Random crashing

Hi All,

I bought the following recently from Aria - Gladiator Z68 Core i7 2600K 4.60GHz 8GB Overclocked Bundle, however when purchased it the deal included the MSI Z68A-GD80 B3. Now before i start i have never had anything over clocked before and thus have no clue at how it all works, therefore apologies for my newbieness in advance!

My rig:

Mobo: MSI Z68A-GD80 Intel Z68
Chip: i7-2600K Overclocked @ 4.60GHz
Cooler:Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced CPU Cooler.
Ram: 8GB Mushkin Ridgeback #996987 (2x4GB) DDR3 1866MHz 9-11-9-27
GPU:MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II
PSU: Cant remember the name but its 1200w
SSD: Crucial 256GB RealSSD C300
HDD: 2TB Samsung
OS: Windows 64 bit ultimate

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...ntitled-67.png

When it works it works excellently, but every now and again the system will just shut off. A couple of seconds will pass and it will restart itself, I don't press a thing or touch anything. It wont boot as it keeps restarting. The only thing that will work is if i keep the power button presses, boot in safe mode, shut down and restart the system.

The only thing i have done regarding the above is change the CPU speed as in it was set to run at 4.6GHz permanently so I changed it so that when its idle the speed reduces to around 1.6GHZ. Outcasst thought about doing the same with the voltage but the only options in the BIOS are to either set it to a fixed voltage or Auto. When i set it to Auto to see if that helped the computer wouldn't boot so i changed it back again immediately.

It has been formatted in the last week if that makes a difference. But it was happening before i formatted it too.

Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I haven't contacted Aria as yet, thought i would post here first.

Thank you in advance

Mark

Your PSU is a Cougar PSU - defo not on my recommended list :) as it was the first one I have seen.

Are you doing anything in paticular when it crashes?

It's Mark so it either playing BC2 or watching porn!

Speedstep is what the thing is called when it reduces the ghz when not in use.....normally when a high overclock is used you usually disable speedstep as it can make it unstable.....if you have disabled it again there should be no problem.....have you looked at your power plan, sleep etc to see what the settings are?....just give aria a quick bell they are normally ok.
I would also ask for all the bios settings for that particular overclock so you can check in the bios just in case when you were changing things it didn't effect anything else....plus it's always handy to have all the settings anyway in case you get a bsod and lose them all anyway m8.

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Originally Posted by =ETS= GeneralClev

It's Mark so it either playing BC2 or watching porn!

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LOL yeah I should have guessed :)

And +1 for checking your power plan in windows. Control Panel -> Power Options.

Description of Sleep States..

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...(v=vs.85).aspx

Hi Guys,


Thanks for the replies, got this on a couple of forums, Please see screen shots to hopefully help.

BIOS (1.23.1108). Dram V = 1.645
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...m/photo-18.jpg
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...IOSversion.png
Memory Tab
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a.../MemoryTab.png
SPD Tab
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...bum/SPDTab.png

I've had the power plan on all the available ones and even created my own, it has happened on every one of them.

Here is a reply from someone on the MSI forums, not sure what it all means but you guys may. I was gonna give it a go later.

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Ah, ok. Thanks for the screenshots. Helps a lot. Recommend setting Internal PLL Overvoltage from 'Auto' to 'Enable'. CPU Core Voltage, raise a step to 1.360v's. The voltage loss reading at the BIOS is telling. 1.645v set, only 1.616v is applied. This can be checked & confirmed for accuracy using a digital multi meter at the V-Check Point. For now, if we presume the 1.616v is accurate, your X.M.P. for 1866 RAM speed is 1.65v's. 1.616v is a long way from 1.65v's. With that 0.034v loss, BIOS setting would have to be raised to 1.685v range to give a true 1.65v's. I am a little reluctant to recommend that setting without a multi meter being attached to the V-Check Point. You don't really want to exceed the actual applied DRAM V. of 1.65v if at all possible.

Added: Just as an FYI, CPU V. recommended maximum is not to exceed 1.400v's. :-)) *

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The other thing that may be pertinent is that the computer will randomly freeze to the point where even Ctrl, alt, delete wont work. It will only happen for a minute or 2 then back to normal. And at times when i say move a folder to my documents or to the recycle bin it can (again at times) take a while to kick in. Not huge files just like text only word docs.

Regarding the main issue, it has happened most when playing BC2 but not exclusively, it has happened when the computer was just sat on the desktop a couple of times. Although interestingly it has never happened when watching porn :p

Most computers have a built in porn recognition device fitted these days, as a freeze or lock up at the crucial moment could be devastating to the wanking process.

Tbh if it was my machine and i bought it as a bundle i wouldn't be wanting to fix it myself,..... when i recently bought a car and the dash displayed that there was a light out when there wasn't i took it back to the garage and they fixed for me under warranty, if you try to fix it yourself and it goes tits up you will inevitably void the warranty on your machine.....my money is now on faulty ram after what you have recently disclosed about file transfers etc.....or you have changed something in the bios to make it unstable.

Could be the SSD stuttering, do Crucial have a SSD toolbox? To do a secure wipe?

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Most computers have a built in porn recognition device fitted these days, as a freeze or lock up at the crucial moment could be devastating to the wanking process.

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Lol. Funnily enough i have found that too!

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Tbh if it was my machine and i bought it as a bundle i wouldn't be wanting to fix it myself,..... when i recently bought a car and the dash displayed that there was a light out when there wasn't i took it back to the garage and they fixed for me under warranty, if you try to fix it yourself and it goes tits up you will inevitably void the warranty on your machine.....my money is now on faulty ram after what you have recently disclosed about file transfers etc.....or you have changed something in the bios to make it unstable.

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I take your point but your talking too much sense! In all seriousness I would rather not have to take the mobo etc out to send it back if i can help it. Those being the operative words. If its something that is easily fixed or maybe tweaked in the BIOS i see no need to.

In saying all that if it gets worse i will have no choice. I will be calling Aria tomorrow, see what they say. As Lloyd will tell you anything i buy from any company regarding my computer seems to go wrong one way or another!

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Originally Posted by Lloyd_mcse

Could be the SSD stuttering, do Crucial have a SSD toolbox? To do a secure wipe?

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I don't think they do mate tbh. I have googled it and the general consensus
seems to be that it doesnt need it as it supports garbage collection

Quote from Crucial:

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It runs when the drive is idle. So assuming the drive isn't in constant use you won't need to do anything special to look after it. Things like web browser caches will use the drive though while you're surfing, even when you're not directly loading things.
I personally found that natural afk's from the computer where enough for GC to work without logging off and such like. However, I run a clean computer. If you have a lot of background applications that may be using the hard drive then your experience may vary.
Manually logging off is more of a diagnostic procedure when people claim GC isn't work. The manufacturers say log off because the only way it cannot work is if you have a load of junk running that's using the hard disk and that stuff won't be running if you are logged off

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Yeah my Corsair has BGC (Background Garbage Collection), they also said to turn off write caching,

Device Manager -> right click on the drive -> properties -> policies

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Originally Posted by Lloyd_mcse

Yeah my Corsair has BGC (Background Garbage Collection), they also said to turn off write caching,

Device Manager -> right click on the drive -> properties -> policies

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Yeah done that.

Just had memtest running for an hour without issue, so it looks as if its not the ram. Any ideas on programs that test your psu?

I think it may be the cooler / chip. Running Prime 95 atm and its running at around 79c! Seen it go as high as 83.
Interestingly I run Prime for 15 hours a couple of nights ago with no restart issues at all. I can only assume it was reaching the same temps without crashing?

I would try looking at event viewer to see what it says.

Yeah I wouldn't leave the clock that high with temps like that. What are the temps at default? idle & load temps pls

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Originally Posted by Lloyd_mcse

Yeah I wouldn't leave the clock that high with temps like that. What are the temps at default? idle & load temps pls

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It hovers between 40-44c mate

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Originally Posted by Ya Mother

I would try looking at event viewer to see what it says.

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It has 314 events in total. 7 of them were critical all of which say Event ID: 41, Source: Kernel-Power

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The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

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Originally Posted by =ETS=Mark1978

It has 314 events in total. 7 of them were critical all of which say Event ID: 41, Source: Kernel-Power

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I had loads of bsods a while back and i'm sure it was the same error....it was my soundcard drivers, i updated and been ok since.

I know your probs gonna say i havent got a sound card but other peeps without soundcards were getting it and it was to do with the sound.

If you google that error you will get loads of pages about it....some say it was different things but the majority saying it was to do with the sound.

p.s i remember manually updating the sound rivers and it didnt fix the problem until i deleted the driver and let windows do it and that worked for me.

pps.....sometimes you have to look at the error prior to it shutting down for the cause as it will be what caused the shutdown in the first place.....does that even make sense lol. :)

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Originally Posted by =ETS=Mark1978

It hovers between 40-44c mate

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Does it do the same crashing at stock speed?

I'm wondering why they changed the motherboard to the Gigabyte, was it a price point decision or due to problems.

It has crashed when being idle, yeah.

the mobo should always have been MSI, but when i ordered it they said they would give me an ASUS one due to the MSI being out of stock. When the delivery came it was the original MSI one i bought in the first place.

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Originally Posted by Ya Mother

I had loads of bsods a while back and i'm sure it was the same error....it was my soundcard drivers, i updated and been ok since.

I know your probs gonna say i havent got a sound card but other peeps without soundcards were getting it and it was to do with the sound.

If you google that error you will get loads of pages about it....some say it was different things but the majority saying it was to do with the sound.

p.s i remember manually updating the sound rivers and it didnt fix the problem until i deleted the driver and let windows do it and that worked for me.

pps.....sometimes you have to look at the error prior to it shutting down for the cause as it will be what caused the shutdown in the first place.....does that even make sense lol. :)

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Lol makes perfect sense mate. I do have a sound card and have updated the driver to the newest one. Ill see how it goes.

On the errors I don't get BSOD it just completely switches off. Literally as if some one has turned the switch off at the socket.

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Originally Posted by =ETS=Mark1978

It has crashed when being idle, yeah.

the mobo should always have been MSI, but when i ordered it they said they would give me an ASUS one due to the MSI being out of stock. When the delivery came it was the original MSI one i bought in the first place.

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No I mean, I was wondering if they sold a few kits with the MSI and say they got 60% RMA'd so they changed the msi board out for the Gigabyte - For example.
Have you got a Aria OC Profile in your BIOS?

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No I mean, I was wondering if they sold a few kits with the MSI and say they got 60% RMA'd so they changed the msi board out for the Gigabyte - For example.

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Not sure mate. I know that i had the last MSI board they had in stock , they told me that is why they changed the bundle. Whether they will change it back or not remains to be seen. I doubt it though as the MSI is £22 more expensive than the ASUS so they make more profit.

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Have you got a Aria OC Profile in your BIOS?

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Yes mate, just re loaded it actually.

Clutching at straws now....faulty switch......it has been known.

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Originally Posted by =ETS=Mark1978

Yes mate, just re loaded it actually.

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Let us know how that goes

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Originally Posted by Ya Mother

Clutching at straws now....faulty switch......it has been known.

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Yeah same :S

So how's the PC running with that Aria profile?

Well I called them to sort the RMA out. They asked me to try out a few things to see if they worked, they didn't (cant remember what they were now). Last thing they asked was if I could revert back to the original profile they created and leave it a week and see how i get on. To be fair it hasn't crashed since, however the temp is still the same at 44'c idle and up to 85+ when pushed.

So at 4.6GHZ load temps are 85+ ?

Did the kit come with the CPU cooler attached? Or did Clev "forget" the thermal paste hehe

It came with the cooler installed, but I suggested to Mark that it could have come loose during shipping or something.

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Originally Posted by Lloyd_mcse

So at 4.6GHZ load temps are 85+ ?

Did the kit come with the CPU cooler attached? Or did Clev "forget" the thermal paste hehe

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:boxing_smiley:

lol

Ah it did come installed. I've only ever bought one kit and that was a little Pentium, mATX mobo and 2GB for a file server, and that came with a stock intel cooler attached.

Did you mention the temps to Aria? What did they say about them? I haven't pushed mine yet to see how my temps are to compare.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lloyd_mcse

So at 4.6GHZ load temps are 85+ ?

Did the kit come with the CPU cooler attached? Or did Clev "forget" the thermal paste hehe

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Yeah it came installed, I paid for a bundle of mobo, chip, cooler and ram, it was delivered fitted.

The temp is only 85+ when im running prime or something similar. As I've reverted back to the Aria profile its at 4.6GHz constantly and at roughly 44'C when idle

So the system has been stable with the Aria OC Profile (4.6GHz) enabled but the temps are 85 under load. Maybe those temps are acceptable to aria - Not to me though.

If I was you I would revert back to default BIOS profile, read some about overclocking these sandybridge CPUs with your mobo and work my way up to an acceptable balance between OC and heat.

FYI My Rig 1 (2600k @ 4.6GHz Turbo, Asus Maximus IV Extreme P67, GTX 580, Corsair Force 3 240GB) under load I'm at 47 deg Celcius with a Corsair A50