Bootloop 32, weird issue

[Kaiketsu]

This is my PC:

CPU: i7-4790k @ 4.6 Ghz (1.245 V)
Cooler: SilentiumPC Grandis XE1236 + 2x Alpenföhn WingBoost 2
MoBo: Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z87 (Rev. 1.1)
RAM: 16 GB DDR3 GSkill TridentX 2400 MHz CL10
GPU: EVGA 1080Ti FTW3
PSU: EVGA G2 650W
SSD: Plextor M5S 128GB + Crucial MX200 256GB
HDD: Toshiba v63700-H 2TB

I ran this config for... idk, couple years? last summer, I upgraded my RAM to 16 GB, it worked without issues for a couple months - gaming, work, internet, all was fine.



Suddenly it starts bootlooping... the little display on MoBo shows 16, 32, then restarts.

I checked online and it seems its tied to improper OC.. but my system worked with those OC settings for months, without any issues.


Now the next part is pretty weird. Normally I can make it go away by shutting down (during bootloop). This makes it start again, go into BIOS, where I change nothing, save&exit right away (keeping my settings) and system boots like normal.

However, whenever I turn my PC off from that point, it's going to bootloop next time I turn it on.

Here's something even weirder: sometimes (every, IDK, 5-10 attempts or so), shutting off the PC does NOT fix it. Instead, it keeps being bootlooped until I remove one of my RAM sticks. It starts then, I save settings (without changing anything), shut down the PC, put the RAM stick back in and it works - starts without bootloop - until the next shutdown.

This is really weird.

My MoBo IIRC doesn't support my RAM, but it never was a problem till now!

My RAM settings are matching those that the manufacturer suggests... 10-12-12-31 timings, 1,66 V (should be 1,65 but the BIOS only allows to increase in 0,02 V increments).

Any ideas what to do here?

Once I had a similiar problem, replacing the BIOS battery made it go away, but not this time - I replaced the BIOS battery with a new one,didn't help.

[shadowsports]

One possible explanation.  May or may not be related.  Electrical components have tolerances. Like a cars battery or wiring, resistance and voltage changes over time.  The components on a MB also "wear in" and what you had when the system was built may not be what you have now.  Slight variance is expected over time.  This is more true of components which are being over clocked. 

PSUs get tired and the components that regulate voltage can also become lax and fluctuate.  The variance is probably minuscule and only readable with a OHMs meter or electrical tester.  Maybe one of the chips on a DIMM is not quite up to spec or has started to fail.  Really no way to say with certainty.

If proper timing cannot be achieved the system self corrects and "boot loops".

What happens if you don't OC the CPU and RAM?

The 4790k runs at 4.4 turbo.  You're trying to squeeze 200Mhz more out of it.  This is not going to improve benchmarks or performance.  Your Trident RAM should run at stock speeds since it SPD detects at 1333 and 1333/1600 is stock for 4790k CPU.  I'm running slower RAM at 1603Mhz, but my timing is CL9.

Are you using XMP or have you made settings manually?  You can try making adjustments in M.I.T.  Maybe increasing the voltage of the RAM slightly .  But be careful.  The 4790k already runs warm.  Idle TDP is 88w, and as you know more voltage = more heat.  We've also seen instances where voltage is locked or tied to clock speed (unexplainably).  I can't comment on your board or BIOS.         

If you have updated your BIOS recently, this too can introduce compatibility issues.  We've seen this happen many times where the stepping (microcode) updates and a certain CPU / memory configuration that worked stable before no longer works as expected.  I see your board only has one BIOS, so you'll have to work with what you have,  F4. 

You should be able to "tune" the system and get it to work reliably, but you may have to mess with CPU and memory timing/voltage settings to regain stability.  Different memory could also work.     

[Kaiketsu]

Thanks for the answer. It's even more weird - it suddenly stopped bootlooping. No, I didn't change anything - one day it just stopped. I really don't know what to think about this anymore.

It however does take a while for the BIOS mainscreen to show up - counting from pressing on the power button to the "beep" from PC speaker indicating all is OK it's around 10 seconds. Way longer than in the past.

[shadowsports]

Thanks for the answer. It's even more weird - it suddenly stopped bootlooping. No, I didn't change anything - one day it just stopped. I really don't know what to think about this anymore.

It however does take a while for the BIOS mainscreen to show up - counting from pressing on the power button to the "beep" from PC speaker indicating all is OK it's around 10 seconds. Way longer than in the past.

The behavior in the last paragraph above.  Time that elapses between button press and POST (Long).

Possible explanations or things to look at:   

-BIOS version
-BIOS configuration
-Using both BIOS and Gigabyte Utilities to control device, OS or boot behavior
-Fast Start Up (option) OS
-Failing component on board or connected device (Something faulty or going bad)
-Slower device on system bus can increase detection time during POST
-Using a boot manager
-Partition structure on Boot Drive
-Power anomaly

If you cannot reproduce the behavior consistently, there is no effective way to troubleshoot.  If its working now.  great.