Looking for assistance with setting up a new AMD build?
Looking for assistance with setting up a new AMD build?
Hi all, New to the forums here, first post. After 14 yrs of building my gaming PCs using Intel parts, I finally decided to switch things up and give AMD a go and see how good the Ryzen stuff really is. Was hoping for everything to just run smoothly like every other Intel build I've done before, but I have been racking my brain on this stupid build for over a week now and Googling all kinds of random Reddit threads and YouTube videos trying to figure out what's going wrong here. I'll list out the build specs below and then describe the issues I'm having so far: - AMD Ryzen 9 3900X - Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming motherboard - G.SKILL Trident Z Neo (4x8GB) DDR4 3600 ( F4-3600C16Q-32GTZNC) - EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W P2 PSU - Asus STRIX-GTX1080-O8G (carrying this forward for now from my last build, waiting for the new 30-series cards to release) - Samsung 970 EVO M.2 2280 500GB NVMe (new) - Various Samsung SATA6 SSDs and a couple old HDDs that have my files/games/etc. - Windows 10 OS is currently installed already on one of the SATA6 SSDs (thus why I mention the NVMe drive is new because there's nothing on it yet) - All crammed into a Lian Li LanCool II Mesh case loaded out with Corsair ML fans and that whole wiring mess it brings - EK-Classic Kit P360 D-RGB (on the way, not installed yet - using the AMD wraith cooler the CPU came with for now) So, everything is assembled, everything powers on good, lights up, yadda, yadda. Originally, I had this hooked up to my Samsung CHG90 monitor via DisplayPort and every time I would turn the system on, it'd run through all the Q-Code tests on the mobo, then get stuck on Q-Code 02 "AP initialization before microcode loading" and would not finish POST-ing or put up any image on the monitor, just a blank black screen, despite all the mobo lights being on, all the fans lit up and spinning, looking like a fully functioning system physically. After searching around and trying various things that I came across, I flashed the BIOS to the latest version on Asus' website with a USB stick, then tried again, same issue. More fiddling around and hunting, find out that some people suggest using a different monitor. Weird solution to a no-boot issue, but whatever, I'll give it a try. Grab my spare monitor I use for work with my laptop and hook it up via HDMI, power on system, oh look, now I can get to the American Megatrends screen where I press F1 to enter the BIOS (wtf?). Enter BIOS, RAM is defaulted to 2133MHz, so obviously I turn on DOCP to get the RAM running at the advertised speeds by G.SKILL (3600MHz 16-19-19-39). Save and exit, PC reboots, back to no image and just a black screen despite physically everything lighting up and spinning... Sometimes I'm still getting stuck on Q-Code 02 and sometimes it makes it to Q-Code 09 "AP initialization after microcode loading" and can't seem to find anything about what that even means, so it's not getting me anywhere. Pull the GPU out, remove CMOS battery, clear BIOS settings, put it back together, back to square 1. I can enter the BIOS and try to change some stuff, but every time I save and exit, it goes back to a black screen and won't load anything, stuck on Q-Code 09. At this point, I'm starting to suspect maybe a RAM incompatibility or something, but still not 100% sure. I used my work laptop to pull up the Ryzen RAM Calculator tool and tried plugging in the numbers it spit out to see if that helped, but nope, same black screen issue as before, ugh. One thing I came across mentioned possibly a bad PSU causing the Q-Codes, so I unplugged the EVGA 1000W PSU and grabbed the old Corsair 600W PSU out of my wife's previous rig I just disassembled (see next paragraph for more on that). I hook up the 600W PSU to my rig, power it on, same issues as everything before while using the EVGA PSU, so I go ahead and rule out the PSU as not the issue here. Luckily, I just happened to have scored a good deal on a Ryzen 2700X, ASRock mobo, Oloy RAM (2x16GB), and EVGA 2080 Super to rebuild my wife's gaming rig a couple weeks ago as well (also dropped in a new EVGA 850W PSU), and hers is running just fine. So naturally, I start part swapping to see if I can make the problem move between rigs. I stick my G.SKILL RAM in her rig and see if it'll boot. All 4 sticks in, everything works. I set XMP to 3600 in the BIOS, save and exit, it boot loops 3 times, then comes back up in the BIOS at 2133MHz again. Hmm, ok, strange, but at least the ASRock board is smart enough to just reset the RAM speed to the default when the memtest fails at 3600 (Asus should really take a note here so I don't have to keep pulling the stupid CMOS battery out to get the X570-E board to clear BIOS). Tried out the next step down in the XMP profiles next: 3400 failed, 3200 finally took and held. Did some more online searching and found that it seems like it's a fairly common issue for 4-DIMM kits to only hit 3200 MHz, but quite hard to get them to ramp up to 3600 with all 4 DIMMs populated. Wonderful. Now, I at least have a path to follow on testing, so I put the G.SKILL RAM back in my new rig, boot it up, set DOCP to 3200, save and exit. It goes through the RAM training cycles, then comes back up to the BIOS showing 3200MHz applied. Hurray, I'm finally getting somewhere (I begin to think). But wait, there's more (thanks, Billy Mays)! While I'm still going through BIOS settings trying to set up other stuff, it randomly reboots in the middle of me changing settings and then comes back up into the BIOS again, but now every 2 seconds after loading the BIOS, it boot loops. So BIOS loads, 2 seconds, restart, BIOS loads, 2 seconds, restart, repeat ad infinitum. Great, now I'm back to pulling the GPU, pulling the CMOS battery, clearing the BIOS, and back to square 1 yet again with the RAM only loading up and not restarting on me if I leave it at the default 2133 MHz. I really don't want to nerf myself that hard by running at 2133 just to get past the BIOS, so I'm reaching out for help here and hoping someone else who's overcome this issue already can steer me in the right direction. Another issue I'm running into as well is that my BIOS can see all the SSDs/HDDs I have plugged into the SATA ports, but they're all grayed out and I can't access the Boot Priority options, thus I can't even get into my Windows OS even if I do leave the RAM at 2133 currently. My NVMe drive is physically installed, but not even showing up in the BIOS, either. Starting to regret my decision to go Ryzen here so far and wish I'd just done another Intel build, but I don't want to give up on this thing yet. Plz halp. Thanks in advance!
I'm glad my instincts pointed in the right direction regarding the RAM problem. I placed an order for a F4-3600C16Q-32GTZSW last week, expecting it to arrive tomorrow so I could test it (link provided). After that, I plan to return the Trident Z Neo kit I already have if the issues persist. If those still don’t work, I’ll need another return and might start reconsidering whether 32GB of RAM is truly necessary or if a smaller amount would suffice. On the other hand, if you’re right that the F4-3600C16Q-32GTZN works with my setup, I could go ahead and purchase it to explore different RGB options and a more modern aesthetic for my build. I’m coming from a Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced case with all ten fan bays filled, an i7-4790k with H100i v2, Asus Maximus VII Hero, two 8GB Corsair DDR3 modules at 1833MHz, and a 850W PSU. It’s still a strong build, but I’m excited to upgrade the visuals and feel more in line with current trends. Thank you for your advice—I’ll share my results once I receive the RAM tomorrow.
So today I received my updated kit (delays with UPS...) the G.SKILL Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D-16GTZN with 2x8GB of CL16-16-16-36. Attempting to run at full speed from the 32GB model turned out to be more trouble than its value. I installed it, entered BIOS, set DOCP and restarted. This time the system managed to load the DOCP profile without crashing the BIOS again. Then I tried the self-tuner to slightly boost performance on the 3900X but ended up with a black screen and no display. Plus, the BIOS doesn’t appear when using my 49" monitor via DisplayPort—so I always have to switch to HDMI for checking it. Boot options are also grayed out even though all storage devices are recognized. I’m starting to suspect the motherboard itself is the problem, not the RAM... Got any ideas? (Asus RO G Strix X570-E Gaming board)
The memory controller supports 3200mhz, so begin overclocking from there. DOCP or XMP may not activate immediately even with B-Die memory. Keep in mind that adding more sticks and using larger capacities puts extra load on the memory controller. With a 4-stick configuration, remove two sticks and leave 16GB in channels A2 and B2. It might help to try the XMP profile afterward. If some settings appear grayed out, it’s unclear what menu option you’re referring to—consider using F8 instead of F2 to select your preferred boot device. Run the 49TV on the HDMI cable, which is usually the main input. Feel free to test all the options or just clear CMOS and restart, then reset defaults in BIOS if needed. After clearing CMOS, do the drives appear grayed out? Have you ever updated the BIOS for this board?
I own three Ryzen machines and haven't encountered any of the issues you described. I even use the older Corsair 2x16GB 3000MHz C15 for my R5 3600 setup. Those RAM sticks were from the early DDR4 batch when Intel X99 was introduced, and I can even boost them to 3200MHz C15 with stable performance. My primary system runs the 3900X with 64GB of 3400MHz C16 RAM—Zen2 works well with this setup. After testing two different RAM configurations, I suspect the motherboard might be the source of the problem.
The new setup uses a 2-DIMM configuration (2x8GB at 3600MHz CL16-16-16-36) and I'm currently testing only these two sticks, located in A2 and B2. All drives appear as grey text under the Advanced > SATA Configuration area. However, on the Boot tab, both Boot Option Priorities and Boot Override are grayed out, making it impossible to select them. My 49" monitor is a Samsung ultrawide model (CHG90), not a TV. It functioned properly over DisplayPort with the same GTX1080 card in my previous build using an i7-4790K, so I’m unsure why it would suddenly stop reading DP and only support HDMI. This could be frustrating since I need to reposition cables each time to switch between ports. I recently flashed the latest BIOS (version 2606) directly from Asus’ site using a jump drive with the EZ flasher. This update was done before my first post in this thread, so I’ve been running version 2606 continuously. These problems persist across boots, even after resetting CMOS—this involves unplugging the PSU power cord, removing the GPU, taking out the battery for five minutes, and holding the power button for at least thirty seconds while it’s disconnected. Each time I try to apply a DOCP profile, it becomes exasperating to have to restart and wait five minutes before retrying. Deli, I think you’re correct—I’m beginning to suspect this board has ongoing issues and might be best to return it for a different motherboard if I want a better chance.
I just experimented with a DOCP configuration at 3200 MHz on the RAM. It restarted into the BIOS, confirmed the setting, but kept looping through menus before crashing again. The system displayed a Q-Code error 07 and the DRAM warning light came on. Ugh.
Sure thing, team. Glad you're checking things over. This is my first time doing this in a while, but I'm double-checking everything to be thorough.