Gigabyte Gaming G1 mobo wont post, error code AE

[swindall.tucker]

Was playing some games yesterday and all of a sudden my pc froze up with no response. Temperatures had been running cool and everything was working perfectly fine prior. I tried to reboot and it wont even post to bios, it just sits with a black screen, with the fans on everything starting up perfectly fine and idling while my mobo reads bF. All of my components, cpu cooler, gpu, ram, motherboard, light up so I don't think they died. I tried clearing CMOS, and running my pc without the gpu, and playing around with the ram in different slots and just using 1 stick of ram. Where should I go from here, sort of at a loss

my specs are:
Gigabyte z170x-Gaming 7 LGA 1151, rev 1.0
i7 6700k
980ti
h110i liquid cpu cooler
Corsair Dominator DDR4 Gen6 i5/7 16GB(2x8GB) 3000MHz 1.35V ver4.24
850W EVGA G2 psu

UPDATE: I removed all USB ports and now motherboard is stuck reading code AE and wont boot to bios still

 

[Darkbreeze]

There is only one possible (According to Gigabyte) relevant problem in regard to a BF error code on your G1 Gaming.

Our team had checked with the Post code manufacture and this code correspond to the thunderbolt. By default it is enable in the bios and if you are not using any thunderbolt device it will show bF. Once you disable the Thunderbolt option it will be A0 when the OS boots which correspond to IDE initialization and will stay here as the board does not have any IDE controller.

Do you have something plugged into the USB 3.1/Thunderbolt port? If no changes were made recently to the bios and you have nothing plugged in to the Thunderbolt port, then you need to either contact Gigabyte about an RMA if the board is still under warranty or start looking at another board in all probability. What is the model and brand of your "1000w" power supply?

Also, "playing around with RAM in different slots" is NEVER a solution. Memory belongs installed only ONE way, according to the motherboard population rules. For your board, that means one module in slot A2 and one in slot B2. For one module only, use slot A2, which is the second slot over from the CPU or third over from the edge of the motherboard. Slot B2 is the one closest to the edge of the motherboard.

For four modules, if they all came in a kit, then just fill all slots and it doesn't matter what goes where. For two separate kits, if there is to be any chance of them working, one kit would go in slots A2 and B2 while the other kit would go in slots A1 and B1.

Those are pretty much non-negotiable population rules if you want the memory to run correctly and in dual channel operation.

Are you overclocking, or have you had the CPU out of it's socket anytime recently? Bent pins on the motherboard (Intel) or CPU (AMD) can cause just about any imaginable error code or problem, as most roads lead through the CPU at some point.

 

[Calvin7]

gaming g1 is an incomplete model number. It is not a valid model number.

corsair dominator platium 16g ddr4 ram 3000mhz also does not have a model number. It could be random single modules or multiple kits. Try listing a part number or link to it.

 

[swindall.tucker]

I tried unplugging everything from every USB port now and now the mobo reads code AE while the system idles. I still get a black screen and bios doesn't come up. And oops, i just checked and the power supply is actually an 850W EVGA G2. I've had my ram in A1 B1 for like 2 years and it's ran just fine, I'll try switching them to A2 B2 now and see if anything changes. No I'm not overclocked and the last time I took out my cpu was like 3 months ago when I installed the new cpu cooler

There is only one possible (According to Gigabyte) relevant problem in regard to a BF error code on your G1 Gaming.

Our team had checked with the Post code manufacture and this code correspond to the thunderbolt. By default it is enable in the bios and if you are not using any thunderbolt device it will show bF. Once you disable the Thunderbolt option it will be A0 when the OS boots which correspond to IDE initialization and will stay here as the board does not have any IDE controller.

Do you have something plugged into the USB 3.1/Thunderbolt port? If no changes were made recently to the bios and you have nothing plugged in to the Thunderbolt port, then you need to either contact Gigabyte about an RMA if the board is still under warranty or start looking at another board in all probability. What is the model and brand of your "1000w" power supply?

Also, "playing around with RAM in different slots" is NEVER a solution. Memory belongs installed only ONE way, according to the motherboard population rules. For your board, that means one module in slot A2 and one in slot B2. For one module only, use slot A2, which is the second slot over from the CPU or third over from the edge of the motherboard. Slot B2 is the one closest to the edge of the motherboard.

For four modules, if they all came in a kit, then just fill all slots and it doesn't matter what goes where. For two separate kits, if there is to be any chance of them working, one kit would go in slots A2 and B2 while the other kit would go in slots A1 and B1.

Those are pretty much non-negotiable population rules if you want the memory to run correctly and in dual channel operation.

Are you overclocking, or have you had the CPU out of it's socket anytime recently? Bent pins on the motherboard (Intel) or CPU (AMD) can cause just about any imaginable error code or problem, as most roads lead through the CPU at some point.

 

[swindall.tucker]

gaming g1 is an incomplete model number. It is not a valid model number.

corsair dominator platium 16g ddr4 ram 3000mhz also does not have a model number. It could be random single modules or multiple kits. Try listing a part number or link to it.

I looked at the motherboard box and it says it's a Gigabyte z170x-Gaming 7 LGA 1151, rev 1.0

The ram came in one package and both sticks read Corsair Dominator DDR4 Gen6 i5/7 16GB(2x8GB) 3000MHz 1.35V ver4.24

 

[swindall.tucker]

I tried resetting CMOS 1 more time with all USB unplugged and left it powered off for like an hour. Came back and it booted right up to bios and now it's working fine. Temperatures are all cool and everything is back working like normal. Very weird, but hey I'll take it...

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm guessing you did change the RAM to slots A2 and B2? If you did not, I would do so. Those are the slots designated for all modern Intel consumer platforms for two module dual channel operation. I won't outright say they can't run in the other slots, or that you won't have dual channel operation if you populate the other DIMM channel, but I've certainly seen plenty of random issues with those unintended configurations and the motherboard manufacturer specifically says to use those channels, as does Intel, who gives them the spec in the first place. Every board with dual channel support since Skylake, perhaps even longer than that, has specified A2 and B2, and the majority of AMD boards do as well, for dual module population.

Anyhow, since you got it working now, it might have been related to the memory or it could be something else. If you notice ANYTHING out of the ordinary, I'd be suspicious of the board right away. I imagine if you have any warranty left, you can't have much of one, so I'd jump on any suspicious behavior that might require an RMA immediately so you don't end up out of warranty and still having problems. Finding a new Skylake board now is an expensive proposition in most cases. I got lucky and just upgraded my Gaming 5 to a Maximus VIII Hero, but that cost me 150 bucks, which really isn't bad all things considered. Still, these boards aren't manufactured anymore so prices will only go up.

 

[swindall.tucker]

I'm guessing you did change the RAM to slots A2 and B2? If you did not, I would do so. Those are the slots designated for all modern Intel consumer platforms for two module dual channel operation. I won't outright say they can't run in the other slots, or that you won't have dual channel operation if you populate the other DIMM channel, but I've certainly seen plenty of random issues with those unintended configurations and the motherboard manufacturer specifically says to use those channels, as does Intel, who gives them the spec in the first place. Every board with dual channel support since Skylake, perhaps even longer than that, has specified A2 and B2, and the majority of AMD boards do as well, for dual module population.

Anyhow, since you got it working now, it might have been related to the memory or it could be something else. If you notice ANYTHING out of the ordinary, I'd be suspicious of the board right away. I imagine if you have any warranty left, you can't have much of one, so I'd jump on any suspicious behavior that might require an RMA immediately so you don't end up out of warranty and still having problems. Finding a new Skylake board now is an expensive proposition in most cases. I got lucky and just upgraded my Gaming 5 to a Maximus VIII Hero, but that cost me 150 bucks, which really isn't bad all things considered. Still, these boards aren't manufactured anymore so prices will only go up.

Yeah I moved my ram to A2 and B2. After playing around with everything some more I realized that the problem is with the slot on the mobo my graphics card was in. I moved it down a slot and the problem went away completely. I will probably rma the mobo when I get a chance, but for now this has fixed it and I don't ever see myself running dual gpus so I almost can't be bothered

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, you should RMA it immediately, because that second slot only runs at x8 speeds rather than at x16 speeds like the primary PCIe slot.

 

[swindall.tucker]

Oh wow, thanks I definitely will. Didn't even know that

 

[Darkbreeze]

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the M2H_32G connector. The PCIEX4 slot will become unavailable when an SSD is installed in the M2H_32G connector.
3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Expr ess 3.0 standard.)