extremely frustrated with Z68 boards

I'm now on my third Z68 motherboard. The first two were gigabyte boards. They gigabyte boards had the boot loop issue maybe 1/2 the time I tried to boot, but when my windows install would go to automatically reset the computer it would trigger it every single time.

I said forget gigabyte and bought a biostar since it had 100% positive reviews on newegg. Got the machine up and running yesterday and put it through some benchmarks, all seemed good. Today I go to boot it up and no matter what the heck I do I cannot get it to boot to the bios splash screen. It's stuck in an endless boot loop!!!

I'm tired, frustrated, and upset needless to say. What is the f'ing problem with these Z68 boards? I now have over $600 on my credit card that I'm waiting on Newegg to refund and I can't purchase anything else until they give me the credit.

Sounds like some really bad luck to me. What kind of PSU do you have?

mondena said:

Sounds like some really bad luck to me. What kind of PSU do you have?

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Thermaltake toughpower 700w
Intel Core i5-2500k
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 (not on tested memory list for the motherboard)

I've eliminated all other hardware by removing it and trying to boot. The power supply came out of a working machine and powering it up on the benchtop all of the voltages look fine with a meter.

My Z68 boards worked well... I know of Giga's boot loop issues, but never heard about it from Asrock.

EarthDog said:

My Z68 boards worked well... I know of Giga's boot loop issues, but never heard about it from Asrock.

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I think you mean Biostar.

Never heard about it neither. Maybe something else is wrong in your rig?

Anyway, if you've already decided that for you Z68 is a no go, wait for the Z7x series to show up (if they haven't already), and go grab a Z75 or Z77.

Have you tested RAM with Memtest86+, and is it fully stable with Prime95 Small FFT's and LinX for hours on end? If so, could it be a flakey SATA Power or SATA Data Cable to your OS HD?

I had one heck of an issue with my X79 Sabertooth (sent two back) - but the 3rd Motherboard was the ticket to a perfect system. Both of my Z68 systems were solid from the first POST...

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My FatalityZ68 was just perfect...

still happy with my gigabyte z68.. i agree with randy on priming for a day to check that ram out even if it passes memtest ok

I have run multiple Biostar Z68 boards.......Both the TZ68A+ & TZ68K+ (K+ being essentially the same but with upgraded power delivery)

Never ran into any boot loop issues with either board..........Did you update the bios before you started testing ???

Maybe my experience will help.

I have a GA-Z68X-UD7 and I had the boot loop issues... AND it turns out it was how my video was connected... If I used DP or HDMI connections I would receive loops. But once i switched it to DVI loops went away and havent seen them since....

Kind of silly if you ask me but thats how i fixed mine maybe it will work for you too. Sorry bout the issues, happens to all of us one time at least

I wound up purchasing an Asus P8Z77-LX. It's been a few days now and everything has been stable. I'm running a mild overclock (4.3 ghz on air) with my i5-2500k. Temps hit 68-72C when running prime for a while. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I won't call it good until I've had it for 2 weeks without problems.

What really amazes me is the SSD. I really wish I could have afforded one on my last build!

you should get a Z77 board, even the GB Z77 have no boot loops if you use ivy bridge or a 2600K. lol. Yea GB Z68 boards had annoying boot loops, BTW i hear tho if you update the BIOS to the latest they fixed it for the most part on their Z68 boards, about time.

I havent had any issues with my Asrock extreme3 z68 board and overclocks like a champ

Boot loops claim if you disconnect the reset button will stop. This imo is a temp fix until a bios update can be done. I am researching a new build, I myself don't have mobo to play with as yet.