Question GA-X99-UD4 kaput>

[IrongateJim]

Hi, gang:
I purchased a system for my 2 sons back in 2016 that included the following:

​ Comrade Series w/ Window, No PSU, ATX, White, Mid Tower Case GA-X99-UD4, Intel X99 Chipset, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 128GB, M.2, ATX Retail Motherboard Core i7-5820K Six-Core 3.3 - 3.6GHz TB, LGA 2011-3, 15MB L3 Cache, DDR4, 22nm, 140W, Retail Processor GeForce GTX 970 GV-N970TTOC-4GD, 1076 - 1216MHz, 4GB GDDR5 256-Bit, PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) Value DDR4 2133MHz, PC4-17000, CL15 (15-15-15) 1.2V, Non-ECC, Black, DIMM Memory SuperNOVA Series 650 G2 650W, 80 PLUS Gold ECO Mode, Full Modular, ATX Power Supply Dark Rock Series 3, Socket 2011-3/1151/AM3+/FM2+, 160mm Height, 190W TDP, Copper/Aluminum, Retail CPU Cooler Diamond 7 Carat, 1.5g, 4.5 (W/m-K), Micronized Diamond, Thermal Compound 512GB 950 PRO 2280, 2500 / 1500 MB/s, V-NAND, PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe, M.2 SSD 3TB Barracuda ST3000DM001, 7200 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5-Inch, OEM HDD Standard Wiring with Precision Cable Routing and Tie-Down Windows 10 Home 64-bit Edition, OEM Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, Life-Time Labor Warranty) Shipping Information Charges Page 1

Note the 3 year warranty as it the failure occurred this week....3 1/2 years after purchase! But in this case, it appears that my sons didn't know about periodically cleaning the unit out and that was probably the culprit in causing the motherboard to go. I had the power supply, cpu, etc tested/swapped but it's the MB.

My question are these:

1. apparently I can no longer get a like-for-like MB replacement from AVA. Can anyone steer me to another brand that will support the components listed?
2. I pulled the m.2 SSD and the SATA drive for security reasons. What happens if I find and install a different brand mb? Is there a chance that it will work with existing Win10 install or must I just start fresh with an empty drive?

As always, thanks for any info and advice that you can provide.

Jim

 

[ChevetteSCx]

Did you have another known functioning system to thoroughly test ALL THE COMPONENTS (other than the motherboard) on?

If not, how (or who) determined conclusively that the motherboard is the culprit?

Did they PHYSICALLY LOOK OVER the motherboard (post a pic?), as it could be something as simple as a BIOS Chip failure and not a COMPLETELY FRIED motherboard. Since, failure to do ANY PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE to a PC, (ie, dusting) usually results in PSU/ CPU or GPU failure due to overheating, UNLESS the system was so choked up, that the VRMs had a nice layer of skin flakes and dust mite carcasses, causing them to overheat and fail!

REGARDLESS of the outcome, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND replacement of the PSU, with a NEW, WARRANTIED, QUALITY BRAND UNIT with a 7+Year Warranty (as in some cases, an older PSU can drift out-of-spec under heavy load, and as such can't be determined with a no-load voltage test)

Should the motherboard be COMPLETELY FRIED, I would check eBay for a GIGABYTE GA-X99-UD4, Intel X99 Chipset, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 128GB, M.2 ''replacement board'' that is the same model and revision. OTHERWISE, if you use a different model, revision or brand, you will have to do a full wipe and reinstall of windows, as well as the motherboard drivers, to avoid any conflicts or problems.

ALSO if, and when you get a system up and running again, install a ''software monitoring'' program (I like SpeedFAN) that you can routinely run or leave running to monitor motherboard/VRM/CPU/GPU performances and temperatures. This can ''give you a warning'' than it's ''cleaning time'' when temps start to rise.

 

[IrongateJim]

Did you have another known functioning system to thoroughly test ALL THE COMPONENTS (other than the motherboard) on?

If not, how (or who) determined conclusively that the motherboard is the culprit?

Sorry - I had the wrong data sheet info in there. Not ASUS...GA-X99

Wow, thanks for the reply. I bought the unit from AVA Direct 3.5 years ago. Since I still had a warranty on labor, I sent it back to them. Originally the gentleman said that it could be the other things (CPU, etc) as you mention. When they said that they can no longer get that particular MB, I said I didn't really want to spend megabucks on a new system and to just send it back. It so happens that I have an unboxed CPU that's the same as the one in the system so I figured I'd try a swap at least of that and see if I got lucky. The guy then said they did that and they tried a different PS and he feels its the mb but you mentioning BIOS chip failures as a possibility, etc., makes me think that they didn't really check the board out too well. Anyway, I asked them to just ship it back to me. I certainly don't have the expertise to test everything but I can swap the CPU. Maybe I'll get a different PS as you say but if either of those aren't the culprit, I'm not sure what I'll do. Its a nice machine and fairly beefy. Shame that it may be done!

 

[IrongateJim]

Thanks again for your very informative reply. I did open the case before I shipped it and there was very little dust/dirt on the mb that I could see. The ps fan had some on the very edge of the fan blades, but that was it. In fact, I was sort of surprised at how clean it looked. The tech said that it was the cpu cooling tower that was loaded with dust and dirt and when they blew it out, dust was everywhere.

I do have a question: if it is a BIOS chip issue, can just that be replaced? Thanks again so much for your help.
Jim

 

[IrongateJim]

As a sort of update, recall that I sent my PC back to the maker (AVA) and they said MB is prob bad. I now have the system back at home and rather than immediately buy a new one, I followed your advice and tried a few tests on my own, as follows:

I have a new, identical PSU and I swapped it in. It wasn't the problem. Both old and new PSU's work fine. I even used the loop back test plug that came with the PSUs in addition to trying them with the system itself and the old and new are both fine. When I turn PC on, all that happens is the nice, eerie blue lighting along the i/o slots glows on and off and several other lights work on the board but there's no other fan activity. I also noticed that the digital Q-Code diagnostic indicator is no longer working on the mb. No numbers show...in fact, it doesn't light at all.

I also had a spare, identical Intel Haswell CPU from a build I was undertaking a while back. I pulled the existing CPU and put in the never used, never opened one. Same thing...blue lights but nothing else and the Q Code indicator is dead.

I know you had mentioned possible BIOS chip and voltage regulators. I see no irregularity in the tops of the VRMs and not sure how to look at BIOS chip? That's about the extent of my troubleshooting ability! Think its time to bite the bullet and buy a new mb?

If so, any recommendations for new one (brand / model)? I need Intel X99 Chipset, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 128GB, M.2, ATX Retail Motherboard

Thanks! Jim

 

[ChevetteSCx]

Personally, I would stick with the same Motherboard and Revision. Otherwise, Windows will need to do an ''update'' with a different Motherboard, and, even though ONLY ONE COMPONENT is being changed, due to the new hardware, drivers, an possible manufacturer change, a FULL WIPE -and- REINSTALL -of- WINDOWS would be recommended to prevent any ''leftover drivers'' and/or software to do with the old motherboard causing any ''ghost'' conflicts! (essentially doing Preventative Maintenance/Cleanup to circumvent any errors BEFORE they appear!)

BUT, it looks like the GA-X99-UD4 boards are hard to find (and EXPENSIVE, even ''used''), so the only other Motherboard in that arena and that vintage is this one :

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Sabertooth-X99-2011-v3-Motherboards/dp/B00VUK54F0

Seem to be more of the ASUS X99 on eBay. (and NOT ALL seem to be in the CrAzY uSeD rEaLm of OVER $400!)

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_odkw=sabertooth+x99&rt=nc

OR, bite the bullet and upgrade to a different MoBo Chipset that still supports your Intel CPU and DDR4 RAM. (Could come with a good warranty, too!)

 

[IrongateJim]

ChevetteSCx, thanks for your reply. This whole thing has really been an education for me. Here's an update:

I read up on the particular problem I experienced and it looks like quite a few people had similar experiences with X99 platform, particularly with ASUS X99. I initially looked into finding an exact ASUS X99a-II replacement mb but the price even for a refurbished unit for this 2015-2016 mb was ridiculous. I ended up buying an MSI X99A SLI Krait Edition MB. I didn't think there'd be a chance in hell that I could simply remove every component from the ASUS system, install them into the MSI board, power up and not see a mess on the screen, if I even got a screen. To my surprise, it booted and must have downloaded anything needed because there were absolutely zero conflicts/problems that occurred! I checked device manager - all good. I ran it for a bit and it recommended the Windows 10 update from 1809 to 1903 and I accepted. That too went without a hitch!

I let it run all night and handed the system back to my son the next day and he's been using it heavily for 3 weeks now without a single problem. I NEVER expected this! I was prepared to have to install and then blow away the m.2 Samsung SSD drive with the Win10 install from the ASUS but everything readjusted on the fly.

As previously mentioned, as part of my troubleshooting, I had bought a second identical PSU to test and see if the ASUS problem was a bad PSU. It wasn't. I had a second Haswell 5820K cpu and I swapped that into the ASUS...that wasn't the problem. I then flashed the BIOS on the dead ASUS board from a USB drive, using the flash BIOS button/feature. This had no effect. The last ditch effort I'm making this week is replacing the BIOS chip on the ASUS (waiting for it in the mail now). I don't expect that it will help, really, but you never know and it's cheap!

With the extra components and some spare drives that I have, I will purchase memory and a graphic card and probably immediately purchase a second MSI X99A SLI Krait Edition and have a really nice mid-tower for me! If it somehow turns out that the new BIOS chip was the problem with the ASUS, i'd probably use that but again, I doubt that it's the issue.

But thank you so much for your input. I find this site to be very helpful and it's amazing how much I've learned through trying to solve this problem!
Jim