Question New Computer does not boot after enabling AMD EXPO ?

[Elliah246]

Specs:
MBoard - ROG Strix B850-E
CPU - Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU - RX 9070 Sapphire Pure
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5 6000MT CL28
PSU - Straight Power 12 800W
Case - Antec Flux
Radiator - Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
Storage: Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB M.2

Booted up pc first time, all worked okay. Note it's a new pc with no os installed, i just finished building.
I got a few questions, first off after first boot a message was shown on screen:
"AMI BIOS wew cpu installed, enter setup for configuration.
cpu fan speed detection error, press F1 to enter setup."

I asume the fan speed cannot be detected because i connected the AIO radiator with a single controller header cable to the AIO pump slot on the mainboard, is this fine or do i have to do something?
In the bios i found a setting called "asmedia storage controller" what is this? can it be disabled safely? It seems to be a sata controller but is it really needed?

Also i did connect the fan controller header from the pc case to the cha_fan5 slot of the motherboard, does it matter in which cha_fan slot i plug the header, should i mount it to another instead?
Anyway now i have a more or less serious problem, i enabled EXPO in bios, rebooted, the pc appears to be stuck with code 99 for several minutes.

I did a reboot, which did not help. If the pc can't get itself running probably i must reset bios, clear cmos, and manually select voltage timing for expo profile?
The motherboard supports expo, the ram supports it, why doesn't it work? What do i have to do?

 

[PiersPlowman]

Do you want to eke out every last drop of performance from your machine, or do you want a PC that does not crap out randomly and take hours to boot?

If it's is the latter, reset the BIOS to the defaults and let it do its thing.

 

[Elliah246]

The numbers I gave you are some generic timing values for CL30 RAM kits. 1.4V is the usual voltage for Corsair EXPO RAM kits. They can vary according to the brand and models. If you have a CL30 profile available, then enabling it will set all the numbers automatically. If you don't have the profile available, you will have to set the numbers manually. To do that, go in the BIOS advanced mode and you should have an "advanced timing" menu on the AI Tweaker page (you have an Asus board so it should be there). On this timing page, you should have a first block of 4 numbers (the first one should be 28 if you enabled expo). Change those four numbers for the ones I gave you (from top to bottom).

If your computer works fine with default values and doesn't boot with EXPO enabled, it's because your mobo/CPU don't support the EXPO configuration of you RAM kit and you have to either tweak it or get a different kit.

Thanks for clarifying, i found the dropdown menu list for supported ram timings, no need to enter the latter values manually.
The voltage was already set to 1.4V so that's working.
I now plugged the AIO cable into the cpu_fan slot instead of the pump slot.
As a result the bios error "cpu fan not found" is gone.
So do i understand it correctly, the system now thinks there is a cpu fan installed meaning, an air cooler, so it doesn't know it's infact a water cooler with a pump?
Are you saying the only way to set the pump to run at max speed at all times is by setting the cpu fan speed to max? But doing so will make the pump fans spin at full speed constantly right?
I mean... that's going to be the noise of a jet. Screw me.. maybe i should try the cable with individual connectors. If i leave it how it is now, being the aio cable inserted to cpu_fan slot, the pump wont run at full speeds, it will change just as the fan speed will when cpu temp increases right?
Im not sure what to do. It was a pain mounting the pump onto the cpu, the installation was so bad almost couldnt get it to stick onto the cpu. Problem is i dont know where the split cables would even go, pump, cpu fan, vrm.

 

[Elliah246]

What i really need to know...
When using the multi-split radiator cable instead of the single header, where do you mount it exactly?
Pump ---> AIO_pump
Fan ---> cpu_fan
vrm ---> ???

Possibly cha_fan ?
cpu_opt?
cpu_ov?
How on earth am i supposed to know.

 

[JayGau]

Thanks for clarifying, i found the dropdown menu list for supported ram timings, no need to enter the latter values manually.
The voltage was already set to 1.4V so that's working.
I now plugged the AIO cable into the cpu_fan slot instead of the pump slot.
As a result the bios error "cpu fan not found" is gone.
So do i understand it correctly, the system now thinks there is a cpu fan installed meaning, an air cooler, so it doesn't know it's infact a water cooler with a pump?
Are you saying the only way to set the pump to run at max speed at all times is by setting the cpu fan speed to max? But doing so will make the pump fans spin at full speed constantly right?
I mean... that's going to be the noise of a jet. Screw me.. maybe i should try the cable with individual connectors. If i leave it how it is now, being the aio cable inserted to cpu_fan slot, the pump wont run at full speeds, it will change just as the fan speed will when cpu temp increases right?
Im not sure what to do. It was a pain mounting the pump onto the cpu, the installation was so bad almost couldnt get it to stick onto the cpu. Problem is i dont know where the split cables would even go, pump, cpu fan, vrm.

CPU fan and pump headers are basically the same thing. They are power connectors for your pump and CPU. It doesn't really matter in which one you plug it, but the board might need to have something to be connected to the CPU fan to stop complaining (more and more boards nowadays also recognize the pump header as a valid cooler but not all of them). It's why AIO manufacturers say to plug it into the CPU one if the board complains.

No matter in which header you plug it, you can set its power curve in the BiOS fan configuration page, but it's highly recommended to set the pump to run at max speed all the time. Of course, if you use the all-in-one cable you can only set the CPU fan curve that is used for everything, so setting to max will make everything running at full speed. It's why they also provide the other cable so you can set the curves separately. But if you want to use the all-in-one then just set the curve as a function of the CPU temp. It's not ideal since the pump will run at variable speed but it still should work.

 

[JayGau]

What i really need to know...
When using the multi-split radiator cable instead of the single header, where do you mount it exactly?
Pump ---> AIO_pump
Fan ---> cpu_fan
vrm ---> ???

Possibly cha_fan ?
cpu_opt?
cpu_ov?
How on earth am i supposed to know.

The vrm connector goes to any cha_fan header (other than the CPU fan one).

 

[williamjeremiah]

Can you share any good guides but only for xmp am5 specifically?

There's no XMP & AM5.
XMP - Intel
AM5 - AMD
If you buy RAM for AMD which only has XMP profiles, you're on your own. There's no preset configuration.
You're setting timings, speed and voltage manually.
If you want it easy while running AMD, buy memory with EXPO profiles.

 

[Elliah246]

CPU fan and pump headers are basically the same thing. They are power connectors for your pump and CPU. It doesn't really matter in which one you plug it, but the board might need to have something to be connected to the CPU fan to stop complaining (more and more boards nowadays also recognize the pump header as a valid cooler but not all of them). It's why AIO manufacturers say to plug it into the CPU one if the board complains.

No matter in which header you plug it, you can set its power curve in the BiOS fan configuration page, but it's highly recommended to set the pump to run at max speed all the time. Of course, if you use the all-in-one cable you can only set the CPU fan curve that is used for everything, so setting to max will make everything running at full speed. It's why they also provide the other cable so you can set the curves separately. But if you want to use the all-in-one then just set the curve as a function of the CPU temp. It's not ideal since the pump will run at variable speed but it still should work.

In this case as much as i hate to do it, i'll unmount the pump, plug in the multi connector cable and try to remount it which hopefully won't be as painful as the first attempt taking around 30 minutes because this thing barely fits. Screwing tight one side will push out the other side, really frustrating over time. But that goes on arctic for using the design they chose.

I'll make sure to set the pump to run at highest speeds, thank you.
Should i manually set a fancurve or are modern systems fine to adjust and learn a curve on their own?
Would you advice to use ai overclocking? There's a warning that it can void warranty and harm the devie so naturally i didn't click that.

 

[Elliah246]

The vrm connector goes to any cha_fan header (other than the CPU fan one).

So you're saying i'm good to go with this configuration:

PUMP ---> AIO_pump
FAN ---> cpu_fan
VRM ---> cha_fan (any)

Or would you swap something out?

What's the matter with cpu_opt and cpu_ov?
Also the second cpu power delivery slot on the mainboard, why is it there?
Do cpus with many cores need two power cables?
But the cable was shipped with the PSU so even if i had a 9900X3D, i wouldn't have a spare cable if it needed two. What sense does the second slot make?

 

[Elliah246]

There's no XMP & AM5.
XMP - Intel
AM5 - AMD
If you buy RAM for AMD which only has XMP profiles, you're on your own. There's no preset configuration.
You're setting timings, speed and voltage manually.
If you want it easy while running AMD, buy memory with EXPO profiles.

Yeah i figured that much. I ment EXPO not XMP, i miss-spelled so to speak..
I did buy ram with expo profiles for amd, it was just a typo. But thanks.

 

[Elliah246]

I did as JayGau suggested, remounted the AIO radiator with the cables in those position as it was suggested, it works now and pump is set to full speed.
Is it only me or is the mounting of the arctic liquid freezer III pretty damn bad to say it nicely...?
There is an option in bios, AIO pump qfan control, its on auto.
Should i set it to PWM or DC?
Also i havent touched any of the cpu specific settings.
I did overclock my previous intel processor.
Now thinking to leave all as is or set some values, but with amd i have no experience.

 

[JayGau]

I did as JayGau suggested, remounted the AIO radiator with the cables in those position as it was suggested, it works now and pump is set to full speed.
Is it only me or is the mounting of the arctic liquid freezer III pretty damn bad to say it nicely...?
There is an option in bios, AIO pump qfan control, its on auto.
Should i set it to PWM or DC?
Also i havent touched any of the cpu specific settings.
I did overclock my previous intel processor.
Now thinking to leave all as is or set some values, but with amd i have no experience.

I'm glad it's working and yes, the order was correct (pump->AIO_pump, fan->cpu_fan and vrm->cha_fan).

If you are sure your pump is running at constant max speed I guess you can leave the AIO pump control to auto.

For your question about the CPU power inputs, motherboards nowadays always come with two of them and each can deliver 300 W to the CPU. Your 9800x3d has a 120 W TDP and typically never goes above 160 W so one is more than enough, but if you had a power hungry CPU like the i9 14900k or you were doing extreme overclocking you would have to connect two cables (even though you don't go above 300 W, if you get close to it it's better to distribute the power over two connectors to prevent overheating).

I would personally never get an Artic Freezer because they lack the main feature I consider as fundamental for an AIO, i. e. a liquid temperature sensor. But they are very popular since they are cheap and generally good quality (for the price). But I can't tell much more since I've never used them (I have a Corsair).

 

[Elliah246]

I'm glad it's working and yes, the order was correct (pump->AIO_pump, fan->cpu_fan and vrm->cha_fan).

If you are sure your pump is running at constant max speed I guess you can leave the AIO pump control to auto.

For your question about the CPU power inputs, motherboards nowadays always come with two of them and each can deliver 300 W to the CPU. Your 9800x3d has a 120 W TDP and typically never goes above 160 W so one is more than enough, but if you had a power hungry CPU like the i9 14900k or you were doing extreme overclocking you would have to connect two cables (even though you don't go above 300 W, if you get close to it it's better to distribute the power over two connectors to prevent overheating).

I would personally never get an Artic Freezer because they lack the main feature I consider as fundamental for an AIO, i. e. a liquid temperature sensor. But they are very popular since they are cheap and generally good quality (for the price). But I can't tell much more since I've never used them (I have a Corsair).

Thanks again you really helped me alot.

Good to know i'll never need that 2nd cpu power slot.

If i had known the Arctic III has no temperature sensor i wouldn't have bought it.
To be honest this absolutly sucks. But now doing a return, meh. Also sucks.
I had MSI Afterburner running and kept questioning why there aren't cpu temps available for monitoring. Also LibreHardwareMonitor doesn't show cpu temps, none, nothing at all.
For some reason in the BIOS i can see cpu temps, might just be package thought.
Now i'll never know how how my CPU is, seriously it's 2025 how are there radiators without a temp sensor. I know this is a little rant but common?
What other options are there, like you said you use corsair (same here with my old build).

 

[JayGau]

Thanks again you really helped me alot.

Good to know i'll never need that 2nd cpu power slot.

If i had known the Arctic III has no temperature sensor i wouldn't have bought it.
To be honest this absolutly sucks. But now doing a return, meh. Also sucks.
I had MSI Afterburner running and kept questioning why there aren't cpu temps available for monitoring. Also LibreHardwareMonitor doesn't show cpu temps, none, nothing at all.
For some reason in the BIOS i can see cpu temps, might just be package thought.
Now i'll never know how how my CPU is, seriously it's 2025 how are there radiators without a temp sensor. I know this is a little rant but common?
What other options are there, like you said you use corsair (same here with my old build).

Your CPU temperature sensor has nothing to do with your cooler, it's something your motherboard does. You should be able to read it with HWInfo, Adrenalin, Ryzen Master, etc. This is for Windows by the way. If you are on Linux, you can use lm-sensors.

What I was talking about was the temperature of the liquid (in the AIO loop). The radiator fans should always be set according to the liquid temperature but for some reason, most AIO manufacturers don't provide this reading for their coolers, which is a total nonsense.