What is killing my processors?!

[wachzagner]

A few weeks ago my computer my computer turned off by itself, then restarted to this screen.

Shortly after that it wouldn't turn on at all, it would not even post. After extensive troubleshooting I realized the processor had died. I replaced the processor and it booted up and was working like a charm for about 3 days. I was using it last night and it shutdown by itself and booted up to that screen again. While it was on that screen it shut itself down and stayed off. It now won't boot, or post.

Does anyone have any ideas at all about what is going on here? I know the processor is currently dead again but what has caused TWO processors to die within a few weeks?!

 

[Outlander_04]

How about power surges from an unstable power supply ?

Have you considered that?

 

[wachzagner]

How about power surges from an unstable power supply ?

Have you considered that?

Yes...but is there a way to test this to confirm?

 

[Nuckles_56]

what is your power supply and how old it is will help

 

[wachzagner]

what is your power supply and how old it is will help

SeaSonic X Series X-850 and its only a year old

 

[Nuckles_56]

What are your system specs then?

 

[wachzagner]

What are your system specs then?

Case: Fractal Design R4
MB: Asus z87 Plus
CPU: i7 4770
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb LP
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 650 ti
SSD: Samsung 120GB SSD
HD: WD Black 1TB
PSU: Seasonic X series 650w
CPU cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo
Rosewill PCIE FireWire 1394a Card 2+1 Ports Model RC-504
ASUS 24X DVD Burner
Windows 7 64 Bit

 

[Nuckles_56]

Yeah, that is a nice build even if it is a bit light in the GPU department, but nothing there should be causing your problems, perhaps there is a short somewhere either in the power supply or the motherboard which is killing your CPUs

 

[lp231]

Try a different power cord or perhaps plug it to another outlet.
Unplug all USB and other external devices that you may have and see if it still gives you that error message.
Also try removing the video card and use onboard video.

 

[wachzagner]

Try a different power cord or perhaps plug it to another outlet.
Unplug all USB and other external devices that you may have and see if it still gives you that error message.
Also try removing the video card and use onboard video.

The computer won't post no matter what at this point since the processor is dead. When this happened with the first processor I tried to boot with 2 different psu's outside the case. I just had the processor plus ram (tried 2 sticks, then 1, also different working ram) hooked up and it still didn't even post. Once I put a replacement processor in it booted up and worked great for a few days before the 2nd one died.

I don't want to replace yet another cpu just to start troubleshooting and have it die for 3rd time.

 

[Karadjgne]

And I'm guessing F1 did nothing? Swap power cords. Before plugging in the new one hold the power button down for 10 seconds to drain the system caps. If that still does nothing I'd contact Seasonic support and see what recourse you have for RMA on the psu and maybe refund of processor. Save that pic, its evidence.

 

[Karadjgne]

Oh, just wanted to add, if this turns out to be a faulty Seasonic psu, it'll be the first i have ever seen, and thats in 30 years of pc tinkering. I picture Seasonic's service like the old Maytag repair dude. Just sitting around watching his bassett hound get older.

 

[Nuckles_56]

Oh, just wanted to add, if this turns out to be a faulty Seasonic psu, it'll be the first i have ever seen, and thats in 30 years of pc tinkering. I picture Seasonic's service like the old Maytag repair dude. Just sitting around watching his bassett hound get older.

I totally agree, that image is great so +1 to you

 

[wachzagner]

When I press the power button it lights up, I can see the fans make about 1 rotation, but it shuts off immediately after about half a second. I know if I put a new possessor in and it will boot up but then it's only a matter of time before it dies. From what I can tell, something is short circuiting the processor, but I just dont know what. Is it possible that anything else other than the power supply or motherboard is killing processors like this? Or could both the power supply AND the motherboard be to blame?

 

[Outlander_04]

Another vote for the quaity of seasonic psu's here

but it is clear that SOMETHING is causing voltage problems

That is either the power supply , or a faulty voltage regulator on the mb

 

[Karadjgne]

I'm not so sure your cpu is fried. Seasonic has serious over current, over voltage, regulatory circuits built into a psu, theres all sorts of protections there, Asus has a similar setup built into the motherboard, all aimed at preventing spikes from hitting the cpu. 1 of them will shut power down in the event of a spike, for both to fail at the same time is very long odds. I'm not entirely convinced its the psu either, I'm leaning towards the motherboard being at fault.

1) Open case.
2) locate CMOS RESET jumper
3) switch the jumper from pins 1-2 to 2-3, count to 5, replace on pins 1-2. Do NOT turn on power until the jumper is set back as original.
4) close case, power up. Bet ya it boots. When replacing a cpu, CMOS is reset back to defaults, so i'll bet that your first cpu is fine, as is your second, you have a bad mobo/bios chip.

You could try and flash the BIOS with an updated version and that may solve the problem. Asus and Seasonic both build top notch quality products, but if it came down to it, I'd back Seasonic over Asus any day of the week, and I've got 30 years of faith to back that up.

 

[wachzagner]

I'm not so sure your cpu is fried. Seasonic has serious over current, over voltage, regulatory circuits built into a psu, theres all sorts of protections there, Asus has a similar setup built into the motherboard, all aimed at preventing spikes from hitting the cpu. 1 of them will shut power down in the event of a spike, for both to fail at the same time is very long odds. I'm not entirely convinced its the psu either, I'm leaning towards the motherboard being at fault.

1) Open case.
2) locate CMOS RESET jumper
3) switch the jumper from pins 1-2 to 2-3, count to 5, replace on pins 1-2. Do NOT turn on power until the jumper is set back as original.
4) close case, power up. Bet ya it boots. When replacing a cpu, CMOS is reset back to defaults, so i'll bet that your first cpu is fine, as is your second, you have a bad mobo/bios chip.

You could try and flash the BIOS with an updated version and that may solve the problem. Asus and Seasonic both build top notch quality products, but if it came down to it, I'd back Seasonic over Asus any day of the week, and I've got 30 years of faith to back that up.

I tried resetting the CMOS back with the first cpu but nothing happened. I just tried it again with the second one and still nothing.

 

[lp231]

The processor rarely dies. However there was this one time, the system I was working on, the CPU has a weird problem. It would always cause Win7 64bit to bsod right after the OS installation was complete. Installing Win7 32bit didn't have this problem. After changing out the CPU, the problem went away.

 

[wachzagner]

If I replace the CPU, motherboard, and power supply, is it safe to say that everything will be fixed?