i52 2500k and Asrock Z68 Pro3 - Instability

partyatmygaff

I received the parts for my rig just yesterday.

Asrock Z68 Pro3
i5 2500k
G.Skill 8GB DDR 1333
HD6850
Two Sata HDDs + One sata DVD
Windows 7 x64


I'm getting some strange stability issues with this setup. Windows 7 randomnly freezes and BSODs. The first thing I did was update the BIOS to the latest version. That hasn't improved the situation at all. The next thing I chanced monitoring the CPU to see what vcore it was running it and was surprised to see it so low. 0.965v. I upped it to 1.100V in the BIOS (Or UEFI as I should call it) and it improved the stability issues somewhat yet it still seems to lock up the odd time. The strange thing is that it runs flawlessly when i'm stress testing it with Prime95. It only seems to BSOD when i'm idling or doing simple stuff like web browsing.

Anyone have any ideas?

asif2011

You need to run memtest86. Let it do a full run through and see if it's a memory issue. Personally I find the ASRock's too cheap over an Asus or Gigabyte which I find better built.

Serephucus

Memtest isn't the most reliable thing, I've found. I've had memory that'll run through ten passes flawlessly, then BSOD in-game.

I'd give Prime95 Blend a go, see what that does. If it's passing Small FFTs ok, then odds are it's your memory.

partyatmygaff

I upped the VTT voltage by a single increment a while ago... No BSODs yet, three hours and counting of Prime95 Blend. I don't really think it's the RAM at fault tbh, i've tried both sticks on another DDR3 PC and they're working fine.

I'll keep stress testing for now anyway, once i'm sure it's stable then i'll worry about overclocking. It'll be Friday by the time I can get some BF3 action in

Serephucus

What was VTT at originally / has it been upped to?

partyatmygaff

Upped to 1.080v. It was originally set to auto (I don't recall the exact value).


Update: Still going good. I've cut Prime95 short to try and install some more drivers. Everything goes fine up until I install the ATI Catalyst drivers. It restarts and BSODs on boot. If I can see what's causing that and sort it out I should be good to go for OCing.

Serephucus

Oh god. You may as well bump it up to 1.15. I'm pretty sure that's what mine was at by default. (it's at 1.35 or something now)

From what I've read - and experienced with OCing - VTT means quite a bit where stability is concerned.

partyatmygaff

I upped it to 1.1 after another freeze. Seems stable enough. Just bought a BF3 key and have it downloading away right now...

partyatmygaff

The BSODs returned... PFN_LIST_CORRUPT stop errors and MEMORY_MANAGEMENT stop errors.


Just after finishing a few passes of Memtest on the sticks of ram. One of them is fine and the other one is springing up errors.

Anyone know how Hardwareversand deal with RMAs? It's going to be torture waiting another week or two of DHL snail mail just to get a stick of RAM replaced. Also, does anyone have any idea if they'll let me just send back one stick of the 2x4GB kit?

deconduo

asif2011 wrote: »

Personally I find the ASRock's too cheap over an Asus or Gigabyte which I find better built.

This was true a year ago, but ASRock's LGA 1155 and AM3+ boards are top quality. A lot more reliable than all ASUS, and the lower end Gigabyte boards.

Trevor451

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The BSODs returned... PFN_LIST_CORRUPT stop errors and MEMORY_MANAGEMENT stop errors.


Just after finishing a few passes of Memtest on the sticks of ram. One of them is fine and the other one is springing up errors.

Anyone know how Hardwareversand deal with RMAs? It's going to be torture waiting another week or two of DHL snail mail just to get a stick of RAM replaced. Also, does anyone have any idea if they'll let me just send back one stick of the 2x4GB kit?

Its best to give them a call. I had to RMA a graphics card and it took about 10 working days to get a replacement

asif2011

deconduo wrote: »

This was true a year ago, but ASRock's LGA 1155 and AM3+ boards are top quality. A lot more reliable than all ASUS, and the lower end Gigabyte boards.

Well I used to work in a computer component distributor in Dublin and the ASRock's at the time had a horendous return rate - you got what you paid for as far as I could see. I'd be surprised if that has changed since then. I reguarly build PCs using Asus & Gigabyte boards and have had very few dodgy boards that I can remember. But each to their own I guess...

partyatmygaff

I've sent them an email now. I'll call them tomorrow as well. Hopefully they'll just ask me to send one of the sticks back and not both so i'll still have a functioning rig over the two weeks it'll take for the RMA.



On a pleasanter note:
Everything's been running flawlessly since I removed the second stick of RAM. BF3 runs butter smooth with everything maxed out There's a tiny bit of stutter at load points but i'd imagine that's due to only having 4GB of RAM and not 8GB. That and the extrememly slow green power HDD i'm using until HDD prices go back to normal.

asif2011

You'll have to send both if they were part of a kit.

deconduo

asif2011 wrote: »

Well I used to work in a computer component distributor in Dublin and the ASRock's at the time had a horendous return rate - you got what you paid for as far as I could see. I'd be surprised if that has changed since then. I reguarly build PCs using Asus & Gigabyte boards and have had very few dodgy boards that I can remember. But each to their own I guess...

They used to be a daughter company to ASUS, but is now completely independent. That's why they are now producing a lot better stuff, and are one of the best, if not the best, motherboard manufacturer right now. You'll see pretty much every tech site recommend them, from the budget level all the way up to their high end boards.

ASUS on the other hand have suffered somewhat with their SandyBridge boards being plagued with problems. They've released a couple of updates that have settled things, but they still are not as reliable as ASRock/MSI/Gigabyte.

deconduo

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I've sent them an email now. I'll call them tomorrow as well. Hopefully they'll just ask me to send one of the sticks back and not both so i'll still have a functioning rig over the two weeks it'll take for the RMA.



On a pleasanter note:
Everything's been running flawlessly since I removed the second stick of RAM. BF3 runs butter smooth with everything maxed out There's a tiny bit of stutter at load points but i'd imagine that's due to only having 4GB of RAM and not 8GB. That and the extrememly slow green power HDD i'm using until HDD prices go back to normal.

That would just be the hard drive, not the RAM Having a single stick instead of two wouldn't make a noticeable difference in performance.

asif2011

deconduo wrote: »

They used to be a daughter company to ASUS, but is now completely independent. That's why they are now producing a lot better stuff, and are one of the best, if not the best, motherboard manufacturer right now. You'll see pretty much every tech site recommend them, from the budget level all the way up to their high end boards.

ASUS on the other hand have suffered somewhat with their SandyBridge boards being plagued with problems. They've released a couple of updates that have settled things, but they still are not as reliable as ASRock/MSI/Gigabyte.

Yes they used to be Asus's value brand, they were there to compete with Elitegroup (ECS) boards - which also had a horrendous return rate. Go for whatever board you want, makes no difference to me, I'm not looking to convert anyone.

Every manufacturer has dodgy boards - I used to work in the returns department and tested every dodgy board any manufacturer ever made before it was sent back to our suppliers. But generally, the cheaper the board the more returns there was.

So Asus have had a few problems, I remember Gigabyte boards would knacker hard drives contents - had people screaming down the phone that they had lost all of their stuff. Every brand goes through good times and bad times, people still buy Gigabyte boards don't they? You like ASRock, I like Asus. Big deal.

Serephucus

[H]OCP did a review of the Extreme3 or Extreme4, and thought it was god-awful terrible. The couple of other sites I looked at gave it above average reviews, but nothing spectacular. Then again, they are cheaper than Gigabyte boards, so I suppose that's something.

t1mm

I've got the same proc, motherboard and ram partyatmygaff (got delivered earlier on today). Windows 7 error installer popping up with a file could not be found error at the moment. Gonna try a USB install.

Good luck with the RAM - why can't things ever be easy?!

partyatmygaff

Apparently as the RAM cost less than €40 I have to "bear the costs of return". Anyone have any idea what this means? They said earlier in the email that I'll have to pay for postage to them and they'll reimburse me so it all sounds a bit contradictory.

partyatmygaff

I'm still confused.

I've submitted an RMA and got a "Summary of Complaint". On that same page I get a UPS shipping label and instructions to organise a delivery with UPS. Considering i'm the one who has to pay for the return postage (Despite being €1 under €40...) I'm not about to use UPS who are looking for €69 to ship a 0.4kg packet to Germany.

What do I do? Just use An Post's express delivery service and include the RMA "Summary of Complaint" sheet?

partyatmygaff

Sent the RAM and RMA form/Invoice to them today with An Post's Express Post service. Should be there Monday I think. If HWVD don't spend an age processing the RMA I may have the RAM back before next Friday.

partyatmygaff

Order status went to "We booked your return consignment" on Hardwareversand.de last Monday. Should it change to say they've shipped a replacement or do they do it silently?

partyatmygaff

Ram arrived today. No problems to report yet... Still only 20 minutes in though.

Eamonn Brophy

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Ram arrived today. No problems to report yet... Still only 20 minutes in though.

10 days without your 2nd stick
I'm buying form them soon, I hope this doesn't happen me!

partyatmygaff

Eamonn Brophy wrote: »

10 days without your 2nd stick
I'm buying form them soon, I hope this doesn't happen me!

Without either stick of RAM actually. Thank God I had (And still have ) assignments to get through for college.

Eamonn Brophy

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Without either stick of RAM actually. Thank God I had (And still have ) assignments to get through for college.

In your situation, I'd nearly be tempted to shell out another €40 or so for a new 8gig kit from amazon and have it in a few days. Maybe that's just me though. Was it free in the end?

partyatmygaff

Received the €9.60 postage back from Hardwareversand today despite being slightly under the €40 threshold. Excellent service, much better than the likes of Dabs. I spent two months trying to RMA a motherboard to Dabs once.