New build acting weird

[fuganater]

Hey all,

 

So I just built a new PC and I'm trying to get it setup but Windows 10 is having none of it. Firstly, here is the HW list.

 

Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 with Optane

8700K

32GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB

2x EVGA GTX 770

32GB Optane Drive

500GB WD Black NVME

2x 128GB Curcial M4 SSD

960GB Scandisk II something or other

1000W G2 EVGA PSU

All watercooled

My issue is that WIndows installs but freezes all the time. I can't install drivers because it keeps happening. Sometimes it freezes then comes back, sometimes the screens go gray or black. Initally I wanted to install Windows on the 500GB WD Black drive. Had all these issues. OK, I'll try one of the Curcial M4 SSDs, same issues. I tried with all 32GB RAM and then with only 8GB of RAM. The RAM is on the QVL on G.Skill and the CPU is on the QVL for the board. I've seen others with this setup but I'm having nothing but issues. 

Also sometimes the machine boots, sometimes it doesn't. It will get stuck on code 94 or 96 or 64. 

 

I updated the BIOS to F10, it was super sluggish so I went to F2 and it worked a bit better but obviously not much better.

 

I'm running out of things to check. Any thoughts? Sorry if I missed any key pieces of info. I tried to included everything I could think of. 

 

[r3quiem]

First I would update the bios for your Motherboard via a USB if it has that option. If thats done already or doesnt work then I would suggest you disable or remove one of your GTX 770's if it isn't connected to your watercooling loop. Disconnect and remove your optane drive, sandisk II & crucial m4 ssds. If you are using quad channel ram then switch to dual channel by removing 2 of the 4 sticks. Then Install windows with just one hard drive and one graphic card plugged in. All of this is just to eliminate anything that could be causing potential issues not that they are the problem. If windows still doesnt install then you now have specific components you can target much more easily.

 

Edits to keep single post:

If you are still having trouble and you keep getting 5 Beeps indicating CPU error

1. Double check you have something connected to CPU Fan Header as some Mobo's require this.

2. Carl1618's Memtest86 Suggestion

3. Might be annoying but check the CPU pins and reseat if necessary

[Carl1618]

Install memtest86 on a usb and boot off it if you see any errors your ram is bad same happened to me. If not use only one gpu plugged in and try might be faulty cpu only things I can think of if all your doing is installing windows. Eliminate if it’s a ram problem first by using memtest86 i would use a different usb to install windows off if all else fails it might be faulty. Remove all storage and try install with just a hard drive and one gpu. Not an expert same thing happened to me though and this resolved it hope this help let me know. 

[fuganater]

18 minutes ago, r3quiem said:

First I would update the bios for your Motherboard via a USB if it has that option. If thats done already or doesnt work then I would suggest you disable or remove one of your GTX 770's if it isn't connected to your watercooling loop. Disconnect and remove your optane drive, sandisk II & crucial m4 ssds. If you are using quad channel ram then switch to dual channel by removing 2 of the 4 sticks. Then Install windows with just one hard drive and one graphic card plugged in. All of this is just to eliminate anything that could be causing potential issues not that they are the problem. If windows still doesnt install then you now have specific components you can target much more easily.

So I did all of that except remove the M.2 drive because I can't reach it as it is behind one of the GPU. I now get a 5 beep CPU error. Bad chip or board?

[fuganater]

I switched GPU and now it is POST ing at least... Still trying

[fuganater]

Ok doing better. 1 stick of RAM, 1 GPU and only 1 SSD and the NVME drive are installed. Going to get windows going then add things one at a time

[fuganater]

I think I have narrowed it down to the RAM. With 1 stick, it works great. With all 4 sticks in, Windows freezes up. I'm going to try each stick one at a time now, If all good then 2 sticks. 

I wonder if the RAM is the issue or the DIMM slot?

[corrado33]

2 hours ago, fuganater said:

I think I have narrowed it down to the RAM. With 1 stick, it works great. With all 4 sticks in, Windows freezes up. I'm going to try each stick one at a time now, If all good then 2 sticks. 

I wonder if the RAM is the issue or the DIMM slot?

If it's some sort of "gaming" ram, up the DIMM voltage in the bios a bit. I had a set of old DDR2 ram that would REFUSE to boot unless I gave it some more voltage in the bios. 

 

EDIT: Ah, yeah, after googling your ram it says that it's either 1.35 or 1.4, where as the stock voltage for DDR4 is 1.2. Definitely up the voltage to whatever your ram calls for. ESPECIALLY if you run all 4 sticks. 

[fuganater]

9 hours ago, corrado33 said:

If it's some sort of "gaming" ram, up the DIMM voltage in the bios a bit. I had a set of old DDR2 ram that would REFUSE to boot unless I gave it some more voltage in the bios. 

 

EDIT: Ah, yeah, after googling your ram it says that it's either 1.35 or 1.4, where as the stock voltage for DDR4 is 1.2. Definitely up the voltage to whatever your ram calls for. ESPECIALLY if you run all 4 sticks. 

I looked online and all it says to do is enable the XMP profile and it should be good to go. I'm still having a ton of issues with anything more than 2 sticks.And after messing with it some more even 1 stick is causing issues.