I have tried everything...

[Tsaar]

Last weekend I purchased the MC combo with a i7 2600k and the GB z68 board.

Everything was going great. I thought my temps were a little high, so I waited for the weekend (last night), and reseated my heatsink (this was a successful action because my temps dropped about 10C).

Hooked everything back up.....

The dreaded boot loop.

I rechecked all connections. The PC turned on. Good. I needed to restart a little later and got the boot loop again.

I figured out the only way to get it to successfully work was to unplug the power and unplug the motherboard power connector. This probably worked 50% of the time.

I flashed the BIOS to F12 (latest version). Everything is going fine. I decided to reformat my computer because windows explorer was mysteriously crashing (possibly due to numerous crashes when trying to get a stock voltage mild overclock).

I had to restart my computer when making some initial changes after the reformat (in this case resizing the page file). On the restart (warm boot) it shut down and started the boot loop.

I have scoured Google and done pretty much everything people have said. Nothing is working. Sigh. Not sure what to do. Has anyone else over come this frustrating issue?

With the 100s of starts and stops trying to get this fixed I am afraid I am damaging my HDDs and fans (GPU, CPU, Case, Etc) due to constant spin up/down. Also, who knows what kind of voltage spikes may happen from thsis and damage other components like the CPU, GPU, SSD, etc.

 

[Don Karnage]

Take the MB back to MC and swap a new one

 

[2timer]

I wouldn't worry about damaging your HDDs, not at all. They are made for that.

First of all you should take off the overclock. Put everything back to stock, reset the CMOS. If the boot loops started because of reseating the CPU like u claim, you should take it out and inspect it for any foreign materials that may have fallen on or in between the pins. Clean the socket out, thoroughly but delicately.

 

[Tsaar]

I wouldn't worry about damaging your HDDs, not at all. They are made for that.

First of all you should take off the overclock. Put everything back to stock, reset the CMOS. If the boot loops started because of reseating the CPU like u claim, you should take it out and inspect it for any foreign materials that may have fallen on or in between the pins. Clean the socket out, thoroughly but delicately.

I only removed the HSF. I am probably going to just return the board.

I just hate driving all the way down there on the weekend...sigh...

 

[bankster55]

those boot loop issues are hard to diagnose
meh, get an ASRock

 

[HURRIC4NE]

this might sound dumb but have you tried reseting the motherboard ?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Did you force anything while doing that? You may have broken a trace route

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Has anyone else over come this frustrating issue?

Yep, chucked it back to MC and picked up a different board. Which board did you get?

When I got my board, I immediately got the boot loop. DLed a new BIOS using another computer, flashed it, and still got it. Flipping the power switch and pulling the plug as numerous forum posts have stated to do didn't solve my issue. So I removed all unnecessary components except the CPU, RAM, and my boot drive (used the onboard video) and tested. That way I found it wouldn't boot with any sticks in dual-channel mode. Single channel could run stably till the end of time.

Drop the overclock as someone else said, recheck your connections, and go from there. But in the end you'll probably want to return it just to avoid this issue from popping up in the future...

 

[Tsaar]

Yep, chucked it back to MC and picked up a different board. Which board did you get?

When I got my board, I immediately got the boot loop. DLed a new BIOS using another computer, flashed it, and still got it. Flipping the power switch and pulling the plug as numerous forum posts have stated to do didn't solve my issue. So I removed all unnecessary components except the CPU, RAM, and my boot drive (used the onboard video) and tested. That way I found it wouldn't boot with any sticks in dual-channel mode. Single channel could run stably till the end of time.

Drop the overclock as someone else said, recheck your connections, and go from there. But in the end you'll probably want to return it just to avoid this issue from popping up in the future...

Took it back and got the GA-Z77X-UD3H. They still gave me the combo price, so I paid a $21 difference (also will lose a $15 rebate). Oh well.

Anyway, now I am pissed because I cannot get my CPU core temps where I want it.

Average Idle Core Temps:

Initial Install = ~38C
HSF Reseat (the one that broke my board) = ~30C
New Board = ~38C
HSF Reseat = ~38C

Sigh. I am thinking of just giving up.

I just use that Tuniq remover stuff and apply a small vertical line of AS5. I may treat it as "good enough".

Driving down there was easier than wasting days of my life.

 

[bankster55]

You are a little lacking on HW info
What exact HSF are you talking about anyway?

 

[Tsaar]

I am using the 212 Evo. Ambient is ~25C.

My computer is under a desk, so I expect inside the case to be around 28C. I would be happy with a idle of 33C.

I am basically just venting about my temp inadequacies.

 

[bankster55]

You dont mention where it says 38 degrees
see what it says in Realtemp

 

[Tsaar]

Those temps are Real Temp and Core Temp.

I am probably going to reseat one more time this afternoon and call it quits after that.

 

[malkuth]

Just had to replace my gigabyte z68 because of this. My board just started out of the blue after I did a successful bios update.

Gigabyte bios drivers are destroying there boards.

Just way to many people with this issue for gigabyte to keep not taking it seriously.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Took it back and got the GA-Z77X-UD3H. They still gave me the combo price, so I paid a $21 difference (also will lose a $15 rebate). Oh well.

Anyway, now I am pissed because I cannot get my CPU core temps where I want it.

Average Idle Core Temps:

Initial Install = ~38C
HSF Reseat (the one that broke my board) = ~30C
New Board = ~38C
HSF Reseat = ~38C

Sigh. I am thinking of just giving up.

I just use that Tuniq remover stuff and apply a small vertical line of AS5. I may treat it as "good enough".

Driving down there was easier than wasting days of my life.

Why do you worry about idle temps? Thats just plain silly. Your CPU doesnt care if its 20C or 80C.

Also some boards will lower the fanspeed when idle/certain temps.