Upgraded machine freezes on boot! Need help
So I previously had a machine that was running solid for about 3 years. It had an i5-6600k, 16 GB of ripjaws ddr4 ram, a gigabyte z170 hd3 motherboard and a GTX 1080. I had a SATA SSD for the OS and two hard drives for games and such. Recently I decided I'd upgrade the cpu to a 9700k, and in turn I needed a new motherboard so I bought a gigabyte Z390 UD. I've never attempted an upgrade like this so I tried googling things and I thought I had everything figured out. I tethered my windows 10 license to my Microsoft account and just began the replacement process. I put the new cpu in the new board, I plugged everything back in including my graphics card and all my storage options and, stupidly, just decided to fire up the computer without realising I probably had to format my SSD prior and present the new system with a boot USB. I just assumed windows would take care of the upgrade and understand what was happening, but I guess that was a bad assumption.
Attempting to boot off the SSD from the old machine yields a successful post, but it freezes when the little circle of dots begins to rotate to load me into the OS.
I decided that maybe I should make a boot USB so I did, but when I try to enter the setup boot even with only the USB attached the same freezing occurs. With the SSD, with either hard drive, anything. None of it is working.
I can enter the bios without any problems and it detects my cpu, it seems to be turboing because it is running at 4.6 GHz, and all 16gb of my ram is visible in the bios. I can play around in the bios to my heart's content and it never freezes. All the fans spin and everything. But anytime I attempt any form of booting it freezes indefinitely after a few seconds of activity.
I've tried starting it with and without the graphics card, I've reseated the ram and switched it to the other channel. I tried rebuilding the old system with the old mobo and cpu and realised there's a bent pin on the old board that must've happened after I did the switch and it no longer posts. There's no other desktop in the house to format the old SSD with... I'm really out of ideas.
This was the only surplus of money I'm expecting to have for a long time and I'm seriously worried I damaged something. Do I have a dead motherboard/CPU? What should I do? Do I just need to get the SSD reformatted?
If you need any visuals so I can help give more info just let me know. Obi Wan, you're my only hope....
Edit: I bought a new SSD and USB stick, made the new one into a boot USB. Problem still persists....
EDIT2: PROBLEM SOLVED BY UPDATING BIOS! RAM WAS AN ISSUE BUT UPDATED TO WORK. MUCH LOVE TO THE COMMUNITY!
Posted Sep 9, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC · edited
Make sure the voltage your RAM requires is what is configured in BIOS
These dimms are only 2133 MHz and I think they only need 1.2v this is the voltage I assume it's delivering to the ram, 1.2v
If it's freezing even when attempting to boot off your USB drive with your SSD or HDD disconnected, then you can be sure it's not one of your drives causing the issue. Is it even attempting to boot off the USB stick? Are you sure it's booting from USB and not one of your connected drives? Once you get into the windows setup, you can format your drive from there, which is always a good idea, but may not be entirely necessary. It's possible it's a problem with the CPU or Mobo, but I'd say pretty unlikely. If you're seeing it boost to 4.6, MCE is probably on, you can try disabling that. From experience freezes on boot are more likely it's a RAM issue. Are your sticks on the QVL for your mobo? You might need to update to latest BIOS to help with compatibility (I would do this as a first step anyway). Which sticks do you have exactly, and what is their normal operating voltage?
Thanks so much for answering, I've been trying to get help all over and so few answers I'm genuinely so happy that you want to help. :) I'm not sure what MCE is. I'm looking through the bios and I'm not seeing it. Maybe I should force the clocks to stock? Turn off turboboost? Maybe it is RAM! I don't have a different set to compare though. The model is GSKILL ripjaws F4-2400C15D-16GVR. I actually don't see them on the compatible list of ram on the PDF for my board. I'll update the bios (not sure how just yet but I'll try googling). If that doesn't work, maybe I can run to best buy and pick up some sticks and see if those work?
I forgot to mention earlier, I assumed it wasn't super relevant but now I guess it is, the POST process restarts the computer when it enters the DRAM portion. After the restart it seems to pass the post, but maybe this points to the problem. Do you think this is what it is?
Edit: earlier I said they were 2133 because that's what they default to in the bios, but it appears I actually have a 2400 set. I guess you have to enable xmp to get the full speed. All these years I've been running the memory slow. Feels bad man.
Just based off the symptoms, my first thought is definitely RAM. Update BIOS first, if that doesn't resolve it then yes it's probably worth grabbing a set of known compatible sticks. You can always return them if it ends up being something else. MCE is Multi Core Enhancement and is basically a factory overclock, although Mobo manufacturer naming may vary.
Do the BIOS update first, focus on the RAM, that would be my recommended angle. Good luck.
Also a quick Google search on that RAM part number shows those are 2400MHz sticks. All DDR4 defaults to 2133MHz, which is what you're seeing. To get the higher advertised speeds, you need to enable XMP, which is basically just a factory defined overclock. It is still an overclock however, which by definition voids your CPU warranty, so if ever you find yourself talking to your CPU or Mobo vendor for warranty assistance, never admit to them that you had XMP or any other OC enabled. That would be an expensive lesson to learn. More importantly, those sticks want to be at 1.2v (also default for DDR4), so your voltage in BIOS looks fine. So yea, BIOS update first, new set of compatible sticks second if that doesn't work.