Motherboard/cpu problem?

[Deleted]

Hello MMO-C tech folk!

Perhaps someone can help me out since the bloody tech support I called had no clue what he was on about, would really appreciate it!

Okay so here's the story:

I've got an intel 3570k on a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H mobo for a little while but it would randomly shut off at times for no reason, no bios nothing.
I've checked everything I could and I think I narrowed it down to either the mobo or the CPU just being lame, because the mobo had some bent pins so I tried to bent them back gently and the CPU I have tested on another machine but that wouldn't even boot up at ALL for some weird reason.

Then I've tried putting the other machine's CPU in the Gigabyte mobo (i5 2500k) and it was fine for a day, but then it happened again.)
Is the mobo just messed up and should I get a new one? I don't have problems with that really but I want to be certain because what if it is the CPU, I'd have gotten the thing for nothing.

There was also another issue with an Intel stock cooler that would spin and stop two or three times and then start spinning, or not spin at all when entered on the CPU_FAN pins. Tried a cooling fan into that same slot, works instantly, so I'm still leaning on a faulty motherboard.

Tried changing RAM, PSU, still same problem.

Again, thanks if anyone can help out.

Other parts (from the top of my head)

850W PSU (also tried a CM 650W PSU)
GTX 570 in SLI
Antec watercooler
G.Skill Ripjaws 32GB
Some HDDs and 1 OCZ SSD

[ati87]

I'm no computer genius but it sounds like a cooler problem especially because of the part where you say that the stock cooler isn't spinning. Your computer is probably getting to hot which results in a forced shot down by the motherboard.

Also in my experience is that when the motherboard is failing the computer itself doesn't boot.

I could be wrong ofcourse but the best think you could do is give it to a repair shop and let them check it out.

[Deleted]

I've replaced the cooler with a watercooler and the same thing happens (unexpected shutdown) without any BSOD warning or nothing (even turned the option off in the BIOS itself so that it will always display) It just seems to lose power completely, really thinking it's just the bent pins or just a faulty motherboard but that doesn't explain why the CPU does not work on another machine with similar parts.

Ran Prime95 and Intel Burn Test and passed everything, no overheating issues.

[ati87]

I agree that it is most likely the bent pins but it will still be better if you take it to a shop to be sure.

[Lemmiwink]

You said there was no blue screen/bios nothing? What happens when it restarts? Does it boot up again and everything is fine? Does it turn off instantly or does it freeze first? Are there any lights/error messages on your MB?

First, I think the reason your CPU wouldn't work on the other MB was due to being incompatible, so I will rule out the CPU.

Second, What pins are bent on your MB? is it inside the CPU socket? If so, it's a problem as you will most likely have to melt the MB and CPU together to ever have the "right contact" again, that means you will have to change your MB and maybe even your CPU if it was forced in. Tough luck right? If the bent pins was not placed there, I do have difficulties seeing how these bent pins would make your computer act like this. I have certainly never heard of it before.

Bent pins/damaged hardware usually turns into dead hardware pretty fast due to overheating/short circuiting etc. So I am inclined to say it's not your MB either, based on the experience I have at least. And yes, I have run test setups just fine with "damaged" MB's, usually outside a case on standers to test overclocks or to test "faulty" hardware.

If you have no problems starting the machine after sudden shutdowns, and these shutdowns does not happen all the time but seem a bit "random" and there isn't any warnings etc. I would start checking hard drives, namely your SSD, which are known to have problems with instability like this.

First off; is your SSD installed in your Marvell SataIII controller? If yes, remove all HDD's from the marvell controller to the intel SataIII controller. This could be the solution to your problems. I have repaired quite a bit of computers the last 18 months with this particular problem.

If this doesn't work try copy your windows to another disk and RMA the SSD and get one of the stable ones (Crucial M4, Samsung 830/840 etc.). Finding your way in the jungle of SSD's can be confusing so always, and i mean always look for stability over raw speed. A stable system will be faster overall, always.

If you however have bent CPU pins I am sorry for lashing out on your SSD

Good luck

[Deleted]

Oh crud, yeah forgot to say that when it restart it just doesn't boot up, it like starts up with the fans and all glowing and turns off after a second or two, then repeats doing that.

I'll try the SSD stuff, perhaps that will fix it.

[FlawlessSoul]

Bent pins? RMA the motherboard. Can't do that?

Unplug all your drives, remove soundcard and all but one DIMM. Reset your BIOS/UEFI, then try updating it.

It's entirely possible that the bent pins are disconnecting from the CPU, and it is therefore possible that you've damaged the CPU. But if you can't RMA it, it's worth trying a BIOS/UEFI update.

[Deleted]

GF of Zeph here, it's my pc that's causing all the trouble. Just thought I'd pop in to give some more info and hopefully help diagnose the problem (or just cause some more confusion, haha).

First of all, I'd like to say that the build I had before was working fine, it had no problems. I got the new mobo/cpu probably about 3 months ago now and have had nothing but problems from the get go.

After installing the mobo/cpu it wouldn't start, at all. There was just no power getting to it. So we thought it might be a psu issue, but I was skeptical as it was working fine before and I haven't even had it for that long. We tested the psu again with my previous mobo/cpu and it worked, so we ruled that out. Then we changed the front panel connections about a dozen times and still nothing. I can't remember what else we tried but we ended up sending it away on RMA the next day. They sent it back saying it was fine.

So we tried the cpu in my dad's pc and it started - progress! But that's as far as it got. It wouldn't even get to the bios, nothing came up on screen and it would restart over and over and over again. We sent it back on RMA the next day. They sent it back saying it was fine.

We tried everything in my pc again. I don't remember everything that we tried but I know we switched the ram with my dad's and it would start up with 1 stick of ram, but not two. Didn't matter what slots you put them in, it was the same outcome. And it acted completely random with my ram, sometimes it would work sometimes it wouldn't. Zeph phoned the place where we got the mobo/cpu from and they suggested it might be a bent pin. When he looked, we discovered there was indeed a bent pin. After bending it back, it seemed to work. For about a week-2 weeks.

I'd already ordered a new cooler as I was planning on OCing it. Until then I was using the stock fan. A couple of days before my cooler arrived my pc started acting up again and we thought it might be the stock cooler causing the issues. We installed the cooler as soon as it arrived and my pc was working smoothly again. For about a week.

That's pretty much where we're at now. I switched over my dad's cpu and mine again, my cpu is still doing the same in his pc. My pc was working for about a day and a half before it started switching off again using my dad's cpu.

As Zeph said, it randomly switches off, like the switch has been turned off at the back of the pc. No BSoD, nothing. It'll then continue to restart itself over and over until I switch it off manually. Sometimes it'll start back up again and get to the Windows screen before it shuts down again and othertimes it won't even get past the bios. It's definitely not overheating or a cooling issue as we've run stress tests for hours and it's been completely fine.

I can understand them not being able to find a problem on RMA because I assume they only test the hardware for a few hours, if that. Which in my case is no use because it can go for a couple of weeks without having any problems and then just suddenly start again without reason. There isn't even anything I can do to force it to happen again, like I said, it's totally random.

Also, since we've had problems from the very beginning, if it were the bent pins being the issue that would mean they've been bent right from the start and they never even saw it when we RMA'd it, as well as the fact that they managed to get it working without issue. Either that or they lied...

We have also tested it with just the bare bones - mobo, cpu, psu and 1 stick of ram and it was still not working correctly (that was before we bent the pins back).

I will try a bios update, FlawlessSoul. I'm willing to try anything at this point as I'm all out of ideas.

[Deleted]

I agree with flawless
It sounds as though the motherboard might need updating to support the cpu. My buddy had a similar problem when he upgraded his cpu one bios update later everything was fine and dandy.