Question MSI MPG Z690/I9 12900K Boot/Stability issue

ThencredibleKid

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Oct 5, 2014
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Good afternoon,morning,evening all,

I am curious if there are others out there running into the same issue I have, and have maybe had a solution.
Firstly, I'll give my specs.
i9 12900k
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon
32gb Corsair Dominator Platinum @5200 DDR5
Evga 3080 FTW3 Hydro edition
EVGA supernova 1600 platinum psu
Custom CPU and GPU loop.
Windows 10 64bit
Samsung 970 EVO plus nvme 500gb
Samsung 970 EVO nvme 500gb
Samsung 970 SSD 1tb
x2 Western digital caviar blue 1tb

With that out of the way, here are some issues. Firstly, all these parts are new and have been seated correctly. Note, I do have a gen 3 riser cable for my GPU, more on that in a few.
I installed my components like normal, and attempted a test boot. I don't get any error codes on the mobo itself, with it showing the CPU temps. With the boot, I see the BIOS screen, and then turn to windows to boot. Windows shows the little ring of dots, then the screen goes black. After a few minutes, the system automatically reboots itself. This continues until windows recovery opens. Yes, I can boot into safe mode without issues, which is weird and is almost pointing to a windows installation issue. I have cleaned these drives a few times, installed windows 10 from a USB every time. At times I do get random restarts when gaming, but it is inconsistent and not common. I've ran cinebench r23 for upwards of 45 minutes stressing the CPU, thinking that may be the issue. Stable. I did run Memtest on the ram, came back fine no errors after one hour and thirty minutes. Mostly at a loss, I've triple checked all connections. I did have cable mod extensions, removed those and went with stock cables, same issue. Yes my display port cable works fine, it worked just fine with the 1080 I had installed for the past 5-6 years. PC has been plugged into a surge protector and straight to the wall. I know, maybe a windows or drive problem? I have 2 m.2, installed windows on both and have these issues. Reinstalled windows several times, upwards of 5-7 times. No luck. Maybe a BIOS issue? Updated the BIOS to the latest version, 7D30v18 released last month. No luck. I go into the BIOS and change the PCI express to gen 3, no luck. Disable the aspm settings, no luck.

I was able to get it working and running stable with the following. Plugging the GPU into the bottom PCI express lane, not having SATA drives plugged into A and B slots, disabling aspm in the BIOS, changing the bottom pci express lane to gen 3. However my performance is subpar, with my 3D mark scores being significantly lower then others. My score being 13644 and average being 18687, and best being in the 21k range. Gaming FPS is okay, I just don't feel right knowing my PC is running on pure luck right now.

My temps are great, CPU package under load in the mid to high 60's (C), and GPU about the same. Gen 3 riser cable the issue? Maybe.. I did originally have an ASUS Rog strix z690 board, same issue and returned for a refund. Yes, all drivers from MSI are installed. Let me know if you have any ideas, I'm stumped. I have heard of others having the same issue, but surely I am doing something incorrectly? Thanks for reading.
 
At times I do get random restarts when gaming
That could be an indication of the PSU being incapable of powering the platform when under stress. EVGA have been known to have duds within their own to tier range of PSU's, mind you. Another possible cause for the reboot can be a thermal issue, meaning an overheating one.

Does your platform have any issues when run without the PCIe riser cable?
 
At times I do get random restarts when gaming
That could be an indication of the PSU being incapable of powering the platform when under stress. EVGA have been known to have duds within their own to tier range of PSU's, mind you. Another possible cause for the reboot can be a thermal issue, meaning an overheating one.

Does your platform have any issues when run without the PCIe riser cable?
I didn’t think of the PSU being an issue actually. An overheating issue with the PSU? That is possible, however the fan turns on for it periodically and shuts back off. The thermals as far as the pc are good, 360 rad on top and 420 in front. I haven’t tried the GPU directly into the motherboard, I have rigid tubing in my build. I do have soft tubing I could quickly plum it up and try.
 
Overheating on the CPU(due to a failed pump or a clog in the micro channels for the blocks), not the PSU...although a PSU will shut off if it's made to run beyond it's intended specifications. Bad quality riser cables can lead to abnormalities. I've had to ditch Thermaltake case bundled riser cables for some expensive, higher pedigree cables.
 
Overheating on the CPU(due to a failed pump or a clog in the micro channels for the blocks), not the PSU...although a PSU will shut off if it's made to run beyond it's intended specifications. Bad quality riser cables can lead to abnormalities. I've had to ditch Thermaltake case bundled riser cables for some expensive, higher pedigree cables.
I’ve benchmarked the PC for over an hour, temps don’t break 70C. I’ve ordered the riser cable, I’ll see if that helps any.
 
To anyone reading this, this has been solved. The issue was with the riser cable, a link up gen 4 riser cable fixed the issue. I use the top pci express slot, no issues. Stable running port royal, scores are over average. PC has been completely stable, benchmarked for about 6 hours.
 
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To anyone reading this, this has been solved. The issue was with the riser cable, a link up gen 4 riser cable fixed the issue. I use the top pci express slot, no issues. Stable running port royal, scores are over average. PC has been completely stable, benchmarked for about 6 hours.
Just seen this post and was only going to say 2 things.
Buy a gen 4 riser cable and did you do a fresh OS install after the motherboard change.