Maximus VIII Hero q-codes 14, 15 and 99

TheF34RChannel

New member
Here we go again: Was playing FO4 when the system suddenly shut down and went into a reboot loop again, same as before. Only code 15 this time (pre-memory system agent initialization is started). Reseated and tested all RAM and slots, cleared CMOS. Got code 14 then (pre-memory CPU initialization started). Checked CPU and socket; all okay. Removed and reseated mobo and tightened the screws a bit more than before*. Booted just fine.

*my crazy theory; maybe the mobo screws weren't tightened enough causing the whole thing to sag just enough to short it, causing the problem?

Any ideas what might have caused it, and what I can do if it happens next? I'm not feeling really comfortable now that it might happen again.

Edit 1: Well it was fine in Windows, loaded a save game and boom there it goes again. Thoroughly p***ed off now! I've never had PC issues before and now it's something off and on with a single system I cannot reply on.

Edit 2: Could only get it working after taking out the entire mobo again but this time I replaced the screws for ones with a slightly wider head for more grip. Then I got code 99 with no display. Had to revert to my old DVI display, enter BIOS after another CMOS reset and save and exit to get my new 144Hz DisplayPort monitor working again. I've been at it for hours and am worried that as soon as I launch a game I'll be back to a boot loop (and I was right). Even took all the OCs off. I don't know what else to do :(

I have no extra components to test with nor can I get any.

Online searches yielded people with the same thing across all kinds of generarations of boards, always seems to happen during heavy load ie gaming but no one has found a solution. Replacement boards didn't solve it either for them.

Am going to flash the newest bios to it shortly and even considered the wall socket being bad so tried another, albeit not grounded, one to no avail. Also, I have my GPU zip tied upwards to counter the sag, could that be it? Grasping at straws now.

Edit 3: Because I keep thinking of a short somewhere I removed the side panels (to no avail), reseated all cables in the PSU, removed the top panel and it booted just fine - although I doubt that's the culprit. Here's a pic of the top panel where you can see a ground wire attached to the case, a rolled up LED wire I don't use, and 3 empty sockets from which I removed cables I don't use (front eSATA, USB 2.0 etc.).

Could there maybe be a short caused by something faulty with the case that I simply cannot see? I don't want to buy a new case on a whim, hoping that'd solve it.

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Take out the CPU and inspect the pins. It sounds like you may have bent some causing them to cause weird issues.

If that doesn't fix the problem I suggest you RMA the motherboard, as it sounds likely to have a fault.
 
Already checked CPU and socket and they're fine. Motherboard isn't the issue; others with the same issue didn't solve it by a new board, oddly.

How about too tight a bend in the PSU power cord?

It's working now (bios on default) after reseating PSU cables and one by one I'm putting things back. All fine but there's something wrong for sure. Remember my having the same thing when I built it a month ago but code 13 then. It's been fine since reassembling it until yesterday :( so something is awry...
 
Dude I have had mobos bent to high heaven and they still worked fine. The fact that your rig is throwing out random codes leads me to believe that it's just a faulty board.

I could be wrong but sadly because your board is throwing out random, different errors it's making it very difficult to pin down.

Do you have another rig you can test the memory in and so on?
 
I meant the PSU power cord being too strongly bent, if that could be a cause.

Yeah the random errors is my biggest issue, makes it a guessing/elimination game. The reason why I think a new board won't matter is because no one with the same issue had it solved with a new board; their issue persisted. Don't get me wrong; I'm not dismissing your suggestion, I'll RMA it if I can't find anything else. On that note, can you export OC profiles to a USB and import to a replacement board?

What I did notice with the side panels off and in-game was the PSU fan spinning up shortly every other minute; it never did that (always sits off). May be nothing but at this point it might be smart to report any anomaly.

No, I'm afraid not, and I know no one with a Skylake system either. I have to make do with what I have here - no spares. Quite frustrating.
 
RE - OC profiles - yes, if it's the same board.

Bending a power cable should not change its properties unless it is damaged dude. Like, internally damaged. The PSU fan sounds like it's one of those modern ones that only spins up when you hit a certain temp.
 
RE - OC profiles - yes, if it's the same board.

Bending a power cable should not change its properties unless it is damaged dude. Like, internally damaged. The PSU fan sounds like it's one of those modern ones that only spins up when you hit a certain temp.

Yeah it is a modern one, it spinning up every other minute whilst it never did before just caught my eye. It doesn't seem to do so with the case panels closed.

Edit: This is probably normal and not the cause but just in case; with the panels off (or on when the room is silent) I can clearly hear the H105 pump softly whining (a high pitched sound) and at times it sounds like water falling through a drainpipe, of that makes sense? Like it gives bursts.
 
Check your CPU temps then if you are concerned about the H105. Make sure your not getting a thermal cut out. Use OCCT to push the CPU and GPU and CPUID HWMonitor to log the temps.
Your system is similar to mine, my RM850i has never spun, even with full load (Peaks around 340w in Corsair link).
 
5 January 2016: Big edit below the red edit indication; could use some of your thoughts on my ideas.

With case closed it no longer spins up - the PSU fan I mean.

SSD is in good health.

Testing the AIO: in OCCT CPU temp was 59 C on the hottest core during the PSU test.

So tested without OCs and adding one OC at a time (in OCCT):

PSU: 80 minutes - no issues
GPU: no issues
CPU: no issues

System is still up and running since I refitted the cables into the PSU side so I cannot replicate the issue nor am I convinced it's the cables (when I build the system and it would do something similar it gave me Q-code 13, I tested with stock PSU cables to no avail - unless the matters are unrelated).


EDIT 5 JANUARY 2016:

Incident: watching a second South Park ep in WMP. Immediate system shutdown. Boot loop gave Q-code 25 (= nowhere in the table) (gave 25 earlier, after a clear CMOS button it went to 14 or 15). System tries to boot 2x, then gives up.

What I did: Shut off the PSU and drained power. Removed extension cord from electric socket. Removed all CableMod PSU cables on the PSU side and re-fitted them. Removed PSU cables from motherboard (24-pin only; 8-pin is can only be removed by removing AIO cooler) and GPU. Took out and re-fitted the RAM. Took off and re-fitted the front USB 3.0 connector from the motherboard (next to the 24-pin socket). Tightened the SATA and power connectors on both the SSD and HDD - thinking of Never Back Down's previous issues.

Result: System booted fine instantly.

Thoughts: I may have narrowed it down.

1. It could be the RAM. It's not on the QVL list but that shouldn't be a problem. Is there a good recent RAM test that will replicate the issue if any exists?

2. It could be the front USB 3.0 connector (can that cause an immediate and full shutdown to begin with?), and here's why: perhaps the Q-code when I built the system is unrelated to the current issues. You see, I left the connector off until a few days ago.

3. It's one of the CableMod cables (refer to my Q-code 13 thread where I note I did test cable by cable with the stock Corsair cables both outside and inside the case).

4. On the off chance that the SATA cables might be bad, although they are brand new ones that came with the motherboard, I could replace them if the issue occurs again.

EDIT 6 JANUARY 2016:

After a good night of gaming last night the system (now without the front USB 3.0 attached) decided to shut down again, went into a boot loop until b6 (Clean-up of NVRAM - no idea what that means, neither does Google) and then boot looping to 25 a couple of times. Only refitting the PSU cables like yesterday worked.

I did check again and my RAM (Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) indeed isn't on the QVL. However the same kit in 4x4 config is.

Found another lad with a similar system (mobo, GPU, exact RAM) with similar issues and I asked both Asus and Corsair if they are familiar with the the mobo & RAM combo being problematic - earlier Asus advised me to try QVL parts only but obviously I don't have other RAM, PSU, GPU and SSD lying around for the fun of it.

My question to you guys and girls is:

1. Could it indeed be the RAM?
2. Could incompatible RAM cause this after working fine for weeks?
3. Alternatively, could it just be a bad CPU OC causing this? I ask because after refitting the PSU cables now and again it says 'OC failed' upon booting. Would be weird if it worked fine for a couple of weeks.

Also, how about the CPU 8-pin being too tight here:

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Are they sleeved cables or extensions? If they are extensions try removing them and run the rig without.

I had a wrongly wired 24 pin extension once.
 
Fully sleeved these...

Silly question: how about where I connect the CPU and GPU power cables in the PSU?

Right now I have the CPU in slot 1, the GPU in slot 2.

Further, I did update the Nvidia driver to the latest right before the issues began, although doubtful I will revert back, and try the stock Corsair GPU cable.

Been reading threads online left and right but no one has a real cause or solution. The ROG forum is full of them with different gen boards. I am at wits end to be honest. I also don't know if it's related to the code 13 when I assembled the system. I built many PCs in the past but never encountered this issue; I'm puzzled.

It always shuts down under load (only in game) except for once when it did in the bios and in Windows Media Player.

Only this changed before the shut downs:

1. Different monitor
2. Updated GPU driver
3. Some Windows updates
4. Put a very mild OC on the GPU (shuts down with it off also). 1388/3637, stock volts

I only play FO4 currently, but doubt it's the game.

I'll put it all on a box come weekend, but how to continue if it fails? And how if it doesn't?

EDIT: 10 JANUARY

The case top panel has a ground wire that screws onto the top metal part of the case; maybe that isn't needed anymore?

The iron blocks on the mobo back are extremely close to the case tray by the way:

http://i64.tinypic.com/2u9iafl.jpg

Right now I'm running inside the case with everything attached and with the stock PSU cables to give that go. The system kept shutting down with the stock cables but I hadn't yet changed the 8-pin CPU cable. I have yesterday morning and it's been running so far. Could it be...that simple...? Are there tools to see if the cable is not broken or something?

Considering buying individually sleeved Corsair cables if the cables proved to be the culprit. The stock cables are too short and a bit meh looking imo.

I ran 7 instances of Memtest (2047MB each to cover 99% of the RAM) overnight (500% coverage) with 0 errors (BIOS defaults; no OCs). Should I repeat the process with XMP enabled? Or with all OCs enabled?

I had planned to drop it off at the repair shop for serious testing (and maybe they can check the CPU power cable) tomorrow morning (24hrs from now), so I'm eager to cram as much testing in before that as possible.

I'm also leaving the GPU sag a bit now instead of having it zip-tied (from the front of the cooler to the motherboard tray where there's a hole); I might have been pulling it oddly out off place. Puget Systems in the US has a handy bracket for it but they don't sell outside the US
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Must find me an American
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If the system keeps working now it means my Q-code 13 when I built it last November is unrelated... Could be possible I suppose.

EDIT 11 JANUARY:

Carefully I say that I probably have found the culprit; the 8-pin CPU cable is likely damaged, probably because of too tight a fit. I have the stock cables on it now and it hasn't shut down since I put the CPU cable on it as well Saturday morning. No matter what I throw at it (including shutting it down myself and restarting to start anew so to speak), it just runs. Put the OCs back too and it just runs. I will run more HCI Memtest overnight and look in the morning, and if it's okay I'll get an Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition which allows for more space so it won't happen again and get new cables - black individually sleeved Corsair cables.

EDIT 12 JANUARY

That was short-lived; PC shutdown again. I think I'm going to pour gasoline on it and set it ablaze.
 
Double post, I know, but the previous one is just too long for my crappy phone so this is a one-off. I do apologise.

Any more ideas for what I should do next if the system comes back 'fine' from repair?

I no longer want to spent every waking minute after work messing about and I can't randomly start to RMA parts. Surely I'm not the only one in the world with this issue :) I would like to use my system for a change.

I'm at the point of just buying TridentZ and lose money in the process but I can't believe that's it, but I don't know what else to do.
 
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maybe its mentioned already, but if you have the mobo screws too tight, this can also cause problems with booting.
 
Yeah it was, thanks regardless! Booting is only a problem after a random shutdown.

Whatever happens I'll put it in the new 760T and maybe it'll be magically solved. Is it a good idea replace the still new stock paste when reassembling it in the new case?

Far fetched but it can't be the monitor can it? Happened the second day I got it. USB not attached.

BIOS settings here I'm case one would like to see: http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?p=891130#post891130
 
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