Motherboard and broadwell-e dead again

[2blzd]

2nd dead cpu and 3rd dead motherboard in two months.

What the hell did I do to deserve this?


The same exact thing happened. Computer on and working all day. Go watch TV for a few hours and I come back and it's dead.


Same exact red cpu lite is on.

Seriously distraught now. Everything is past 30 days and I have to go through rma again. I'm at a complete loss..is this real life?


I don't over clock, I game moderately. I edited projects all weekend just fine in premiere, like a dream.

What the hell is going on? What am I doing that's causing this? Can modern systems be longer sleep?

 

[master_shake_]

same power supply?

could be killing your computers.

 

[Justinbaileyman]

I feel ya bro, that sucks big time. I had that happen only once in history knock on wood..
It happened with a AMD x4 940 and My first and only DFI motherboard. I guess this is a common issue with X99 motherboards though. Do you mind if I ask what motherboard this happened with?

 

[superstition]

PSU as mentioned.

Using an anti-static wrist strap and, ideally, mat? I've seen plenty of motherboards and GPUs on Ebay sitting on carpet and tables.

You may want to have your power quality checked. I know someone who kept killing Macbook power supplies. It turns out that when she plugged in a new one in her barn, which was separately wired, they didn't die. I assume the problem with their power comes from their solar panel installation.

 

[2blzd]

How can it be my psu if it's a brand new? Evga supernova. My computer has worked flawlessly for weeks, before both times it died, and I used it for everything.

The psu worked fine when I got the replacement cpu and motherboard.


I don't get it

 

[superstition]

Newness doesn't guarantee something doesn't have defects. The average consumer-grade hard disk has shipped with multiple physical defects for years now to keep cost down.

It may be dirty power that is getting through your PSU, making the PSU the culprit only in the sense that it's not doing enough to protect components from the dirty power. Or, it might have excessive ripple or some other issue.

That person I talked about with her solar installation kept killing Macbook power supplies until I had her plug another one into her barn. No problems since.

As for working for weeks... it could be a marginal part in the PSU. It could be overvoltage from that that eventually fries something. Voltage spikes don't always kill things immediately.

You're not getting conductive thermal paste on your socket, right? If one over-applies a conductive TIM it could eventually run off the side of the CPU. Arctic Silver 5, for instance, says it needs 200 hours to fully cure. So, it's not like TIM is fully finished changing when it's applied and first used.

 

[2blzd]

Aren't power supplies supposed to have some type of built in protection ? How can it work day in and out, just completely fine, then randomly kill my cpu ? It doesn't make any sense? None

Could anything else cause this besides a psu? It's literally the same exact pled1 red light next to the cpu socket. The same led light that is NOT documented in the first motherboard manul I got, the asus x99 A-II. Nor is it documented in the new motherboard manual, asus x99 strix gaming. Nor anywhere on the Internet.

When I called asus the first time around they had no idea what it was. I can't wait around and do this all over again. Should I return all my components and start over ? Could my cpu cooler be shorting it out? It got damaged a little, just t a few bent heat fins I straightened out at the top (this was during unboxing not all during installation and not near anything else. )


I used the paste that came with my noctua, it's supposed to be really good.

 

[superstition]

Aren't power supplies supposed to have some type of built in protection ? How can it work day in and out, just completely fine, then randomly kill my cpu ? It doesn't make any sense? None

Not all PSUs fully protect components. Plus, any product can ship with a flaw. Voltage spikes can kill CPUs and boards.

Did you take a look at your voltages and temps with something like HWINFO64?

 

[superstition]

EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2

In these tests, we monitor the PSU's response in two different scenarios. First, a transient load (10 A at +12V, 5 A at 5V, 5 A at 3.3V, and 0.5 A at 5VSB) is applied to the PSU for 200 ms while the latter is working at 20% load. In the second scenario, the PSU, while working at 50% load, is hit by the same transient load. In both tests, we measure the voltage drops the transient load causes using our oscilloscope. The voltages should remain within the regulation limits defined by the ATX specification. We must stress here that these tests are crucial since they simulate transient loads a PSU is very likely to handle (e.g., booting a RAID array, an instant 100% load of CPU/VGAs, etc.). We call these tests Advanced Transient Response tests, and they are designed to be very tough to master, especially for a PSU with a capacity below 500 W.

The +12V rail performed very well, hardly deviating in both tests. The 5V and 5VSB rails also did well, but the 3.3V rail deviated greatly, which lead to a failure in the second test. Its failure is a shame, especially with such a well-performing PSU as the 1600 T2—we didn't expect it to fail.

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750G 750 W

Deviations are, except on the 3.3V rail, low on all rails, but a loose voltage regulation drops the voltage on all rails during the application of the transient load at low loads; that is, except for the 5V rail. Also, the extra loose voltage regulation on the 3.3V rail, along with the high deviation that it registers with the application of the transient load, led to a big fail on the second test with the voltage dropping below 3.1 V. Something else we noticed off the scope shots was the significant time the 12V and 5V rails need to stabilize their voltages as compared to other units we have tested in the past.

Corsair CX Series Modular CX600M 600 W

The unit's response to sudden transient loads definitely isn't amongst the best we have ever seen, since the deviations were close to the 2% region at +12V and 5V, while the 3.3V rail failed to keep its voltage inside the specified range during the second test.

EVGA Bronze 500 W

The +12V rail performed well enough considering this PSU's small capacity, and the same applies to the 5V and 5VSB rails. The 3.3V rail raised a red flag by registering large deviations and failing the second test with a reading below 3.1 V.

Corsair RM Series 650 W

Registered deviations on all rails weren't large, but the low nominal voltage of the 3.3V rail led to a fail during the second test.

Antec High Current Gamer 620 W

The most significant rail, +12V, performed well in the tests above, which are very challenging. Unfortunately this was not the case for the minor rails, since in the second part of the tests their voltage drops were very high. This resulted in both falling below the ATX specification limits and of course in failing to pass the specific tests.

OCZ Fatal1ty 550 W

The response of the PSU to transient loads was good enough on all rails but the 3.3V rail. Considering its low wattage, the latter rail was really bad since we measured huge deviations. Voltage on the same rail even dropped to 3.1 V during the second test.

We should stress that these tests are very important. Pay attention to them because they depict the unit's performance in real-life scenarios where loads on all rails are never steady, but constantly fluctuate by often a small and sometimes a large degree. PSUs must then quickly adapt to new system requirements while keeping all of the rails under control.

Seasonic G Series 550 W

The hold-up time is a very important characteristic of a PSU and represents the amount of time, usually measured in milliseconds, that a PSU can maintain output regulations as defined by ATX spec, despite a loss of input power. It is, in other words, the amount of time that the system can continue to run without shutting down or rebooting during a power interruption. At maximum continuous output load, the ATX spec sets the minimum hold-up time to 16 ms. In the following screenshot, the blue line is the mains signal while the yellow line is the "Power Good" signal. The latter is de-asserted to a low state when any of the +12V, 5V or 3.3V output voltages fall below the undervoltage threshold or after the mains power has been removed for a sufficiently long time to guarantee that the PSU cannot operate anymore. In this case, the G-550 failed to reach the minimum hold-up time of 16 ms.

Antec Edge Series 650 W

The hold-up time was 2 ms less than the minimum allowed, so the unit failed this test.

Cooler Master V Series 650 W

Hold-up time was below 17ms, which had the V650 fail this test. To make things worse, the power good signal dropped after and not before the rails went out of spec. This means that although the rails aren't within the ATX specification's range, the PSU reports that its voltage outputs are normal, which can affect a system's proper operation and, as such, its reliability.

EVGA Bronze 500 W

This PSU failed to achieve the minimum allowed hold-up time by 3 ms.

Super Flower Leadex Platinum 2000 W

This PSU failed to achieve the minimum allowed hold-up time by 2.5 ms.

A lot of gaming scenes processing and effects design now mandate advanced graphic card for game software to run smoothly. However, this advanced hardware is not required to run at their peak performance throughout the gaming process or at each and every level. That is, they are frequently switching between different performance modes all the time, which in turn, means transient load changes.

Electronic circuits of power supplies are designed with a feedback system for immediate adjustment or compensating output back to within standard output voltage specification. This is aimed at preventing the computer system from abnormal operation or damaging other power receiving components due to over- or under-output voltage by transient load changes. There is an industry standard testing “responses over transient load changes” as it is a critical electric indicator for power supply. The goal is to ensure power supplies’ normal operation under different transient load changes.

How can we make sure given electric specifications are compliant with gamer demands when the standard is always ignored by the public and most media lack of professional equipment for testing the standard? Fortunately there are some professional watchers including HardOCP, Tom’s Hardware, and Techpowerup who keep testing this item in professional manner and highlight suppliers failed to comply.

The Importance of Hold Up Time

http://blog.fsp-group.com/en/the-importance-of-hold-up-time/

The TP-750's hold-up time was spot on. This is of note since most of the PSUs we have tested so far failed this test.

Transient voltage regulation and hold-up time are not the only tests PSUs can fail.

 

[superstition]

Could my cpu cooler be shorting it out? It got damaged a little, just t a few bent heat fins I straightened out at the top (this was during unboxing not all during installation and not near anything else. )

If that were the case the machine would never have started. When I used the ASUS Crosshair screws to install a Gigabyte board in my NZXT case the short prevented booting entirely. Swapping the screws fixed the matter entirely.

Heat fins at the top of a CPU sink aren't going to short anything anyway.

 

[2blzd]

Yea I assumed I'm just trying to be transparent with everything that's happened.

Yes I checked my Temps on the on the daily. Always fine. I gamed all day today, everything was rock solid. I was in premiere pro editing 4k footage all weekend, everything was rock solid and cool. I've taxed it, it's never gone above 62 degrees, never.


Both times my cpu died were when I went afk for extended periods of time and left my computer idle.

It died when it was idling today. So it's not temp related

 

[spat55]

I had this issue with going through GPU's my R9 290 died but I thought it was just old and crap so got a R9 Fury which seemed to be DOA, brought a CX 750 to test and still dead so returned it. Got a GTX 1070 which worked for 10 minutes and before I could get drivers installed that also died. I RMA'ed the 1070 and the G2 1000w PSU and since then I've had no issues, I used the CX 750 for awhile with the new 1070 so that made me think it was the G2.

Point is that you need to change PSU to be sure at the very least.

 

[Torn Mind]

Use voltmeter to check for proper DC voltage and the presence of AC voltage. Use the paper clip trick to run PSU while it is not attached to anything.

I'd love to get more detailed, but I hatw posting on a phone.

 

[2blzd]

I hate posting on my phone too. It makes trouble shooting this process so much ore difficult and unappealing.

I did so much God darn research on psu's and everyone told me to get this amazing evga supernova g2. . . I can't fathom how that's the culprit and frying my cpu when it's idle?

It's the same exact stuff as last time. Psu short protection kicks in and prevents my motherboard from turning on. Pled1 red led. Other motherboard lights by the pwr and reset buttons light up. Fans don't spin. I'm not going to go through it all and breadboard and test it. My motherboard is likely dead and my cpu too.

The psu works fine but is somehow killing my components.

Obviously I have to rma the Psu but at this point do I just buy another brand or model?



Edit: this doesn't make any frigging sense. How could the power supply kill my system ? One day after working perfectly for weeks it just decides to zap my cpu?

I don't understand

 

[Burpo]

Electrical issues in the house?

 

[Hi-Fi Man]

Get a fluke and/or scope to test your mains voltage. Here in Europe some places vary pretty wildly due to older infrastructure. In North America mains is usually cleaner but this is not always the case so you need to check. I would also check the PSU regardless; defects can happen no matter the manufacturer.

 

[LTC8K6]

Take a good look at the CPU socket and see if you can see any pin problems. Or take a good macro pic and post it here.

 

[2blzd]

Thx for the help everyone but it's the same exact issue before. It's likely not going to be something new, as in bent pins. I already am rmaing the cpu.


Its plugged into a brand new surge protector that other devices are connected to, and none of the other devices have any issue with power. The previous pc I had before I built this one was plugged into the same socket for 8 months.. No issue. There are 2 other computers in the room plugged into different sockets/outlets and they don't have any issue.

If I have bad power from the wall wouldn't other devices be effected? Doesn't a good surge protector, protect you from that?


Amazon won't take the motherboard back because it's the 3rd one and think something funny is going on. So now I have to deal with asus rma. Sweet shit

 

[superstition]

If I have bad power from the wall wouldn't other devices be effected?

Affected? Yes. Similarly damaged in a short time frame? Not necessarily.

The person I told you about who kept killing her Macbook power supplies didn't have any apparent problems with her other devices, including her husband's iMac. That suggests that the Macbook's PSU is more sensitive/delicate.

Doesn't a good surge protector, protect you from that?

They help to protect from surges. There are more issues than surges. Also, how well those things protect is debatable and it also depends on the components used in them.

Power strips and surge protectors (also called surge suppressors) are different. Typically, power strips are cheap, multi-outlet products that are merely an expansion of a wall outlet. These usually have a circuit breaker of some sort, but most don't offer any real "protection" from electrical issues. Some might have the barest level of protection, but they're all pretty much just like plugging into the wall direct.

Surge protectors offer some level of protection against power spikes. How much and how well varies considerably.

The joule rating means that over time, a surge protector is going to wear out. Some will give you a warning when they do. Many won't.

 

[2blzd]

So how likely is it my board and cpu are not dead this time send the power supply just gave out?

 

[dark zero]

How can it be my psu if it's a brand new? Evga supernova. My computer has worked flawlessly for weeks, before both times it died, and I used it for everything.

The psu worked fine when I got the replacement cpu and motherboard.


I don't get it

RMA it... Also it might be your house itself, I mean it could not deliver the correct ammount of energy to keep it going without problems.

In Perú is really common... I lost 3 GPUs in less than 18 months...

 

[2blzd]

RMA it... Also it might be your house itself, I mean it could not deliver the correct ammount of energy to keep it going without problems.

In Perú is really common... I lost 3 GPUs in less than 18 months...

3 other computers have been running in the house for over 2 years just fine. . How could it ONLY affect my new PC?

 

[Torn Mind]

3 other computers have been running in the house for over 2 years just fine. . How could it ONLY affect my new PC?

This then suggests that something is wrong with the one particular system and not the mains voltage. Perhaps case clearance or indeed, the PSU itself.

A surge protector does not modify the waveform of the current passing through it significantly. It is usually just a bunch of MOVs, or metal oxide varistors.

To eliminate mains voltage as an issue, a deep cycle battery+pure sine wave inverter hooked up to a charger is one way to do so. Double conversion UPS integrates all three in a convenient and expensive package, or you can hook up a charger, deep cycle battery, and pure sine inverter separately. The principle is that all incoming AC current gets converted to DC current to charge the battery. DC current then flows out of the battery and the inverter pumps out AC current, and pure sine inverters will output a perfect sine wave with far less likeliness of unexpected voltages.

To eliminate the case as a potential cause, you hook up the system flat on big piece of cardboard and run it.

For a comprehensive PSU check, you'd need the fancy equipment review sites have. But a voltmeter will detect if DC output is within the spec and checking for AC voltage will help determine if the filtering is not working on the PSU. AC voltage to the mobo is minuscule.

No manufacturing process can ever be 100 percent perfect. A bad solder job or the silicon doping in an IC not coming out right happens to even the best manufacturers at times; they just target a higher level of quality control. Or even then random electrostatic discharge.

https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/psu/160/8
As far as I can speculate, the protections of the ATX spec is more for the protection of the human than the equipment. A PSU pumping out 13 volts will not trigger that protection, but some equipment will die quietly.

 

[gradoman]

The only time I killed a CPU (once) and two motherboards was with a bad PSU. It worked fine in another system and yet it killed my new system...

 

[LTC8K6]

So how likely is it my board and cpu are not dead this time send the power supply just gave out?

Well, the PSU is a relatively cheap thing to replace to see if it was the problem.

In order to find the problem, you need to keep everything and change one thing at a time.

I was looking for cooler pressure on the socket as possibly a common thing to all three boards.