New Build - Shuts Off Randomly

[Orlaam 306]

Well, I spend a lot of time doing a wonderful job building my new system.  Routing cables just right and all.  It looks real nice at least. 

 

So, I fire it up and start loading Windows 7 pro, all is great.  It's fast and seems good.  I get a few Windows updates installed and get to the point where Windows need to install SP1.  Then she starts shutting down.  No warning, no nothing.  Just turns off like someone pulled the plug.  I restart and look at the CPU temps since my heat sink was stock.  They're higher than I think they should be, not it seems odd to turn off.  Just for the heck of it I go buy a nice Corsair water cooler.  It's nice and seems to work great.  Temps are much lower at idle and I like it.  Barring any leaks, the Corsair is a keeper.

 

But... it still shuts off.  I even tried putting Windows on a different drive and unplugged the old drive just in case.  Seemed unlikely but SSD, who knows.  Nope, still busted.

 

So, the voltages and temps are fine when in the BIOS.  Load into Windows and try to do much of anything and she shuts right off.  No codes on boot up, no alarms, no nothing.

 

My problem is trying to figure out what's broken.  I'm leaning towards PSU.  I tried to run the driver disc and 3 attempts resulted in a shut down with my Blu-Ray drive.  Seems like any marginal load past the BIOS kills it. 

 

Not happy.

 

Specs:

 

 

ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150

MSI GTX 970 GAMING 100ME GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ATX Video Card

CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory

SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E500B/AM 2.5" 500GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Two purchased=1TB total)

Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0

EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified 1000W Active PFC ATX12V v2.31/EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire

[Wood4591 52]

Hi

 

Have you checked all the wiring, if connected properly in the right place to the MB, Hard drive, DVD dive, etc, power supply, graphic cards .....

 

RGds

[Orlaam 306]

Hi

 

Have you checked all the wiring, if connected properly in the right place to the MB, Hard drive, DVD dive, etc, power supply, graphic cards .....

 

RGds

Oh yeah, with a fine tooth comb.  Got the large MB and smaller MB connector inline and seated.  The graphics card has both it's plugs in.  SSD and Blu-Ray are SATA and they are fine it seems.  Ive checked all the connections so much since I've been troubleshooting it all weekend.  :-/

[chumley 0]

I'd be on the track of PSU and RAM. 

 

When my machine played up a couple of months back I had both RAM and PSU  tested to rule out problems. It turned out that my issue was an outdated BIOS. After updating it I haven't had a problem since (touch wood) and have installed Windows 7 64 bit twice and downloaded all relevant updates including SP1.

[Orlaam 306]

My next step is going to be BIOS flash and RAM downgrading.  I'm gonna try and flash the BIOS and see what happens.  Then if it's still doing it, then drop down to one DIMM at a time and see what happens. I kinda doubt the BIOS will fix it, but who knows.  Bummed.  I wanted to get it going and now I have to work the next three days (12s), so I'll be out of action until Thursday night at the earliest, likely Friday night.  :(

[Chief Cargo 0]

Updating the BIOS on a Maximus board is easy as pie, litterally just put a file on a thumbdrive, name it properly, plug it in and press a button.  It's so easy even I could do it.

 

Love my Maximus VII hero, but I just want to make sure...Are you overclocking or not? 

Also make sure you are using the XMP memory profile.

And lastly, these chips still use thermal paste, better than pre-resfresh Haswell but all the same.  Sometimes Intel doesn't get enough paste in there (or it's not even centered on the die at all...) and sometimes they are so gooped up it's more like a blanket than a thermal transfer medium.  If the chip runs hot or is not otherwise performing up to snuff send it back to Intel for a replacement.  It's no different than RMAing anything else and some of these chips come from the factory in subpar fashion.  All Intel chips come with a 3 year warranty for a reason.

 

Generally besides faulty PSUs the only other reason I have seen for random shutdowns is MOBO or CPU related.  Since you have an Asus board I'll rule that out.  So that leaves the CPU itself.  Just to be sure though, make sure you have V droop set to something bewteen maximum and off.  I think Asus has like 8 steps IIRC, just pick a middleish one at any rate.  If it still randomly shuts down, RMA the CPU for sure.

[Orlaam 306]

I did set it up for XMP.  The thermal compound is good, and I installed a water cooler, so the temps are great now.  It really doesn't allow me to do much of anything now, I'm leaning towards PSU still.  Will try other stuff first though.

[chumley 0]

As you have an ASUS Board they may still bundle the AiSuite in which you will be able to check the stability of voltages through the Probe option.

[Orlaam 306]

Well, I have no idea what happened, but I flashed the BIOS to the current version and dropped down to one stick of RAM.  So far, everything is running smooth.  Windows is fulling installed and configured.  All 3rd party programs I use are working.  Very odd. 

 

Only thing left is to replace the additional memory and see if that causes a problem.  The current running hardware all checks out. 

[Manny 1,293]

You need to remove everything but the bare minimum. 1 stick of memory, the basic OS SSD or HD, mother board and use the MB video out.

 

see if that runs without shutting down.. if shuts down, swap the memory and see if it shuts down. If it still shuts down. remove all OC if you have done any, and if it still shuts down, you may want to swap out your PSU if it still shuts down your MB is probably not good.

 

IF every thing works in the above minimalist setup. Start adding the Video card, then the next peripheral one by one..to see what is wrong.

 

Its by simply process of elimination you need to see which component is giving you grief.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Well, I have no idea what happened, but I flashed the BIOS to the current version and dropped down to one stick of RAM.  So far, everything is running smooth.  Windows is fulling installed and configured.  All 3rd party programs I use are working.  Very odd. 

 

Only thing left is to replace the additional memory and see if that causes a problem.  The current running hardware all checks out. 

 

Its the ram - its like hitting the lottery sometimes - check each one you may find the culprit - running 32 gig can be a pain also - if you get it stable use aisuite works great may eliminate your messing around trying to get 32gig of ram stable - had the same problem on a gigabyte board could not get 32 gig to work - adios hello asus - plan on adding 16gig more hope that goes well - by the way just put my Titanium HD sound card in - blows away that onboard sound - heard how great it was - not even close

 

Keep in mind the red ram slots are only used for two stick

 

Corsair platinum's would have been a better choice - best ram I have ever bought

[Orlaam 306]

I don't know.  All 4 sticks of RAM are back in, as is a mechanical HDD on top of the two SSDs.  No problems yet.  lol

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

I don't know.  All 4 sticks of RAM are back in, as is a mechanical HDD on top of the two SSDs.  No problems yet.  lol

 

Well thats good news as you were pretty un-happy an I cant blame you maybe one was not quite seated right - but give it some time and if its stable use aisuite works great for oc - good luck

[Orlaam 306]

You need to remove everything but the bare minimum. 1 stick of memory, the basic OS SSD or HD, mother board and use the MB video out.

 

see if that runs without shutting down.. if shuts down, swap the memory and see if it shuts down. If it still shuts down. remove all OC if you have done any, and if it still shuts down, you may want to swap out your PSU if it still shuts down your MB is probably not good.

 

IF every thing works in the above minimalist setup. Start adding the Video card, then the next peripheral one by one..to see what is wrong.

 

Its by simply process of elimination you need to see which component is giving you grief.

 

I did all that except removing the video card.  I went ahead and left it in.  I dropped to 1 stick of RAM and the OS SSD.  It didn't do it again.  Reinstalled Windows since I had so many shut downs I was afraid it was corrupt.  Reinstalled all OS updates, tweaked the system and installed all my programs I use regularly.  Been doing all kinds of stuff without a problem.  Hardware tests are normal now.  Very odd.  The only major change is the BIOS flash.

Well thats good news as you were pretty un-happy an I cant blame you maybe one was not quite seated right - but give it some time and if its stable use aisuite works great for oc - good luck

 

 

 Thanks.  It's been up without one failure since I started messing with it again this weekend.  Friday and today.  Yeah, I wasn't happy at all.  It's lot of money to spend just to add to the hassle.  :unsure:

 

I'm not in a position yet to install FS, but I've done a lot to prepare.  At least on a basic level all my apps are running great.  Adobe Premiere for video editing is working fast.  Other heavier load apps are going strong too.  Time will tell I suppose.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

 

 

 Thanks.  It's been up without one failure since I started messing with it again this weekend.  Friday and today.  Yeah, I wasn't happy at all.  It's lot of money to spend just to add to the hassle.  :unsure:

 

I'm not in a position yet to install FS, but I've done a lot to prepare.  At least on a basic level all my apps are running great.  Adobe Premiere for video editing is working fast.  Other heavier load apps are going strong too.  Time will tell I suppose.

 

Get your os tweaked - then load sim - then after thats doing well then OC - thats how I do it - dont forget there is a few things to turn off in bios doing your OC - tons of info about that on web

 

Get "takeownership" its a free little program first thing I load after a new install - works perfect every time - if it looks like it has stopped keep waiting until finished especially on a full sim install folder - that takes a little bit 

 

In a nutshell its a small reg file you double click it - done - then you go to any folder and right mouse click on it and choose takeownership - eezy peezy