Hello,
I had bought both the Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor and MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard off of the advice of one of the more recent "Top PC builds for gaming" articles. However, I have been plagued with a weird problem.
Unpredictably, the graphics on both screens I have completely freeze. If there is music in a game playing, it will continue, but something like iTunes completely stops. The computer remains like this until I manually restart it by power cycling. The windows logs don't register a problem happening; as far as windows is concerned, there is no freeze. These freezes can happen at any time of day, at any CPU or GPU loads; I have had stress tests last over an hour with no problems, only to have a freeze when just web browsing. These freezes can happen with days of fine computer use, at any and all memory or CPU/GPU loads. I have tried the following:
The RAM and GPU both work fine with my older CPU and Motherboard; this problem didn't start appearing until I swapped to the new i5 and Z690. I have tried asking Intel and MSI both about bios settings, and both avoided the question and instead encouraged a RMA (which I did, for both, and the problem continues). I am led to believe at this point it is some kind of bios setting issue, as I experimented turning Intel Thunderbolt on, and had a freeze nearly immediately. The thing I cannot understand is why the sounds continue in the background of games running; if it was a true freeze, shouldn't everything stop? The sounds continuing makes me think there is something weirder happening, specifically in the interaction between the CPU and MB. I've tried monitoring the temperature of the CPU and GPU, and the temperatures don't rise above 65C for either; the case seems to be cooling well.
Is there some "gotcha" setting I should be checking for in the bios settings? I have nearly everything set to Auto, and I'm not trying to do any overclocking. The only similar problem I've ever found someone else have they fixed by replacing the memory, so I've ordered some new RAM, but the thunderbolt setting makes me think this is some kind of bios issue. PCpartspicker doesn't warn me about any problems with my parts, other than noting I need the bios at a version for compatibility with the i5 that the bios is long past in version updates. If anyone has any other idea of what could possibly be going on, I'm all ears, but
Other parts, if you're interested:
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux 70.75 CFM CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 CL15 Memory
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
I had bought both the Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor and MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard off of the advice of one of the more recent "Top PC builds for gaming" articles. However, I have been plagued with a weird problem.
Unpredictably, the graphics on both screens I have completely freeze. If there is music in a game playing, it will continue, but something like iTunes completely stops. The computer remains like this until I manually restart it by power cycling. The windows logs don't register a problem happening; as far as windows is concerned, there is no freeze. These freezes can happen at any time of day, at any CPU or GPU loads; I have had stress tests last over an hour with no problems, only to have a freeze when just web browsing. These freezes can happen with days of fine computer use, at any and all memory or CPU/GPU loads. I have tried the following:
- Swapping out the RAM sticks individually (the crash has happened on all four, individually)
- Running on intel onboard graphics (freeze happened)
- Reseating CPU and applying new thermal paste with the cooler
- RMA the motherboard
- RMA the CPU
- Enhancing cooling in the case by having the side off and a fan blowing in
- Upgrading the power supply
- Upgrading my UPS
- Complete fresh reinstall of windows 10 on a new solid state drive
- All chipset drivers installed
- Motherboard BIOS updated to latest on MSI's site
- Antivirus / antimalware scans (multiple different ones, all clean, including rootkit scans)
- SFC /SCANNOW (no problems)
- Changing the PCI slot the GPU is on
- Memcheck86+ on all RAM sticks, no problems
- I have even installed the drivers for my monitors
The RAM and GPU both work fine with my older CPU and Motherboard; this problem didn't start appearing until I swapped to the new i5 and Z690. I have tried asking Intel and MSI both about bios settings, and both avoided the question and instead encouraged a RMA (which I did, for both, and the problem continues). I am led to believe at this point it is some kind of bios setting issue, as I experimented turning Intel Thunderbolt on, and had a freeze nearly immediately. The thing I cannot understand is why the sounds continue in the background of games running; if it was a true freeze, shouldn't everything stop? The sounds continuing makes me think there is something weirder happening, specifically in the interaction between the CPU and MB. I've tried monitoring the temperature of the CPU and GPU, and the temperatures don't rise above 65C for either; the case seems to be cooling well.
Is there some "gotcha" setting I should be checking for in the bios settings? I have nearly everything set to Auto, and I'm not trying to do any overclocking. The only similar problem I've ever found someone else have they fixed by replacing the memory, so I've ordered some new RAM, but the thunderbolt setting makes me think this is some kind of bios issue. PCpartspicker doesn't warn me about any problems with my parts, other than noting I need the bios at a version for compatibility with the i5 that the bios is long past in version updates. If anyone has any other idea of what could possibly be going on, I'm all ears, but
Other parts, if you're interested:
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux 70.75 CFM CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 CL15 Memory
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply