Strix z790-a D4+ i9 13900k-"Ghost in PC"

[Djdeko]

Hello, 

For the love of god someone please help.

New board, new cpu, new ram from QVL list., and new 360 AIO, with 2x3  push pull  fans Noctua 3kRPM. 

From the first day of the build, been having "ghost in the PC" issues.

First day of build : Instant crashes after post screen, couldnt get windows to load.Thought it was my windows, got another  drive and fresh install and  same issues  on default BIOS settings. Crashing at Windows boot logo. 

I thought it was the PSU, nope, not that. Got a new one, issues remain. Thought it was the ram, went down to 1 stick, nope same issue. Reseated CPU 3 times, and still wont load past windows logo.

Here is where it gets interesting, after 2 months of trying to troubleshoot, I narrow it down to bios settings. AUTO and default, won't let windows load, straight crash or BSOD.I tinkered with the BIOS settings, somehow got it to not crash at windows logo, but weird software glitches, random program crashes/errors/BSODs. Managed to upgrade  bios , ME and all that jazz, but instability issues persist.

So I tried to increase LLC to 8, CPU input Voltate LLC=3 , and synch all PCores to 55  and Ecore to 37 and bam, windows works. Tried to do stress test, and windows doesnt crash, but the program freezes. Then I  tried a stress test with BF2042 ..... as its loading the game I see temp spike, fans activate and bam, errors.I tried running ML code , withing in 5 seconds, ("core dumped").

Did some research and I see CPU can pull alot of wattage so I set LLC=8 and CPU input voltage LLC=3 , increased VRM core voltage to adaptive +0.1 , Cache SVID voltage +0.1 , Pcores to 55, Ecores to 37,evertyhing else on AUTO, I  restart, and it boots, loads windows, and no issues. Time to stress test again, this time right to ML algo, and surpising it worked, but now temps spiking to 90C ,  and after 10 min of running ML code, bam "core dumped".

Asus phone support basically read a script and resorted to saying just RMA the board, but that would that atleast a month, and at this point I am not sure if its the board or CPU. This is my last resort before I end up without a PC for a month :(. I never got the chance to enjoy this CPU . I didnt even get a chance to o Factory OC Clock of 

Here is a few questions:

1. Should I have to touch bios at all to get it to work, or should the board just figure it out on its own on Auto settings in Bios?

2, Could the board have issues with the Voltages required on default BIOD 13900k because its a cheap more or  because its DOA?

3. Is it possible for the board LEDs to not show any issues on boot, but infact it's not able to pick up any issues because its not under load during posting ? 

TLDR: Its not the PSU, RAM , GPU , AIO , or improperly set CPU. Windows only loads when clocks are downclocked and voltage increased but still crashes when running BF2042, ML Code or stress tests/ 

[JohnAb]

Hard to say what the problem is, but it should be booting and running fine on BIOS defaults without changing anything. So I agree that you might have a faulty CPU or motherboard, but before sending anything back, just check your motherboard connections. Check that all leads are connected properly at the PSU (if modular) and the motherboard end. 

Next, you don't mention if you have run memory stability tests. I also think it's worth doing that before returning anything.  Sometimes uneven or over-tightening of the cooler can cause RAM problems. If the RAM isn't stable, that could cause the issues you are experiencing. You should have MemTest86 available in the BIOS. 

Next, have you installed all motherboard and Intel drivers including firmware? These include MEI drivers, ME firmware, BIOS, chipset, ethernet, serial IO, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth, wi-fi, audio, VMD drivers etc. The support page drivers should do the job, but suggest you also work your way through the list of drivers provided by MoKiChU here: 

https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/hardware-build-advice/index-all-my-firmware-drivers-software-threads/m...

If still no luck, can you get hold of another CPU to try before returning the motherboard? It would be a lot quicker if somebody is willing to lend you one. Perhaps you have a local shop that can test another one for you? Faulty CPUs are not unknown, so perhaps you've been unlucky and have a bad one. If nothing above helps, feels like it's going to be a case of swapping parts until you discover what's wrong 😮. 

[bforesman]

I have the 690 version and have the Same Problem! BSODs all day long in windows, install fresh and it BSODs IN the install!