HELP! Asrock z390 Taichi Ultimate boot disasters.

[mssfilmstudio]

Hi,
My problems have begun at the very first attempt of booting my new rig:

Cpu: i9 9900k
Ram Corsair Vengenance 2 x 16 GB 2666 mhz
mobo: as above
gpu: gtx 1070 asus turbo
psu Corsair 750 W (fresh)

cpu, mobo and ram are brand new just out of the box. My psu worked under heavier setup without any problems as well as GPU. However I have to confess, that during the assembly of my new pc I decided to disassembly the gpu, I cleaned the chip with isoprpyl alcohol and applied some thermal grizzly on it. I doubt that I could have damaged something but who knows.

Summary:

1st boot attempt resulted in a permanent boot loop. Computer was turning on and could only spin the fans for a half a sec and kept restarting infinitely.

I started to figure out, what can be wrong, so my first step was to remove one of RAM sticks and boom. System booted up. Then I wanted to make sure, that both RAMS are healthy, so I tried it on another stick, and it worked too. However It wouldn't work with both plugged it simultaneously.

The workaround? I moved them to A1 B1 slots and... ? It works! wow, like a charm. Ok, I move ahead, install the windows, drivers, updates, do a couple of restarts and everything works. (I did not power off the pc, only did some reboots.)

The problem returns after first complete shutdown. The PC starts to boot loop again. This time I had to remove the psu cord, wait for a few secs and I could boot it up again.
I checked, that my bios is outdated and maybe a possible upgrade could fix that issue, so I proceed to update my bios. I decided to run the uefi update through the windows, pc restarted and caught a permanent boot loop.. I think to myself I'm sc##wed for good... Brick...

It's been a while, I took literally everything off my rig except for 1 stick of ram and cpu, then after clearing the cmos I managed to boot up the pc using an internal GPU.

Then I updated the bios internally using the instant flash function and bios ver 1.80 loaded correctly.
I have inserted the ram (now into the proper sockets for the dual channel A2 B2 reffering to user manual) mounted the GPU, basically put everything together as I thought that the problem will be gone.. but another disaster was just about to come. Another boot loop occured after shutting down the pc.

Nothing helps. I desperately take out the GPU (some intuition) and it helps! This time my pc boots up with correctly plugged in RAMs but without the GPU. Okay then, so I decided to unplug the PSU, mount the GPU again, I cleared the cmos and... booted succesfully! What a surprise!

At this time Im thinking. Wow, it may gonna work! But nope....
another shutdown triggers the same problem. PC goes into a boot loop and taking out the GPU seems to be the only solution for that. After one succesful boot, I can insert the gpu and boot again, but when I shut down the pc, problem with booting up returns. Actually I can't even get it into a boot loop, it seems to be bricked for as long as I remove the psu cord and wait a while till all the current goes down from the capacitors. Unfortunately I'm away from home till wednesday so I can't even try putting GPU in another PCIE slot nor fiddle with the ram.

Any ideas?
I'm thinking that either my GPU is faulty and I have destroyed something while cleaning (but it does work when booted, doesnt lag in any game or heavy duty software) or the motherboard is having some PCI-e problems, as it can't power down properly with my GPU on place.

Please help me out since I'm pulling my hair our on that. I need my pc for everyday work and every day costs me a lot.

Edit: my ram timings are set to 2133 as default, and whenever I try to change them, I can't get them work. I may be doing something wrong, so every advice is really appreciated.

 

[alexoiu]

Hi, I'd try testing different graphics card and also inspecting the CPU socket for bent pins. If deciding so, you can upload a picture of the socket on imgur and post the link here.

 

[mssfilmstudio]

Thanks for the reply, thats exactly what I will be doing. I will take a spare gtx 1060 and inspect the socket, however I was extremely carefully placing the cpu on place, because I know how fragile that thing can be. This mobo is in a brand new condition so I did not even expect it to have any bent pins...

 

[mssfilmstudio]

update:

1. I examined the CPU socket, since whenever I was inserting the GPU and plugging in the DP cable into it, the 00 code was appearing on the mobo immediately.
CPU Socket is flawless, and CPU is installed correctly. Left that case.

2. I was fiddling with the GPU as it seems to be guilty all of that mess.
When I insert GPU and attach the power into it, mobo is fine, pc can boot, everything works (monitors not plugged into gpu)
but if I shut the pc down and plug the DP cable into GPU, the code 00 pops up on the mobo and system won't boot. That thing does not happen, when I plug the HDMI cable into GPU. I can boot the system and use the gpu with the HDMI.

I went a bit further and took a look at the gpu. I see that the soldering next to DP ports seems a bit odd to me. Isn't it fried? I did have a problems with DP cables, as they were not contacting any my screens were making a strange electric sounds when I was moving the DP cables. Maybe they fried the GPU?
Tomorrow I will bring a spare gpu and plug it in using HDMI cables to look for a difference. Please take a look at the photos I attach, and tell me if the soldering looks ok? Or I'm just freaking out?

 

[alexoiu]

They look ok to me, but it could be a card issue.

 

[mssfilmstudio]

Alright, I hope that my final thoughts and kinda solution will serve the others, so I share this awesome discovery with all of you.

Last time I posted here, I got stuck at the Display Port issues. I believed, that my GPU is faulty and I have most likely fried the Display Ports of my GPU since it did not malfunction with HDMI. Finally I brought a spare GPU and a new DP cable. I didn't have to replace the GPU because the DP cable solved the problem like a charm. There is a couple of threads all over the internet about faulty DP cables, that happen to have a continuity on the pin 20.
That causes the GPU to draw the power from the display and deliver it to the MOBO through the PCI-E slot. I did not have this problem on my previous MOBO, I reckon that older generations either have some resistors around PCI-E, or just ignore the fact, that some power is being drawn into the MOBO, and power down regardless.

With the proper DP cable, that does not have a continuity on pin 20, PC powers down, and boots up like it should.

Problem SOLVED, hope this will help the others Happy New Year!

 

[Simonto]

Hallo ! That's gread news. Your post has moved me to do some tests on my Taich Chi Z390 ultimate (i9-9900K)
I also got always code 00 on debuder's display and I could not start my system again after turning system off.
I have got a mainboard replacement and have changed my GTX 1080 card (GPU) without sucess. I have a DELL UP2715K Monitor (5K) that needs 2 DP cabels to get 5K. I have no 00 code issue if I worh in 4K mode using 1 DP cabel - but if i use 2 cabels for 5K mode - i get 00 after shut down. I means my cabels (not oryginal) may be wrong. What kind of cabels shall I buy ? What version or producer - can you please support me a bit ?