Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 - BIOS won't apply settings

[KanedaSyndrome]

System:
Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1
Intel i7-6700K


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The Problem:
When I change the CPU multiplier in BIOS (v. 1302) for the Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 motherboard, the settings aren't applied. Here're some of the things I've changed in settings:

-XMP is enabled
-Core ratio is changed from 40 → 45
-Vcore is set at 1.285 V
-SpeedStep and Turbo have been disabled. (to prevent throttling)

My problem is that when I save and reboot, the BIOS monitor, along with HW Monitor and CPU-Z in Windows all report back that my CPU is still running at 4000 MHz, and not 4500 MHz and the Vcore is reported as being at 1.280 V and not 1.285 V. But here's the weird thing, all the settings that I have changed are remembered by BIOS correctly, so it says it has a 45 ratio multiplier, but when looking at the BIOS monitor, it states that it's at ratio 40, even though the settings clearly states it's at 45!!! So the settings aren't being applied to the system.

This all worked at some point where I was able to overclock to the 4500 MHz with out any problems, but now when I change it it doesn't work anymore. I had to reset BIOS due to problems with fan control that wouldn't respond. The motherboard has thrown me one curve ball after another. Suddenly something would work, and then suddenly it would stop working just when I thought everything was in order.

I've so far spent 1½ months on a rig build that should take a weekend! I'm getting to the point where I'm running out of strength to go on with this build.


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Stuff that I have tried:

-I have tried about all different combinations of settings that I can think of.
-I have done both a reset of BIOS from within BIOS and I have done a hard reset of BIOS with a jumper on the motherboard pins.
-BIOS was updated to v1302 (the newest version)


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Some background information:
It took me a month to get the system to POST. Wouldn't recognize RAM, was through a long RMA process and eventually found some QVL RAM, that the system wouldn't POST with either for a long time. Finally it POSTed, it might have been a user error, but I'm not so sure anymore.

It took the system 15-30 reboots before it could see my SSDs that are installed in the system, even though they have been installed the same way all the time since the get go. Another alarm bell right there.

When I first managed to get a Windows install in place, I installed AI Suite 3, which ****ed up the BIOS completely and had to be uninstalled, this was done via AI Suite 3 itself and with the AI Suite 3 Cleaner.
AI Suite 3 affected the BIOS in such a way that I couldn't control the fans in the system from Qfan Control in BIOS anymore. This was fixed with a soft reset of BIOS to defaults inside BIOS itself. The fans would now do as I instructed via Qfan. This in itself testifies towards a very unstable and bug-ridden BIOS/motherboard.


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Questions:
Is there something special that needs to be done in this BIOS to get a manual overclock that I'm not seeing? Or is the motherboard defect?

Are the symptoms described normal?

Is this a BIOS fault or a broken motherboard?

Should I go with a earlier version of BIOS?

Anyone else with this board, I would really love to get into a dialogue with you.

Any ASUS representatives. I need your help, and don't tell me to RMA without trying to help me first please.

Any feedback is welcome!

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Sincerely,
The Desperate System Builder

[KanedaSyndrome]

Extra Information:

-For a while neither HW Monitor or CPU-Z would show me the Vcore, but suddenly it showed up. Same BIOS version when this changed. Another alarm bell to be honest.

Have a look at the attached images for BIOS shots and HW Monitor and CPU-Z shots.

Sincerely,
The Desperate System Builder