Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 hangup with code bF (or 6F)

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[SOLVED. It was the Graphics Card!] Did this question ever get resolved? https://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=16893.0
I am having the same problem, but it is not benign. The computer hangs up & will not boot, showing a bF (could be a 6F) code, and will not display anything on the monitor. I can't get to the bios.

Internet searches don't lead to answers. This is my abridged crosspost:

System built in early 2017. (Specs follow.) It hangs up now and won't boot. I can't bring up the BIOS. The monitor tells me that it is not receiving a signal. I humbly ask for help.

Yesterday, with shouting, my daughter reported that her computer had refused to boot up.
(1) Smell of salt water. (But my daughter's room resembles a swamp in a room full of cats, so . . . Her file management also resemble a swamp. )
(2) Lingering ozone smell.
(3) Backlit keyboard and mouse flash/flicker.
(4) No display on LCD monitor.

Attempts to diagnose:
(5) Reviewed codes in the Gigabyte manual in PDF.
(6) Inspection shows no obvious sources of ozone, e.g., burned connections.
(7) Multiple attempts to reboot show bF (or F6) post code. (Not calling that an error code because Gigabyte's 2016 and later guidance says bF and F6 are "reserved," and F6 seems to indicate that the BIOS is checking the status of memory.)
(8) Internet searches show others have had the F6 issue, some with other stuff. Some solutions involve bad RAM sticks. I turn off, unplug, remove battery, discharge, remove the RAM and try to reboot with one stick, then both but in different positions. One stick failed a 55 code (I think) one time. Changing slots has no effect. Slots cleared with canned air. bF issues are harder to find.
(9) I reset the CMOS and the BIOS using the buttons on the upper right of the motherboard. No effect. (But did not hold down for 3 to 5 seconds.)
(10) I relocated the graphics card to the next lowest slot. No effect.

Usage had been 18 to 24 hours daily in dusty indoor conditions since it was built. Apart from some power-down looping 2 years ago, nothing serious has gone wrong until now.

Weird, possibly unrelated stuff. One of the motherboard's network cable ports has always been dead. Sound quit working (except earphones) about 6 months ago, but this could be from daughter's messing up settings. Wake-on-mouse/keyboard movement may have reactivated spontaneously ~6 weeks ago, according to daughter. (Triggered by a kitten.)

Specs:
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboard.I/I/ G8A098 00445
Purchased Feb 2017.
BIOS is the original, whatever it came with.
RAID 1 (unless I bollixed that up when/if I reset the BIOS).
EVGA Supernova 1000 P2 power supply.
2 x Western Digital 2 tb hard drives, can't find exact model numbers right now.
Intel I7-6700, serial no. 06YY814300938, S-Spec SR2L2
2 x 8 gb Crucial Ballistix X Sport RAM (DDR4 2400MHz PC4-19200 DIMM BLS2K8G4D240FSA) [These are OK according to the Gigabyte manual, IIRC, but do I need to go to 2133?]
Corsair Hydro series H100 liquid CPU cooler. (Are these known problems? Per [1] the salt water smell.)
EVGA Geforce GTX 1070 graphics card.
Originally Win 7, now Win 10 Home 64 bit. Installed per Microsoft instructions replacing Win 7.
Pixio PX 247 monitor, connected to DP Port on graphics card with DP cable.
Wacom One tablet, don't know the model number. Uses a different DP Port on graphics card, connects via an adapter to Wacom's HDMI cable.
Matching Red Dragon gaming mouse & keyboard (different kbd had no effect, as expected)
Bitdefender antivirus.

Many thanks from the SW Desert of the USA.
 
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Man of Honour
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Have you tried clearing the cmos using the jumper pins on the motherboard ? Location bottom right also takie out the battery and power cable. Leave for 30 minutes then try.

Check the manual.
 
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Both good ideas, and I tried both this morning, USA SW Desert Time. Still hangs up on bF. My lack of success in no way diminishes my gratitude for your suggestions. See below:

Have you tried clearing the cmos using the jumper pins on the motherboard ? Location bottom right also takie out the battery and power cable. Leave for 30 minutes then try.

Check the manual.

Tried this. Hangs on bF.

remove the heatsink and reseat the cpu and see.

This looked really promising, especially once I got a good look at the MB's CPU seat under magnification. There was an infinitesimally small bit of beige foreign matter in the SW quadrant 4 pins straight down from the SW corner of the rectangular "pit" in the CPU seat. I removed it using a tiny wisp of canned air and reassembled. Sadly, it still hangs up on bF.

While I had the CPU out, I looked at the capacitors. All of them looked OK. None appeared to be bulged or leaking. One capacitor caught my attention straight away, in that it has a domed top instead of a flat top. Upon close inspection, I noted that it is a different model number and capacity (no pun intended).

Again, many thanks and I'm still open to ideas. Random thought: I installed 24.00 MHz RAM, not the default 21.33 MHz "default" RAM. The system worked nicely for three years. Yet, could the 24.00 MHz be somehow responsible?
 
Man of Honour
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2400mhz ram should downclock to default settings so there shouldn't be a problem.

6700 had intergrated graphics take out your gpu and hook your monitor to the onboard port.

Bf code is releTed to memmory but read somowhere it can be caused by faulty usb device. Disconnect all usb devices and try to boot
 
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Thank you. Again, Thank you. The graphics card had fried itself. The system is working now using the CPU's on-board graphics, as you suggested. A new graphics card is on order.

The worst of the restoration work had been caused by my R&R of the CPU and resetting of the BIOS. In the end, I had to reload Windows. That caused a cascade of reloading program files.:mad:

In retrospect, the GPU as the culprit should have been obvious. Thank you again.
 
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