Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

[The_Scooter]

As I believe this issue is either connected to my Gigabyte X79-UD3 motherboard or my brand new Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti Windforce graphics card, I thought I would post here. Forgive me if this is the wrong section.

My system is home built
Win7 X64
Intel i7 3930k Hex core stock clock
Corsair H100 Hydro
Corsair Dominator 16Gb RAM
Gigabyte X79-UD3 motherboard
Gigabyte GTX780 T1 Windforce GPU
128Gb SSD root drive
6Tb HDD storage
Enermax Galaxy 850w PSU
3x Dell U2413 24" WS monitors
Logitech G19 keyboard
Logitech G700s mouse

The Gigabyte Graphics card is brand new and freshly installed today. I took every precaution to make sure it was installed correctly and indeed it seems to be so as I managed ot post a very healthy PCMark rating with it without issue.

However, when I boot the computer, it displays the American Megatrends logo on my central monitor. Nothing else appears on the screen (I disabled the splash screen ages ago anyway). It stays like this for maybe 90 seconds, then turns the main monitor off and displays the Starting Windows logo on my left monitor. Then it turns the central monitor on, then off then on again and displays the blue Win7 splash screen on the central monitor before booting into windows. At that point, my USB mouse does not work and I have to remove and replace the cable before the computer will acknowledge its existence.

I've checked in Device Manager and there are no Exclamation Marks or errors in drivers. I've checked all drivers and they appear to be the latest ones for each device (GPU, mouse, keyboard etc).

I've tried booting without keyboard and mouse attached and the same hang appears at the start. I've also tried different USB sockets (there are six on the back of the mobo) to no avail.

Could this be a power draw issue? I know my 850w PSU should be up to this but I had to use one of the supplied twin molex to 8pin adapters that came with the graphics card as I didn't have another 4pin PCIE cable. I've ordered a 6pin to 8pin PCIE cable and will try that tomorrow.

The one thing is that I can't get into BIOS at all. Literally there is nothing else on the screen when the American Megatrends logo appears and hangs. I've tried hitting DEL to get into the BIOS and even F8 to select boot method and neither of them work.

Any thoughts gratefully received please.

[- wardog -]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

The Galaxy 850w(EGX850EWL anyways) comes with three 6-Pin and two x 6+2-Pin PCIe graphic card cables plus the requisite 8pin ATX12V for the CPU.

Why do you need adapters? And it's not clear, but where are you using these adapters now?

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

The Galaxy 850w(EGX850EWL anyways) comes with three 6-Pin and two x 6+2-Pin PCIe graphic card cables plus the requisite 8pin ATX12V for the CPU.

Why do you need adapters? And it's not clear, but where are you using these adapters now?

Thanks for the reply.

My previous card had one 8 pin PCIe connector and one 6 pin PCIe connector. My new card requires two 8 pin connectors. Obviously I have the 8 pin from my previous card but I certainly don't have any other 8pin cables over and above the ATX12V cable unfortunately. I've just checked the accessory box that came with it and there definitely aren't any other requisite cables in there.

The adapter I am currently using on one of the 8 pin PCIe slots for my graphics card is connected to two molex connectors on a single lead straight from the PSU that is solely used for this; nothing else is plugged into that cable.

[- wardog -]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Is EGX850EWL the model number of your PSU?

If not please list it's model number.

And in reading JohnnyGuru's review of the EGX850EWL,and assuming that IS the model you have, you may be lacking power for these components

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

I don't have the original box to hand and without removing the PSU from the case I can say that the one you linked certainly does look like the PSU I have, yes. The age of it fits about right too.

I was led to believe that my PSU would still be able to cope with what I have installed. It look like that info may have been wrong. Although it is weird that when actually in Windows and playing a graphically intensive game and watching a movie at the same time, there seems not to be any issues at all. I would have expected some issues if the PSU wasn't providing enough juice.

Thanks for the help.

[- wardog -]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Meh, your Galaxy is mighty damn good but in reading in that the way power is divided amongst the 12v rails I think it might be lacking in powering these power hungry GPU's of today. ie: 408w's for non-cpu power

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Yeah fair enough. Last ditch attempt will be to get an adapter so I can convert the 6pin to an 8pin so at least I will definitely be still be using the same rail as my previous GPU. If that doesn't work, i'm on the hunt for a new PSU.

Thanks for your help, i appreciate it.

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Well, it wasn't the PSU. I borrowed a brand new 1200W one from a mate and the problem still persists; it's still taking an age to boot.

Any other help gratefully appreciated please. :)

[danielite]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Wow.... this is exactly the same that happened to me. I just bought the Asus GeForce GTX780 the other day and it took years to boot my PC. I have a Gigabyte Z77-D3H and I fixed it by updating the bios with q-Flash. I couldn't enter bios or qflash either so I had to use my old GPU instead and that allowed me to access BIOS.

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Wow.... this is exactly the same that happened to me. I just bought the Asus GeForce GTX780 the other day and it took years to boot my PC. I have a Gigabyte Z77-D3H and I fixed it by updating the bios with q-Flash. I couldn't enter bios or qflash either so I had to use my old GPU instead and that allowed me to access BIOS.

This is great to hear. Thanks danielite. Never having flashed the BIOS of my motherboard before, I shall do some research. Which BIOS did you flash please? I'm getting F16 available for my motherboard.

[danielite]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Yep, F16. Did it work? Also, just wondering. Did you overclock your CPU or are you planning to?

[The_Scooter]

Re: Computer hangs at American Megatrends logo - can't access BIOS

Yep, F16. Did it work? Also, just wondering. Did you overclock your CPU or are you planning to?

I tried to use Q-Flash yesterday and it threw up an error "your flash utility is out of date" or something similar so In contacted Gigabyte tech support and they told me to use @bios. After research into this, I hear that @bios is one of the worst utilities available with a good chance of bricking your motherboard upon use, so I decided to research other options instead.

I'm now going down the bootable USB drive route. Fingers crossed.

Yes, although currently at stock due to me removing the CMOS battery whilst attempting to diagnose the issue, i'm usually overclocked to 4.3Ghz. Once i've got everything running as normal, i'll go back to the overclock again. I've got a watercooled system so I could probably go higher but this is a nice stable speed to have it at.