Bios update caused system instability?

[barroso]

The system was working without problems save for one game which would make the system crash and once it also prompted the blue screen. Save for the blue screen the game in question(BF Hardline) has been reported for causing crashes even from other users.

...i say was working 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 happens 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.

 

[Carfax83]

Those look like hardware issues to me. Assuming your temps are good, have you tested your RAM to make sure it's functioning properly?

Does it crash even if you select load optimized defaults in the UEFI?

 

[barroso]

I've been gaming on this rig for the last month with both CPU and GPU heavy titles at ultra, never had any problem whatsoever. I never checked the temperatures while in game, just saw CPU at idle in bios, 20-30'C.

As for the ram, for some reason both sticks defaulted at 2133 while they should be at 2666. But as i said i gamed intensively for a month without issues.

I didnt find the optimized defaults option you mentioned but in the meantime i tried re-installing the same bios update - this time it went good all the way, didn't have to reboot after installation like the 1st time, BUT for some reason before windows even loaded a fan started blowing like crazy and i immediately turned off the power.

 

[Carfax83]

I've been gaming on this rig for the last month with both CPU and GPU heavy titles at ultra, never had any problem whatsoever. I never checked the temperatures while in game, just saw CPU at idle in bios, 20-30'C.

That's one of the first things you should check when you see instability like that. For all you know, your heatsink may not be seated properly or something..

The other thing to check are voltages. After removing any overclocking, make sure everything is set to auto. That's why I said to choose load optimized defaults. That puts everything to default, including voltages and clock speeds..

And finally, check to make sure all your cables are connected properly.

As for the ram, for some reason both sticks defaulted at 2133 while they should be at 2666. But as i said i gamed intensively for a month without issues.

Probably because XMP is disabled. What kind of RAM do you have? Some RAM doesn't work well on certain motherboards..

I didnt find the optimized defaults option you mentioned but in the meantime i tried re-installing the same bios update - this time it went good all the way, didn't have to reboot after installation like the 1st time, BUT for some reason before windows even loaded a fan started blowing like crazy and i immediately turned off the power.

If a fan started blowing like crazy, that might be an indication of overheating.

 

[barroso]

I checked the 24 pin motherboard connector as for some reason it cant fit all the way in the socket and click as the other ones and already once the system wouldnt boot because of it, and - so far so good.

Not sure wth happened after i reinstalled bios and the fan started going nuts but everything seems to be in order now. Have yet to check that game which didnt seem to work, others work as they should again.

I also checked the temperatures before and after fastening the connector and they were in line. Btw, im using hwinfo and as for the GPU temperature im not sure whether the "thermal diode" or the "vrm temperature" is what i should check? Both were within the average mentioned by various websites.

As for the ram i tried switching on the XMP profiles but upon reboot it says that the overclocking has failed. Upon choosing the profile(there are 2) there is the option to choose "optimization throughout all cores" which supposedly requires adequate cooling or "intel's standard settings" and i chose the latter. Ram is Kingston HyperX 2666 CL15 2x8GB.

Thank you for helping me locate the issue bro, appreciate it!

 

[MongGrel]

I suspected a bit of rookie overclocking teething pains myself.

Sounds it's working again, it is a learning process sometimes.

 

[Carfax83]

@ Barroso, glad it worked out for you :thumbsup: