EVGA Z87 FTW motherboard will not boot consistently

[Puffnstuff]

I'm running an evga z87 ftw motherboard and I have boot issues and in particular after the bios posts it drops my ssd and velociraptor while loading windows. Sometimes it will cycle several times through the post process before it allows the boot drive to finish loading windows. When it does boot the system remains stable until I shut it down and try to come back up where the entire process starts all over again. Most times if I try to install a software update and reboot it will post loop several times before it allows the boot drive to load windows.

Here is my thread over at the evga forum on the issue http://forums.evga.com/The-new-Z87-FTW-still-fails-to-boot-on-the-first-post-m2231525.aspx

 

[vailr]

No such problem with my Gigabyte Z87-UD5H board.
You list a 1350 watt PSU, which is about 3 times the wattage you really need.
Try updating the bios, or use only one memory stick, or replace the PSU with a ~500 watt unit.
In other words: the normal trouble-shooting stuff.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I made a little video this morning of the boot process so enjoy. http://youtu.be/gnbeegQUwv4

 

[Burpo]

Disable Marvel controller and plug your drive into a native SATA port & make sure it's set to AHCI.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I need all of the sata ports for my drives so I have to run it. If the marvel controller is the issue then evga needs to revise the board and fix the issue.

 

[Burpo]

If you have to run it and you have a DVD/CD drive, plug it into the Marvell..

 

[Puffnstuff]

The marvel controller will not allow any of my optical drives to function on it. I disabled it and installed a siig pcie sata controller and the post loop continues. Today each time it has consistently been 4 loops then it boots. Each day it is different but it will not boot on the first post.

 

[Burpo]

I'm not familiar with your board, just guessing at this point. Sounds like a board/setting issue tho. Swap SATA ports?

 

[Charlie98]

My Gigabyte Z68 board has the option to show the discovery of everything plugged into the SATA ports during boot... and I have a problem with it missing the OS SSD sometimes.

If you have this option, is the BIOS finding all your drives during boot, or is it losing them after boot, while starting Windows?

 

[Puffnstuff]

I have all intel sata ports occupied and a single Seagate 7200.12 on the marvel controller which I have reenabled. This board has been problematic since day one and this is the second one in a row I've had trouble with. Later today I should receive the z97 ftw replacement from evga so we'll see how that goes. I have run the diagnostic utilities from intel and performed memtest 5.01 and passed both so all things point to the motherboard. Not being able to boot once the post is complete is a problem that I've never experienced before with any other board until this one. This has happened with my Samsung 840 pro, intel 520 and my wd velociraptor 600gb during the post boot process using a new build of windows. The first board would even repost while attempting to load windows from the dvd and both it and the Samsung were on the intel controller.

 

[Burpo]

Try disabling Fast boot in bios.. Also, doesn't that board have cache settings? You may just need to slow it down a bit.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Your having boot problems, why does everybody suggest memtest? I never lost a single stick of memory, if it was memory your computer would crash while its running.
Swap out the PSU, swap out every part you can one at a time. Have you check the CPU socket and re seated it? Have you removed the board from the case and done a naked boot? Have you done an over night Cmos clear? Have you tested the battery for voltage? Are you on the latest bios?

 

[vailr]

The marvel controller will not allow any of my optical drives to function on it. I disabled it and installed a siig pcie sata controller and the post loop continues.

Try disconnecting all optical drives, as a troubleshooting fix. Then (after observing how the boot process works), re-connect only a single optical drive, attached to the highest numbered Intel port: usually port 5. Also disconnect from & disable the Marvell controller and remove the siig pcie sata controller; having it in there may be adding to the troubleshooting problem, instead of fixing the problem.

 

[Ryanrenesis]

Damn, I'm never buying an EVGA motherboard. Even on other forums, people are complaining about its build quality and reliability.

 

[Puffnstuff]

EVGA swapped out my z87 with a z97 ftw. I ended up stripping it all the way down to integrated graphics and the intel 520 to do a clean install of windows and then rebuild everything on the new chipset. It still has odd behavior but at least I'm up and running. I did witness my cpu drop way down in processing power yesterday but today it seems to be okay. I'm still having trouble with the marvell controller not losing the sony optiarc that is the only drive attached to it.

 

[Puffnstuff]

The evga is back in its box and an asus maximus vii hero has taken its place. At least the asus hasn't lost any drives or bsoded on me like the evga board was doing.

 

[Phaetos]

Damn, I'm never buying an EVGA motherboard. Even on other forums, people are complaining about its build quality and reliability.

Sounds like a good idea. Wonder how this translates to their vid cards?