GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Issues

[mkenney]

First off this is my first build in 8 years - wow a lot has changed since my old AMD Athalon. 
Second I am not a tech guru.  I read a lot before I got into something so I feel I have a decent handle on the components I'm putting together but then I actually expect that to work without jumping thru hoops.  Maybe I'm being naive, or maybe things are just that finicky these days - hopefully y'all can enlighten me.

So to the point.  I just built up a new whitebox for doing esxi training on.
   
GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
2500K
2 X Kingston HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit
Cooler Master GX Series 650W ATX Power Supply

After putting it all together I fired it up and immediately started getting the reboot cycle that I've seen mentioned a few times now on this and other forums.  I took everything back apart and reseated it all with the exact same results.  I then removed all the memory except one stick in the 3_1 position.  On the second boot cycle the computer started and I was able to get to the bios.  That is as far as I've been able to get. 
I tried to add a second stick of memory but then would get the boot cycle happening again.  I'm not sure what the Phase LED's are supposed to represent but going top to bottom they read; Red, Orange, Green, Green - which is again something I've seen others mention in forum threads, but again without any solid explanation of what that might point to.

After reading the threads about bent pins, I took everything apart and getting out a magnifying glass I started going over all the pins finally finding one that was bent just enough that it wouldn't be making contact with the CPU.  At this point I'm going to take the mobo back to Microcenter and exchange it.  I'll admit that I'm not 100% confident with this mobo now.  I have no idea how one pin can be bent in a field of pins (the bent pin is not on an edge) without it being a QA issue.  Between that and the number of threads about this cold boot cycling problem and I'm fearful of trying this board again but I believe Microcenter only allows for direct exchange of mobos once opened.

So here is my real question other than generally whining.  How should I go about getting the new mobo up and running?  Can I slap all 16gb of memory onto the board and expect it all to work, or do I need to go thru any steps in the bios to enable that much RAM?  If so can you point me to some idiot proof documentation on what I need to do?

I appreciate that this forum exists and that there are some smart cookies here that are willing to help.  Look forward to hearing your thoughts and conjectures.  Regards, Mike

[Fatman]

So here is my real question other than generally whining.  How should I go about getting the new mobo up and running?  Can I slap all 16gb of memory onto the board and expect it all to work, or do I need to go thru any steps in the bios to enable that much RAM?  If so can you point me to some idiot proof documentation on what I need to do?

You should be able to get to your bios by pressing 'end' at the post without any hassle whatsoever. Just when you do get into your bios you need the 'Load Optimised Defaults' and save and reboot. Then go back into your bios and set the correct values for your ram etc.

[Rolo42]

The fundamentals have not changed in 8 years...or 31.

- More sticks = more likely to fail if running outside JEDEC specs (which you aren't)
- I had bad experiences with Cooler Master PSUs; I avoid them; perhaps they've improved?
- re: Documentation.  RTFM.

[Aussie Allan]

  mkenney... welcome buddy
  
    Not really sure were your at re old-board / new-board ..... do you need advise to fix the LGA nest (yes it can be done with a steady hand)   .... or ....lets just assume you have the new board and go from there....

  Just so you're aware .... the PSU @ 650W  is at the bottom of the recommended but will run OK if it's newish and not loaded up too much

  Could you fill in the full spec of you toy list for us .....GPU.....Drives ....ext.

  Assemble to where you were before....bare minimum.......1 stick of ram .... GPU (if applicable) .....then  boot up and establish what BIOS you're running..... update (Qflash not @BIOS) to the very latest version off the Gigabyte website

  Can't get too far ahead till I know more of the spec .... post back when ready.

  P.S  you'll be fine.

  Aussie Allan

  

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I agree with Allan not much can be sorted out without knowing more about your system.


As for the memory you will probably have to tweak it to get all the filled memory slots working properly. That is for later though.