PLEASE HELP! New build - Asus Z97-A mobo's VGA LED light staying lit, not booting win 8.1

[Hirojin]

So after taking some personal preferences and a LOT of advice from you guys and gals on the forum, I finally got all the parts assembled and everything was up and running perfect.... right up until I decided to see if I could tweak the gpu a bit, then everything went to shit. I'm honestly 10 mins away from simply formatting my SSD and re-installing windows and starting from scratch, but I thought I'd ask everyone with much more knowledge than I in case it's something stupid.

 

First, the rig:

asus z97-a mobo

g.skill sniper 2x8gb 1866 ram

i7 4790k w/CM Evo 212

Asus strix GTX 970 (single card, the one that is factory OC'd)

Samsung 840 Evo SSD 250gb

Windows 8.1 Enterprise

 

 

Now I had everything assembled, installed, and working perfectly... and because I'm an idiot I used the software that came with the mobo called GPU Tweak (if anyone is familiar with it) to just turn up the settings on my GPU and see if it improved my Unigine Valley benchmark score... I swear to god the most innocent of tuning tweaks has caused nothing but grief.

After I turned all the settings up in the gpu tweak (all of them to about 80% of max within the software itself), I re-started windows to go into by bios to enable the XMP profile on the RAM which is a delightful option on the Z97-A board... before I could even do that, the comp restarted, and the VGA LED on the board lit up like a stop-light (red, obviously) and nothing happened. Screen is black, system is running, but it wont even load as far as the bios, it's catching an error in the POST and just stops.

 

Now I've tried to remedy this... I physically un-installed the card from my mobo, used the integrated GPU to get into windows again... uninstalled the newest driver (from the Nov.11 release) for NVidia, then I re-attached my card after shutting everything down. Now this enabled me to re-boot into windows using my 970 GPU (only using a single monitor), and the device manager recognizes the card, but knows the driver isn't up to date. Downloaded the latest driver again, installed, and then on the required reboot the EXACT same thing happened.

 

So I did ALL THOSE STEPS again, only this time tried the 2nd latest driver (from nov 6 I  believe), this enabled me to go into windows, and everything seemed fine.... then as I went to re-start the computer again so I could just simply enable all the mobo default values (although nothing has actually changed) the PC took about 6 mins to install 61 windows updates out of thin air... then on the restart it spouted the exact same VGA LED light on the board, with the same POST failure results...

 

I'm at a complete loss and I'm so frustrated... everything was working awesome, and then I completely fucked it up. lol... How do I fix this?!? I'm really just ready to wipe everything and start over from scratch... please help!!!!

 

[STRMfrmXMN]

So after taking some personal preferences and a LOT of advice from you guys and gals on the forum, I finally got all the parts assembled and everything was up and running perfect.... right up until I decided to see if I could tweak the gpu a bit, then everything went to shit. I'm honestly 10 mins away from simply formatting my SSD and re-installing windows and starting from scratch, but I thought I'd ask everyone with much more knowledge than I in case it's something stupid.

 

First, the rig:

asus z97-a mobo

g.skill sniper 2x8gb 1866 ram

i7 4790k w/CM Evo 212

Asus strix GTX 970 (single card, the one that is factory OC'd)

Samsung 840 Evo SSD 250gb

Windows 8.1 Enterprise

 

 

Now I had everything assembled, installed, and working perfectly... and because I'm an idiot I used the software that came with the mobo called GPU Tweak (if anyone is familiar with it) to just turn up the settings on my GPU and see if it improved my Unigine Valley benchmark score... I swear to god the most innocent of tuning tweaks has caused nothing but grief.

After I turned all the settings up in the gpu tweak (all of them to about 80% of max within the software itself), I re-started windows to go into by bios to enable the XMP profile on the RAM which is a delightful option on the Z97-A board... before I could even do that, the comp restarted, and the VGA LED on the board lit up like a stop-light (red, obviously) and nothing happened. Screen is black, system is running, but it wont even load as far as the bios, it's catching an error in the POST and just stops.

 

Now I've tried to remedy this... I physically un-installed the card from my mobo, used the integrated GPU to get into windows again... uninstalled the newest driver (from the Nov.11 release) for NVidia, then I re-attached my card after shutting everything down. Now this enabled me to re-boot into windows using my 970 GPU (only using a single monitor), and the device manager recognizes the card, but knows the driver isn't up to date. Downloaded the latest driver again, installed, and then on the required reboot the EXACT same thing happened.

 

So I did ALL THOSE STEPS again, only this time tried the 2nd latest driver (from nov 6 I  believe), this enabled me to go into windows, and everything seemed fine.... then as I went to re-start the computer again so I could just simply enable all the mobo default values (although nothing has actually changed) the PC took about 6 mins to install 61 windows updates out of thin air... then on the restart it spouted the exact same VGA LED light on the board, with the same POST failure results...

 

I'm at a complete loss and I'm so frustrated... everything was working awesome, and then I completely fucked it up. lol... How do I fix this?!? I'm really just ready to wipe everything and start over from scratch... please help!!!!

Honestly, I say cool down a bit, get back to the PC later.

 

Wipe everything. Reset your BIOS. Start from scratch. Use a proper software for your GPU next time

[UnderwearThief]

Honestly, I say cool down a bit, get back to the PC later.

 

Wipe everything. Reset your BIOS. Start from scratch. Use a proper software for your GPU next time

GPU Tweak came with my Asus 290 as well, it's an overclocking software just like afterburner, but not as robust. 

 

So after taking some personal preferences and a LOT of advice from you guys and gals on the forum, I finally got all the parts assembled and everything was up and running perfect.... right up until I decided to see if I could tweak the gpu a bit, then everything went to shit. I'm honestly 10 mins away from simply formatting my SSD and re-installing windows and starting from scratch, but I thought I'd ask everyone with much more knowledge than I in case it's something stupid.

 

First, the rig:

asus z97-a mobo

g.skill sniper 2x8gb 1866 ram

i7 4790k w/CM Evo 212

Asus strix GTX 970 (single card, the one that is factory OC'd)

Samsung 840 Evo SSD 250gb

Windows 8.1 Enterprise

 

 

Now I had everything assembled, installed, and working perfectly... and because I'm an idiot I used the software that came with the mobo called GPU Tweak (if anyone is familiar with it) to just turn up the settings on my GPU and see if it improved my Unigine Valley benchmark score... I swear to god the most innocent of tuning tweaks has caused nothing but grief.

After I turned all the settings up in the gpu tweak (all of them to about 80% of max within the software itself), I re-started windows to go into by bios to enable the XMP profile on the RAM which is a delightful option on the Z97-A board... before I could even do that, the comp restarted, and the VGA LED on the board lit up like a stop-light (red, obviously) and nothing happened. Screen is black, system is running, but it wont even load as far as the bios, it's catching an error in the POST and just stops.

 

Now I've tried to remedy this... I physically un-installed the card from my mobo, used the integrated GPU to get into windows again... uninstalled the newest driver (from the Nov.11 release) for NVidia, then I re-attached my card after shutting everything down. Now this enabled me to re-boot into windows using my 970 GPU (only using a single monitor), and the device manager recognizes the card, but knows the driver isn't up to date. Downloaded the latest driver again, installed, and then on the required reboot the EXACT same thing happened.

 

So I did ALL THOSE STEPS again, only this time tried the 2nd latest driver (from nov 6 I  believe), this enabled me to go into windows, and everything seemed fine.... then as I went to re-start the computer again so I could just simply enable all the mobo default values (although nothing has actually changed) the PC took about 6 mins to install 61 windows updates out of thin air... then on the restart it spouted the exact same VGA LED light on the board, with the same POST failure results...

 

I'm at a complete loss and I'm so frustrated... everything was working awesome, and then I completely fucked it up. lol... How do I fix this?!? I'm really just ready to wipe everything and start over from scratch... please help!!!!

I would say get into Windows like you did the last time, uninstall the driver and GPU Tweak, and try again. I had some problems with my 290 and GPU Tweak. I think NVidia cards do not support overvolting(correct me if I'm wrong)

[STRMfrmXMN]

GPU Tweak came with my Asus 290 as well, it's an overclocking software just like afterburner, but not as robust. 

 

I would say get into Windows like you did the last time, uninstall the driver and GPU Tweak, and try again. I had some problems with my 290 and GPU Tweak. I think NVidia cards do not support overvolting(correct me if I'm wrong)

Does Afterburner work on other brands of GPUs? (I don't overclock things so I have no clue...)

[UnderwearThief]

Does Afterburner work on other brands of GPUs? (I don't overclock things so I have no clue...)

Yes, I'm currently using it with my GPU.

[Hirojin]

I have tried getting into windows twice, and both times like I described above, upon restarting the same problem happens. I know the card itself is fine, its definitely a software issue as far as I can tell... I just have no idea how to fix it at this point.

 

I've taken a break and eaten some candy... lol, I feel much calmer now. Its just such a gorgeous machine to be held up by such a stupid problem... I was really proud of putting this thing together cause it's the first one I've built in over a decade, and now this.

 

Sorry, I can be a bit melodramatic at times.

 

At any rate - still no go. GPU tweak is uninstalled completely, I've tried using both the most recent Nvidia drivers, and the 2nd most recent release... no dice. Still keeps failing the post. Open to any and all suggestions...

 

Currently have my USB in hand with my windows 8.1 ISO on it... ready to do the unthinkable... It wouldn't be that big of a deal if I didn't spend half a day downloading 100gigs worth of video games I planned on re-playing on ultra settings to enjoy them a second time. lol.. son of a!!!

[UnderwearThief]

I have tried getting into windows twice, and both times like I described above, upon restarting the same problem happens. I know the card itself is fine, its definitely a software issue as far as I can tell... I just have no idea how to fix it at this point.

 

I've taken a break and eaten some candy... lol, I feel much calmer now. Its just such a gorgeous machine to be held up by such a stupid problem... I was really proud of putting this thing together cause it's the first one I've built in over a decade, and now this.

 

Sorry, I can be a bit melodramatic at times.

 

At any rate - still no go. GPU tweak is uninstalled completely, I've tried using both the most recent Nvidia drivers, and the 2nd most recent release... no dice. Still keeps failing the post. Open to any and all suggestions...

 

Currently have my USB in hand with my windows 8.1 ISO on it... ready to do the unthinkable... It wouldn't be that big of a deal if I didn't spend half a day downloading 100gigs worth of video games I planned on re-playing on ultra settings to enjoy them a second time. lol.. son of a!!!

What is the POST code you get upon restarting? And do you have a storage drive around somewhere? You could backup all the games you downloaded to that, and then transfer them back onto a fresh install.

[Hirojin]

I do have a drive... 3 of them actually. The games and what little information that were on the SSD is irrelevant.. once I get the thing up and running, I have nothing but time to get them on there again. Main goal is to get this system up and running again no matter what the cost.

 

But m apologies, maybe I wasn't explaining myself properly... I'm not actually getting any beeps or visible post related messages... when you turn the computer on, the fans max out, then everything posts (you can see the LED's flashing in sequential order as each area is being checked) then it stops on the VGA light, and pauses.... nothing actually appears on my screen at any time, no beeps... its like the post process gets put on hold because of some kind of error. And the LED's are on the motherboard itself, not the GPU. Hope that helps.

[UnderwearThief]

I do have a drive... 3 of them actually. The games and what little information that were on the SSD is irrelevant.. once I get the thing up and running, I have nothing but time to get them on there again. Main goal is to get this system up and running again no matter what the cost.

 

But m apologies, maybe I wasn't explaining myself properly... I'm not actually getting any beeps or visible post related messages... when you turn the computer on, the fans max out, then everything posts (you can see the LED's flashing in sequential order as each area is being checked) then it stops on the VGA light, and pauses.... nothing actually appears on my screen at any time, no beeps... its like the post process gets put on hold because of some kind of error. And the LED's are on the motherboard itself, not the GPU. Hope that helps.

After a quick search, try moving the GPU to another PCIe slot and make sure it is seated well, then check all cables from the power supply to the GPU, and try another video output port on the GPU(HDMI, DVI, DP, or even *shudders* VGA)

[Hirojin]

Underwear:  Oddly enough, I was just doing that.... went from HDMI to DVI, even used a different input on my monitor just in case.... also went from what could be called the primary x16 pcie slot to the one below it, still the exact same thing is happening.

All the cables and connections are perfect... everything is brand new. Even the case... it was a completely fresh build... everything was working swimmingly, right until I decided to "tweak" it using that god forsaken GPU tweak program... then poof... my dreams shattered.

 

Why would a piece of software that came with the video card even have the remote capability of doing this!?? It doesn't make any god damn sense... this should never, ever be an outcome from using the software. Ever. No matter how retarded (points at self) the user is.

[UnderwearThief]

Underwear:  Oddly enough, I was just doing that.... went from HDMI to DVI, even used a different input on my monitor just in case.... also went from what could be called the primary x16 pcie slot to the one below it, still the exact same thing is happening.

All the cables and connections are perfect... everything is brand new. Even the case... it was a completely fresh build... everything was working swimmingly, right until I decided to "tweak" it using that god forsaken GPU tweak program... then poof... my dreams shattered.

 

Why would a piece of software that came with the video card even have the remote capability of doing this!?? It doesn't make any god damn sense... this should never, ever be an outcome from using the software. Ever. No matter how retarded (points at self) the user is.

Honestly, I have no idea. Good thing I switched to afterburner though, I guess. My only thought is that maybe it did something to the BIOS on the card. And since I don't really have any ideas left(I'm not trying to be insulting here), is the monitor on the wrong input/has good power? All cables from the PSU are connected well? I really have nothing left

[Hirojin]

I honestly don't believe there is such a thing as an insulting way to help someone, so I appreciate everything you (and everyone else) has offered thus far... believe me, I've tried to go over everything I can think of on my own - I usually come to the forum when I'm really stuck.

 

But yes, all the connections are stable, the GPU is definitely getting power - and the whole system worked perfectly as little as 10 hours ago. I guess when I eventually get this resolved, I'll have to try using afterburner, or better yet, I'm never again trying to overclock anything cause the extra 6 fps I would have gotten in games definitely isn't worth this headache!!!  Oh, and I double and triple checked the monitor input cause I probably would have committed suicide if that turned out to be the problem after all this... but its definitely not the issue. The VGA LED on the mobo is lit up, so there is definitely something wrong with the post...

 

I'm just concerned now about the GPU itself... has some kind of irreparable damage been done here?? I don't possibly see how, even the tweaks that were set up using GPU tweak were only a 5% boost to all the stats, so it's not like I pushed everything well beyond any kind of recommended limit... sigh...

 

If anyone else can think of anything, please feel free to chime in..

[Fliggle_Slaps]

Have you tried flashing the BIOS? If that + re-installing Windows doesn't work, certainly sounds like a hardware issue.

 

Also, copying your games to another drive if you do format is not really worth dismissing, even if you don't car enow, you'll car elater when it saves you downloading 100GB of games.

 

EDIT: Keep forgetting abot the POST LED. If that's staying lit and the correct pwer cables are plugged into the GPU (an 8pin + 6pin I believe) then it's pretty certain to be a hardware problem. Might want to head over to the Asus forum or contact them via phone and talk to them. Not sure if OCing a GPU voids the warranty but you should get answers from an Asus representative.

[Hirojin]

My panic has subsided.

 

Finally gave in to the random old and new gods, and re-installed win8 - burying a days worth of time, and my mistakes with it. *hangs head in shame*

 

Everything is A-Okay after the reinstallation. May god have mercy on my soul...

 

Thanks for everyone that put up with my panic... I wish I could tell you all what the issue was, but I STRONGLY believe it had to do with the GPU tweak program, and I DO NOT suggest using it. Needless to say I didn't reinstall THAT program...

 

thanks again all. Cheers.

[iludez]

Ive been using gpu tweak on my asus 780.Im guessing that you cranked it up and those settings were stored in the bios of the card,But yeah msi is a great oc tool aswell just dont crank everything right up try it in incriments of 20mhz

[rchsun]

Hey, I found this thread after having the same problem. I haven't overclocked my GPU, so that's definitely not the issue with mine. It happened after the 60-something windows updates. When I turn it on, it flashes through the different LEDs and stays at the VGA_LED. I've discovered that if I unplug the HDMI from the gpu, it will flash trough the VGA_LED. After boot up, I can plug the HDMI back in to get output to my monitor. This is really weird, I don't understand why having the HDMI plugged in will stall the POST. I don't want to have to unplug the HDMI every time I turn my computer on though... Does anyone here have any idea why having the HDMI plugged in can affect the boot up? Thanks!!

[m.pcplayer]

Hey, I found this thread after having the same problem. I haven't overclocked my GPU, so that's definitely not the issue with mine. It happened after the 60-something windows updates. When I turn it on, it flashes through the different LEDs and stays at the VGA_LED. I've discovered that if I unplug the HDMI from the gpu, it will flash trough the VGA_LED. After boot up, I can plug the HDMI back in to get output to my monitor. This is really weird, I don't understand why having the HDMI plugged in will stall the POST. I don't want to have to unplug the HDMI every time I turn my computer on though... Does anyone here have any idea why having the HDMI plugged in can affect the boot up? Thanks!!

 

I am having the same sort of trouble but I use the DVI cable. If i plug the HDMI cable in and take out the DVI it will work! 

 

I have checked all the wires, moved to the lower Pcie slot and put the Bios to default but it happens every now and then?!?!

 

As far as I know nothing has changed but I played on it one day and it worked, turned on my PC the day after and all this started happening. No new updates that I knew of and hadnt touched the GPU tweak before the first time.

 

My rig is almost identical to the original post but the RAM and CPU cooler are different.

 

I will be taking it all apart again on Tuesday and if this happens as I refuse to accept this fault after having built my rig less than 6 months ago. I will follow all the previous tips of re installing everything too.

 

Any help before Tuesday would be great but I will post my findings if it sorts its self out.

 

Thanks,