Brand new build, freezes and crashes

fencer55

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Oct 29, 2009
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My parts:

Asus P8Z77-V Pro mobo
Intel i5 3570K cpu
2 x 4gb AMD High Performance ram (1600)
Mushkin Extreme Callisto 60gb SSD boot drive
2 x WD 1TB Cavier Black Hard drives with 64/mb cache
Raidmax Crossfire ready 730 W powersupply
XFX Radeon HD 5870 vid card w 3 monitor eyefinity

My problem started after I built the machine. The machine gave blue screen of death (BSOD) while installing windows 7. After that, it kept happening frequently. I updated my drivers, no help.

Moved the vid card to bottom slot on board (there are 3 2x16 and 1x8) put it in the x8 slot. BSOD went away, but games crashed to desktop during play, not good. Used Driver Sweeper to uninstall vid drives, downloaded and flashed Asus mobo with latest bios update, reinstalled catalyst, and things were better for gaming, no more BSOD and no more crashes to desktop, but occasionally windows 7 would freeze.

Moved vid card back to top slot, still have freezing issues. What should I do?
 

panwala95

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thats what happens when you use amd performance ram on an intel system ! lolz <epic> :kaola:
 

fencer55

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Temps are fine, well below 50 degrees C. Have Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 with 4 200mm fans and 2 140mm fans, also Hyper 212 heatsink with 2 fans installed for cpu, so cooling is never going to be an issue.

Ram is AMD Performance, rebranded Patriot memory. Tested ram memory on different machine using memtest+86, checks out fine.

Mushkin SSD drive has current firmware already installed from factory. Tested with Crystal Disk Writer, no problems.

Still having problems, so reinstalling Windows 7 now.
 

fencer55

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Well, fresh install helped and I only loaded drivers from the Asus mobo disc that I needed, ie: the network adapter driver. I didn't install any of the other utilities and now my system is fine. I tried overclocking using the TPU switch on the mobo, but then catalyst control center stops working and 3DMark11 cannot finish the benchmark without crashing to desktop.

I built this system to overclock the processor, but I'm thinking that when I oc the processor, it oc's the pcie slot also, and maybe my vid card doesn't like that. Is that possible?
 

popatim

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test the ram with memtest86 while its in YOUR motherbd, not someone elses... testing it in their motherbd only shows its compatible with their system, not yours.

update the firmware of the SSD as already mentioned. Sorry if you did but you didnt say and I doubt you did because there is NO extreme callisto . Anyways the Callisto Deluxe firmware version is up to 3.6.1

Don't overclock until you get an aftermarket cooler. The system will need to reboot 3 or 4 times before it finds an overclock usually. How soon does yours start crashing/ how many reboots does it do before finding an overclock? It shouldnt need to adjust the pcie bus since you have a k chip.
 

fencer55

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I'm using a Hyper 212 heatsink and I added a 2nd fan, both controlled by the asus motherboard. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
I tried to update the firmware, but the updater told me that I already had the most current version and would not install. I tested my RAM using the windows 7 disk memory test and all was fine.

Tonight I install 2 x HIS iceQ X turbo hd6850s and am testing now. Will post results soon.
 

fencer55

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You won't believe this, first motherboard, Asus P8z77-v Pro - went bad in the first few hours and had to RMA it.

2nd motherboard, another p8z77-v pro - went bad within 24 hours and had to RMA it.

3rd motherboard, fearing another bad board, spent extra 50 bucks on Sabertooth z77, Asus top of the line - 2nd PCIe slot crapped out in the first 24 hours and had to RMA it.

Now 4th motherboard, a 2nd Asus z77 Sabertooth, and I've had it 4 hours, seems to be working correctly.

I really hit the bad luck lottery with this system build. The good news is, it runs really nice now that its working. Thanks for all you comments and support (except to the hater who thought I'd mismatched my memory, that comment was irrelevant and unnecessary.)
 

fencer55

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Okay, as of yesterday, my new computer is back in the shop. It crashed with a BSOD and when it rebooted, the board wouldn't post. I turned it off, turned it back on, and now it takes 120 seconds or longer to post, when it was posting in 10 seconds before this incident. I contacted Asus tech support (which is a complete joke) and while talking to the guy, he stated "ya know, you could always purchase a new bios chip." Really? on a 2 week old mobo with a 5 years warranty, I'm going to purchase a new bios chip?

I've had it with Asus! I'm having a Gigabyte GA Z77X-UD5H installed instead. This has been the worst nightmare of a build possible. I have been a loyal Asus man for years, but not anymore. Figure the odds of having 4 bad boards in a row...or maybe its a problem with Asus z77 chipset design, or just plain poor quality control. Anyway, that's my sad story. I'll let you know how the Gigabyte board works out.

 

fencer55

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Okay, system is running fine now. Unfortunately even with all my cooling, there is something up with this z77 sabertooth...if I try to overclock the chip even a little bit, the board goes from 10 seconds to post to well over 2 minutes to post, longer if I hit delete to get into the bios. Since overclocking is not supported by Asus or Microcenter, I'm stuck with a board that I cannot OC with...so why did I spend an extra 300 bucks on case and fans? I should've gone with an AMD. I always had great success overclocking them.

Well, my system is plenty fast, but my 3DMark11 score is below that of most people with my same build. I guess I can take heart in the fact that it looks really cool and plays my games amazingly wtihout the oc.