Unreliable machine

My machine is four years old now but it has always suffered from a few problems. The problems are probably all related but I have no idea what the cause is. They symptoms I have are:

• Blank screen on startup (happens more in the summer ie. 23C-30C)
• Screen full of noise on startup, like an old TV but with brighter colours and higher resolution (very rare)
• System hanging randomly (maybe a few times per month)

With the blank screen, it could simply be Windows pumping output through VGA rather than HDMI. Pressing the power button makes it shutdown gracefully, but it is a pain if I need to reboot 3 times to get going. There was also one time when it was always going to a blanks screen, I reinstalled Windows to fix/improve it.

The noise on startup is very rare but probably something to do with graphics.

The hanging is the worst one because I need to hit the reset button to resolve it. It's as if there is a deadlock because different app gradually hang, it usually starts with one app and then the others (including the task bar hang too). The mouse cursor still moves but that is the only thing that works.

I chose good brands to get a reliable system, but I think I must have failed. Has anybody experienced these symptoms or knows what the problem could be? I want to upgrade my machine but I'm not sure whether it's worth spending money on an unreliable machine. It still performs really well though so I can't just scrap it.

The motherboard is my main suspect but you can't get socket 1155 boards now, so I'm pretty much stuck with it.

Here's my hardware:
Intel i7 3770k
Asus Maximus V Gene Z77 mATX
Antec 380W EarthWatts PSU
240GB Cosair Neutron GTX
(no dedicated graphics card)

Have you ever updated the motherboards bios and do you have all the latest drivers? Do you have the igpu selected as the primary gpu in the bios? Have you tried a fresh windows install? How old is the psu because the Antec Earthwatts series has been around since 2006?

pastymuncher said:

Have you ever updated the motherboards bios and do you have all the latest drivers? Do you have the igpu selected as the primary gpu in the bios? Have you tried a fresh windows install? How old is the psu because the Antec Earthwatts series has been around since 2006?

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I've just updated the BIOS, but I'll need to give it at least a week or two to see if it makes a difference. There were 3 stability improvements since my previous version.

Windows has been reinstalled in the past, but it made no difference.

The PSU is the same age as everything else (4 years old). The power output should be far more than I need for my setup.

DevPete said:

I've just updated the BIOS, but I'll need to give it at least a week or two to see if it makes a difference. There were 3 stability improvements since my previous version.

Windows has been reinstalled in the past, but it made no difference.

The PSU is the same age as everything else (4 years old). The power output should be far more than I need for my setup.

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But the PSU could be failing and not giving that much wattage, I'd have a guess at it being the issue as most of the issues I've ever had have been from 2 decent PSU's. XFX Core Edition and Evga G2 failing on me taught me to have a spare.

Doogles said:

But the PSU could be failing and not giving that much wattage, I'd have a guess at it being the issue as most of the issues I've ever had have been from 2 decent PSU's. XFX Core Edition and Evga G2 failing on me taught me to have a spare.

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The problems still exist, even after the BIOS update. I think I might try a new PSU. I may still end up with the same problem after spending significant money.

The problem often happens with little or no load. For example it happened today when watching a Blu-ray (10-15% CPU usage and no external devices plugged in). The voltages also seem to be very accurate and stable. Eg. 12V = 12.096V, 5V = 5.000V and 3.3V = 3.360V. Temperatures are always 30-40C.

DevPete said:

The problems still exist, even after the BIOS update. I think I might try a new PSU. I may still end up with the same problem after spending significant money.

The problem often happens with little or no load. For example it happened today when watching a Blu-ray (10-15% CPU usage and no external devices plugged in). The voltages also seem to be very accurate and stable. Eg. 12V = 12.096V, 5V = 5.000V and 3.3V = 3.360V. Temperatures are always 30-40C.

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I ordered a 450W Super Flower last night, OcUK were very quick to deliver, and I've already got it running

It sounds silent, which is always nice. A quick look at voltages doesn't really reveal much, but there are a few differences. These were all taken with an idle system. Here are the differences:
12.096 -> 12.192V
5.000 -> 5.200V
3.360 -> 3.376V
DRAM 1.450 -> 1.465V

They are all slightly higher, but probably not enough to make a difference. The DRAM seems a little low. They are 1.5V but running at a bit less. Could the memory voltage need tweaking in the BIOS?

DevPete said:

DRAM 1.450 -> 1.465V

They are all slightly higher, but probably not enough to make a difference. The DRAM seems a little low. They are 1.5V but running at a bit less. Could the memory voltage need tweaking in the BIOS?

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I wouldn't do it yet, until you get issues again. But that may have been the cause unless the new PSU runs it fine without tweaking.

My machine failed to boot properly again today, so I haven't made any progress. I maybe looking at a new machine, but my i7 3770k is still a good processor

Did you increase the DRAM voltage to an effective 1.5v (can increase a bit more afterwards if needed).

Danny75 said:

Did you increase the DRAM voltage to an effective 1.5v (can increase a bit more afterwards if needed).

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After a bit of Googling I realised that 1.5V is for XMP. My RAM is actually underclocked at 1333MHz, and running at a 'normal' voltage of 1.45V. Should this be ok? My memory is CML8GX3M2A1600C9. I've had a memory compatibility issue in the past, but it blue screened randomly, nothing like my current symptoms.

It's looking like the M/B or CPU, both of which can't be replaced (with new parts). A dedicated graphics card may resolve the problem, but I could just be wasting more money.

I agree that looks typical for 1333 but it won't hurt to try increasing. Memory instability can manifest in all sorts of ways (wireless, audio etc), most severe is blue screen/failure to boot of course.

You can go up to 1.65v safe. No need for this much but just saying. If the voltage is an issue you should see improvement at an effective 1.50-1.55v already.