Greg's Custom watercooled PC adventure (build log)

Well still no joy.
Spent the whole morning trying to sort it and nothing.

Cleared the cmos, booted to usb, installed Windows on empty nvme drive. Went through the whole installation process and setup all fine. Boots into Windows ok, then freezes, then restart and get the damn winload error.

I’ve even tried moving the nvme drive to another slot and still the issue.
Not sure what to try now other than that the mobo just doesn’t want to install Windows properly on the nvme drive.
 
Well still no joy.
Spent the whole morning trying to sort it and nothing.

Cleared the cmos, booted to usb, installed Windows on empty nvme drive. Went through the whole installation process and setup all fine. Boots into Windows ok, then freezes, then restart and get the damn winload error.

I’ve even tried moving the nvme drive to another slot and still the issue.
Not sure what to try now other than that the mobo just doesn’t want to install Windows properly on the nvme drive.

I know you might think WTF, but can you swap ram sticks around then see if it still freezes please.
 
Just an afterthought, Im also assuming the NVME drive is set up correctly in the bios? I mean for a boot drive and speed etc?
 
It installs windows and then won’t even load it up again now, restarting brings the same winload error.
 
What is the model of mobo I'll see if I can dl the manual.
Gigabyte aorus z390 master.

I’m beginning to think it just doesn’t like this nvme drive. I’ve got a external 1tb HDD at work and a cable to connect an internal ssd to the computer, so will backup my files from that, wipe it and try to install Windows to the sata ssd tomorrow night and see what happens.

I’ve also swapped the ram about and nothing changed unfortunately.
 
Page 63 under peripherals section list NVME settings.
 
Thanks, problem is it doesn’t show in the bios. I googled this and apparently it won’t show until Windows is installed, but even installed it doesn’t show.
 
For example, you need to set it up either x2 or x4 speed first depending on how many you have connected and how many sata ports get disabled due to BUS limitations of the chipset.
Maybe someone who uses Gigabyte can assist further?
 
The sata 5 and 6 ports automatically get disabled when you have the nvme drive fitted.
 
Which M.2 port are you using and have you tried all of them ?
 
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Can you confirm if you set your bios settings are the same in the my menu? I have included what the NVME PCIE settings are, but I acknowledge for some reason you cannot access them.

*Ignore boot option 2 Ubuntu*

IMG_20200126_225255.jpg
IMG_20200126_225453.jpg
IMG_20200126_225524.jpg
 
Was it done as GPT partition when you done the usb? No idea if that could cause the issue tho.
 
Just my 2 cents... I'm going state the obvious,that I wouldn't spend anymore valuable time with this board trying to figure out a solution,because most new boards should set-up fine without to much hassle,after everything's plug-in correctly.

RMA the board for an exchange as faulty,or preferably change it for a different one altogether if purchased in a recent time period.

(I always found Asus second to none in quality for PC components.)

My choice would be this one for example:

ASUS ROG STRIX Intel Z390-H GAMING:


Cheers.;)
 
I concur, All boards we ever use are Asus, because they just work. If you have a custom rig, the ROG Formula boards are great with the VRM cooling.
 
Just my 2 cents... I'm going state the obvious,that I wouldn't spend anymore valuable time with this board trying to figure out a solution,because most new boards should set-up fine without to much hassle,after everything's plug-in correctly.

RMA the board for an exchange as faulty,or preferably change it for a different one altogether if purchased in a recent time period.

(I always found Asus second to none in quality for PC components.)

My choice would be this one for example:

ASUS ROG STRIX Intel Z390-H GAMING:


Cheers.;)

Thanks! You may be right! I'll have one last go tonight and will then RMA it. Fortunately it was from Amazon so should be easy.

I'll definitely go for Asus as you and others have recommended. I do want RGB lighting on it though which the Gigabyte did have. I think the one you recommended has it but can't find images.

EDIT: Will this one be a good one?
 
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Thanks all again, new ASUS mobo ordered from Aria as they had one on their super-specials.
Amazon return ready.

Just got to go through the hassle of draining the whole system again, but I was planning on doing that again soon anyway as I put a bit too much thermal paste on the CPU.
 
Yeah! Good choice and good luck,hopefully everything will be fine this time around.

Cheers.:smashin:
 
Thanks, pc all stripped down, drained and ready for new mobo.
I’m glad in a way as I needed to redo the cpu paste so would have to had strip and drain it anyway.

Also, on the topic of cpu thermal paste,I put far too much on. I was going to take a picture but it would have been too embarrassing.:laugh:
 

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