Constant problems and crashes

[lvandr]

Ok so here it goes
Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1
Rjaws 8gb stick x 2 at ddr3 1866
intel i5 4690k
gygabyte gtx 970 OC mini
Samsung ssd pro 850

Here are the issues. after fresh windows install (with or without drivers) it keeps freezing and windows explorer keeps restarting and crashing. I thought at first its the VGA drivers so i didn't install it. Then I thought it was the sound card, so i didn't install it. issues still persists.
-Ram checked on old pc, no problems (It does run at default instead of 1866)
-Video card was swapped out with my old one, so it ruled out the video card.
-SSD same thing, ruled it out on old pc.

I updated the bios. Problem still persists. Also the worst one is that it sometimes boots into the bios and freezes, so I have to reboot it. I wasn't even trying to make it go into bios, it just does on its own. It is supposed to show fan speed but it doesn't so i know it froze up. I did reset the bios, even though I didn't do anything to it, and later on updated the bios.

Update: I have switched the GPU card to a different PCI slot. no change.
I have also set the ram to XPE settings. Speed still at 1366.
Start suspecting the cpu. Took the heat sink off. Cleaned it, gonna put the stock cooler on. I had evo 212 on.

Update2: I have switched off Secureboot and used a new hard drive to install windows. No problems at all. Now, I tried it again with the ssd and it still keeps crashing windows explorer. Any ideas?

Update3: Booting from my storage drive I installed Samsung Magician made sure software is up to date on it. Which it is. Currently trying to erase all data, just in case Windows installation isn't doing a good job. It failed to erase all date so now I'm making a usb from same program to make the ssd work again. Sigh
Update4: Secure erase failed. Saying it's password protected.

 

[Tradesman1]

RAM at 1366 or 1866? Are the two sticks from a single packages or two individual packages? Do you have the latest drivers from the mobo website?

 

[lvandr]

RAM at 1366 or 1866? Are the two sticks from a single packages or two individual packages? Do you have the latest drivers from the mobo website?

Right now its running at 1866. From same package. Latest drives from the mobos website. Most of the time I couldn't even get to the full driver installation with the SSD, it kept crapping out on me. Just to confirm, I have put in other memory sticks in there from my old rig and it did the same.

 

[lvandr]

So my SSD was corrupted. I sent it in for a replacement. Something went wrong with the data wipe/ data protection, so it wouldn't let me install a clean Windows.

 

[Tradesman1]

Glad you found the problem, drop an update when you get the replacement 😉

 

[lvandr]

Glad you found the problem, drop an update when you get the replacement 😉

Yeah, it's been ages. I just decided to update it finally. I got it working but had to buy a new SSD, because the RMA took like 4-6 weeks. So now I got a spare laying around. Ran into some problems with the bios drivers along the way, who would of though that drivers for Z97 Mark 1 Usb 3.0 and Usb 3.1, were completely different. I even ended up getting a h100i cooler for the CPU, which is being RMA'd right now for noise issues. But the build is solid.