PC fails to boot when EXPO is turned on (B650 Aorus Elite + G.Skill Flare X5 32GB)
PC fails to boot when EXPO is turned on (B650 Aorus Elite + G.Skill Flare X5 32GB)
Hello! I understand this is getting frustrating. The problem you're facing involves EXPO being enabled in BIOS for your memory, but you don't see any monitor output and a red VGA light appears on the motherboard. When EXPO is off, the system runs smoothly. After about an hour, the red light stays on without anything showing up on screen, and the PC sometimes restarts but still shows the same issue. I had to reset the CMOS to get it working again.
It's worth noting that when I first built this PC, I encountered the same issue without EXPO enabled—because I couldn't access the BIOS to turn it on. The symptoms are consistent: no display and a persistent red VGA light. I flashed the BIOS using q-flash, which resolved the problem.
Currently, I'm just trying to highlight this concern, as it's unusual for the system to behave this way out of the box. BIOS v. F3b CPU: AMD 7700x, motherboard B650, AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0), RAM G.Skill Flare X5 (32GB, DDR5-6000 CL36), RTX 4090, MSI Gaming Trio, SSD Samsung 970 Evo Plus, PSU MSI A1000g.
I've tried disabling memory context restore, used the RAM sticks individually, and even tried enabling EXPO via Ryzen Master without success. Running a single cycle of memtest didn't reveal errors when EXPO was off, though longer testing might help.
I've considered reverting to the F2 BIOS version, but no one seems to have resolved this for them. I'm hesitant because the F3b model appears to fix the 4090 issue, but I still want to confirm. My main worry is that one component might be faulty and I should consider returning it for repair.
It seems you're experiencing issues with your computer after enabling EXPO in the BIOS. You're not seeing any display output and a red VGA indicator is lit on your motherboard. Here are some possible solutions: Verify that your memory modules are correctly installed and seated in the appropriate slots. Consider resetting the BIOS to its default settings by pressing the "Delete" key during startup and selecting "Load Optimized Defaults." Also, review the memory voltage and timing configurations within the BIOS. If you have extra BIOS features like XMP or DOCP active, try turning them off temporarily. Should these steps not resolve the problem, you may need to test the memory modules in different slots or update your BIOS. Let me know if you need more guidance!
Hi Noah, thanks for your prompt reply. I've already tried reinserting the RAM into slots A2 and B2. I've also reset the BIOS several times, especially after turning on EXPO because I can't access the BIOS to disable it. Concerning the memory voltage and timings, after enabling EXPO I've reviewed the expected values and they align with what's listed on the website for my RAM in EXPO. There are a few numbers I don't fully understand, but the timings and voltage appear correct. Of course, I won't be able to verify this once EXPO is active since the PC won't boot. I haven't activated any extra BIOS options, though I attempted to disable context memory restore without success. I've tested the modules individually in A2 and B2 at least, but not in A1 or B1. Would that be useful? The BIOS is already updated to the latest version. I understand your suggestion to possibly replace the motherboard, though I'm really hoping I can avoid that.