Error A1: "Issue reset during IDE"

[Stringtheory]

New build in progress, just assembled. No OS

Motherboard: Gigabyte X299 WU8
CPU: Intel Core i9-10920X
RAM: 256GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 128GB F4-3600C18Q-128GVK (8 x 32GB, 288-Pin DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800))
Drive: 2TB m.2 NVMe Corsair MP600 (No other drives installed yet)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 HYBRID GAMING
Supply: Superflower 1600w
Cooler: Noctua D15

I get a very quick error:  A1 ("Issue Reset During IDE Initialization Process")

 

The Noctua D15 intrudes on Slot 1, so I installed the GPU in Slot 3 (also 16 lanes). That's about the only unusual thing.
This is newly assembled, so never booted before. Nothing installed on the drive. "A1" is the only thing I've been able to catch on the error display.  No video output.  It's not getting that far.

 

Things I've tried so far:
------
Reset CMOS, swapped battery
Removed m.2 NVMe (no OS, not formatted anyway)
Removed GPU
Swapped GPU to smaller model (Older NVidia 750Ti, which I use for test builds)
Was able to move the smaller GPU to slot 1, as I had more space
Swapped video cables, tried DisplayPort, DVI-D, DVI-A
------
From what I've been able to gather, the A1 code means that the system is trying to hand over control to an OS, but of course there's no OS yet. I'm just trying to get something out of the video and hopefully get to the BIOS at least.

Any possibility that this could be some problem with the Gigabyte X299-WU8 motherboard? Just about everything else has been swapped, except for the i9 CPU.

 

Wild speculation welcome. I'm out of ideas.
 

[Sawa Takahashi]

25 minutes ago, Stringtheory said:

Wild speculation welcome. I'm out of ideas.

This motherboard has 8 RAM slots ?

Try using only 1 RAM sitck.

You already did many troubleshooting steps. So the next step is probably to remove the computer from the case and assemble it on a non-conductive surface.

If it still won't boot, try reseating the CPU.

Then, try using another PSU.

Good luck !