Troubleshooting a relatively new build

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zinzan

zinzan

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I started putting my first PC together in May, and it's been a lot of fun.

* CPU: Intel Core i7 920
* Motherboard: Asus X58 P6T
* Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper N520
* RAM: OCZ Gold 3 x 2GB 1600MHz (6 GB)
* GPU: BFG NVIDIA GeForce 260 OC Maxcore (Core 216)
* PSU: PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad Red Silencer
* Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two
* HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 and 500GB WD Caviar
* OS: Windows 7 RTM 64-Bit

Wow, it's fast (not overclocked)!!! I'm not a hard-core gamer, but I had to pick up a couple games to test the muscle in this baby. It plays Crysis, Batman Arkham Asylum, and Resident Evil 5 great.

And I love Windows 7.

It runs great most of the time. But every once in a while, it freezes. No blue screen or anything, but the 21" Samsung LCD immediately displays a "Not Optimum Mode Recommended mode: 1650x1080 60Hz" message.

Initially, this seemed to happen when I left it on overnight, so I thought it was a standby thing. So I turned off all standby modes, but it didn't solve the problem. I also played with S1 versus S3 standby in the BIOS, but it didn't help.

I thought it might be the monitor, so I tried my old Dell FP, and it would also lose signal in the middle of the night.

I googled, and saw someone had a similar issue (which remains unsolved), but he pointed out that it's probably not a monitor issue, as he notices his keyboard caps-lock indicator doesn't light up when he's in this state. That's what I'm seeing to.

And then, occasionally, it would do this same thing WHILE I WAS USING THE COMPUTER. This was annoying, but it was revealing--I was playing a game, and the audio seemed to loop. So it's definitely not just a display issue, or USB issue... it seems to be locked up.

As I first mentioned, this is my first build, so I need your help in troubleshooting. I've tried unplugging everything and checking every cable and plugging it all back in tight. And I'm monitoring my CPU and GPU temps, and they are okay. And my computer is not dusty.

The frequency of these issues is: if I leave it running overnight, it happens about every other night; when I'm actually using my computer, it's probably locked up on me about 5 or 6 times since May.

Oh, and it's not the OS--I've reinstalled Windows 7 several times in moving from RC to RTM.

Can you guys assist me in troubleshooting this issue? Could it be some other kind of overheating that I'm not monitoring? Northbridge or something? Does this sound like a Motherboard issue? I never lose power, so does that eliminate power supply issues?

Also, I had this problem before and after changing CPU coolers, and before and after adding the 1TB HD.

Thank you in advance!

Z
 
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Proximon

Proximon

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Twoboxer

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In addition, eliminate heat as a possible cause. Please use CPUID Hardware Monitor (or RealTemp) to monitor temps on your cores, gpu. You can get them here:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/latest-overclocking-programs-system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools-30530/
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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I have run some stress tests earlier, and they seemed fine--memtest, prime95, furmark, etc... but I haven't run them in a few months now, and I never ran anything except memtest for more than maybe 45 minutes--they all seemed to stabilize.

I do always use RivaTuner and Everest for monitoring, using the Gadget/Widget thing to view. Currently, while not doing much, my GPU is at 41C and my CPU cores are between 32C and 36C. When playing 3D games, GPU goes up to high 50s and CPU cores go up to the 40s.

Current Ambient temp is 34C. Current System temp is 34C.

Let's see, the last time I really checked temps was after installing this new cooler in June. I've got some numbers here somewhere... no, can't find 'em. I'll rerun prime later, and run memtest overnight and see if it doesn't freeze.

Z

 
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zinzan

zinzan

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Here are some test results. I didn't get a chance to run everything--I have a newborn at home, and my time was kinda divided. :)

First, I ran Prime95 for 15 minutes with the following settings:

prime95_settings.jpg


And the HWMonitor results were:

HWMonitor_after_Prime95.jpg


Ambient temp in the room was about 22C.

Then I ran a furmark stability test for 10 minutes, but I screwed up the screenshots. The GPU got as hot as 67.

But I wanted the screenshots, so I reran for 15 minutes. This time, it only peaked at 62C:

furmark_after_15mins.jpg


HWMonitor_after_furmark.jpg


I then kicked off memtest86+ and went to bed. Woke up this morning and it said the test was complete, no errors, everything passed.

How do my temps look? Any ideas?
 
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Twoboxer

Twoboxer

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Your temps are very solid, fine. So that's not the issue.

You tried two monitors, so losing synch with the monitor's resolution is not the issue.

Corrupt/confused Drivers? Seems not to be, since you say you have re-installed the OS several times and you have had the same issue across the installs.

Personally, I'd run Prime95 for several hours semi-observed and then continuing overnight with "Detect Rounding Errors" checked. Its unlikely to fail, but then again these failures are pretty obscure.

If that fails, I guess I'm liking the mobo for this problem.

 
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zinzan

zinzan

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Okay, sounds good. Blend mode is okay?

But if it just freezes after several hours, will we actually learn anything? Does Prime95 or HWMonitor create a log that will indicate anything?
 
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Twoboxer

Twoboxer

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I want to make sure we can't make it fail consistently after, say, 1 hr 14 min of Prime95. If that were to happen, and it were not heat related, that might tell us something.

That's why the first run semi-observed, for much longer than the 15 minutes you did.

The rest of the run is for . . . having something to do overnight lol. You're right, prolly won't learn anything - but may if it runs long enough to get a "rounding" error.
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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I just ran it for just under 3 hours. Similar peak temps on the CPU--high 50s. Didn't crash or freeze. But I had to stop it because I am sick and can't stay up to semi-monitor it. Really don't like cooking my CPUs for 11 hours, unmonitored...

but I just realized I forgot to turn on Detect Rounding Errors. I'll run it again tomorrow for several hours.

Z
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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I ran it today with Detect rounding errors on. Checked it after 3 hours. Everything okay--CPU temps maxed at 59C. Checked it after 4 hours, same results. Sometime before 5 hours, freeze occurred as mentioned in original post.

Any other ideas? Or time to try to RMA to Asus?

Z

 
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bishyaler

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Disable EIST and C1 state in bios. The new core i5s/i7s crash when idle... probably an undervolting issue. I'm not sure if its just a Win7 issue, but thats what I run as well. I've reported it to intel.
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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I can give that a try.

Can you point me to a reference somewhere on this problem?

Also, let me make sure I understand what I'll be losing by disabling these features. I'll be losing automatic down-clocking which will use more power, right? And I'll be losing the turbo feature of the i7 when only using 1 core?

Z
 
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bishyaler

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There's no reference, I could only find a few google hits on similar problems. I discovered the fix myself after a few days of frustrating troubleshooting. Right, no power saving, no turbo mode.
 
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Twoboxer

Twoboxer

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Well, the cpu was hardly idle when this shutdown occurred. It was running 8 threads of Prime95.

I guess I'd put the problem to Asus and Intel. Having similar shutdowns at idle (after several hours) and in Prime95 (after 5 hours) says to me that one of the two devices has an issue. I'd like to hear what they say.
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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Good point about the freeze (not shutdown) during Prime95.

When you say "put the problem to Asus and Intel", do you mean for me to open tickets with them through their support?

Z
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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Okay.

So I talked to Intel, and they basically said it doesn't sound like a processor issue. They said the issue would be less sporadic/more constant.

I called Asus, and they said it could very well be a motherboard issue. They have issued an RMA.

Hopefully, this will resolve the problem.

I forget... I won't have to reinstall my software when I replace the motherboard, will I? I'll just have to reauthenticate Windows 7?

Z
 
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zinzan

zinzan

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Just got the replacement mobo from Asus yesterday. Hope to put it in tonight. Unfortunately, I'm out of town all weekend, starting tomorrow. I guess I'll just play with it a few hours tonight, then leave it running, and hopefully it will still be going on Sunday night when I return home.

Z

 
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