PLS help newly built PC keeps crashing

[bform]

hey everyone, just built a new PC and it crashes at certain points when gaming.
SPECS:
-i7 930 intel bloomfield
-CM Hyper 212 Plus
-x58A-ud3R gigabyte
-6 gig G-skill F312800CL8T
-Corsair 850wTX
-xfx ATI 5870
-1 Tb Samsung F3
-Windows 7 Home 64bit; Avg (free ed.), ZoneAlarm (free ed.)

First two weeks and it was fine with Crysis and starcraft beta. I tested with Prime95, memtest86, 3D mark. my CPU temp maxes at 61C at 100% load using core temp. Mem86 and Prime95 passed for 4 hrs and 3.5 hrs respectively.
I started playing Empire: Total War, and during loading time before a specific siege battle the system crashes completely. I retried multiple times and it went through ok maybe 1/10 times (sometimes it wont get passed Steam). I tried Crysis and it crashes at random tries during loading.
Theres a high pitch stuttering noise around the mobo/pcu area, that seems to correlate with the processor stressing. Although, i read from other x58A-ud3R owners that some batches have this problem, yet it works properly. Oddly enough the noise is non-existent when I'm running Prime95 or even 3dmark. Maybe its a faulty mobo.
I'm also going to check if its a faulty power source or psu. I'm using a Cyberpower surge protector. I'm going to try plugging it at different outlets to see if anything changes. Thanks in advance for any info/help.

 

[capt_taco]

-6 gig G-skill F312800CL8T

That's your most likely problem right there. The RAM takes 1.6V, and I'll bet you $100 your motherboard is on "auto" and supplying it 1.5V, which is the default for DDR3 motherboards. Go into the BIOS and set the RAM voltage to 1.6 and you should be fine.

RAM issues, and in particular voltage problems, have got to be THE #1 cause of random freezing. And most of the time, the components themselves will all check out fine, since there's nothing technically "wrong" with them. It's a problem that will make you pull your hair out the first time it happens.

 

[bform]

Tried changing the ram voltage to 1.6v recommended, and it seems to be more unstable. System crashes when opening up even zone alarm. I didn't have this problem when it was at 1.5v default.

Now i'm more convinced that the high pitch noise is coming from PSU and not mobo/cpu area.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244186

noise problem from cpu/mobo or from psu is mentioned in that forum. but no mention of crashing or instability. I'm leaning more towards psu/power source at this point.

 

[banthracis]

Run memtest at least 8 passes, that should be closer to 12-16 hrs, not 4. Often don't see errors until 5-6 pass. Also should be doing these passes at the recommended 1.6v.

Prime 95 likewise should be tested at least 12 hrs.

PSU does seem plausible, so you can also try swapping PSU's to see if it helps.

 

[capt_taco]

I think I have an idea what your problem is. Still RAM-related, though.

Basically, when you changed the RAM voltage from auto to manual, you fixed the voltage issue ... but it's also likely that took the RAM timing and speed settings off of "auto" as well.

Now, your RAM is listed at 1600Mhz, but your motherboard lists support for 2200/1333/1066/800 Mhz. That doesn't necessarily mean 1600 won't work, but if it does, you'll probably have to mess around with the timing and speed settings manually to get it stable at that speed.

If all settings are on auto, often times a board will still work in this type of situation by just automatically downgrading the memory to the next-fastest setting that WILL work (in this case, 1333). But since setting the RAM voltage to "manual" usually causes ALL RAM settings to be switched to "manual," it's likely that the board can't make that adjustment now; you have to do it yourself.

In other words, you solved the voltage problem, but that opened up a whole separate can of worms with the speed/timings. I would see if you can get it to work at 1333 mhz. Or better yet, see if you can borrow some 1333 Mhz, 1.5V RAM to test out in the system. If it works, you've found the problem for sure.

 

[bform]

i only changed the ram voltage via xmp-> profile 1; This changed the voltage to 1.6 and everything else is still set in auto. I'm currently doing memtest86 again. Although its too early to tell anything at this point. All the ram problems i've had in the past have resulted in screen errors or system freezing, never a complete shutdown. but then again i never tweaked the ram before either, so thanks for the insight.

 

[capt_taco]

Wait ... complete shutdown as in the system reboots? Or as in the system shuts off entirely?

Either way, I'd say the power supply is now a suspect. It IS possible for the system to crash/reboot with a RAM problem, but you're right, freezing and BSODs are way more common.

One other thing that also relates to the RAM voltage ... I wonder if the 1.6V fix solved the RAM problem, but the board is now having power management issues for some reason because of that? I've seen it happen before with non-standard voltage RAM, but that was on an Intel board, which are notorious for that kind of thing.

 

[bform]

It shuts down completely. It doesn't reboot on its own. I have to power it back up. That was the original symptom even at default settings of 1.5v. Sorry. i gave the wrong impression when i stated that adjusting 1.6v made it more unstable, since i didnt spend much time at that setting. it's more accurate to say that it showed similar problems with no improvements.

memtest86 passed with 10 passes at 1.6v. might have to look for a spare psu next.