Question Gigabyte AORUS Ultra 1.0 + Corsair RM850e - troubleshooting

[plasticastronaut]

Hello all -- New builder, doing my second-ever build with (some, but not all) new components.

Before I go replacing parts to solve my no-boot condition, looking for some thought partnership.

COMPONENTS
- MoBo: Gigabyte AORUS Z590 Ultra, rev. 1.0 -- used.*
- PSU: Corsair RM850e -- new.
- CPU: Intel i9 11900k -- used, came with MoBo.*
- RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x16GB; came with CPU and MoBo.*
* I was told this combination of components was working when the PC was taken out of service, but I could not verify that personally.
- Primary storage: 2TB M.2 SSD (brand name escapes me, think it was Crucial also) - new.
- CPU cooling: Corsair Elite 240mm AIO, with two Corsair SP120 RGB Elite fans mounted for intake -- new.
- Additional cooling: Total of three (3) additional Corsair fans (two RGB, one non)...one mounted for exhaust, two for intake -- new.
- Other unrelated(?) peripherals to be mounted once I've gotten it stable include:

• Corsair Commander Core XT fan controller - 6 fan headers, 6 RGB headers
• optical drive (new),
• an addtional SATA controller (new)
• and some hard drives (used, but mine since new).

STATUS

• MoBo, CPU, PSU, RAM, and SSD are all installed.
• CPU placement was checked and new thermal paste applied (after cleaning). No apparent bent pins in the socket, CPU and AIO coldplate cleaned with 70% iso alc, CPU latched down and coldplate screwed down snugly but not overtightened.
• "CPU tach" (single pin) from the AIO is seated in the CPU_FAN header, which obviously has some empty pins either side of it. Nothing's plugged into the CPU_OPT header.
• AIO fans are powered using the fan headers included in the AIO harness; their RGB connectors are not plugged in at the moment. The AIO's getting power from a USB 2.0 header.
• No additional fans are powered/plugged into headers yet.
• Presently, there are no additional power cables (excluding the 24-pin ATX connector) connected to the motherboard. See questions below.
• Upon power-up, there's a repeated cycle of a second or two of revolution from the AIO fans. This coincides with a slow blink from the red CPU LED on the corner of the board. No diagnostic codes are shown on the two-digit LED. This continues until I power the PSU down. No beeps.

QUESTIONS

1. I'm confused by the cabling kit that came with the PSU. The SATA cables are easy enough, as is the sleeved cable that runs to the 24-pin ATX on the motherboard. But this motherboard also has two 8-pin headers near the CPU (again, not surprising). However, the Corsair cabling includes only a cable with an 8-pin to a "6 plus 2")-pin presumably for PCI cards, and an 8-pin with two "6-plus-2"s daisy-chained. I'm led to understand that the daisy-chained cable is for a GPU which may need to pull extra power from the 850W PSU. The two pins on the 6-plus-twos do NOT appear to be keyed correctly to slot into the 8-pin headers, although the 6-pin portion fits fine into those. Can anyone clarify whether I need a different cable to connect one or both of the 8-pin headers to the PSU - maybe one that's not a 6+2 configuration (and if so, why it wouldn't have come with the PSU)?
   
   
2. Must all intake and exhaust fans (and maybe their RGBs too) be connected to SYS_FAN or other headers to get to a bootable condition? I'd only seen that the CPU_FAN header needed to see that there is a cooling system in place for the CPU (the powered AIO would suffice, right?).
   
   
3. I was holding off on routing all the system fan and RGB cabling to the Commander Core XT (which is also not connected) until I saw some signs of life out of the motherboard-CPU-ram combination. Bad idea?
   
4. And, am I right that the single-pin CPU tach, attached to the only part of the 4-pin CPU_FAN header that will accept its plug, should be sufficient?

Thanks for any help re: what I should check next, what should be connected now that isn't, etc.


INSTALLED SO FAR, AND TROUBLESHOOTING

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

* I was told this combination of components was working when the PC was taken out of service, but I could not verify that personally.
You might need to see if you can use ambient light to illuminate the CPU socket. Sometimes harsh lighting can throw off the eyes and you miss seeing a bent CPU socket pin. To add, since you're using an AIO, try and loosen the mounting mechanism on the CPU to the point it's loose but not making contact on the CPU's IHS.

But this motherboard also has two 8-pin headers near the CPU
Rule with PSU's... if your PSU lacks the necessary cables/connectors for your build, you either have;
1| The wrong PSU for the job
or
2| The wrong components for the PSU.

Pper your motherboard manual;
https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL...0126_e.pdf?v=981b96d3b67c96639ad5375e87c7c661
Page 4, connect the 8pin EPS to ATX_12V_1 if you're hooked to ATX_V_2.

 

[plasticastronaut]

Thanks @Lutfij. Helpful.

To your responses:
- Yes, I've looked at the CPU and the socket under ambient and directed light (and magnifying glass), and can see no physical damage. I'm not swearing that there isn't any; I'm just unable to find it.
- I took your advice and loosened the AIO's plate a bit. No change.
- Regarding this piece: "Page 4, connect the 8pin EPS to ATX_12V_1 if you're hooked to ATX_V_2." -- see (**) near the end of this message.

Update: Got in contact with the vendor that sold me the PSU and obtained the cables I needed (2x cable with 8-pin connectors at both ends). To start with (and before seeing your note), I plugged one into each of the EPS ports and the other ends into the PSU's 8-pin "CPU/PCIe" outlets.

The computer started to boot and flashed a few error codes (faster than I could write them down), ended on C4 (listed as "reserved" in the manual), and then shut down. The AIO was getting power (its RGB center, above the CPU, lit up and cycled through a little light show, and the AIO fans spun up briefly for the duration that the system was getting power). (Note the use of "was." 🙂

Subsequent attempts to re-boot and repeat those conditions have been unsuccessful. It seems either something protective in the PSU or the MoBo are kicking in to prevent further attempts, or I might've already done some damage. No diagnostic codes now, and no LEDs light up in the corner of the MB.

**I'm not seeing that this board has an "ATX_V_2" header... just one ATX header. So I'm not sure what to make of that suggestion.

Might be too late but I next plan to unplug one of the 8-pin EPS plugs (so that there's one in ONLY the ATX_12V_1 slot). Assuming no change, I will remove all components, replace the CMOS battery with a fresh one, and start from barebones CPU-MoBo-PSU configuration to see if I am at least getting power to the motherboard again. Open to other suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[plasticastronaut]

EDITED below.

Progress, but looking for further input if anyone's got it.

PSU is powering up, and motherboard responds to power (so I'm somewhat reassured I didn't fry it). But the manual doesn't give me much info to interpret these debug codes (most fall into the "Reserved" range of the Regular Boot errors).

Upon turning on the PC from the front panel on the case, I get the following cycle of error codes. three times (presumably three attempts to POST?), before the system shuts down:

00
30--? Not listed in the manual?
19--Pre-memory South-Bridge initialization is started
??--one or two codes go by here, but are too fast to read
C2 (Reserved, in C0-CF range?)
C4 (Reserved, in C0-CF range?)
C5 (Reserved, in C0-CF range?)
C4 (Reserved, in C0-CF range?)
4C (Reserved, in 3F-4F range?)

EDIT: The motherboard, PSU and fans now stay powered up and spinning, the CPU LED is solid red, and the debug LED stays steadily on:

C1 (Reserved, in C0-CF range?).

Next step would seem to be to Q-Flash the BIOS - but I need to get a display working first to see what's going on. Open to any suggestions/input in the meantime.

Thanks.

 

[plasticastronaut]

I'll try to close this thread. I've made progress but the issues this build faces are now significantly different from what appeared in the OP.