I think my Core i7 is dying

[ciparis]

I purchased this on Nov 11. It's been running since then on an Asus P6T Deluxe board at:
165 bclk (3.3 Ghz)
1282 dram
1.26250 CPU voltage
everything else default (stock cooler)
3 sticks of Patriot DDR3/1600 RAM

It's not totally dead, but it is no longer stable even at BIOS defaults; prime95 errors within 5 minutes, and it crashes a few times a day with various blue-screen errors (mostly memory-corruption-related).

I've done a fresh installation (Windows 7) and tried running with 1 RAM stick, to no avail.

bummer...

 

[JMapleton]

You're going to have to post temps.

 

[ciparis]

Eh, it's never run hot. Still doesn't.

 

[Denithor]

Why exactly do you suspect the CPU? Especially with "memory-corruption-related" BSODs?

Run memtest86 on those DDR3 sticks - that's probably your problem.

 

[ciparis]

A few reasons, really:

1) this setup has been stable for 2 months
2) the memory controller is on the cpu
3) removing 2 of the sticks and running just a single one at around half its rated speed in single channel mode (it's a 3-channel system) didn't help.

 

[spinejam]

you need to try different ddr3 and see if problem persists. i find it hard to believe a cpu going bad, whereas, memory hmmmmmmmm!

 

[Phantomaniac]

Anyone else see anything wrong with stability testing on a beta operating system? :roll:

 

[ciparis]

Not a bad point; I'll do another clean install back to Vista just to verify that.

 

[ciparis]

Meh, I can't even install the OS anymore. Corruption...

 

[Denithor]

Can you run memtest? Or just RMA the sticks & hope they send you something better...

 

[Duvie]

make sure no beat bioses....reflash bios again...obviously dont use winflash and a windows update since if memory corruption is the issue you could hose your bios....

Maybe the bios is corrupted (I have seen it) and it is throwing timings out of whack....

Also check your harddrive...

 

[masteryoda34]

Disassemble the whole system and put it back together again.

 

[Painman]

I'm thinking BIOS too, but try a simple CMOS reset before flashing. Faulty hardware can certainly trash your BIOS/CMOS -- even something simple like a bad SATA cable can do so, as I recently discovered while fixing a family member's PC.

 

[ciparis]

Clearing CMOS was a surprisingly simple solution. What also surprises me was that loading defaults wasn't sufficient. Thank you -- Vista is up and running again; testing in progress.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: ciparis
Clearing CMOS was a surprisingly simple solution.

:thumbsup:

Clearing the CMOS is to the BIOS what rebooting is to Windows.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: ciparis
Clearing CMOS was a surprisingly simple solution.

:thumbsup:

Clearing the CMOS is to the BIOS what rebooting is to Windows.

That's great - except that it wipes whatever OC you had. :roll:

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: ciparis
Clearing CMOS was a surprisingly simple solution.

:thumbsup:

Clearing the CMOS is to the BIOS what rebooting is to Windows.

That's great - except that it wipes whatever OC you had. :roll:

Which is why you make a note of the settings you use

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: ciparis
Clearing CMOS was a surprisingly simple solution.

:thumbsup:

Clearing the CMOS is to the BIOS what rebooting is to Windows.

That's great - except that it wipes whatever OC you had. :roll:

Which is why you make a note of the settings you use

and if it was responsible for crashing his system? LOL..

thats why u start from scratch when you bios reset.

 

[ciparis]

After clearing the CMOS I was still using just one stick of DDR3 (I had reduced it during previous troubleshooting).

I got Vista installed and ran Prime95 for an hour: passed
I reinstalled Windows 7 and ran Prime95 overnight: passed
I re-added the two additional sticks of RAM: instant fail
I finally narrowed it down to 1 stick that has gone bad after being fine for 2 months (It's the Patriot 3-channel kit Anand used in the initial i7 reviews). It wasn't clear before because the previous problems had hosed the CMOS, making earlier RAM-reduction trials meaningless.

I'll be "limping" along on on 4GB (2-channel/ddr3 1600 settings) while the other part is RMA'd thanks again everyone.