Z170 Extreme4, m.2, etc. troubles

Thanks a lot Mushu , the settings you've recommended indeed fixed all the issues i had.  
The shutdown is done properly, the hibernation the same tho takes a bit longer to enter that state, longer that I was used to while using a Z77 platform, it is just fine, yet that hibernation issues i noticed while using various platforms persists. Actually the system wakes up out of the blue, no key or mouse button pressed. anyway that's not an issue of that new platform but something OS related i guess, or perhaps network (Wake on Lan) related as I have the network adapter connected directly to the ONT (fiber optics) equipment and perhaps it just gets woken up from GPON (ONT) device. So not a problem.
Then the system no longer hangs while POST-ing, no freeze while accessing windows login page. Indeed i had one freeze but it was my mistake and had nothing to do i guess with the platform. I had an old Samsung ssd pluged on SATA 3_5 and something is wrong with its MBR. It used to be part of a raid0 array long ago, then it worked as a single ssd bootable for couple of years. Any OS could be installed yet if the ssd is connected as an additional device (not booting the os from it) the system hangs and gives all kind of errors, the ssd is detected as an array having its capacity seen as  double. So the freeze I've got, the old Samsung 830 is the culprit.
One thing I noticed tho, not an issue as it doesn't bother me at all... I noticed some sort of double start each time i power the system. It starts then quickly shuts down, the led's from power and reset buttons remains on, it shuts itself down then starts up again and the entire POST sequence is passing quickly and then boots up into Windows. Perhaps it is related to the slight over voltage settings I use for PCH 1.0V and VCCIO.
I plan to run the memtest from a hiren;s boot disc and check if any memory errors occurs wil running both modules at 1.27v for 2800Mhz. I guess the timings should be lowered while using some poor quality IC's, I have no idea which IC's used Corsair for those vengeance modules but i guess they're just fine with those primary latencies made for 2666mhz profile. I've got no bsod or hanged program so far, actually the sole reason I upped a bit the frequency was that I thought it will be more stable using the memory divider for 2800 than the one for 2666.
I gave a try on yesterday for a slight overclocking from 3700 mhz i upped the frequency to 4120, and as i use the stock cooler that wes as far as i ventured. It seems the 133mhz strap and the accroding memory dividers are not so great for these ram modules, and using the 100mhz strap the dividers were not that many. It was fun tho, yet the iGPU had to be turned off.As i plan to use the iGPU as graphics signal source the cpu overclocking of the i3 6100 will stay out of discussion. For the moment i am between monitors :) i sold the 24 inches planning to go for a 40 incher or 32, so i am back using some old dell 21'CRT, i have to use dedicated graphics solely for the vga output  present on discrete graphics card but not present among the mainboard's outputs, so still curious about a slight overclocking for a little longer till i will remove completely the discrete card and swap back the iGPU and no more fun that way :)
Thanks for your support Mushu !

Thanks a lot Mushu,
indeed i use the xmp profile, actually the profile for xmp-2666 It requires ther same 1.2v, as all  the other profiles either be spd(jedec) or xmp. I set the memory manually to work at 2800 but I haven't  changed anything else, i left them all on auto and it  results in a slight voltage increase to 1.27v, done automatically by the auto setting in bios/uefy. Shouldn't  just let it manage the amount of voltage it finds to be necessary, i mean it is not a problem to rise manually the voltage to 1.35v i just thought not to wear the modules too much if they do not require a higher than 1.27v.
I wrote down the rest of the settings and i'll set them accordingly.
Indeed I had the fast boot set on dispabled, yet enabling it the CSM section disappears completely.
If i deactivate de boot loader the system hangs again at win logon image, so it is no go for me that way.
I'll be back with opinions and hopefully improvements regarding my system in the next days.
thank you !

Mushu wrote: Hi guys, I can also confirm this problem, random to no success in getting to windows after OS install. Then the good news: I managed to circumvent most of my earlier problems by doing the following Updated to bios 2.90 BCLK to 100.000 (not auto) PCH +1.0 Voltage up by 0.050V => 1.150V (<- this is now the same value as it was with bios 2.40) VCCIO Voltage up by 0.050V => 1.200V (<- this is now the same value as it was with bios 2.40) CSM disabled (first set all subpolicies to do not launch) fast boot enabled boot manager disabled Clean OS install Additionally I updated the EFI drivers inside the BIOS, but this is not necessary for stability. I just wanted to have newer raid driver... Now I have a fully stable system, with no random loss(disappearance) of the M.2 drive during boot up. Every boot works like it should, be it cold or reset. Sleep also works as it should and even M.2 channel is at PCIE 3.0 with R:~1800M and W:~1250M. My remaining issues are the low read performance of the M.2 and too high access time/low read IOPS for the SSD raid0 set.[0.250-0.170ms read access time according to AS SSD benchmark, read IOPS should be 2-4 times as high for 512B packet size, same problem without bios package modifications] Luckily I can live with these annoyances for the time being.

Given my personal experience with the performance of PCIe SSDs in RAID 0, and that of others in several threads that are months old now, the results are consistently disappointing. The only thing I found that helps the performance is setting the RAID 0 stripe size to 128K. The default stripe size of 16K gives results that are barely if at all better than a single PCIe SSD.

The RAID 0 scaling of performance we get with SATA SSDs is not seen with PCIe SSDs, at least not yet. The Intel IRST driver is a factor in this, or the bandwidth of the PCIe interface is simply not up to providing the performance we expect to see. If you are using the Windows RAID capability, then its performance is another thing entirely, and is normally not as good as the Intel RAID.

I would like to see a screenshot of your AS SSD results, as well as information about its configuration.

Hey Mushu,
I have an improvement yet I do not know it is just luck because I made the change only 3 days ago, so not many bootups-shutdown to confirm as a rule, rather I'd call it an improvement. Well I moved my memory modules closer to the cpu from A2 & B2  to A1 & B1. I thought i should give it a try and see. Out of 4 boot ups so far 3 were successful, no hang ups. Yesterday tho it hanged with a "00" code but right after reset it booted up with no hangs in windows logon. Actually I experienced no more windows login hangs at all, just a asingle hang with "05" code while shutting down but only once out of 3 shutdowns
I wonoder whether the 2.90 might be a good idea for my 4+ too, is there any other difference   between 4 and 4+ apart of the external bay? Maybe different pcb revisions of the same board?
I have to read more about your settings to understand your approach.
Right now i have no clue whether 2.90 is good for me or not, i am still using 2.,30 as 2.40 comes with some certain limitations.

Hello everyone,
it is my first post here on asrock forum.
I purchased an Asrock Z170 Extreme4+ motherboard couple of weeks ago, it is my third Asrock motherboard afterZ77 OC Formula and some socket a/462 motherboard I owned 12 years ago or more.
Got some issues, various issues with the system I've built (I3 6100,Corsair Vengeance 2666 2*8GB, Samsung 950Pro 256GB NVME, WD 6TB green as hdd, one bluray writer, one dvd writer and an Asus Xonar sound card [from  my previous system]).
.The system runs win 7 sp1 64 installed from a stick and nvme drivers loaded also from a stick during installation.
The system is great while working :D the problems occurs while trying to boot up and while shutting it down.
Small problem first: 2 out of 3 shutdowns, the system shuts itself down, the windows is closing but electrically is still on, the coolers still spinning yet the OS is off, blank/black screen.
I have to force the shut down from the button so it is also shut down electrically.
And now the bigger problem, after 16 hours being completely off, no power in psu I switch the supply;s power button and power on the system from mobo;s button (I do not use a case).So i attempt a cold boot from the very beginning. The boot sequence (POST) is very oiften long, takes long to pass,  sometimes hangs at various codes either 35, 53, F4 (no it is not memory related as it  presents also while memory running at 2133) . I have to press reset, then at second, or third try the POST sequence is finally passing til code 99, it beeps for ok and onward to the windows logon screen... when it hangs. I have to press the reset button once again but if i wait for too long, the reset button won't go so i press the power button for 4 seconds. So, the second attempt, it hangs again, maybe, or maybe not. Sometimes I just shut down the power source from its button and it boots up like nothing ever happened before, quicker and maybe it hands while windows logon or maybe not.
I know you may say, too many variables, why do you still use win 7 sp1 64. Well I believe the hanging at post is quite odd and has nothing to do with the operating system, and I guess the partial shutdown is about the same, motherboard related issue as operating system is closed yet electrically the system is still on.
But, tha annyoinf thing is that the system works like a charm, after i managed to boot it in windows no complains whatsoever while it is on. Everyday i spend like 10-15 minutes to power it on.
There is one slight overclocking concerning the ram modules, they are rated as 2666mhz but i keep them at 2800mhz. No voltage adjustments, everything on auto. The problems remains either i set the ram modules at 2666 or 2133, it  behaves the very same.
All drivers are the latest ones available, the NVME ones for the ssd are the latest available from Samsung and where installed while installing the windows, so no other drivers ever used before.
The bios version i use is 2.30. not the latest but the previous one.
One question tho, is there any difference between extreme4 bioses and extreme4+ ones? I mean the board is the same, extrem4+ has the usb3.1 panel. By the way, I've got the bay but not sata express cable so the panel is unusable for me no cable to connect it to the motherboard :(
I installed windows 7 with CSM setting as uefi. Any ideas?
Thanks for your time