PC won't boot/post after lowering vCore - PLEASE HELP!

[Leonard]

Yes, that is correct.

 

Everything was plugged in correctly. I think I will be returning both the MOBO and the CPU for a replacement under the warranty, just to be sure, as it seems all other components are working. Do you think that is a good idea? When working in the BIOS, I kept all settings between the recommendations by ASUS' themselves, and since the Haswell-E platform is unlocked, I am guessing the not-so-big overclock I had (4,2ghz) won't matter either.

I think the RMA would be a good idea and i doubt they will have an issue with an OC MOBO that was OCed. 

 

Hope you get your system back up and running soon man.

[ProKoN]

here are some things to try

 

try one stick of ram in all the slots. make sure to try All sticks one at a time in each slot.

 

make sure ALL sata ports are unplugged remove any m.2 devices.

 

unplug all usb devices except for keyboard and mouse

 

try usb bios flash back and try all the bios versions if you have to

 

try a different pcie slot for gfx card or remove it all together to see if the computer posts without it

 

last step is to repeat all of the above procedures with the board outside of the case on a temporary test bench

 

also make sure your cooler is seated proper and Not over tightened

[YoungStarDCx]

I think the RMA would be a good idea and i doubt they will have an issue with an OC MOBO that was OCed. 

 

Hope you get your system back up and running soon man.

 

Yes, I hope you are right. 

 

Me too. Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it. I will report back here with an update when I get it fixed. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time.

 

here are some things to try

 

try one stick of ram in all the slots. make sure to try All sticks one at a time in each slot.

 

make sure ALL sata ports are unplugged remove any m.2 devices.

 

unplug all usb devices except for keyboard and mouse

 

try usb bios flash back and try all the bios versions if you have to

 

try a different pcie slot for gfx card or remove it all together to see if the computer posts without it

 

last step is to repeat all of the above procedures with the board outside of the case on a temporary test bench

 

also make sure your cooler is seated proper and Not over tightened

 

Hi there, thank you so much for the reply. I have tried everything already. I also had the mobo outside of the case, to no avail. I appreciate your input, though! Right now my guess is that either the mobo or the CPU is defect. I will try to get both replaced.

[YoungStarDCx]

@Leonard Yo! I received my new processor today, but there are still some problems unfortunately. The good news is that it now POSTS and I can get into the BIOS, but out of nowehere only 3 out of my 4 RAM modules are being detected.

 

Also, I am constantly getting the ''Overclocking Failed'' message, even though all the settings in the BIOS are set to their optimized defaults. When I get home I will try to figure out what the problem is. If I can't figure it out, I will probably have to RMA the board too.

 

Do you have any ideas?

[Leonard]

@Leonard Yo! I received my new processor today, but there are still some problems unfortunately. The good news is that it now POSTS and I can get into the BIOS, but out of nowehere only 3 out of my 4 RAM modules are being detected.

 

Also, I am constantly getting the ''Overclocking Failed'' message, even though all the settings in the BIOS are set to their optimized defaults. When I get home I will try to figure out what the problem is. If I can't figure it out, I will probably have to RMA the board too.

 

Do you have any ideas?

You should, firstly, properly clear the CMOS, which is the taking out the MOBO battery and reversing it then putting it back in and then taking it out after about one minute then taking it out and putting it back in the proper way, make sure to unplug the PSU and remove the RAM sticks. Once finished with doing that, see if you get any messages, if you do i think an RMA of the MOBO would be best, if you don't get any messages then, see if you can get into the BIOS and then boot into windows, if you do then nice but IMO an RMA would be the better thing as some of these MOBO issues can show up at a later date even though you think you have solved the issue. I explain more it below.

 

Have you tried all RAM sticks in the working/recognized slots?....i assume you have......That constant message and the fact that only 3 out of 4 DIMMs, not the modules themselves, are being seen, tells me that the CPU parameter recall is messed up/corrupted, which also indicates the BIOS is messed up/corrupted. Normally a new BIOS chip is all that is needed to fix the issue but getting the correct one can be tricky and a MOBO RMA is more wise to do.

[Ermodo]

I had a similar problem 2 weeks ago (I also wanted to lower the VCore and then the pc wouldn't post) but my error code was 41. Not sure what I did to fix it but I let the pc sit at that stage (switched on) for several minutes and then cleared the cmos (still powered on). When it is stopping again (with the same code) I pressed the reset button and let it sit again. After some time the monitor switched on and everything worked as usually.

[YoungStarDCx]

You should, firstly, properly clear the CMOS, which is the taking out the MOBO battery and reversing it then putting it back in and then taking it out after about one minute then taking it out and putting it back in the proper way, make sure to unplug the PSU and remove the RAM sticks. Once finished with doing that, see if you get any messages, if you do i think an RMA of the MOBO would be best, if you don't get any messages then, see if you can get into the BIOS and then boot into windows, if you do then nice but IMO an RMA would be the better thing as some of these MOBO issues can show up at a later date even though you think you have solved the issue. I explain more it below.

 

Have you tried all RAM sticks in the working/recognized slots?....i assume you have......That constant message and the fact that only 3 out of 4 DIMMs, not the modules themselves, are being seen, tells me that the CPU parameter recall is messed up/corrupted, which also indicates the BIOS is messed up/corrupted. Normally a new BIOS chip is all that is needed to fix the issue but getting the correct one can be tricky and a MOBO RMA is more wise to do.

 

Hey @Leonard! Yet another update. I got my new Mobo this weekend and along with the new processor, things seem to be running just fine! I did however get an overclocking failed message after pressing the ''Force Restart'' button when Windows 10 was taking too long restarting just now. Any ideas on that?

 

Also, would you have any use of some pictures of my BIOS (overclock)?

[Leonard]

Hey @Leonard! Yet another update. I got my new Mobo this weekend and along with the new processor, things seem to be running just fine! I did however get an overclocking failed message after pressing the ''Force Restart'' button when Windows 10 was taking too long restarting just now. Any ideas on that?

 

Also, would you have any use of some pictures of my BIOS (overclock)?

Good to hear you got your new hardware.

 

The overclock failed message is part of the CPU parameter recall, it happens on occasion, especially when an OC, be it CPU, RAM or GPU, is unstable but in your case it could just be a boot issue as you had to do a force restart. 

 

I would advise that you clear your CMOS again and start over from stock/default and do CPU first then RAM then GPU in that order if you plan to OC all three.

 

The BIOS pictures are of no real use as an OC is really system and CPU specific and not generic, meaning your CPU voltage may be less or more than another CPU just like yours for a given frequency.

[Nishizumi]

Not to be the harbinger of bad news here but, if you can't find a correct solution, an RMA would be in order.... (unless of course your warranty is gone)

[Leonard]

Hey @Leonard! Yet another update. I got my new Mobo this weekend and along with the new processor, things seem to be running just fine! I did however get an overclocking failed message after pressing the ''Force Restart'' button when Windows 10 was taking too long restarting just now. Any ideas on that?

 

Also, would you have any use of some pictures of my BIOS (overclock)?

Another thing i thought of is that when you get into windows remember to do a system maintenance if you have a regular hdd and make sure you have TRIM enabled if you have an ssd. In an administrator level cmd with this code fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

 

0 means it is enabled 1 is disabled/not available

 

Windows tends to make many faulty entries when an OC fails.

[YoungStarDCx]

@Leonard Alright, thanks for the extra info.

As for the overclocking failed messages, I have reset the CMOS and after overclocking the parts one by one, I am pretty sure it's the RAM. I am trying to let it run at the advertised 2800mhz but I get inconsistent boots.

Sometimes it just boots normally, sometimes with a black screen or overclocking failed message. I checked the motherboard and the DRAM led is solid. So that's seems fairly clear.

I've read on multiple forums that many X99 boards have problems running 2800mhz or more. I am trying to find a right configuration now. The XMP profiles for both 2800 and 3000mhz seem very unstable.

I'm just not sure what to mess with in the BIOS and what not, because I don't want another round of RMAs haha.

[Leonard]

@Leonard Alright, thanks for the extra info.

As for the overclocking failed messages, I have reset the CMOS and after overclocking the parts one by one, I am pretty sure it's the RAM. I am trying to let it run at the advertised 2800mhz but I get inconsistent boots.

Sometimes it just boots normally, sometimes with a black screen or overclocking failed message. I checked the motherboard and the DRAM led is solid. So that's seems fairly clear.

I've read on multiple forums that many X99 boards have problems running 2800mhz or more. I am trying to find a right configuration now. The XMP profiles for both 2800 and 3000mhz seem very unstable.

I'm just not sure what to mess with in the BIOS and what not, because I don't want another round of RMAs haha.

Give me the mobo, the mobo's UEFI/BIOS version and RAM models you have, i want to check something to get back to you.

[YoungStarDCx]

Give me the mobo, the mobo's UEFI/BIOS version and RAM models you have, i want to check something to get back to you.

@Leonard the mobo is the ASUS X99-PRO/USB 3.1, with bios version 1901. The RAM is a 4x4 set of Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800mhz. I'm not sure what the part number was for the QVL, but I am sure that this set was compatible.

 

EDIT:

 

Links:

 

Mobo: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/X99PROUSB_31/HelpDesk_Download/

RAM: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vengeance-lpx-16gb-4x4gb-ddr4-dram-2800mhz-c16-memory-kit-black-cmk16gx4m4a2800c16

[Leonard]

@Leonard the mobo is the ASUS X99-PRO/USB 3.1, with bios version 1901. The RAM is a 4x4 set of Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800mhz. I'm not sure what the part number was for the QVL, but I am sure that this set was compatible.

 

EDIT:

 

Links:

 

Mobo: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/X99PROUSB_31/HelpDesk_Download/

RAM: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vengeance-lpx-16gb-4x4gb-ddr4-dram-2800mhz-c16-memory-kit-black-cmk16gx4m4a2800c16

Okay and just as i thought the RAM kit does work but for only 2 or 4 dimms but what they don't say is which set of dimms does the RAM work in, check here for you RAM kit, so this is where you could be getting you problem. Are you using all four grey dimms or all four black dimms or a combination of both grey and black dimms?

 

If you are using 4 dimms, the manual says to use all the 1 slots which are slots A1 B1 D1 C1 and not any other slots, this is for stability. check it out here chapter 1, pages 7-15 discusses the RAM configurations.

 

Now if you already have followed these steps correctly then it is something else and in most cases it could just be the CPU's quality, not saying your CPU is crap, just this is how your CPU functions with this RAM kit.

[YoungStarDCx]

Okay and just as i thought the RAM kit does work but for only 2 or 4 dimms but what they don't say is which set of dimms does the RAM work in, check here for you RAM kit, so this is where you could be getting you problem. Are you using all four grey dimms or all four black dimms or a combination of both grey and black dimms?

 

If you are using 4 dimms, the manual says to use all the 1 slots which are slots A1 B1 D1 C1 and not any other slots, this is for stability. check it out here chapter 1, pages 7-15 discusses the RAM configurations.

 

Now if you already have followed these steps correctly then it is something else and in most cases it could just be the CPU's quality, not saying your CPU is crap, just this is how your CPU functions with this RAM kit.

 

I already have them placed in the order the manual recommends, unfortunately. So A1, B1, C1 and D1. However, I do have some good news. After lowering the CPU vCore to 1.10 volts (was 1.3 I think) and using the XMP profile and upping the RAM voltage from 1.20 to 1.25, everything seems stable! I have been testing it for the last few days and no overclocking failed messages or other failed booting attempts.

 

This is the second time I have typed the above message because literally 10 minutes ago when I was typing this, black ''boxes'' appeared all over my screen. Shortly after that my PC froze and I had to force restart it with the power button. I got a critical error in the error log under Kernel-PnP or something like that about the computer unexpectedly shutting down due to it crashing or a power outage. After the restart, the same thing happened again. I thought it may be the GPU so I reinstalled the drivers in safe made and reinstalled them afterwards. Right now everything seems okay again, though I am a bit concerned.

 

Atleast it seems like the CPU and RAM have settled. Do you you think my Coolermaster 850w PSU is sufficient for my system? I'm asking due to I've did some quick searches and found that it may be a PSU going bad or one that's simply not powerful enough (sorry for all extra components, I copy and pasted it).

 

• CPU
  Intel Core i7 5930K
• Motherboard
  ASUS X99 Pro
• RAM
  16GB Corsair LPX Vengeance @ 2800mhz
• GPU
  Gigabyte GTX 980ti Gaming G1
• Case
  Fractal Design Define R5
• Storage
  Samsung EVO SSD 500GB and WD Black 4TB
• PSU
  Cooler Master v850
• Display(s)
  Acer XB270HU
• Cooling
  Corsair H110 AIO Liquid Cooling
• Keyboard
  Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard
• Mouse
  Logitech Proteus Core G502
• Sound
  Logitech Z623
• Operating System
  Windows 10

[Leonard]

 

I already have them placed in the order the manual recommends, unfortunately. So A1, B1, C1 and D1. However, I do have some good news. After lowering the CPU vCore to 1.10 volts (was 1.3 I think) and using the XMP profile and upping the RAM voltage from 1.20 to 1.25, everything seems stable! I have been testing it for the last few days and no overclocking failed messages or other failed booting attempts.

 

This is the second time I have typed the above message because literally 10 minutes ago when I was typing this, black ''boxes'' appeared all over my screen. Shortly after that my PC froze and I had to force restart it with the power button. I got a critical error in the error log under Kernel-PnP or something like that about the computer unexpectedly shutting down due to it crashing or a power outage. After the restart, the same thing happened again. I thought it may be the GPU so I reinstalled the drivers in safe made and reinstalled them afterwards. Right now everything seems okay again, though I am a bit concerned.

 

Atleast it seems like the CPU and RAM have settled. Do you you think my Coolermaster 850w PSU is sufficient for my system? I'm asking due to I've did some quick searches and found that it may be a PSU going bad or one that's simply not powerful enough (sorry for all extra components, I copy and pasted it).

 

• CPU
  Intel Core i7 5930K
• Motherboard
  ASUS X99 Pro
• RAM
  16GB Corsair LPX Vengeance @ 2800mhz
• GPU
  Gigabyte GTX 980ti Gaming G1
• Case
  Fractal Design Define R5
• Storage
  Samsung EVO SSD 500GB and WD Black 4TB
• PSU
  Cooler Master v850
• Display(s)
  Acer XB270HU
• Cooling
  Corsair H110 AIO Liquid Cooling
• Keyboard
  Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard
• Mouse
  Logitech Proteus Core G502
• Sound
  Logitech Z623
• Operating System
  Windows 10

 

This means you have to do some manual adjusting to your UEFI settings relating to your CPU, i wouldn't worry too much but it can be time consuming....have fun   

[YoungStarDCx]

This means you have to do some manual adjusting to your UEFI settings relating to your CPU, i wouldn't worry too much but it can be time consuming....have fun   

 

I think it's the GPU or it's driver. Look at this error log, right after the screen did something strange again (after acting up, the display just turned off and my monitor went to standy: http://i.imgur.com/6E9idfp.png

 

I can't seem to figure out what the problem is..

 

EDIT: @Leonard since I am getting a bit hopeless here (let's be honest, I'm having problems for a long time now), I am considering a factory reset of Windows 10. If you happen to have any ideas in the meantime, let me know! 

[Leonard]

I think it's the GPU or it's driver. Look at this error log, right after the screen did something strange again (after acting up, the display just turned off and my monitor went to standy: http://i.imgur.com/6E9idfp.png

 

I can't seem to figure out what the problem is..

 

EDIT: @Leonard since I am getting a bit hopeless here (let's be honest, I'm having problems for a long time now), I am considering a factory reset of Windows 10. If you happen to have any ideas in the meantime, let me know! 

You can do the Windows10 reset but if the CPU just can't handle the PCIe lane load it can happen again. With x99, the CPU's quality is heavily connected to every component that shares a PCIe lane and from my experience, the lack of properly tested Win10 drivers has just made things worse.

 

I doubt it is the GPU driver. 

 

A good way but quiet tedious would be to use Win7 if you have it, you don't have to install it on your present boot drive, you can use a spare HDD if you have one and just swap the present boot drive out. If the problem persists then it is or like 80% sure it is the CPU's quality. Now when i say the CPU's quality i just mean, which i am sure you know by now, not all CPUs of the same tier are the same in quality.

 

One way i can be fairly sure it is the CPU would be the fact that ASUS's memory QVL states your exact kit of memory are tested and working in 2 and 4 dimms which means it was properly checked for errors, the only thing not in the equation would be your CPU.

 

My recommendation would be to lower the RAM frequency but keep the timings and voltage....how would you do this you ask.....you can either use the XMP profile and then choose a lower frequency so instead of using 2800mhz you would choose 2400mhz which is still and OC frequency but lower than the 2800mhz or even 2133mhz which is the JEDEC standard that would work with all x99 CPUs.

 

If you check youtubers like Paul and Jayz they state that any OC on x99 is really up to the CPU's quality and they have way more experience in the topic than i do. I did one x99 build that proved to be a horror show as the client just bought the cheapest parts and not compatible parts but did not tell me and just came and wanted me to put everything together and test it in a two hours....that was the last build i am doing for my sister's friend....the biggest lunkhead i know!

[YoungStarDCx]

You can do the Windows10 reset but if the CPU just can't handle the PCIe lane load it can happen again. With x99, the CPU's quality is heavily connected to every component that shares a PCIe lane and from my experience, the lack of properly tested Win10 drivers has just made things worse.

 

I doubt it is the GPU driver. 

 

A good way but quiet tedious would be to use Win7 if you have it, you don't have to install it on your present boot drive, you can use a spare HDD if you have one and just swap the present boot drive out. If the problem persists then it is or like 80% sure it is the CPU's quality. Now when i say the CPU's quality i just mean, which i am sure you know by now, not all CPUs of the same tier are the same in quality.

 

One way i can be fairly sure it is the CPU would be the fact that ASUS's memory QVL states your exact kit of memory are tested and working in 2 and 4 dimms which means it was properly checked for errors, the only thing not in the equation would be your CPU.

 

My recommendation would be to lower the RAM frequency but keep the timings and voltage....how would you do this you ask.....you can either use the XMP profile and then choose a lower frequency so instead of using 2800mhz you would choose 2400mhz which is still and OC frequency but lower than the 2800mhz or even 2133mhz which is the JEDEC standard that would work with all x99 CPUs.

 

If you check youtubers like Paul and Jayz they state that any OC on x99 is really up to the CPU's quality and they have way more experience in the topic than i do. I did one x99 build that proved to be a horror show as the client just bought the cheapest parts and not compatible parts but did not tell me and just came and wanted me to put everything together and test it in a two hours....that was the last build i am doing for my sister's friend....the biggest lunkhead i know!

@Leonard unfortunately I do not have a  spare HDD to run Windows 7 on, though I wouldn't mind formatting my current drive and installing Windows 7 on it. I will do that as a last resort, I think.

 

As for your suggestions with the RAM, I tried letting them run at 2133mhz, like they do out of the box without overclocking. This yields the same results, unfortunately. I wish I was more familiar with how the PCIe lanes work . When I bought the parts, I just read online that if you are using only graphics card, there should be more than enough lanes free. That's really all I know .

 

Perhaps I should request another RMA, but since it's pretty much a lottery, I don't think it's worth it. I am currently using nVidia's live chat option to see if they can come up with a solution, because when just searching for the error in the error log, I get tons of hits.

 

EDIT: an nVidia support rep asked me to go through the following steps:

1. Goto registry editor (start -> run -> regedit)2. Navigate yourself to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/GraphicsDrivers (make sure GraphicsDrivers is highlighted).3. Right click -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) value -> Name it: TdrDelay -> double click it -> Set it to A (hexadecimal) or 10 (decimal). 

So let's see how that goes. 

 

EDIT 2: did not work. So, Windows 7 it is!

[Leonard]

@Leonard unfortunately I do not have a  spare HDD to run Windows 7 on, though I wouldn't mind formatting my current drive and installing Windows 7 on it. I will do that as a last resort, I think.

 

As for your suggestions with the RAM, I tried letting them run at 2133mhz, like they do out of the box without overclocking. This yields the same results, unfortunately. I wish I was more familiar with how the PCIe lanes work . When I bought the parts, I just read online that if you are using only graphics card, there should be more than enough lanes free. That's really all I know .

 

Perhaps I should request another RMA, but since it's pretty much a lottery, I don't think it's worth it. I am currently using nVidia's live chat option to see if they can come up with a solution, because when just searching for the error in the error log, I get tons of hits.

 

EDIT: an nVidia support rep asked me to go through the following steps:

1. Goto registry editor (start -> run -> regedit)2. Navigate yourself to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/GraphicsDrivers (make sure GraphicsDrivers is highlighted).3. Right click -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) value -> Name it: TdrDelay -> double click it -> Set it to A (hexadecimal) or 10 (decimal). 

So let's see how that goes. 

It isn't so much how the PCIe lanes work more than it is how the CPUs handle the load from the PCIe lanes. Some x99 cpus and quiet frankly all CPUs really can handle any thing thrown at them while others are really picky, you seem to have a picky one   Have you ever tried putting the GPU in another PCIe x16 slot and see if you get the issues still?

 

An RMA is really a 50-50 chance of getting a better replacement.

 

The regedit changes are to set the parameters for how the GPU works through the PCIe lanes which further tells me it is the CPU and is just a picky one.

 

Can you find out if that regedit tweak is specific for just x99 or generic and can be used on any other platform? Seems to be a good tweak for me to keep for future referencing. 

[YoungStarDCx]

It isn't so much how the PCIe lanes work more than it is how the CPUs handle the load from the PCIe lanes. Some x99 cpus and quiet frankly all CPUs really can handle any thing thrown at them while others are really picky, you seem to have a picky one   Have you ever tried putting the GPU in another PCIe x16 slot and see if you get the issues still?

 

An RMA is really a 50-50 chance of getting a better replacement.

 

The regedit changes are to set the parameters for how the GPU works through the PCIe lanes which further tells me it is the CPU and is just a picky one.

 

Can you find out if that regedit tweak is specific for just x99 or generic and can be used on any other platform? Seems to be a good tweak for me to keep for future referencing. 

 

Damn. I'm always unlucky with these things it seems. As the nVidia rep didn't have any other system specs besides the graphics card and that I am running Windows 10 64bit, I would say that it doesn't matter if it's X99, Z170  or LGA 1150/1.

 

I did try switching GPU to another slot. Not only did this not help, but in benchmarks I saw drastically reduced performance (like 7 to 10 fps less). Not sure why though.

 

I'll first try a fresh install of Windows 10 to see if that helps since Windows 7 is still downloading. Can I just use the factory reset option while keeping my files intact, or should I do a full wipe?

[Leonard]

Damn. I'm always unlucky with these things it seems. As the nVidia rep didn't have any other system specs besides the graphics card and that I am running Windows 10 64bit, I would say that it doesn't matter if it's X99, Z170  or LGA 1150/1.

 

I did try switching GPU to another slot. Not only did this not help, but in benchmarks I saw drastically reduced performance (like 7 to 10 fps less). Not sure why though.

 

I'll first try a fresh install of Windows 10 to see if that helps since Windows 7 is still downloading. Can I just use the factory reset option while keeping my files intact, or should I do a full wipe?

The 7-10fps less could be because the PCIe lane was running in "Auto" mode and not say dedicated x16 or maybe the other slot is just an PCIe 2.0 x4 slot. ASUS tends to have those other slots as auto in the UEFI and you have to manually change it.

 

When ever you are faced with these types of issues it is wise to start with a clean install so make sure to backup your data and do a clean install not a factory reset(although i would do this first if the issue was not there all the time) or upgrade or downgrade or revert nor all the other vague ways Microsoft tends to use to describe stuff. 

 

Now there is one thing you can try before you do any reinstall of your OS, and that would be to unplug the PSU, either from the PSU itself or from the outlet, then remove the CPU from the MOBO and the UEFI/BIOS battery, wait about a minute or so then put in the UEFI/BIOS battery, then the CPU then plug in the PSU and see if you get the issues still. 

 

Once you remove the CPU you will be directed to the UEFI/BIOS on first boot as the MOBO will say new CPU/hardware detected, press F1 yada yada, once there run everything at default, boot into windows and see if the issues still occur.      <------don't think you tried this one yet.

[YoungStarDCx]

The 7-10fps less could be because the PCIe lane was running in "Auto" mode and not say dedicated x16 or maybe the other slot is just an PCIe 2.0 x4 slot. ASUS tends to have those other slots as auto in the UEFI and you have to manually change it.

 

When ever you are faced with these types of issues it is wise to start with a clean install so make sure to backup your data and do a clean install not a factory reset(although i would do this first if the issue was not there all the time) or upgrade or downgrade or revert nor all the other vague ways Microsoft tends to use to describe stuff. 

 

Now there is one thing you can try before you do any reinstall of your OS, and that would be to unplug the PSU, either from the PSU itself or from the outlet, then remove the CPU from the MOBO and the UEFI/BIOS battery, wait about a minute or so then put in the UEFI/BIOS battery, then the CPU then plug in the PSU and see if you get the issues still. 

 

Once you remove the CPU you will be directed to the UEFI/BIOS on first boot as the MOBO will say new CPU/hardware detected, press F1 yada yada, once there run everything at default, boot into windows and see if the issues still occur.      <------don't think you tried this one yet.

 

I really don't want to remove the CPU again because I had a hard time installing the liquid cooler on my own. I have reinstalled Windows 10, deleting all personal files too just in case and since then I haven't had any problems. I also clocked back my RAM to 2400mhz. I don't see a performance difference, though as you'll probably understand I am not really happy that I can't run it at the advertised speed.

 

Hopefully everything keeps working now. The only problem I had after the reset was that when I put my PC in sleep mode, it wouldn't turn on again and I had to force reboot it. I left it in sleep mode for an hour or so. I tried putting it in sleep again after the force reboot for 5 minutes or so, and while it took a bit longer than you would expect, it did turn on. 

[Leonard]

I really don't want to remove the CPU again because I had a hard time installing the liquid cooler on my own. I have reinstalled Windows 10, deleting all personal files too just in case and since then I haven't had any problems. I also clocked back my RAM to 2400mhz. I don't see a performance difference, though as you'll probably understand I am not really happy that I can't run it at the advertised speed.

 

Hopefully everything keeps working now. The only problem I had after the reset was that when I put my PC in sleep mode, it wouldn't turn on again and I had to force reboot it. I left it in sleep mode for an hour or so. I tried putting it in sleep again after the force reboot for 5 minutes or so, and while it took a bit longer than you would expect, it did turn on. 

This seems very promising.

 

The sleep mode issue has to do with a conflict with windows hibernation, this is from all the laptops i had to configure with win10, about 3 so far. You need to turn off hibernation in windows power options.

 

Method 1

1. open windows power options
2. click on change plan settings
3. click on change advanced power options
4. expand sleep after
5. expand hibernate after
6. change whatever it is to never

Method 2

1. open command prompt with administrator rights
2. type powercfg /h off   this turns hibernation off. If you want to undo the previous command, you will need to type powercfg /h 
3. restart your pc for the changes to take effect for each command used

[YoungStarDCx]

 

This seems very promising.

 

The sleep mode issue has to do with a conflict with windows hibernation, this is from all the laptops i had to configure with win10, about 3 so far. You need to turn off hibernation in windows power options.

 

Method 1

1. open windows power options
2. click on change plan settings
3. click on change advanced power options
4. expand sleep after
5. expand hibernate after
6. change whatever it is to never

Method 2

1. open command prompt with administrator rights
2. type powercfg /h off   this turns hibernation off. If you want to undo the previous command, you will need to type powercfg /h 
3. restart your pc for the changes to take effect for each command used

 

 

Let's hope it stays this promising!

 

I tried method 2, I didn't get a return message in CMD but it's probably good. I think I'll leave my PC in sleep mode for the whole night tonight. Hopefully it boots without a problem in the morning. I'll keep you posted.

 

Oh and, for the 100th time, thanks for all the help!