Question - gigabyte Z490 Aorus pro AX red cpu light always on (2024)

Hi everybody!
I'm building a new rig (been doing that since the 90's)
but on this one I got a big problem, at the second I start the power button, I got a red CPU led that come on and stay on untill I turn off the power supply.
Here is my rig:
GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS PRO AX

Western Digital WD Blue SN550 NVMe M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS100T2B0C

Intel Core i7-10700K Comet Lake 8-Core 3.8 GHz

be quiet! 250W TDP Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler 850W

Rosewill Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case White Edition

memory G-Skill F4-3200C16D-32GTZR

And it didn't start one time, I'm using the inboard video untill the RTX 3080 became available.
the 24 pins is connected, the 8 pins is connected, the CPU fan is connected in the cpu fan socket
the M.2 ssd is connected just beside the CPU
all the connector for the F-panel are connected in there respective place and the + and - OK too.

all is brand new from newegg.ca
Do someone have any hints for me, had the same problem with the same motherboard?

Thanks for your help.

Same boat here. I started OCing in the early 90's with a Pentium MMX. Took my 166 up to 233Mhz.

I have the same Motherboard/CPU/RAM setup, but not the same issue. My thoughts are.....

--Make sure that you have BIOS f5 or f6 (even if board won't post) https://www.aorus.com/blog/How-to-Update-Your-BIOS-Part-2.php
--IF you don't re-flash, then hard reset the BIOS. This BIOS likes to remember things and is fairly buggy (looking forward to the fixes)
--be patient, this thing takes a comparatively long time to boot when changes happen
--check to see if your boot drive is available.
--M.2 disables some SATA Ports depending on which M.2 socket you are using
-- use CSM boot support if not using fresh GPT formatted disc, install of Windows
--check the RAM. This board is VERY sensitive to RAM brand and timing. IS yours on the supported list? (FWIW, mine isn't)
--Remove 1 RAM stick, try to boot, then remove the other and try again
--lastly, check the PSU. Even new ones can be bad (I leaned this the hard way)

Lastly.....check the pins in the CPU socket. Look for pins out of place. I'm old-school, and after visual test with magnifying glass, I run my finger ever-so -lightly over them (clean hands) to feel if they are all the same. I've had a motherboard that I could feel a pin that was longer than the others, and proply RMA'd it

M

Can I update the Bios without knowing if it would start?
The cpu fan is not turning, non of the case fan either,just the PSU fan is turning and I can hear some click in the bluray burner. Take a look at what it does on those 2 links:
Here's a link for a close up of the red cpu light

Here is a link for the red cpu light with all cables connected

I' unplugged the thermaltake toughpower GF1 850w and plugged in my 1300w PSU and look at the result

now flashing between DRAM and CPU

Yeah, you can still re-flash the board without the CPU or RAM. Gigabyte is great that way. There's an instructional or two on their site, as well as a few youtubers that talk about it.

In this case it seems to be that the board does not recognize either the CPU or the RAM. Did you have a chance to inspect the CPU socket? Mine had a bent pin, so off to RMA land. New one booted on first try.

Also, the RAM needs to be in slot 2 and four, or all four. Dummy sticks for lighting are always in 1 and 4. Don't know which way that you have this setup.

I can't tell from the video, but was the PSU powered fully "off" or unplugged when BIOS was reset? That's important, since the board has pretty good capacitance and takes a few seconds without any power to reset properly. If not, it holds onto what it had and gets even buggier.

Mal

You have a good thought process going on there. The CPU fan will turn on unless something is very wrong. My new setup powered up everything (except the CPU) with bent CPU socket pins!

FWIW, the 35 bucks I spent on the PSU tester (including shipping) was totally worth it. It took less than 5 seconds (not exaggerating at all!) to diagnose my previous PSU as bad. That PSU would power up and run the computer but was causing it to be unstable and periodically crash. I was blaming WIndows 10 and the RAM. I already loaned it to a neighbor once. Got a free beer as payment.

Mal

Some news...Now that I've change the PSU all the fans are turning and the red cpu light is off...
but now it's the DRAM red light that is on, so halh the problem resolved but still won't boot with the DRAM red light on.

Someone have a clue?

Was this before, or after the BIOS hard reset/and or reflash? If so, use one of the RAM sticks in slot 2, then slot four. If it fails, try the other stick.

--Also, is the RAM on the approved list for the Motherboard? Not always and issue (mine's not)...but it can be.

Mal

Yup! If your disc isn't a GPT disc, you'll need to enter BIOS and set the boot option to CSM. Once that's done it can read the MBR. If it's GPT...is the NVME on the approved list? Again it doesn't always matter (mines not on the list)....

I run an NVME boot drive in the middle slot. On the first boot it wouldn't show the disc. Switched to CSM support and BANG! There it was. I later converted it to GPT for giggles, and so that I don't forget (I'm not getting younger)

MAL