB parts.

 

I don't think it's a ram issue either but just threw it in there as a possibility.

 

Bios is updated, XMP doesn't work on the Z790 with 128GB of ram at the moment so it's not enabled, CPU settings were unchanged at the time. 

Almost certain it's a riser cable problem, your issue is very similar to others who used riser cables. Down to the freezing and better functionality when in PCIe3 mode. 

Can you return that riser cable and get another one? I think that'll resolve the problem here. 

[WhatEvenAmI]

45 minutes ago, Fred Castellum said:

Almost certain it's a riser cable problem, your issue is very similar to others who used riser cables. Down to the freezing and better functionality when in PCIe3 mode. 

Can you return that riser cable and get another one? I think that'll resolve the problem here. 

That's the thing, I tested two new ones and it didn't fix the issue

[Fred Castellum]

19 minutes ago, WhatEvenAmI said:

That's the thing, I tested two new ones and it didn't fix the issue

Two new ones of the exact same model? Could try another companies riser cables, riser cables are really a big mixed bag when used with different cards. I've heard riser cables working fine with Gigabyte cards but then not working at all with MSI cards of the same variation. I heard Lian Li, Coolermaster, and thermaltake riser cables are generally pretty reliable, so it might be worth giving one of those a try. ASUS has a riser cable as well, though it's pricey. I personally use a Lian Li riser cable, that came with my Q58 case and it works flawlessly with my MSI ventus 4080.

It's possible you got a bad card as well if you've already tried multiple riser cables and taken that out as a variable. 

[WhatEvenAmI]

I'll try a different brand riser cable but yeah that basically confirmed my suspicion. Either Linkup brand cables just aren't compatible or it's my GPU. Thanks.

7 minutes ago, Fred Castellum said:

Two new ones of the exact same model? Could try another companies riser cables, riser cables are really a big mixed bag when used with different cards. I've heard riser cables working fine with Gigabyte cards but then not working at all with MSI cards of the same variation. I heard Lian Li, Coolermaster, and thermaltake riser cables are generally pretty reliable, so it might be worth giving one of those a try. ASUS has a riser cable as well, thought it's pricey. I personally use a Lian Li riser cable, that came with my Q58 case and it works flawlessly with my MSI ventus 4080.

It's possible you got a bad card as well if you've already tried multiple riser cables and taken that out as a variable. 

I'll try a different brand riser cable but yeah that basically confirmed my suspicion. Either Linkup brand cables just aren't compatible in this case or it's my GPU. Thanks.