Weird stuff with Gigabyte z590 Aorus Ultra

PTRMAN

Limp Gawd
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Oct 28, 2008
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Picked up an I9-11900K (QS) and a Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra here not long ago. Worked OK for about a month then wonky things started happening.

After good performance for about a month I had some kind of glitch. Board would NOT recognize RTX card anymore. Ended up reinstalling win 10 and that seemed to fix it (whew!). Then I tried to install the second NVMe and everything fell apart. Multiple Win 10 reinstalls and still lockups / freezes / rare BSOD.

Three unusual factors:
1) I'm running with only one 4+4 PSU to Mobo CPU power cable because that's all I have. I just tried to add a second (cheapo from Amazon) and PC would not start with it. 1250 PSU does have spare CPU 4+4 slot, but this crappy cable did not work.
2) CPU is a QS model. I got it cheap and thought I'd roll the dice. So far pretty happy. Not running OCed at all, just stock.
3) Mobo started throwing 25 codes after running solidly with A0. Seems to be something to do with RAM but I haven't quite gotten that fixed yet.

Completely reformatted 2 x NVMes and 2 x SSDs. Installed win 11 from usb drive. So far all is working well. GPU fully working, Win 11 on one NVME seems to work. Downloading games to 2nd NVMe and just played Titanfall 2 twice (after doing the Environmental Variables fix (Thanks Reddit!)). So far so good.

I think the 25 codes and other problems came from adding the second NVMe drive. I've read the I9-11900K may not run properly without the 2nd 4+4 cable. I will grab a bunch of legit 4+4 PSU to Mobo CPU cables when I go back home to NJ (working in Austin) over the holidays.

If that does not do the trick then it MIGHT be either 1) PSU needs replacing (it was purchased from Newegg in Feb 2012), or the RAM really doesn't play nice with Mobo (the two sticks I have were not exactly on the supported list), or possibly both PSU and RAM could be an issue. I really don't think the QS is to blame for any of this.

Any other suggestions?
 
Do make sure you buy the right cables for your PSU as the pinout can vary between brands/models
 
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The 11900K doesn't use enough power to need the second 8 pin cable or 4 pin depending on the motherboard. Having a 9 year old PSU could indeed be a problem though. You can also run HWInfo64 and see how much power everything is pulling. I believe GPU-Z will do this too. Whatever your PSU is supposed to output will be less than it is rated for most likely due to capacitor aging.
 
I've got 20+ years of computer stuff at home in NJ, so will go through the mounds of PSU cables I have there and pull some to test here in Austin. The OCZ PSU has been a champ, but it IS getting a bit long in the tooth. I can see how that could easily be the problem.
 
PS - thanks for the feedback. I think I'm on the right track but a sanity check is very useful.
 
Update - ran fine for about an hour last night (web surfing, email, etc.) then locked up 5 minutes into a game. Board read A0, but screen and mouse froze. Tried a few times to restart and kept locking up. Did Win 11 Repair and restore, then updated bios from F4 to F6 (didn't know Win 11 needed new bios!). Ran well for about 2 hours but did NOT try gaming. Ordered a new modular 1250 PSU that arrives tonight. Will see how gaming goes tonight.
 
If you are having issues using W11 is not a good idea. Stick with known-good stuff when troubleshooting!
 
You are 100% right. I was just kind of casting about for lifelines with the Win 11. Working for now, but we'll see.
 
I always recommend BIOS updates. Its good that you did that.

I would also recommend having both 8 pin connectors installed. I know that technically, in terms of power requirements, the second one shouldn't be needed. But, I've seen a few boards behave strangely without everything connected. And yes, make absolute certain you have a compatible cable for your power supply. If you use the wrong cables, it can damage components and/or the cable can heat up and melt the plastic covering the wires.

However, I see that you ordered a new power supply. I think you will probably be good after this. If not, I would finally chalk it up to the fact that you are using a QS chip.
 
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If the PSU doesn't fix the issue, it could be either the RAM (which isn't on the supported list) or possibly the CPU cooler (which is aging, although not as old as the PSU). If I get to the point of replacing those, I'll essentially have built a completely new PC. Hope it doesn't get there, but it's so frustrating to have it just not work. Not really sure why someone would recommend NOT using the second 4+4 input on the MOBO. I mean, they put it there for a reason, right? Plus everything I read tells me the CPU is a power pig. I don't see how using that second connection could hurt.
 
I always recommend BIOS updates. Its good that you did that.

I would also recommend having both 8 pin connectors installed. I know that technically, in terms of power requirements, the second one shouldn't be needed. But, I've seen a few boards behave strangely without everything connected.
The ASRock X570 Creator is like that.
 
Installed new PSU last night = Segotep GF1250. 6 hours of gaming last night = flawless. Problem solved, right?
No. Today again experienced multiple lock ups. Went the Reset Your PC route again and still experiencing lockups

I'm thinking it must be one of:

MOBO
RAM
CPU

At this point, I feel like giving up on this. Pull out mobo, RAM, and CPU and just put back my old dependable 8700K, Mobo, and RAM.
Could try to RMA the board, since it was new in box (purchased through Hard Forum). RAM is past RMA date. Pretty sure no one is looking for a QS cpu.
Expensive lesson to me!

EDIT - I think I'll just swap in the old board/8700K/old RAM. I'm in Austin for just another week, then back to NJ for 6 weeks. So the old stuff will get me a working PC for the next week. Probably then deal with all this crap when I get back. I see lots of NIB Z590 boards on FB marketplace, so that is encouraging.
 
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I had an issue similar to this that ended up being a faulty usb mouse. Went through 2 different builds trying to sort that one with occasional random lockups and or long delays of not responding to inputs.
 
Wow. That's something I did not think of. I did just replace a mouse on Thursday, so that isn't i. At least I don't think so....
Just spent the past three hours swapping out the mobo, cpu, and RAM, getting just about everything installed and updated just how I like it. Only cost me one bloody knuckle. Just about done downloading TitanFall 2. If that actually works, this set up should be good for the next week and probably a few weeks after I get back. On the plus side, Win 11 now works with my old board/cpu.
 
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