Question Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X <> i5 10400f: faulty CPU or lack of iGPU?

[arizurdo]

Hi everyone!

I just opened the following ticket with esupport.gigabyte.com to get some official answers, but all things considered I might be more lucky over here

I recently bought at Amazon a CPU, MB and memories to upgrade my current system (the CPU and MB were lot cheaper than average). And either the CPU/MB came DOA or there is some weird compatibility issue with my GPU and the CPU's lack of iGPU.
Here is the ticket detail I sent to Gigabyte:

Product Name: Z490 GAMING X (1.0) (brand new)
BIOS Ver: F4 (also tried F6c)
Model: EVGA nVidia GTX 1060 3GB OC
Model: Intel i5 10400f (brand new)
Brand: other - G. Skill Ripjaws DDR4 3200Mhz 2x8GB (brand new)
Power Supply: Corsair CS650M

Report: System does not boot, it just gives 5 beeps (CPU error) and nothing else.
I tried all of the following combinations:

• moving around memory modules on every possible slot combination
• trying only 1 memory module in every slot
• GPU card in both PCI-e slots
• update to latest BIOS with Q-Flash (and revert back to previous one)
• CPU 4+4 PSU connection and also 8+4 (with another PSU)

Clearing CMOS by both jumper and battery removal methodsIn all cases I kept getting the 5 beeps (although after BIOS update or CMOS clear, it turned on for 10 seconds, then turned off and on again to go back to the 5 beeps).
Google research (mainly here and here) suggests that my GPU (GTX 1060) might not be detected as UEFI, thus making the motherboard expect an iGPU (which the i5 10400f doesn't have) and posting a misleading CPU error. Is this possible?
Is there any way without video display that I could activate CSM support or force the BIOS to detect my GPU as the main video display and leave the CPU alone?
Is there any way to customise and upgrade BIOS firmware?
Otherwise, I'll have to assume that both the motherboard + CPU might be faulty and return them (since I can't properly detect the problem)

I might be able to test with a newer GPU in the coming days, but I'm not sure it might lead to a different solution. Sadly, there is no way I can get my hands on a 10th Gen Intel CPU with iGPU

Any thoughts/bets on what could be the culprit of this issue?

Thanks!!

 

[Eximo]

Have you tried re-seating the CPU? Does it give you beeps or anything? (I'm not seeing any visual displays on this board, debug LEDs?)

GPU confirmed good?

If you have your old system together (or can put it back together), consider updating the firmware on the GPU.

 

[arizurdo]

Thanks for the reply!
Indeed it doesn't have any led indicators, only the old school post beeps.
Here are 2 videos of them, the first one

is just as in any boot attempt, the second

is after resetting the BIOS. You can see that after clearing CMOS it has an attempt of booting properly and stays on a little longer, but eventually it restarts and the beeps begin.

GPU was working perfect until few hours before it, sadly I don't have that system with me anymore and I can't test it again (or update the firmware which is an excellent idea!) I might be able to try that in the upcoming days with a friend's computer.

I did try re-seating the CPU more than a couple of times and even decided to remove my Cooler Master Hyper 212 which maybe its back plate could be causing any short-circuit.

 

[Eximo]

5 short beeps is either a bad CPU or Motherboard.

Not exactly the best time to take the system to a shop, but that is what I would consider, just to have them try using your CPU with a different motherboard or your motherboard with a different CPU.

Trying an RMA with Gigabyte might take a while, and then it turn out to be the CPU.

 

[PiotrCapri]

I have the same problem with this motherboard and CPU 🙁

 

[arizurdo]

Well, the unbelievable happened.
It was the HDMI cable.

Since I wasn't testing the computer with the final screen, I just grabbed a HDMI cable I never used before (brand new, but completely generic). Today I realized that it wasn't working fine when I connected it to my laptop.
I had everything (MB, CPU, memos) packed to ship for return, but I decided to give it a try one more time but with the real cable this time.

Turns out with a working cable everything boots perfectly. It's so ridiculous to receive a CPU post error because there isn't an active screen connection on the GPU, which then makes it fallback to search for an iGPU and fail since there is none present

 

[PiotrCapri]

Unfortunately not in my case. I was check it in three cables and two graphic cards.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

@PiotrCapri I would suggest you start your own thread.

 

[Eximo]

Well, the unbelievable happened.
It was the HDMI cable.

Since I wasn't testing the computer with the final screen, I just grabbed a HDMI cable I never used before (brand new, but completely generic). Today I realized that it wasn't working fine when I connected it to my laptop.
I had everything (MB, CPU, memos) packed to ship for return, but I decided to give it a try one more time but with the real cable this time.

Turns out with a working cable everything boots perfectly. It's so ridiculous to receive a CPU post error because there isn't an active screen connection on the GPU, which then makes it fallback to search for an iGPU and fail since there is none present

I'll add that to my pile of things to remember, not encountered that one before.