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Serveral q codes, are these an issue?

Defgun
Level 7
I just recently built my new rig:

Asus Maximus Z790 Apex
i7-13700KF
Lian-Li Galahad 360 V2
2x G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 6000 Mhz 16GB
Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
Gigabyte RTX 4080 Aero OC 16GB

Someone said I should adress issues with my PC since the q code 33 is showing up. I did clear CMOS and a BIOS update and turned XMP off. Also did a memtest86 which found no errors on the RAM. It now shows mostly codes in range from 30-45. Sometimes also from 20-29. Today 99 showed up and it wouldn't boot past BIOS but it did without a problem after a restart without changing anything (code 99 might be related to the cable of my headset having broken insulation, the headset is working fine though).
The system seems to run stable though. I only encountered twice the issue of windows lagging heavily when I had a game running, several browser tabs and browser based apps (jdownloader). RAM usage was only 50% both times. This issue got both times resolved by closing the browser based apps.
My question is do I really need to be worried about those codes while the system seems to be running fine or are they sometimes more like an indication of what the mainboard is doing?
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8 REPLIES 8

JohnAb
Level 17
When you say that codes show up, it's perfectly normal to see the motherboard cycling through various codes while it boots. Once you are into Windows, I normally see code A0, but occasionally I see a sleep state code (can't quite remember, might be 40 or 04). Anyway, the point is that unless your boot process gets stuck on a code, this is nothing to worry about...
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.

JohnAb
Level 17
However, if you see a code that is permanently displayed once in Windows, then yes, worthy of further investigation. The boot process shouldn't get 'stuck' on any code, so I'm not quite clear about what you are experiencing.
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.

Thanks a lot. I'm in Windows right now and at the moment it switches codes between 36, 37 and 38 which are all "post memory system agent initialization is started" codes and I wont even find related results by googling. I only find results related to code 32-36 which are "CPU post-memory intialization". If memtest86 is reliable I don't think these are becuase of faulty RAM. Windows shows also 32GB. How should I proceed with further investigation? Stress tests?

JohnAb
Level 17
OK, that does not sound normal. I would start with a memory test, and MemTest86 is as good as any. You should find that in your BIOS as an option and from there it should re-boot straight into the test. To be honest, I have never come across various Q codes being displayed once in Windows, but memory seems like a good place to start.

Is your BIOS set to defaults? If you get any memory errors while testing, try turning off XMP in BIOS and then repeat the memory tests. Report back and we can think a bit more.

Time for bed here in the UK, so let us know...

Note - sorry, just realised that you seem to have run MemTest86 and turned off XMP already. Stress tests would certainly show if you have a stable system, so yes, why not see how the system performs under load.
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.

MaKo82
Level 9
My Asus MB, Strix z790-e has the Q-code reader defaulting to CPU temps. You'll need to change it to Post code only. Its in the advance settings down near the bottom.

JohnAb
Level 17
Brilliant - I didn't know that - probably the answer Mako, every day is a learning day ! 🙂
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.

Thanks a lot Mako, it was indeed set to auto. Now it shows A0 so everything is fine. I think they should mention this in the manual since someone like me who got their first board with a q led would never know this. Just one sentence like „By default the q led will show POST codes during boot and after a succesful boot the CPU temperature.“

Defgun wrote:
Thanks a lot Mako, it was indeed set to auto. Now it shows A0 so everything is fine. I think they should mention this in the manual since someone like me who got their first board with a q led would never know this. Just one sentence like „By default the q led will show POST codes during boot and after a succesful boot the CPU temperature.“


They absolutely need to mention that in the manual. I also had a mini panic attack before I found out what the issue was 😄 Glad it was a simple fix!