Hello all
I'm a beginner having trouble with a brand new system, staring at mobo connections, then BIOS settings, then finding a way to do an UEFI install for Windows 7 Pro on my Samsung Pro 950.
I've eventually accomplished all that, but my system is incredibly unstable at all levels:
- in BIOS, I sometimes get freezes at various points
- when installing low level drivers from the mobo DVD, half the time it crashed. I finally figured out the most reliable way to do it was chipset, then USB, then Intel ME, then LAN - skip the rest!
- in Windows, the PC keeps running as long as I don't touch anything, but just trying to install something, including a windows update has a 50/50 chance of BSOD.
The current state of the system is that Windows 7 Pro is installed in UEFI mode on the SSD and it does boot - usually. I managed to get rid of all errors in device manager by installing the relevant drivers from the mobo DVD, and current versions of Firefox and Avira. I have internet access, but doing anything over the network is extremely fragile. Also I've detached the LAN cable for most of the time because I couldn't get any windows updates to install. Some of the instability may be due to the latter, but I would prefer addressing the low level issues first.
Also I should mention that I didn't get the system to even start into BIOS with the factory installed BIOS. I had to flash the most current (1302) just to get the system up and running. Later I downgraded to 1202 because with 1302 I had constant crashes right in BIOS. With 1202, those crashes are mostly gone.
System specs:
motherboard: Maximus VIII Ranger; BIOS 1202
case: Corsair 780T big tower
PSU Corsair RM 1000
CPU: Intel 6700K 4000MHz
Cooler: Corsair H90i
RAM: HyperX Black Fury DDR4 4x4GB 2666MHz
SSD: Samsung 950 Pro 512 GB, M.2
SSHD: Seagate Desktop SSHD 4000GB
GPU: ASUS STRIX GTX 980 DC2OC
ODD: some cheap LG DVD burner (is it important?)
I've stolen the basic setup from a high end machine (Z3000) offered at Digitec.
https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/digitec-zenon-z3000-intel-core-i7-6700k-16gb-ssd-hdd-win-10-pro...I considered just going with that one, but I didn't want Windows 10, and preferred the new Samsung 950 Pro over the 850 Evo included in that system.
Considering the freezes at BIOS level I am convinced something's not right at the hardware/BIOS level. I'm almost certain it's not the hardware since I'm building two identical systems that are encountering the exact same issues.
This means that either I might have messed up the mobo connectors somewhere, or that some of the standard BIOS settings don't mix well with the installed hardware. Maybe both.
Regarding connectors, I went back and forth through the manuals and various online sources and am almost certain I got them right, except for the Q-connector: Since the connector comes with the mobo, and the cables to connect to it come from the tower, I tried to find help for that specific combo, but without success. Can someone help me out here?
Regarding BIOS settings, I've tried running RAM at 2133 instead of 2666, but that didn't make a difference. Also it kept setting back to auto after crashes. Only change from standard I've made is setting Boot priorities and PCIe boot to UEFI first. I still got a nagging feeling I need to adjust something else, but I've no idea where to start. CSM is set to enabled; I've read in various places I should disable it when using UEFI, but the BIOS just reenbales it automatically on boot whenever I try that.
I would very much appreciate any help, but specifically regarding the mobo connectors, and the BIOS settings. I still have some hope I might get the Windows update issues fixed once the system is stable at low level.
That said, booting into Windows is incredibly slow (about 50-70s). I am almost sure that I need to change something in BIOS to take full advantage of the M.2 interface, but so far couldn't find anything related to M.2 in the BIOS. I've read elsewhere that DDR4 initialization is eating some of the time and I'm cool with that, but it shouldn't take more than 30s from the first Windows logo!