Prime95 Worker 5 and 6 Fail to Start (CPU's 3rd core not working)

[acaciaxmeta]

So for almost 8 months now I've had to use Process Lasso to set my default CPU Affinity to Cores 1-4 and 7-8 (basically just skipping the 3rd physical core on my CPU). Any program I run on the 3rd core fails to run at all or crashes or has some strange glitches.

When I run a Prime95 test with the default CPU affinity the 5th and 6th workers fail to start due to hardware failure.

I have tried upping my voltage up to 1.45V but nothing changed.

Is there anything I can do to fix my third core?

Specs:
CPU: Intel I7-3770k (not overclocked at the moment)
MOBO: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77
RAM: Vengeance LP 16 GB (4x4GB) 1333MHz
GPU (irrelevant?): EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti FTW Signature2 2GB
PSU: Thermaltake Black Widow 850W

 

[nukemaster]

Seems like it may well be defective.

Since other programs stop crashing when you avoid that core, I would guess it is not a memory issue.

It never hurts to ensure your memory is running at its rated speed and voltage(I am guess it is NOT this because 1333 should be a standard 1.5 volt part).

 

[acaciaxmeta]

Seems like it may well be defective.

Since other programs stop crashing when you avoid that core, I would guess it is not a memory issue.

It never hurts to ensure your memory is running at its rated speed and voltage(I am guess it is NOT this because 1333 should be a standard 1.5 volt part).

That is what I feared. I'll contact Intel about maybe replacing it (I doubt they'll RMA it a year after I bought it).

And yes my memory is at 1333 MHz and 1.5V.

 

[nukemaster]

Actually if the cpu is retail(with included heatsink) I think you get 3 years.

They may even have other tests for you to try.

If you have overclocked it I would leave that part out since I am not 100% sure they will cover overclocking and may try to blame damage on that.

I know K series is for overclocking, but I am not sure how the warranty applies.

Hope they can get you all fixed up.

EDIT,

Another thing to try may be to remove the cpu and look at the board to ensure the pins(do NOT touch them as they are very easy to bend. If you do ship the cpu to Intel, make sure you place that plastic over the socket just like how the board came from the factory to protect it.) are not bent and then reinstall the cpu, just in case you have some bad contact(some users report getting memory errors from bad contact).

 

[acaciaxmeta]

Actually if the cpu is retail(with included heatsink) I think you get 3 years.

They may even have other tests for you to try.

If you have overclocked it I would leave that part out since I am not 100% sure they will cover overclocking and may try to blame damage on that.

I know K series is for overclocking, but I am not sure how the warranty applies.

Hope they can get you all fixed up.

EDIT,

Another thing to try may be to remove the cpu and look at the board to ensure the pins(do NOT touch them as they are very easy to bend. If you do ship the cpu to Intel, make sure you place that plastic over the socket just like how the board came from the factory to protect it.) are not bent and then reinstall the cpu, just in case you have some bad contact(some users report getting memory errors from bad contact).

I've RMA'd the motherboard and ASUS replaced it with a brand new one even though it turns out there was nothing wrong with it. I've inspected the CPU a couple of times and never noticed any pins bent or anything of the sort. I'll definitely get in contact with Intel about an RMA though, thanks for letting me know I can still do that.