GA-X48-DQ6 Boot Loop

[LumberJack5500]

Hi,

I'm attempting to build a spare PC for a buddy and I've run into some issues with the GA-X48-DQ6 motherboard it seems.

When I first assembled everything it went great and I was able to boot right up and install Windows 8, the next day however the computer doesn't seem to want to POST and just constantly reboots after turning it on. This occurs with nothing attached to the motherboard except the CPU 4 pin power, 24 pin power connector, power switch and a stick of memory installed.

I've swapped memory sticks in and out, sometimes the computer will boot successfully and then sometimes it randomly won't. I've tried slower memory from another computer I know works and it still loops. I've pulled the motherboard battery and reset the CMOS, I checked for anything grounding the board, I've disassembled and reassembled several times.

I feel like at this point it's either an issue with the motherboard or simply a configuration issue on my part. I've seen a lot of other posts about this motherboard going into reboot loops, hoping some folks could help me out :).

Detailed Specifications:

Gigabyte
GA-X48-DQ6 - Revision 1.3 (couldn't even find the BIOS update for this on the Gigabyte website) - I think this might be the F7 BIOS?

G.Skill
F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - 2 x 2 GB

Intel
Core 2 Duo - E8400

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

[profJim]

Re: GA-X48-DQ6 Boot Loop

Welcome to the forum.

What is the brand and model name of your power supply?
How old is the power supply?

We need detailed information about ALL OF THE HARDWARE in your system.

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the System Specs portion of your
forum profile http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile.php?do=editprofile at the bottom of the
profile page or in your forum signature http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile....=editsignature.
Be sure to include brand names and model numbers.

[LumberJack5500]

Re: GA-X48-DQ6 Boot Loop

Welcome to the forum.

What is the brand and model name of your power supply?
How old is the power supply?

We need detailed information about ALL OF THE HARDWARE in your system.

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the System Specs portion of your
forum profile http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile.php?do=editprofile at the bottom of the
profile page or in your forum signature http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile....=editsignature.
Be sure to include brand names and model numbers.

Hi ProfJim,

Thanks for the welcome! Power supply is an Antec True Power 2.0, 550 Watt (TPII-550). It's older but came out of a working rig. I can try swapping power supplies but I'm leaning more towards a memory issue at this point.

I updated my system specifications in my profile, thanks for the suggestion.

Is it normal for the CPU fan to cycle on, off and then back on when first booting? It does do that as well.

Thanks again!

[LumberJack5500]

Re: GA-X48-DQ6 Boot Loop

Hi ProfJim,

Thanks for the welcome! Power supply is an Antec True Power 2.0, 550 Watt (TPII-550). It's older but came out of a working rig. I can try swapping power supplies but I'm leaning more towards a memory issue at this point.

I updated my system specifications in my profile, thanks for the suggestion.

Is it normal for the CPU fan to cycle on, off and then back on when first booting? It does do that as well.

Thanks again!

Any suggestions?

[profJim]

Re: GA-X48-DQ6 Boot Loop

I suspect that your old power supply is the main cause of your problems.
Can you borrow a good quality power supply to test with?

It sounds like your fan might be cycling on and off with the boot loops.
Boot with only one memory module installed in the memory slot closest to the cpu.
At the main bios screen, immediately load Optimized Bios defaults and then press F10 to Save Settings and Exit.
Boot back into the bios and immediately go to the PC Health sub-menu where you can monitor temperatures, voltages and fan speeds for at least 20 minutes or longer. Write down these values or take a photo and post the results.

With your older hardware, some voltage settings in the bios might need to be increased slightly.
The goal right now is to make sure that your system is stable with only one memory module installed until we know that your system is stable in windows and that the system passes some stress tests.

It will help if you post a cropped screen-shot of four cpu-z windows (Cpu, Mainboard, Memory and SPD) that show the following information:



You should always press CTRL + F1 at the main bios screen every time you go into the bios to make changes.
This will make several hidden bios settings available.

You should be able to save up to 8 different bios profiles if needed and you can overwrite individual profiles with a new bios profile and give the new profile a different name. Using bios profiles makes it much easier to quickly make minor changes when a profile has any problems. The bios profile how-to information is in the bios section of your motherboard's user manual.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...tml#post312040, post #4 is a generic bios template for your motherboard.
See http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...tml#post465985, post #18 for instructions that tell you how fill in and post your bios settings. We need to know what settings you are using when things go right or wrong.

Any questions?