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Started by Fonzarelli | | 4 answers
Crashing, BSoDs, artifacts - Mobo, RAM, GPU?
Intel i5 4670K
ASRock Z87 Pro3
Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X
8GB (or 16GB now) G.Skill 2133MHz
Western Digital 1TB HDD
Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB
XFX Pro 650W

I acquired this setup in April and have had strange problems with it from the beginning. Firstly, my memory does not run in dual channel. It doesn't seem to be on ASRock's supported list for the motherboard but G.Skill shows it as tested and working for the Z87 Pro3. First I thought the problem lied in the memory, so I bought another similar set to test it. Here's what I've found by testing my four 4GB sticks in different banks (X = stick in bank):

A1 X A2 B1 B2 X - BIOS sees only the stick in B2 as a 1600MHz stick, also message Channel A memory did not pass CPU memory test shown
A1 X A2 B1 X B2 - BIOS sees only the stick in B1, this time correctly as 2133MHz, same message as above
A1 X A2 X B1 B2 - No POST
A1 A2 X B1 B2 X - BIOS sees stick in B2, shown as 2133MHz, same CPU memory test failed message
A1 A2 B1 X B2 X - BIOS sees both stick in B1 and B2, shown correctly as 2133MHz, no memory test fail
A1 A2 B1 X B2 - No POST, computer starts three times
A1 X A2 B1 B2 - No POST
A 1 A2 X B1 B2 - No POST
A1 A2 B1 B2 X - BIOS sees stick in B2, shown as 2133MHz, computer starts two times
A1 X A2 X B1 X B2 X - BIOS sees sticks in B1 and B2, shows them as 2133MHZ, gives CPU memory test fail message
A1 A2 B1 B2 - Doesn't boot at all

All this while CPU-Z sees the memory as 4GB/8GB 1033MHz. OC Tweaker sees the RAM's XMP profiles in BIOS, and I've tried raising the voltages from 1.60V to 1.65V to no avail.

The conclusion can be drawn that no memory in the A banks simply work. I get blue screens frequently with memory related errors, and games and programs seem to crash far too often. I also get graphical artifacts in various games (Arma 2 & 3, Red Orchestra, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and the like) and even when browsing the internet, similar to when the GPU is overheating, which I have made sure is not the case. I also have not overclocked, so system stability should not be the reason here. I am a little perplexed by the artifacts, since I'm not sure what's happening here can cause that.

The PSU should not be an issue. I have tried several different drivers for the GPU and I am currently trying the CPU's integrated graphics to see if the artifacts still persist.

Perhaps I'm looking at both a faulty mobo and a faulty GPU here, I really do not know. Any help would be appreciated.
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October 13, 2014 8:09:00 PM

Fonzarelli said:
I went and bought another mobo, a Gigabyte Z87-HD3 and indeed, that fixed the problem regarding memory. Now my memory is running correctly at 2133MHz. Will have to see if artifacts still persist, I'm afraid they will and I will probably have to RMA the card as Nugget712 said.


I got my replacement RAM and GPU and have had no problems whatsoever with them. No crashes, no artifacts, and TBH I haven't even shut off my computer except to restart for Win update or after Installing/Uninstalling a program that says it needs a restart to complete.
Hopefully you don't experience the artifacts anymore, but if ya do, the RMA option would probably be best. Let us know how it works out for ya.
October 13, 2014 11:42:10 AM

I went and bought another mobo, a Gigabyte Z87-HD3 and indeed, that fixed the problem regarding memory. Now my memory is running correctly at 2133MHz. Will have to see if artifacts still persist, I'm afraid they will and I will probably have to RMA the card as Nugget712 said.
October 1, 2014 4:43:50 AM

I have a similar build and was experiencing artifacts as well. I found out that the R9 280 and 280x have artifact problems sometimes and just need to be RMA'd until you get a working card... or you can add heat sinks to the exposed VRAM chips on the card, but I think that would void any warranty(not 100% sure) and require some technical know how. There are a couple YouTube videos showing how to add the heat sink.

I RMA'd my GPU and RAM. 1 stick of ram was faulty and would get BSoD. Memtest 86+ showed tons of errors on 1 stick as soon as I started the test, but the other stick could run in memtest 86+ for 12 hours with no errors. I would only get artifacts with the GPU in, I could take out the GPU and use the i5-4590's graphics and get no artifacts whatsoever.
The RMA posted and approved for replacement same day(yesterday) it arrived at the RMA center. I just hope I don't have the same problem with the replacement GPU.



CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card
Case: Rosewill Line Glow ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
a c 89 } Memory
September 30, 2014 8:49:40 AM

If you don't update the BIOS or drivers yet, I will try to update all of them, like the intel chipset driver from intel https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?Dwnld... Also try up the RAM voltage to 1.625V if the 1.65V is not avail. Because I think it maybe the RAM or MB has problem, sometime the RAM slot has problem. If it does and you just return (RMA).

For the graphical artifacts you should check the gigabyte to see there is the video bios for the r9 280x update too, I saw there is the same problem on other forum but it can be solved by updating the video bios.

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