Need some assisstance with troubleshooting a bad motherboard or cpu.

SquatSquat Michigan
edited June 2012 in Hardware
I am having a heck of a time tracking down the cause of a blue screen issue. I had originally thought that it was a virus, but did check the ram and ssd. I would have random freezes usually watching Youtube, but they started to get more and more frequent.
Since I am lazy, I decided to back up everything and reinstall Windows 7. Now the problems really start, I am getting blue screen freezes from Windows' install program. I can run Memtest86 all day long, no problems. I can interact with the bios, no problems. When I try to install windows, it copies the files; but as soon as it starts unpacking, the computer freezes with a blue screen or a dialog box with an error. Windows tells me to check the install source, but I have tried two different physical disc(both of which I purchased), and also downloaded a copy and tried installing from a thumb drive.
I have retested the ram with Memtest86 over night, and with each of the two sticks individually. I have retested the Intel ssd with Intel's toolbox. I have installed a different psu that is in the computer I am typing this from. I have a dedicated gpu which is in the computer I am typing this from and and integrated gpu I have tried both. I have sent in the motherboard under warranty and was sent a different one back.
None of these thing have made any difference. I think the only thing left is the cpu, but I don't know if they can have a partial problem. The other possibility is I got a second bad moterboard with the same problem, extremely unlikely.
So what do you think?

Intel Core i5-2500K
MSI Z68MA-G45 (B3) LGA 1155
GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI V3 GeForce GTX 460
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW080G3K5 2.5" 80GB
Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-550
LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader

Comments

  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    Could be overheating. How are your temps?
  • SquatSquat Michigan
    Unfortunately I don't think overheating is it. CPU temps are in the mid 50's Celsius.

    Is it reasonable to think a cpu is the cause of crashes?
    Thanks, Squat
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Yes, CPU defects can cause crashes, but so can overclocking cause messes with Windows. RAM overclocking can cause Windows Install problems and crashes while running Windows. Video card OCing can cause problems with crashing also.

    SO.... In BIOS, try setting it to default settings, then try installing Windows again. Also, make sure your SSD is backed up as to your personal data, then try wiping it and reinstalling after that. Some folks have also found that sometimes SSD drives need updated BIOS's for some motherboards to work right with Windows.
  • SquatSquat Michigan
    Alright, time for an update. I have not overclocked anything: ram, cpu, grapics card. I did secure erase my ssd (Intel 320) using Intel's toolbox, but still the same blue screen freeze when file copying is almost done.
    Thanks for any help.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Load optimized defaults in mobo, make any changes you need (and inform us), like AHCI on, boot order, etc. You may need to force memory stuff depending on mobo/memory.

    Check firmware version on drive and update if not current.

    Use UBCD to run CPU stress tests to rule that out. Run the Mersenne Prime test and CPU burn in.
  • Kvasir119Kvasir119


    Check firmware version on drive and update if not current.
    I agree with Tushon on the firmware update of the SSD. I had an SSD which caused BSOD so often I thought it was my system. Turned out the manufacturer was aware of the issue. Shortly afterward they released a firmware update which fixed the issue completely.

  • SquatSquat Michigan
    Okay, its update time again. When I was testing the ram, I took one stick out to test each individually. This caused the bios to reset to default, and the only thing I changed was to turn ahci on and change the boot order(no overclocking).

    Intel ssd is a 320 and up to date, also I was able to load Ubuntu on a usb drive and boot from that drive(so I can rule out the ssd as the problem). Ubuntu would some times make it through loading, sometimes would hang while loading. When it did load, it would crash within a minute.

    I am going to contact Intel next week to start the warranty process with them.

    P.S. UBCD would not work for me. I was able to use Memtest, but none of the CPU tests would load. That could very well be my system hanging though.

    Thanks for your continued help.
    Squat
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    CPU or video card, narrowing down given what you have tried and gotten as results. Do you have another CPU to swap onto the motherboard?
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    The fact that none of the CPU tests would load seems rather indicative that there is an issue with it
  • SquatSquat Michigan
    Sorry for the long span of time since the last update. I talked to an Intel warranty tech, and he told me that the memory I had was faster than the cpu was rated for. He told me that the cpu was automatically overclocking for the ram, and the it probably burned up the on die memory controller.

    I have never really done much overclocking, and didn't know that the ram could overclock the cpu. I had some doubts, but the memory was running at the faster speed. I was really suprised that the processor couldn't handle such a small overclock, but when I got the new cpu under warranty, it ran fine(I am no longer running the ram at 1600mhz).

    Thanks for the help.
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