More i7 craziness (freezing)

[jros83]

Hello folks, longtime lurker, first time poster.

I recently put together a new desktop:

i7 920 2.66 8m lga1366
asus p6t x58 socket lga1366 mobo
patriot viper 6144mb pc10666 ddr3 1333mghz =, 12 gigs in 6 sticks using all slots
geforce gtx 295 red edition (sucker's big)
hitachi 1tb serial ata hd 7200/16mb/sata-3g
antec 1000 watt power supply
antec case (top gaming model; massive top fan, two fans rear, three fans front)

Vista home premium 32

So basically, my system freezes. At any given time. More common when simply idling on windows desktop or surfing the net, but cn and has happened anywhere (WEIRD EXCEPTION: never while playing Day of Defeat on Steam...). My heat isn't an issue for the cpu, and while my video card gets a bit hot, it's within norms for its model. I'm at my wits end. I have unwired and reqired so many times. Earlier I made a boo-boo: I went into the BIOS andupped voltage for ram to 1.7... now I don't POST and boot (so I took the lithium battery out and then placed back in to manually reset bios). Nothing I do is fixing this issue.

i use a usb plug in type wireless adapter to pick up my linksys wireless router one room over on thesystem i am currently using to type this, it's a linksys range plus. I built this comp from scratch using parts purchased seperately, this is the first time I have assembled my own rig. what went wrong? it seems a lot of people with i7 920 processor have a freezing issue. has there been a definate solve? I just got home from Iraq and all I want to do is to be able to use my new rig for more than 10 minutes without a hard freeze!

interesting facts: seems playing games makes it LESS prone to freeze (but it will still happen). I have played mass effect for hours nonstop without a freeze, as well as day of defeat on steam. however, idling on desktop with only a few widgets open and no tasks running and it will freeze almost alwaus within 15 minutes. also, playing dawn of war (original, winter assault, soulstorm and dark crusade) will GAURANTEE a freeze in under half an hour, while the more recent and more intensive dawn of war 2 has never frozen my computer. WTF?! this i7 freezing thing seems to make no sense on the surface.... PLEASE HELP! =/

- john

 

[lothdk]

What I would try is to use one kit of memory, remember to set voltage and specs, and see if that helps, also, run a check of Memtest86+.

 

[abswindows7]

Vista home premium 32


- john

Get a 64 bit version of windows, it should solve the problem Your windows is actually seeing 3."ish" GB of ram when you have 12 GB !

 

[terr281]

+1 on the 32 bit Home Premium versus 64 bit.

However, even that shouldn't be causing the freezing issue.

Also, as lothdk suggested, use only 3 memory modules at a time and rotate them through the computer to see if one+ of them is bad. (Basically, make sure that you come up with a pattern so that the computer has a chance to determine that a single module could be bad.)

If doing the above never gives you a stable computer, with heat not being an apparent issue, try moving the hard drive's SATA cord to a different MB port. (I doubt this is the issue, but it is a good step before the next one.)

Following that, I would backup my data for preparation for a OS reinstall. During the reinstall, split the drive into 2 ~500 GB partitions and install the OS on one of them. See if the issue occurs then. If it does, uninstall the OS from that partition and try the other.

From your description, it appears that the first culprit would be memory, and the 2nd could be several bad hard drive sectors. (And, I have never trusted Windows Scan disk to find and keep bad sectors from being used.)

 

[jros83]

thank you for the tips. I will be giving the rotating memory stick test a try this evening. i have ran memtest before with all my sticks in and memtest has said there were no errors, but maybe rotating only a few or one at a time might yield a different result (man I really hope it's not bad memory sticks...). as for my goof getting 32 bit vista with 12 gigs, I have heard that that shouldn't cause major problems, but I recently got a vista 64 bit upgrade disc so I will do this as well.

as for the voltage settings and specs for my memory, I'll have to looks up what exactly those are as my computer room is a mess right now and I can't find the original documention. I assume those are set in the BIOS? I'll also reset bios to default settings (as for the voltage and specs for my memory, any further tips on that would be apreciated).

well I'm off to try again. crossing my fingers!

 

[lothdk]

..as for my goof getting 32 bit vista with 12 gigs, I have heard that that shouldn't cause major problems, but I recently got a vista 64 bit upgrade disc so I will do this as well.

Running a 32 bit version of Windows will not cause any trouble, you just wont be able to use much more than about 3 gigs seeing as you have a GTX 295.

as for the voltage settings and specs for my memory, I'll have to looks up what exactly those are as my computer room is a mess right now and I can't find the original documention. I assume those are set in the BIOS? I'll also reset bios to default settings (as for the voltage and specs for my memory, any further tips on that would be apreciated).

Yes, you have to set the voltage in BIOS, but may not have to set latencies if your ram and BIOS supports XMP, if they do, then simply choose to use that and the BIOS will set them accordingly.

 

[jros83]

well heres whats happened so far:

after a lot of errors and getting nowhere, im doing a clean install of win7, still was having freezing issue trying to install. i went into bios and found where i can set XMP, and did so. it made changes and i kept as is. am trying again. but i bet it freezes again. i think my mobo, processor, mem sticks, all or a combo of the aforementionedmight actually be physically damaged... ugh... i hope this works...

 

[jros83]

NO it didnt work. it froze even earlier now, at the win logo at very begining of clean install boot =( im going insane...

 

[jros83]

well this is great, finally got win7 to install, now i have win7 64bit with the SAME problem my vista 32bit had. i try using xmp as suggested... still freezes (in fact i noticed it makes it freeze while loading windows, i can't even get to log on). so i set bios back to default. still i freeze as originally. i try setting "back to back cas" or whatever it is called from "auto" to "6" as was suggested elsewhere... still get freeze. is it the motherboard? i don't understand, this is driving me bonkers.

 

[terr281]

If it is the MB, it could be several different things. An easy test would be to try moving the hard drive's SATA cable from its current port on the MB to different ports. (This will test certain SATA "channels" on the board, as well as the ports themselves.)

You didn't mention whether you successfully rotated the sticks out to make sure they were operational. (Further, with Win 7 64 bit installed, run another memtest now that you can actually access all of your ram.)

 

[Guest]

I have the exact same problems. I have read a lot of people wioth freezing problem with a i7 CPU. What is actually missing is a solution.

Cpu
Intel Core i7 950 (3.06Ghz - 8MB Cache - QPI 4.8Ghz)
memory
Corsair 6GB PC3-12800 (1600Mhz) Cas8 XMS DDR3
Modalità Triple Channel
SCHEDA VIDEO
ati 5870
DISk
2x Seagate Barracuda 1000GB - 32MB Cache - SATA 3Gb/s in RAID 0
Motherboard
Asus pt6 Deluxe

Ruled out the Ram. Tested each slot separatly. Please note that it freeze also during memtest with each ram slot.
Ruled out disks. It freezes in the bios with no disks connected.

Really I have no more Ideas. Someone with something?

 

[terr281]

Well, the common denominator between your two systems is the MB. (Both from Asus, both of the PT6 family.)

Due to some experiences that I had with a few Asus MBs several years ago, I personally avoid all of their computer hardware products. (Exception: LCD TN panel monitors.)

But, if you both have tried everything suggested, I would contact Asus support at this point.

 

[jros83]

Me again... And with GOOD news! I will quote what I posted in a different thread concerning this same issue:

Friends,

I fixed my i7 920 2.66 freezing issue. I will share with you what worked for me. Before I begin, I need to clarify some things. First, the route I took was a little on the pricey side. Second, though I have been into computers for 3/4s of my life, this was the first time built a desktop on my own, so my terminology may not be exact lol. So here is what worked for me.

I originally had the standard model Asus P6T mobo, X58 chipset, with an i7 920 2.66 processor. 12 gigs patriot viper DDR3 1333 ram, vista then later Win7 64. I had been messing with my components and BIOS for weeks. Got to the point where my computer wouldn't boot anymore, even after a complete unwiring and rewiring, removing the cmos and putting back in, doing the jumper thing... something was seriously wrong, more than likely from my manhandling lol. So what I did, was I ordered the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 mobo, and, because I suspucted I damaged it (fiddling with thermal paste, handling, touching the wong surface, things of that nature...) another processor of the same type. I set up the new mobo with the new processor. I left BIOS at default (XMP would make my old setup freeze even faster). I booted up... THEN IT FROZE! All was not lost. I powered off, unplugged the main cord, and tried one last thing. On the mobo, where there is the big power connection and then that second one that comes with half of it capped off, I removed that cap and used the full connection ( hope I'm making sense). I then powered back on and booted up again. VOILA! It is now stable. So, the only difference between now and before is the mobo, new processor (but same type), and using that full connection instead of half of it capped off. Now, it's entirely possible that that issue, removing the cap and using the full connection, was the issue all along and perhaps I did not need the new mobo and new processor, however I have to tell you that I had already tried using the full, uncapped connection on the old mobo with the first processor, so it's possible that wasn't the issue or not the entire issue. Long story short, this desktop is stable as hell with:

Asus P6T Deluxe V2 mobo
i7 920 2.66 processor
BIOS set at default (I'm not even going to bother tweaking it out)
The smaller power connection fully utilized, i.e. the black plastic cap covering half of it removed and entirely plugged in.

Now it is stable. I hope someone with more experience might gain some insight from this. Maybe you can read between the lines and deduce what the issue could have been and why/how the issue no longer exists for me. Maybe you won't need a new mobo and processor, why spend all that cash if you don't really have to. But all I care about is that my system is now stable.

EDIT: In retrospect... My graphics card is a MONSTER, it's the nVidia GTX 295; thing's huge (but well well worth it...!) Perhaps because of that, my mobo needed as much juice as it could take, so maybe that power connection really was the issue, and perhaps it didn't work when I tried it with the older setup because may have damaged something else in my haphazrd attempts to get this to work.

There it is. I may have done too much, and I may have spent money that I did not have to, but my system is now stable. w00t!

 

[terr281]

The "smaller power connection" you are referencing is the 8 pin 12v CPU power connector. MB manufacturers cap 4 ports of it because some power supplies only have a 4 port CPU power cable. (Most these days go ahead and include the 8 pin.)

I ALWAYS buy PSUs with 8 pin connectors and plug them into the full 8 pins of MBs. (For the exact reason that, on my Nvidia MBs that had a separate 4 pin Molex power connector, I connected them as well.)

It is entirely possible that your old MB and CPU were not getting enough power via the 4 pin connector. (Further, with all the settings and tests we and others suggested, your attempt to connect the 8 pin was during a time when you had something setup in the BIOS incorrectly.)

Or, you could have confirmed one of the reasons why I personally don't buy Asus MBs. (In my experience, they are buggy.)

Either way, it is good that you are back up and running. Congrats.

 

[jros83]

thank you thank you, and thanks also for sharing your experiences with Asus mobos. Next time I put a system together, I'll stear clear of Asus.