Start right off with the system specs:
AMD Phenom II x6 3.3ghz 1100T (Thuban)
Asus Sabertooth 990FX (First generation of the board, NOT r2)
Corsair Vengeance 16gb (4x4g) - although currently only half the kit (2x4GB)
EVGA Nvidia GeForce 560 (ftw+)
Samsung 128GB SSD
1TB 6gb/s 7200rpm Seagate HDD
Corsair 650watt PSU (Enthusiast series)
Windows 7 Ultimate Edition (64 bit)
I built my rig over 2.5 years ago. It ran smooth for about a year, then suddenly I started having BSoD errors. Ran memtest, and sure enough had a bad stick of RAM. Tested them individually, narrowed it down to just one stick. It failed in multiple slots. I figured that was the end of it; RMAd the entire kit, installed the completely new kit and tested it extensively. It passed without any errors.
Two weeks later, same BSoDs. Run memtest again on a whim, and sure enough, it is the same slot that failed last time; hung up and was unable to finish in multiple slots. (the test was still running, but reporting thousands of errors per second and unable to complete, so I manually stopped it).
Started to suspect the mobo/PSU; nobody's luck is THAT bad. RMA'd the ram kit again (thanks corsair!) and installed only half of the third kit after testing, avoiding the "bad slot" all the while. By only using half of my kit, I achieved stability for about a year. I figured it was that slot frying the RAM somehow, and if I avoided it all was well.
Today, after a year of stability, I'm playing skyrim when suddenly BSoD. I haven't tested my RAM yet, as it's sunday and I am so not in the mood to troubleshoot (I wanna game!), but I suspect it'll fail again. I'll update, but that isn't exactly the point of this post, anyway. There is an underlying issue I need to stop ignoring.
I do not overclock. All RAM is set to auto (And it auto'd to the proper settings: 1333 and 1.5v), and the "ez BIOS" setting is on normal; no board-regulated under or over clocking. I have never flashed my BIOS. I'm posting from the machine in question; it still runs fine. The BSoD was very random, as it was before. If it follows pattern, though, they'll become more frequent now that one happened.
My question(s):
Should I RMA my motherboard? I don't want to do this lightly; I hear Asus has fallen hard in customer service, and I worry I'll get a broken "refurbished" mobo or even worse troubles than I have now. If I RMA I want to be beyond a shadow of a doubt certain it is the mobo.
OR (more preferably) is there a way I can re-stabilize my system?
Is there a known error with the board and RAM that the BIOS updates have fixed? And does flashing your BIOS void your warranty?
Perhaps there is an issue with the board's automatic settings, and manually setting voltages and timing would help?
Is there something I am completely overlooking? Can the CPU or PSU still be the culprit?
Admittedly, this is my first build so I am very inexperienced compared to most!
Any thoughts appreciated. Will do suggested testing tomorrow after I've enjoyed my day off. c:
AMD Phenom II x6 3.3ghz 1100T (Thuban)
Asus Sabertooth 990FX (First generation of the board, NOT r2)
Corsair Vengeance 16gb (4x4g) - although currently only half the kit (2x4GB)
EVGA Nvidia GeForce 560 (ftw+)
Samsung 128GB SSD
1TB 6gb/s 7200rpm Seagate HDD
Corsair 650watt PSU (Enthusiast series)
Windows 7 Ultimate Edition (64 bit)
I built my rig over 2.5 years ago. It ran smooth for about a year, then suddenly I started having BSoD errors. Ran memtest, and sure enough had a bad stick of RAM. Tested them individually, narrowed it down to just one stick. It failed in multiple slots. I figured that was the end of it; RMAd the entire kit, installed the completely new kit and tested it extensively. It passed without any errors.
Two weeks later, same BSoDs. Run memtest again on a whim, and sure enough, it is the same slot that failed last time; hung up and was unable to finish in multiple slots. (the test was still running, but reporting thousands of errors per second and unable to complete, so I manually stopped it).
Started to suspect the mobo/PSU; nobody's luck is THAT bad. RMA'd the ram kit again (thanks corsair!) and installed only half of the third kit after testing, avoiding the "bad slot" all the while. By only using half of my kit, I achieved stability for about a year. I figured it was that slot frying the RAM somehow, and if I avoided it all was well.
Today, after a year of stability, I'm playing skyrim when suddenly BSoD. I haven't tested my RAM yet, as it's sunday and I am so not in the mood to troubleshoot (I wanna game!), but I suspect it'll fail again. I'll update, but that isn't exactly the point of this post, anyway. There is an underlying issue I need to stop ignoring.
I do not overclock. All RAM is set to auto (And it auto'd to the proper settings: 1333 and 1.5v), and the "ez BIOS" setting is on normal; no board-regulated under or over clocking. I have never flashed my BIOS. I'm posting from the machine in question; it still runs fine. The BSoD was very random, as it was before. If it follows pattern, though, they'll become more frequent now that one happened.
My question(s):
Should I RMA my motherboard? I don't want to do this lightly; I hear Asus has fallen hard in customer service, and I worry I'll get a broken "refurbished" mobo or even worse troubles than I have now. If I RMA I want to be beyond a shadow of a doubt certain it is the mobo.
OR (more preferably) is there a way I can re-stabilize my system?
Is there a known error with the board and RAM that the BIOS updates have fixed? And does flashing your BIOS void your warranty?
Perhaps there is an issue with the board's automatic settings, and manually setting voltages and timing would help?
Is there something I am completely overlooking? Can the CPU or PSU still be the culprit?
Admittedly, this is my first build so I am very inexperienced compared to most!
Any thoughts appreciated. Will do suggested testing tomorrow after I've enjoyed my day off. c:
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