Sandy 2500K Or Asus P8P67 Pro looks to be dying

SimonMaltby

SimonMaltby

SimonMaltby

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Well I have had the board and chip for 2 days, yesterday it ran prime at 4.6GHz and would superPi at 4.7GHz

For the last few hours I have been getting hardware blue screens in windows even running everything at stock :(

I can rule out RAM because I have 2 sets.
I have reseated the CPU several times, but temps seem fine.
I have flashed backwards and forwards between the three Asus bioses
I have been running the chip at between 1.3 and 1.35v with a couple to test runs at 1.4v

I think the CPU is dying which would be very bad news.

Going to let everything cool down, reseat the CPU with the supplied Heatsink and try again, but I'm not very hopeful... this has all the signs of a chip in meltdown.
 
A random name said:
How high have you had the CPU? Both clock and voltage wise
Click to expand...

CPU Max it has managed to get into windows at (i.e. once the Turbo cuts in on boot) is about 4.75 ans the max I have set the vcore is 1.4v in the bios

tocasa said:
Or the EPU switch might have the same effect - is it on?
Click to expand...
Yea I had an issue with that earlier and noticed the vcore and vdimm were lower than i set them. But thats all switched off now.


UPDATE:
Switched the CPU cooler from H50 to stock Intel
Have re-cleared CMOS
But no good. I get a blue screen with "an uncorrectable hardware error" and thats with everything at stock.

The only 2 other things I can try as I have spares is the GPU and PSU.
 
mrbios said:
You able to take a photo of the blue screen so we can see exactly what's coming up?
Click to expand...

Will Do.

mrbios said:
Also, i know it says hardware error, but is there any possibility of windows file corruption caused by your overclock during an unstable moment? (just trying to rule out everything)
Click to expand...

No chance. I thought the same which is why I set everything back to stock and am now just trying to install windows anew. I get the blue screen once all the files are loaded and the install re boots for the first time.

PSU and GPU both tried with no difference.

I have now turned off Turbo, set the CPU to one core and disabled as many motherboard addons as I can. Its just installing now. Will post back with either the blue screen shot or result in a few minutes
 
sandyBad.jpg


I think I have exhausted everything I can. It must be either the CPU or the Motherboard.
 
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mrbios said:
I'd say try running memtest just as a precaution, even though you have two sets of memory. Beyond that, considering all the things you've tried i think it's time to hit the RMA train :(

EDIT: VaderDSL is too quick for me! :p
Click to expand...

Memtest does not work with Sandy Bridge yet.
Fount 4.2 Beta that does. Will try now.
 
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VaderDSL said:
If the RAM is fine and the test run ok, perhaps the HDD is on the way out?
Click to expand...

Just eliminated that. I swapped the OCZ SSD for a std SATA drive and the same things happens.

The best result i have got is by turning off Turbo and setting the multi to it's lowest - 16x This installs windows and only fails on the very last step... with the same error.

This leads me more and more to the CPU... because if I can get it to go a bit further by slowing it down there must be a correlation.

Once Mem test completes and assuming there is no error, i'm going to assume this is the CPU and order a new one (probably a 2600k instead) then assuming that works I will RMA this one. If the new CPU still fails then I know its the motherboard.
 
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Right, that's it. Memtest has completed 2 passes without issue.
I'm confident that the CPU is at fault and will try and RMA it.

I hope this is not a bad omen for Sandy Bridge and that I have just been unlucky.

Looking back at my day, the CPU seems to have become less and less stable as the day progressed. I thought that the tweaks here and there that I was making were just not working, It was only when I tried to get back to where i was yesterday (4.6 stable) that I started to realise something was wrong.

The first symptoms were that it crashed more when running an application while at 4.6 then it was fine at stock but any over clock caused a blue screen. Then just leaving it sat in windows at stock would cause a blue screen after about 5 minutes. Finally, where I am now that it will not even install windows at stock.
 
Purgatory said:
Maybe worth giving this a test.. It's spotted bad cpus for me in the past, make sure to use the right one for 32bit and 64bit os. Also download the manual too will explain what you need to have installed to make it work.
Run it at stock at 1st then try a mild overclock then the overclock you want to use and see if it fails at any..

Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-031726.htm
Click to expand...

That would be fine, but as I can't install an OS now I cant run this test.
 
On the off chance, I just tried installing Windows XP Pro 32bit and its installed.
The only change to the bios was to set SATA to IDE mode to avoid install driver issues.

Just installing the Intel Diagnostics and will run that.
Then I will try installing each of the Asus / Intel drivers one at a time to see what and if makes if fail.
 
INTEL DIAGNOSTICS FAILED :(

It's definatly the CPU


--- Reading Integrated Memory Controller Frequency ---
Expected IMC Frequency is --> 6046663130289808
Detected IMC Frequency is --> 1236704
Integrated Memory Controller Speed Test Fail. Expected: 6046663130289808 Detected: 1236704
--- Reading Integrated Memory Controller Frequency ---
Expected IMC Frequency is --> 6046663130289808
Detected IMC Frequency is --> 1236704
Integrated Memory Controller Speed Test Fail. Expected: 6046663130289808 Detected: 1236704
--- Test End Time: 01/01/2005 12:45:51---
 
NathWraith said:
Right Simon. If you send me an email. I can sort out an RMA for you and get your board changed :)
Click to expand...

I have already sent a webmail for RMA and had a reply from James.
I am ordering a 2600K today and James has asked that I test the CPU in the motherboard first, then RMA which ever is faulty. From my testing I don't think there is any doubt that its the CPU that's failed here.

I'm just waiting for the deals of the day to see if you pop the 2600K on there at a nicer price... hint hint.
(Bother, the deal of the day just went up and no 2600K... I was so sure it would be there today LOL)
 
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I would agree....
My 2500K is the only Sandy that I have seen a thread on that has defiantly failed. By failed I mean failed the Intel Diagnostic Software.

This is one chip out of many sold, It is far to early to say that sandy bridge has a problem. Personally I'm not concerned and have ordered my replacement today, I think I was unlucky and just had a bad chip.
 
Ok my replacement chip has arrived (this time a 2600K)

I'm still having some issues and wonder if I could ask for some help.

Windows installed properly, which the broken CPU would not do. No BSOD :)
I have set BCLK at 100 and my RAM voltage down to 1.4v
I then ran 2 passes of Memtest without issue

When I ran Prime 95 (Blend) I got errors. This seems to go away with a little more ram voltage 1.45v

What concerns me is that I have run the Intel Processor Diagnostic software and still get the same error IMC.

I had to disable the BLCK test as the asus will not stick exactly to 100 even when i set it manually.

Could anyone else with Sandy try the test please and see if you get the same failure.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19182&lang=eng
 
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