A Devilish Problem With Maximus Xiii Hero And I9-11900k Q Code D4 And Its Reincarnation

[ceme]

Hello,
I rebuilt my workstation from 10 years old P9X79 WS to a couple of months old ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO coupled with an 'Intel i9-11900K', 'Corsair VENGEANCE® LPX 128GB (4 x 32GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 ' and an 'Asus GTX 1660Ti...

 

The reason I have a new build is that towards its last days the old build it started to freeze... It was a hardware problem. 
The first thing I replaced was my GPU card to DUAL GTX1660TI O6G EVO. Which is also my GPU card of the new build. And also a quite new purchase.

The problem I am having is 'White light' sometimes followed by "1 long 3 short Beeps"...
And Q code displays "d4" but the post continues after a while and it settles on "A0" And as the hard drive light blinks away, as the "White" light indicates a GPU error remains and no signal is received by the monitor.

 

This Q code 'd4' has started right away with my very first boot attempt. However, as I rebooted, it did not give any error on my second or on the third try. Which I kept the system on, almost for three days at that time. Then next day on the fourth booth, it stuck on GPU card error again. This is how it continued for six days.
And on that sixth day, after a successful boot, the system and the monitors freeze after a while! You know as my old build did! So, I rebooted again, it freezes again in a few minutes. And after that, I couldn't pass the GPU error; the "d4" and "white light" and the "beeps". Yet the post continues and the Q code finally displays "A0". Meantime, the GPU card shows a "White" light as oppose to a "Red" light and both mobo and GPU card illuminate RGB lights.

When the system was working I had many HDDs and an SSD installed, and a few USB-connected devices plus fans, all working fine.

Now, I just have an SSD and 8 fans. I have an i9-11900K cooled by a Noctua NH-14 with two fans. That's it. I even unplugged anything coming from the case such as USB connections and whatnot.

I power the whole thing with a Corsair AX1200i PSU, and it is the only thing that I haven't replaced from my old system...
It shows the green light and seems working fine also monitored with its "iCue" app when I could boot. When the system was working I checked every component.
Rams were showing 64 GB instead of 128GB. I realize that two of them weren't properly placed so I corrected that and got 128 GB. I checked each Ram individually and they were ready for OC and they were showing proper voltage and everything. Same with the CPU. Each core seemed to be functioning normally. At one point it even OC'ed %10 with auto OC.

Even though I do suspect the PSU, I can't be a hundred percent sure if the PSU is really the problem...

I couldn't figure out which device was the faulty one with my previous system either. I took my system to three different shops for testing and none of them couldn't find anything wrong! Even with all the stress tests and whatnot, they couldn't even manage to duplicate the system freeze... And as soon as I get home, I get the "frozen screens" which they couldn't produce. Once even for a consecutive three days, they fished for the error and got nowhere...

 

So, as you can see it is weird luck I am having. It feels like this is a curse really...
I replaced the GPU card first and that didn't help. Nevertheless, I realized I replaced the wrong device. But maybe as the previous GPU card (Zotac) was faulty and with my bad luck, the new GPU card that I bought was/is also bad. Then, I end up replacing everything except the PSU.

I just don't want to buy a new PSU and find out that in fact, it was the GPU card that was the problem all along...

So I did two more tests today. First I removed the GPU card. Since I have the integrated CPU graphics. But I get all the same errors. White mobo light and beeps...
Then I managed to borrow a 600 watt Thermaltake PSU. I hooked up with high hopes that it would work and I can finally pinpoint the faulty device after all the drama.
But no such luck! I still am getting the same errors. And now the white light is accompanied by a Yellow light as well, indicating that something wrong with Rams too...
When the Corsair AX1200i was connected, and the white light came up, the yellow light also came up for a very short while, and as the post continues the yellow light went away as the white light remained every time.

However, with this 600 Watt PSU, the yellow light also remains and the post does not continue... So 'd4' is the final Q code there...

This is even more confusing. I am baffled. Is it the new Motherboard that is the problem?
'D4' is explained as either integrated GPU, or if a GPU card is installed the GPU card is not detected or has a problem. So they suggest checking the CPU! But the CPU was working just fine a week ago. As all the Rams were...

 

I don't know where to go from here?

 

And if you read the whole thing I appreciate it, I know it's a lengthy one but so is my curse...

[ceme]

Also, ny BIOS is the latest.  And I know what d4 means. But as the story goes, my last test did not even involve the Video Card as I've removed it from the motherboard.

Also when it worked, it did work fine... As short as it was...

I also did reset the CMOS a couple of times.

 

Alsoı,  all my parts are compatible. I did my research! Matter of fact, both Asus and Corsair gave me their blessings personally. Asus put some 128 GB  Corsair rams that higher than 2333 MHz into their compatibility list after my request. The video card is also listed as a compatible device. 

 

I am running the latest BIOS. I  updated the unit before running the system through Asus's USB port. The drivers were installed through the driver disk that came with the unit.

 

Nothing is automatically updated in my system.

[ceme]

Alsoı,  all my parts are compatible. I did my research! Matter of fact, both Asus and Corsair gave me their blessings personally. Asus put some 128 GB  Corsair rams that higher than 2333 MHz into their compatibility list after my request. The video card is also listed as a compatible device. 

 

I also did reset the CMOS a couple of times.

 

I am running the latest BIOS. I  updated the unit before running the system through Asus's USB port. The drivers were installed through the driver disk that came with the unit.

 

Nothing is automatically updated in my system.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

When I had problems with a system of similar age, it turned out to be the power supply unit.  Fortunately, it was still under warranty, so I was able to RMA it.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[Steven P. Administrators]

That certainly is odd, do you plug the system into the wall outlet or do you have it on a power strip? The fact that the shop tested it and found no issues but you do have the problems at home might point to a faulty power strip or even faulty wall outlet. Try plugging it in somewhere else in the house (on a different group even) just to see if it then boots fine. 600W seems to be more than enough for your system too,

 

I have a similar setup, but older AORUS Z390 Pro WiFi, Intel i9-9900K, 2x 32GB DDR4 and Nvidia RTX 2070 SUPER, 2x NVME (onboard) and all that on a BeQuiet 550W Straight Power 11.

 

It seems weird that the shop can't find any fault, but when you get home it immediately happens, this to me seems to indicate all of the hardware is fine when the shop tested it on the spot, and then for a three day burn test. So you need to look at the circumstances of the okay PC not working correctly in your home.

[ceme]

The RNA issue is a bitter one! From all the components I have, the only one that still has warranty is the Corsair PSU. I still have almost a year. But I can't find the damm receipt. All the other receipts from that build ls present except that one... 

 

My wiring is done by an engineer. I have 2.0 ohms ground a fat copper rod buried under the ground 4 feet deep, connected to my system with a thick copper cable. The audio equipment is on a dedicated circuit. I have a superb power conditioner. (Which just in case I tried bypassing the UOS as well)

Also, I remind you that my previous built worked flawlessly for a decade in the same circumstances... So I have a clean and balanced power in my studio.

[ceme]

Because there is no edit (!) function the day after, I have to correct a typo:

 

 (Which just in case I tried bypassing the UOS as well)    I meant UPS.... Sorry.

[jnelsoninjax]

If error code D4 indicates an issue with an integrated GPU, then perhaps you should look in the BIOS settings and make sure that integrated GPU is disabled. One other thing I would try (well maybe 2) standard troubleshooting steps would dictate that  you remove all unnecessary components (IE extra RAM/HSS/SSD/NVME) and leave only one plugged in and then see if the issue corrects itself. One other thing, perhaps you can take your cell phone and video the whole process, and that way when/if you take it back to a shop for repairs, you can show them what it is doing, and then maybe they can give you an idea of where/what the problem might be. Have you removed the CPU at anytime during your troubleshooting? It seems that if the error code is telling you to check the CPU, then maybe you need to check the CPU...

[ceme]

I didn't spoon BIOS and I reset it for the iGPU to kick in. But it didn't work.

The CPU with all its legs unbend and intact, has been placed into its slot and remained on the mobo the rest of its 2 weeks of life.

 

Yes, I am facing the barebone test phase but there is a downside to that process...

 

I suppose, despite everything I do won't produce a post, then the problem should be either with the PSU or the Mobo... Right? 

But... What during the barebone tests, if at some point, the machine boots up, and I have the display and everything...

Yeay! Right? No! Not really! I would be at my start point!

 

These last four years with my old build and now with this, these errors are not constant!
It works! And then it doesn't work! Then it works again! Then it stops working! Then works again. Of course with this build it posts with the GPU error and it doesnt boot.

I can't tell you how horrifying that feeling is. Not knowing when it's going to stop working and you will be stuck in a middle of a project and not knowing what is the cause of this to fix it...

 

I wish I can hold on a decent PSU that works perfect... Would clear a lots of questions on the table...

[Vvo]

Have you tried using a different psu?