System that worked fine for years suddenly refuses to boot with RAM set to XMP

I am pulling my hair out trying to solve this, I tried asking elsewhere but nobody could help.

Hi, nothing unusual about it not deciding to boot up.

Your i7 - 11700K Supports Ram speed to DDR4-3200MHz  

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/212047/intel-core-i7-11700k-processor-16m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html

While the installed Ram is : DDR4-3600 ( CL18-22-22-42 1.35V ) to use XMP Ram Speed needs to be below 3200  ===  Suggest lock the timings in.

The Ram : G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (F4-3600C18D-64GVK)  is not on the Motherboards QVL List

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_z490-aorus-pro-ax_201023.pdf?v=13e6c67e08b2c32ec74973f5a19300f3

Anything that Speeds up the Boot such as Example : ASUS Fast Boot needs to be turned off for the same reasons as below.

MS Fast Start Needs to be turned off : (Will take it you are running Win10)  https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup and WHY !!!

As well your Power settings need to be on Balanced.  Using anything higher is a form of Overclocking.

Gigabyte is a strange company and names their Boards differently. please always use the proper name in case release another.

Proper name is : Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Pro AX (Rev 1.0) 

If you are running Win10/11 you should have BIOS Release : F23 installed  https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z490-AORUS-PRO-AX-rev-1x/support#support-dl-driver

Your board does Support Windows 11 so please always state your OS.

So there you have it.   It has decided to play.  Once this happens will only get it right be doing the above.  Ram speed down and lock the timings in / Buy new ram that is on the QVL List & under compatible speed for the Chip.

Nothing can do about it though would suggest if have not done so pull the CMOS Battery out for a few while unplugged from the wall and hold down the power button to bleed the PSU and return the Board to Stock Factory Settings.

again when leaving BIOS make sure have not turned on anything that speeds up the Boot.

G'luck.

Even back when I had a 10700K installed in this system I had no problem running the RAM at it's XMP setting of 3600, it was running for years at 3600 just fine. And like I mentioned, when this happens it does not accept ANY speed above 2666, not even 2700 which is well below 3200. If Intel's specs of the CPU were a hard limit then literally no CPU would ever be able to operate above 3200 in this board.

And very similar RAM kits are on the QVL list, even the 4-stick 128GB version of that same kit (F4-3600C18Q-128GVK), which is quite literally my kit but with four sticks instead of two.

I highly doubt it's a compatibility problem considering this started happening about a month ago when it had been stable since 2021, plus the fact that it didn't even accept a speed of 2700 when it happened.

Disabling MS's nonsense like Fast Startup is one of the first things I do when setting up a new Windows system for myself. But like I said, this is happening even before the motherboard will try to boot an OS, it refuses to boot anything at all when it gives that error and kicks me into the CMOS settings page. And yes, it's Windows 10... for now, I sadly won't have a choice by next October despite how much I hate 11.

The CMOS has been reset multiple times considering I have upgraded and downgraded the BIOS several times during this mess, which completely wipes it every time.

 

Recently after it had been running fine for months I tried to finish some more work on it, which involved re-wiring the drives, installing a sound card, and re-installing a RAID card that had been disconnected for a while but was originally on it. I also updated the BIOS.

Start there. Everything was good until you made hardware changes. Reverse everything and return any system settings to pre-problem date. Then start from there; something in what you did is the problem.

My first suspicion is your RAID card; RAID was great years ago, but for a regular work-computer it's not necessary, and the drivers can create problems. If you aren't going to use RAID, why have it installed? If you were getting good sound from the Windows default sound utility, remove the sound card and any drivers you installed for it. Double-check your "re-wiring" of the drives. Are you sure the new cables (I assume that is what you mean) are good?

If no joy:

Start with the basics: run Memtest 86 on your memory one stick at a time, not all at once.

Run. Seatools for Windows on each drive you have. If you can't install it, then run Seatools for DOS which will run virtual from your DVD drive or USB thumb drive. Another good one is Gsmart Control

Check your power supply; fluctuating line voltages will cause what you are experiencing. A cheap dedicated power supply tester will do it. If you order it, read the users' reviews for hints on usage. OR if you have access to an alternate PS you know is good, you can swap to test.

If everything tests as good and you still have the same problems, then try to boot into safe mode and see if the problems disappear.

The only hardware I added was the sound card, which I tried removing to no effect. The Raid card was in the system for a while, it was temporarily removed but just got re-added, it's not new. And I am using a RAID, my main storage array is using it, so I am actually making use of the card. The new cables also came with my PSU and were still new, had not been used before, so the cables should be good. I also tried force-downgrading the BIOS (The BIOS download page says once it's on version F21 it will not let you downgrade below it, but I can still force that by using the Q-Flash Plus feature) back to what I originally had at version F20, the same error still happened.

Even more annoyingly, for the last two days it hasn't been giving me problems so I can try to test further, but that hardly means the problem is gone since it's done this before where it's been stable for a while and then suddenly one day decides to fail to boot again.

I don't understand the point of testing my drives when it's my motherboard refusing to boot before it even tries to check for a bootloader on any of my drives though. Safe mode is something I can't even get to when it happens since again, before it even tries to boot the OS the motherboard itself is complaining and refusing to boot anything, the OS itself is not failing to boot, it never even gets to try to boot. Windows can't do it's "I see your system failed to boot several times, go into safe mode?" thing because it never even gets to try to boot so it can fail at it. If the motherboard manages to get past POST and starts loading the bootloader, then the system will actually work fine from then on until potentially the next reboot.

I know I had a PSU tester from before, will have to see if I can find it. Since I got the PSU new in 2021 though I am skeptical that's the issue. Disconnecting all the wires would be a total mess since I have used most of the PSU's ports by now. If it was the PSU though then wouldn't I also suffer from issues after the system has booted, not just at boot time?

Edited by Cyber_Akuma, 25 June 2024 - 11:38 AM.

When things start going whacko after extended periods of normal operation and it directs you to the BIOS.  That should be the first clue.  How old is the CMOS battery???

About three years. Most of this computer's core components are new and were bought in 2021. Only thing that is older/used is the GPU, the HDDs in the RAID (but not the other drives), the RAID card, and the case. The CPU, RAM, Motherboard, PSU, Cooler, Sound Card, and most of the drives are all new and were purchased in 2021... the CPU I think was in 2022 when I upgraded to a 11700K from a 10700K. Even the UPS is new and was bought after the PC parts.

So as suggested. Ram Speed.

Again is not unusual for this to happen after years of working fine.     (I also ran ram faster than specs and burned out the CPU after 4yrs.)  (That is when learned ram to Chip speed.)

EDIT : https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000094585/processors.html ram speed by processor.

Others have mentioned and as I have turn things off, CMOS battery replace as who knows how long it sat in the store. As well when pulled will return to Stock as others have mentioned.

Turn off things as suggested that speed up the Boot and Read the Supplied URL for why turn off MS Fast Start as it relates to the BIOS as well.

As for other things such as Sound Card, disable in Bios.  Raid, you figure that out.  Move stuff off and format and clean install with no raid and install the Motherboard Drivers after install Windows.

As said this can go up to Win 11 so take it up.

Stuck in a rut when suggests have been offered as well as concrete proof has been displayed means need to do something differently.

Edited by Pkshadow, 25 June 2024 - 07:19 PM.

Again though, even if my CPU suddenly decided to have a hard limit of 3200 and no longer support 3600, then why did no speed under 3200 work either? When it happens, if I set the RAM speed to anything above 2666, even to just 2700, it will refuse to boot even though my CPU should support up to 3200.

And I did reset the CMOS, several times, I mentioned this that I upgraded and downgraded the BIOS repeatedly, which reset the CMOS every time.

I tried it with the RAID card unplugged too, it didn't make a difference.

I don't know why you are mentioning Windows when Windows does not even get a chance to try to boot when this happens.

A couple of things. 

When I have RAM problems, experience has taught me that I should also try removing the sticks, blow out any dust and debris, look for slot contacts that look off, and clean the sticks' fingers. 

There is no guarantee this is the problem, and you've probably already done it, so disregard if so. 

Please note what was previously said by our resident shadow:

 

 

(I also ran ram faster than specs and burned out the CPU after 4yrs.)

I certainly hope that this isn't the issue, but it is possible that your CPU or mobo is damaged.