BF:Hardline keeps crashing the system

[barroso]

Hi,

it worked np for 1-2 hours then after i went afk for a couple mins i got the blue screen and from then on every time i start the game, either before the game actually loads or after a couple min in game it either freezes or resets. All that only in the multiplayer mode of the game. Sometimes the system also freezes upon starting up windows after rebooting from one such crash.

The rig can run the game at ultra, got enough free space, latest drivers and bios updated.

Any idea?

 

[myocardia]

The vast majority of blue screens happen because of a bad stick of DRAM, although if you aren't giving your video card (or system RAM) enough voltage, you'll also get a BSOD. They can be caused by many, many things, but more often than not, it's because you need to lower your RAM overclock (or raise RAM timings at the same clock speed), lower your CPU overclock (or give your CPU more voltage), or replace your RAM, video card, or power supply.

 

[daveybrat]

Also, give us your complete system hardware specs so we can help further.

 

[barroso]

Well the system was working without problems save for that game so i don't think the problem was with ram or psu...

...i say was because after i installed the latest bios today the system became extremely unstable, now with blue screens popping sometimes as soon as windows loads, sometimes it takes a while longer. As i said, prior to updating bios any issue whatsoever was confined to the game i mentioned.

It also freezes when i enter bios, not right away but fast enough to discourage me from rolling back the bios to its prior version as i fear it may freeze halfway and possibly cause even greater issues.

The Asus Crash free bios 3 feature doesn't react to either the old or the current version of bios from the USB flash drive and the CD.

The new bios was downloaded from the Asus official website, latest version for my board, installed through the EZ flash tool in the bios itself from an USB flash drive. No problem during installation, but it got stuck on the 1st screen(with the Asus logo) after it rebooted after insallation and i had to reboot manually.

Safe mode is stable, as far as browsing through Windows and uninstalling programs is concerned. But as i said during normal start up Windows happen to crash as soon as it loads so it is relevant.

Asus Z170 Pro gaming, 6700k, R9 390x, Kingston HyperX 16gb ddr4, EVGA G2 850W. No component is OCed at the moment.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The new bios was downloaded from the Asus official website, latest version for my board, installed through the EZ flash tool in the bios itself from an USB flash drive. No problem during installation, but it got stuck on the 1st screen(with the Asus logo) after it rebooted after insallation and i had to reboot manually.

That may have been a mistake. When I flashed my Asus H110M-A board, I had to let it reboot the PC several times, to flash both the BIOS, and the ME firmware. If you stopped / rebooted it manually in the middle of that process, you may not have the updated ME firmware, which might be causing your issues.

 

[Steltek]

That may have been a mistake. When I flashed my Asus H110M-A board, I had to let it reboot the PC several times, to flash both the BIOS, and the ME firmware. If you stopped / rebooted it manually in the middle of that process, you may not have the updated ME firmware, which might be causing your issues.

+1

Your only recourse may be to attempt to re-flash the BIOS.

BTW, did you reset the CMOS, then re-enter your BIOS settings after flashing?

 

[barroso]

Sorry for the late response(vacation) and thank you for yours.

So in the meantime i did re-flash bios, 1st with the same version, this time letting it finish the process, then some time later i updated with a newer version. Neither made any difference as BSODs still popping up on a daily basis.

I didn't clear cmos though, i wonder if i should do it now AFTER i re-flashed bios?



I also tested ram with memtest with 0 errors but i then realized it was running at 2133mhz cl20 and upon turning on any of the two XMP profiles i got the "overclocking failed" message upon reboot.

I tried turning the xmp profiles on with each stick of ram separately, one gave the same exact message, the other did manage to boot with the xmp on but it did crash eventually and gave the message on reboot. Voltage with xmp on is at the highest recommended value. Also tried raising voltage somewhat with the clock at 2133mhz, still unstable.

Those are ram issues alright, but i simply cannot understand why was everything running smoothly up until i started playing that game. Played more demanding games for 2 whole months before with zero issues. I also tried uninstalling game and client but nothing changed.

I'll mention one more thing - recently updated GPU drivers and that again made the system even more unstable and it did last until i reset that ram voltage to default.

Also the actual BSOD messages: bad pool header, memory management, (driver)irql not less or equal, system service exception, some with several different .sys files(win32k.sys, dxgms1.sys), countless with just the technical information.

Any hint people? Tried contacting Asus(for motherboard troubleshooting) but only got directed to further testing and later to contact retailer.

 

[Ketchup]

Set you memory one speed lower than what you have been running it and see if stability improves.

You also might want to try a program called Hardware Monitor and see if you rails (3.3, 5, and 12v) are staying within spec.

 

[barroso]

So i tried setting memory frequency one value under the one it defaulted at and it actually increased instability - had to reboot several times(with bios itself freezing) until i managed to access bios and restore defaults. At one of the several reboots it again gave that "overclocking failed" message which actually appears often after crashes and BSODs even at the default settings.

Also tried clearing CMOS but not sure i was successful as i got no feedback whatsoever, in fact i did it after the instability increased with the change of ram frequency and it had no effect at all.

I have Hwinfo installed and of the values you mentioned i see "+5V" which is set at 5.000V and "+12V" at min 12.096V and max 12.192V. There are 4 values overall around the 3.3V mark so i really can't tell which one you were referring to.

I should probably add one more information, that the 24 pin atx connector's hook cannot attach to the socket. The connector itself is as deep inside as it can go, i pushed to the point where stuff started crackling around. That did cause some trouble while i was just assembling the pc as it wouldnt boot(only fans and leds would turn on) until i fastened it tighter and one time, couple weeks later the pc wouldnt turn on until i refastened it.

Also CPU failed Intel processor diagnostic tool's "CPU frequency" test, others were passed.

 

[barroso]

I'll update the thread with what turned out to be the solution if anyone with same issues will stumble upon it.

So even though everything worked perfectly fine for 2 months and each stick of RAM passed memtest86 with zero errors it was one stick of RAM that was causing the instability, ironically the one that was able to boot with XMP on.
After i removed it i never had a single crash.

I do have a dilemma though as the processor also turned to be defective by not passing intel processor diagnostic's "frequency test" for which intel itself suggests RMA(it seems it cannot run at turbo).

I bought the processor from a different vendor(both big companies with good renown) and now i wonder was it really bad luck to get both CPU and RAM defective or is it possible that this has something to do with the fact that the 24 pin ATX connector cannot fit all the way(i read somewhere that it is not advisable to use the PC in that case as it can cause hardware damage)?

The fact that everything ran well for a time is what raises this question. Anyway im now wondering whether to RMA both so id really appreciate if someone could shed some light on this.