ASRock Extreme4 Z68 - debug codes 69 and 79

[Fooze]

Hi all,

I've done quite a few system builds in the past, and consider myself reasonably tech literate. However I am stumped with this problem and after searching long and hard on google, I am turning to the forums. Here is what's happening :

My PC is unable to shutdown or restart reliably. It will either:

1) freeze / crash at shutdown screen (Win7)
2) finishing shutdown screen, monitor will turn off BUT fans and system remain on.

Upon restarts / first boot, the system will usually hang in POST - code 69 or 79. Usually 79. From the mobo manual that is "CMS initialization" but there isn't any material as to what this means or how to troubleshoot.

I tried different hdd with OS, reseated CPU, different RAM - still getting this issue. Thus it seems to be something to do with the motherboard. Does anyone have steps to suggest?

Specs:

Motherboard: ASROCK Z68 Extreme4
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W
CPU: Intel i5 2500
RAM: ADATA 4x2 8gb
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 260 GTX
SDD: Crucial m4 128gb
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500gb
CD: Optimax 16X DVD_RW
OS: Win7 Ultimate

Any insight is welcome and would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading.

[Fooze]

Re: ASRock Extreme4 Z68 - debug codes 69 and 79

Wanted to add: one of the steps I took was to reset all BIOS to defaults to remove any overclocks / manual timings. I only had a very slight overclock on the CPU.

1) After restoring BIOS defaults, I did set SATA and Marvell back to AHCI (from IDE) as that's how my ssd is set and necessary to boot.
2) Just to clarify, my RAM is 4gb x 2, but have tried to do the boot just with 1 stick of each. No luck.
3) Have tried with just the SSD (my boot drive) but same code.

I also tried clearing CMOS, remove mobo battery, and on one occasion I was able to boot up into windows. However once I had to restart, it's back to the POST failure - so naturally this isn't a stable or feasible solution.

It is time to throw in the towel and send it in? It's only 6 months old..