Really interesting new set of problems for my computer!

NathanielH

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Oct 15, 2012
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So I have this new set of problems popping up with my computer, really brilliantly interesting, but might be an easy solution for some of you, might be harder for others. Please, shoot me your ideas and let's test together. I've tried a number of things and have some things in the queue to work with, and I'm pretty patient, but I'm utterly bewildered by the possibility of this having one simple solution. Check out the symptoms!

First, let's describe the build:
MOTHERBOARD: GA-X99-UD4
GRAPHICS: 2x GTX 980 Ti (ZT-90505-10P)
CPU: 5820k (i7)
RAM: 2x8 GB 2133 RAM made by Team.
OS: Windows 10 (not Home, can alter settings)
PSU: Rosewill 1200w masterpiece (Don't know the model, but this thing is high quality, solid, and amazing. It's not broken.)

All right so the other day, after a Windows update, I tried to install a program. I got a CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT BSOD. I thought, oh well, it happens. I uninstalled some drivers I have never used before, and unplugged a USB device I wasn't planning on using for a long time. You know, I understand that driver errors could be causing the problem.

then I tried to zip up a file, and got a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.

So, hm? Hardware malfunction? Have to use a debugger? I didn't go that far.

Instead, I went into my BIOS. You see, I have a lot of overclocking going on. My RAM is overclocked to 3000, my CPU is overclocked to run at 4.67 GHz. But really, no biggie, because I never hit 70 degrees due to an air conditioner blowing into my computer.

That didn't phase me! I had to try something. I reset the BIOS to default settings. Here's where I'm blown away.

The computer now keeps freezing and resetting before I get to Windows screen!

I tried switching the RAM, trying to run off of one of the RAM sticks; I tried taking out both graphics cards, and I tried multiple different hard drives, including booting from a USB stick. IT STILL KEPT FREEZING. So, I plugged all my hardware back up and overclocked the computer again....

Worked like a charm! That seemed insane to me! So, I tried again. Defaults: Freeze. Overclock: Works!

So just what the heck is going on? I can't repair the windows OS, because it won't boot from a USB.

None of my hardware seems to be malfunctioning. I admit I haven't debugged my crash reports, so if one of you wants to help, please ask me to provide you diagnostics reports and tell me how to fetch them for you.

Last but not least, which is why I'm in the motherboard section -- do you think it's my motherboard? I think it might be, although I don't understand where in the motherboard that the problem might be because the signals from all of my hardware seem to be of no issue in regards to this problem. Furthermore I also think it might not be the motherboard because It never freezes in the bios, it only freezes as soon as windows is attempted to be booted.

FYI -- I ran an administrator's CMD "Chkdsk." Found some issues, repaired them, and no error message saying "could not repair some issues." So the hard-drive seems doubly fine. It's a 480 GB SSD.

How. Completely. Bizarre!
 

NathanielH

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Oct 15, 2012
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Okay so I did manage to find a setting in my BIOS. I don't have a safemode, but I have a boot mode which is described as "fast." I chose the fastest setting, and the computer never fails to boot now. I think the issue is related to a driver, because of this.
 

NathanielH

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Oct 15, 2012
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The symptoms don't match anything I can find on the internet. Something new happened, and I can't pinpoint the problem.
I think it is the motherboard. Now, I am freezing in the bios. I'm getting onscreen artifacts no matter which gpu I use. I tried three different ones.
I'm getting boot failure no matter which ram stick I use or the slot. I tried two different ones in 4 different slots.
I reseated the cpu and reapplied the gel after removing the old with an alcohol swab.
It fails boot from usb, or with a working ssd from another computer.


Last thing to go is the motherboard. Anyone agree?
 

NathanielH

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Oct 15, 2012
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Trying to finger my psu as the culprit before I rma the motherboard for no reason. Psu seems funny. Very light clicking when paired with different mobo and cpu, no ram hdd or gpu installed