GA-Z170X-GAMING 7 - error code "dd" when booting with GTX970 GPU installed

[Oscar_jim]

This is my first build so I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge.

I am using a GA-Z170X-GAMING 7 Motherboard.  My SSD are Qty. 2 Samsung  950 Pro M.2 - 512 GB running in a RAID 0 config.  I initially powered up the PC and installed the OS (WIN 10  Home x64) with the GPU not installed.  Once the OS installation was complete  I powered down, and installed the GPU.  The GPU is a GTX970.

When I power up the PC now, I get a "dd"  error code on the motherboard.  Using the manual and the google, I found that this is an un-used code. 

The GPU is installed in the PCIEX16 connector.

Any thoughts as to what could be causing this error, what the error actually means, and what could be done to fix it would be appreciated.

[dmdilks]

Did you make sure the card is good can you try it in another computer? Is the power all plug in the Video card right?

[Oscar_jim]

Did you make sure the card is good can you try it in another computer? Is the power all plug in the Video card right?

I don't have another computer to try it in at the moment.  The card is brand new, I hope its not DOA.

[ducksonetime]

Did you make sure the card is good can you try it in another computer? Is the power all plug in the Video card right?

I don't have another computer to try it in at the moment.  The card is brand new, I hope its not DOA.

Hey mate,

I'd check that the 6/8 pin connectors are connected correctly to your card and that your PSU is rated high enough. If possible test another video card in the same slot.

Cheers,

ducks

[Oscar_jim]

he Short story is the GPU is working now.

The Long Story: Here is a list of thing I did (some intentional, some unintentional)

With The GPU not installed:
I re-seated my RAM, and actually put them in the other set of paired slot (For the Z170X Gaming 7 this is the black connectors)

Also since I am using 3200MHz RAM I enabled the Extreme Memory Profile,(Under Advanced memory settings in BIOS)
This allowed the RAM to run at the rated Mhz, instead of the base 2133 MHz., and it increased the voltage to the rated value of the ram 1.35V (from 1.2V).

Next I attempted to load updated bios version F6 from the Gigabyte Windows based utility "@BIOS". I choose the option of loading from the internet, as I figured it would load the latest bios version. Either I did something wrong or it didn't work. As it appeared to go through the process of the update but once I got back into the BIOS it still showed the F5 Version. Also my RAID 0 setup now showed as failed. I deleted the volume and rebuilt it. After doing this, I no longer had an operating system that would boot off the M.2 SSD Drives.

Next I download the "F6" version of the bios to a USB drive, and tried to upgrade the bios using QFlash. this seemed to work, and once I got into the BIOS again I saw it now showed the version as F6.

Next I powered down everything, and installed the GPU, switched the HDMI cable over to the GPU, and booted back into BIOS.

Since I forgot to plug in the power to the GPU, it booted to an error that basically said plug the power into the gpu.

After plugging the power connectors into the GPU, the pc booted back into the BIOS with the monitor connected to the GPU.

Amazingly enough it worked.

I proceeded with installing the OS, and all the usually stuff after that.

Thanks for the help!