Unable to boot into Windows

[Luc2k]

On 01/10/2017 at 9:06 PM, Jason S. said:

so what's the latest? im dying to know if it was the motherboard at fault after all

Long time since the last update because I kind of neglected the desktop.

 

Anyway, reseating the CPU + clearing CMOS didn't do anything to fix the issue. I was almost ready to send the motherboard in, even contacted the seller, but then I went "what the hell" and ordered a cheap mobo (resealed with a B350 chipset). Lo and behold, the same thing happened with that one, so I went to the showroom, returned it and sent the CPU for service. A replacement was sent back.

 

PC was stuck in a reboot loop initially if both memory sticks were plugged in. Reset CMOS, reseated the RAM and then it booted into UEFI, where I checked if everything is detected. Rebooted, and, for the first time in a long while, it went past the damn OS boot animation.

[satukoro]

On 9/26/2017 at 1:14 PM, Luc2k said:

 

The system was never overclocked and had been running stable for 1-2 weeks at a time, while playing games and rendering various things without issue. This was the first time that it had crashed.

 

Solid thread. 10/10 would read again.

[Mando]

20 minutes ago, Luc2k said:

Long time since the last update because I kind of neglected the desktop.

 

Anyway, reseating the CPU + clearing CMOS didn't do anything to fix the issue. I was almost ready to send the motherboard in, even contacted the seller, but then I went "what the hell" and ordered a cheap mobo (resealed with a B350 chipset). Lo and behold, the same thing happened with that one, so I went to the showroom, returned it and sent the CPU for service. A replacement was sent back.

 

PC was stuck in a reboot loop initially if both memory sticks were plugged in. Reset CMOS, reseated the RAM and then it booted into UEFI, where I checked if everything is detected. Rebooted, and, for the first time in a long while, it went past the damn OS boot animation.

Glad to hear it, hope your feeling pretty chuffed you nailed it fellah!

[Jim K Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, Luc2k said:

Long time since the last update because I kind of neglected the desktop.

 

Anyway, reseating the CPU + clearing CMOS didn't do anything to fix the issue. I was almost ready to send the motherboard in, even contacted the seller, but then I went "what the hell" and ordered a cheap mobo (resealed with a B350 chipset). Lo and behold, the same thing happened with that one, so I went to the showroom, returned it and sent the CPU for service. A replacement was sent back.

 

PC was stuck in a reboot loop initially if both memory sticks were plugged in. Reset CMOS, reseated the RAM and then it booted into UEFI, where I checked if everything is detected. Rebooted, and, for the first time in a long while, it went past the damn OS boot animation.

So, in the end it was the CPU?  Interesting.  Were any of the pins bent?

[LaP]

On 2017-09-26 at 1:22 PM, Jason S. said:

ive expressed my disdain for Asrock motherboards many times in the past. i wouldnt at all be surprised if it's a failing motherboard. as you mentioned already, though, try another PSU first. That Seasonic seems pretty old (circa 2010?) and may not be powerful enough. Otherwise, if that doesnt fix it, all fingers point to the motherboard.

I had one many years ago. I'll never have another one again. They are on my short list of do not buy ever again.

[Luc2k]

3 minutes ago, Jim K said:

So, in the end it was the CPU?  Interesting.  Were any of the pins bent?

No, and when I first removed it, I checked each row at eye level. It was the only thing the guy receiving warranty claims/returns actually checked and it would have been an easy refusal motive.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

1 minute ago, LaP said:

I had one many years ago. I'll never have another one again. They are on my short list of do not buy ever again.

ASRock has really improved in the last few years... They used to be a low quality company, but are really stepping up to the big boys.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

15 hours ago, Mindovermaster said:

ASRock has really improved in the last few years... They used to be a low quality company, but are really stepping up to the big boys.

i just feel that there are so many other choices out there that there's no reason to buy Asrock. ive had MSI and Asus motherboards in the past, and theyve always been rock solid.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

3 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

i just feel that there are so many other choices out there that there's no reason to buy Asrock. ive had MSI and Asus motherboards in the past, and theyve always been rock solid.

I had an MSI motherboard, had to RMA it 3 times. And it never got fixed. Why I never use MSI. Been on ASUS or Gigabyte.

[Mando]

5 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

I had an MSI motherboard, had to RMA it 3 times. And it never got fixed. Why I never use MSI. Been on ASUS or Gigabyte.

I personally swear by Asus boards, tried all vendors and Asus have been best performing and most reliable over the decades for me . Id like to go EVGA mobo next time, but they are very pricey in the UK.

[LaP]

1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

I had an MSI motherboard, had to RMA it 3 times. And it never got fixed. Why I never use MSI. Been on ASUS or Gigabyte.

Pretty much always go with Asus for motherboards personally. Had lot of success with them in the past. Bought DFI and ASRock once but had compatibility problems and support was not great. I just built myself a new PC and went with an ASUS Crosshair Hero VI (black friday sale). So far so good.

[Luc2k]

1 hour ago, Jason S. said:

i just feel that there are so many other choices out there that there's no reason to buy Asrock. ive had MSI and Asus motherboards in the past, and theyve always been rock solid.

There aren't really as I wanted as many SATA ports as possible and nobody else offers 10 on AM4. That plus the Taichi itself being one of the highest rated boards on the platform made it a rather easy choice. Availability was the only real issue.

 

The thing I noticed about ASUS is that their boards, consistently, have fewer features than the competition at a given price point (unless you're looking at top-end stuff) and I can never justify paying for any brand name. Fun fact: ASRock's "cheap" reputation is from the time when they were a ASUS spin-off.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Luc2k

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

1 minute ago, Luc2k said:

There isn't really as I wanted as many SATA ports as possible and nobody else offers 10 on AM4. That plus the the Taichi itself being one of the highest rated boards on the platform made a rather easy choice. Availability was the only real issue.

 

The thing I noticed about ASUS is that their boards, consistently, have fewer features than the competition at a given price point (unless you're looking at top-end stuff) and I can never justify paying for any brand name. Fun fact: ASRock's "cheap" reputation is from the time when they were a ASUS spin-off.

i'd say your requirement of that many SATA ports is pretty niche, then. The vast majority of people wouldnt need 10 SATA ports. Asrock burned me in the past as well as other people i know. even if their quality has vastly improved over the years, i wouldnt go back to them now. it's the same as me being a former Ford owner. i'd never buy another Ford in my lifetime even if their 2017 cars are vastly improved.

[Luc2k]

1 hour ago, Jason S. said:

i'd say your requirement of that many SATA ports is pretty niche, then. The vast majority of people wouldnt need 10 SATA ports. Asrock burned me in the past as well as other people i know. even if their quality has vastly improved over the years, i wouldnt go back to them now. it's the same as me being a former Ford owner. i'd never buy another Ford in my lifetime even if their 2017 cars are vastly improved.

Yeah, I do suppose it is niche, but I would've settled for 8 which is the max that the chipset itself supports. In the end, I guess valued the 16 phase VRM design, the 2 extra ports along with the glowing reviews over something like ASUS's Prime X370 Pro.

 

Personal experience does play a big part I suppose. In my case, the first ASRock board was a cheap one (60-70$ in 2010) as I was strapped for cash. It wasn't all sunshine, but, I think, most of my problems were from crappy RAM, because the same Windows install became more stable as I upgraded kits. The biggest positive for me on that board was that it unlocked all 4 cores on my Athlon II X3 with no need for extra voltage.

 

I don't completely understand refusing to buy any future products from a company, under any circumstance, due to bad experiences in the past, unless it is something severe like a family member dying due to a faulty car, your house burning down due to a faulty motherboard or Intel affecting a particular market due to anticompetitive practices. It's everyone's choice in the end however (good luck trying to avoid Foxconn).