PC troubles that no one has come close to figuring out.

Chaoss

Chaoss

Chaoss

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Joined
29 Jul 2013
Posts
126
Location
Angel, UK
So I have these wierd issues with my rig that so far, the #techsupport IRC, the tech support subreddit and Tech Support Guy forums have been completely unable to resolve. I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me figure this out. It's been really frustrating.

Problem 1
If I restart the PC or power it on, it will show the BIOS Gigabyte logo, then power off, then power back on and automatically go to the BIOS with a "Boot Failure" message showing. I've tried resetting the BIOS and double checked the memory timings are ok but I've so far had no luck getting this working. I can boot into Windows normally by using the Boot Override function and the system works ok-ish until next restart when the process will repeat.

Problem 2
About once to twice a week the PC will either freeze or show a BSOD, the last BSOD showed WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR. I have NOT overclocked my CPU and all automatic overclocking functions have been disabled (including the overclock switch on the IO shield of the motherboard)

Problem 3
This problem is one I've had for a while now, my 2 4TB mechnical drives in a software RAID1 are running REALLY REALLY slowly. These drives are connected to an LSI Raid card (the raid function doesn't work as the ***** I bought it from put correct but none-raid firmware on there and I haven't figured out how to flash it). These drives worked fast before.

I've scanned the drives and they are reporting no issues, I've ran memtest86 and again had no problems so I'm at a complete loss of what to do. I've RMA'd the PSU 3 times now as there is a 'click' sound when the PC powers off on boot. It doesn't seem to be that.

My specs are as follows...

OS: Windows 10 Pro X64
CPU: Intel Xeon E5 2600 V3 series 12 core/24 thread @ 2.8Ghz/3.4Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte X99 UD5 Wifi on latest BIOS firmware (f21)
Ram: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance 14-16-16-28 @ 2133Mhz
GPU: Gigabyte GTX Titan X
Drive 1: PCI-E 400GB SSD Intel 750 series (system)
Drive 2: PCI-E 400GB SSD Intel 750 series (work drive)
Drive 3: Intel 730 series SATA 3 480GB (Steam & Games)
Drive 4: Intel 730 series SATA 3 480GB (Steam & Games, drives are seen as one large drive)
PSU: Antec Premium Fully Modular 1300w
LSI SAS/SCSI Raid Card: 2 x WD RE4 4GB SAS Drives in JBOD but configured for software RAID 1 in Windows

I also have a 7 port (5 external 2 internal) USB card.

Plugged into my PC I have Razer Keyboard/Mouse, BenQ BL3201PT 4k (and the USB hub built into the monitor), BenQ BL2420PT 1440p, Sony TV (720p), HTC Vive Pre, M-Audio M-Track Plus MK2 USB Audio Interface, Audio Technica AT2020 USB Mic and a bluetooth remote.

nothing is currently plugged into the USB extension card, I do however have an Oculus Rift CV1 which I plug into it when I use it/develop for it (I have to much plugged in to use the motherboard ports)

edit: added PSU
 
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First problem sadly isn't totally uncommon with Gigabyte motherboards - saving a profile of the BIOS settings can make it quicker to get booted up with the right settings when it happens - common reasons:

It doesn't like your memory (can be a number of reasons i.e. it might not like 4x8GB of that brand or might only work with 4x4GB etc. sometimes can be solved with more voltage but not always)
An attached USB device
Using dynamic VID
Low voltage/failing CMOS battery

Problem 2 sounds like memory isn't 100% stable (could be IMC is struggling) sometimes it will pass memtest but struggle in Windows when the IMC is the weakness - it can also be caused by problems with storage devices however.
 
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ExoMale said:
What is your power supply? Can be a reason for all issues.
Click to expand...

+1 for this, without knowing make/model, it could either be underpowered which could cause all three issues, or depending on age/design could just "incompatible*" with that board

(* not strictly incompatible, but e.g. due to specific design, doesn't work quite right with that board, but may be fine with a lower spec board for example)


Chaoss said:
LSI SAS/SCSI Raid Card: 2 x WD RE4 4GB SAS Drives in JBOD but configured for software RAID 1 in Windows

I also have a 7 port (5 external 2 internal) USB card.

Plugged into my PC I have Razer Keyboard/Mouse, BenQ BL3201PT 4k (and the USB hub built into the monitor), BenQ BL2420PT 1440p, Sony TV (720p), HTC Vive Pre, M-Audio M-Track Plus MK2 USB Audio Interface, Audio Technica AT2020 USB Mic and a bluetooth remote.

nothing is currently plugged into the USB extension card, I do however have an Oculus Rift CV1 which I plug into it when I use it/develop for it (I have to much plugged in to use the motherboard ports)
Click to expand...


Remove the RAID Card + unplug drive power connectors, remove the USB card, disconnect all of the above except 1 monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Try with bare minimum to see if the boot problems still occur (could be all the extra devices cause the BIOS to hang - especially e.g. if the RAID controller bios isn't the correct one or even an up to date one).
 
If he's RMA'd the PSU 3 times, I think he'd be awfully unlucky to have had 3 bad PSUs - unless they're really cheap and nasty ones.

Of course if it's not a big enough wattage PSU, then that could cause all the issues you're experiencing.
 
Borealis said:
If he's RMA'd the PSU 3 times, I think he'd be awfully unlucky to have had 3 bad PSUs - unless they're really cheap and nasty ones.
Click to expand...

It's not a case of having 3 bad PSUs - more a case of it is still the same PSU model he started with - trying a completely different PSU would rule that out.

E.g. it could be an old design PSU with a long warranty? PSU requirements with regards to rail design etc have changed over the years.
 
Chaoss said:
The PSU is an Antec Premium 1300w fully modular
Click to expand...

Be worth trying another PSU - lower wattage (e.g. around 800W) wouldn't matter either, as your system likely is drawing much less than that (and possibly below the PSUs optimum efficiency)
 
I guess I should have elaborated a bit more. Yeah I'm totally with you that an old design of PSU may not play happily with more modern hardware.

According to this review, it's a very, very good PSU (If I've got the right PSU).
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=374

However, it's still worth trying a different brand/model just in case your system doesn't like it for whatever reason.
 
I have issue number one with my board, but it only happens when changing the graphics card. Saving a profile and loading it again when this happens is the way to resolve it in my case as mentioned above.
 
pandem0nium said:
I have issue number one with my board, but it only happens when changing the graphics card. Saving a profile and loading it again when this happens is the way to resolve it in my case as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Interesting you mention that - I had no problem with it until I changed my GPU and I've been too lazy (and/or too busy with other stuff) to get to the bottom of it this time around.
 
For issue two, I'd recommend trying each stick individually7 at xmp settings using memtest86. Go for a few passes. If there's even one error, I'd suspect an issue with the ram.

Make sure that the correct voltage is set in the bios as well. I had to manually set the voltage to 1.35 even after applying the xmp profile.

As for issue three, is there a reason for using the card at all when raid isn't supported?

I'd try the drives in the sata ports of the motherboard and test using HDtune or similar.
 
Rroff said:
Interesting you mention that - I had no problem with it until I changed my GPU and I've been too lazy (and/or too busy with other stuff) to get to the bottom of it this time around.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't felt the need to investigate further or open a ticket with Gig. It'll just happen the once after a gpu change and takes a few secs to sort out.

What is really a bugger is that you'll lose settings if you haven't saved them. It'll also cause you to doubt the stability of your overclock.
 
If it were me, I'd strip the whole machine down and test each time you remove a component. If you're eventually left with the motherboard, remove that and put it on plain cardboard and test your components one at a time.

If you still get problems with all the components outside the case, then in my eyes you've got 4 culprits that each need testing - CPU, RAM, motherboard or PSU.
 
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