Currently have a ASRock Z77. Windows 10 with August 31 update. I have had a few strange lockups and suspect the motherboard since it is several years old. The CPU is a i5-2500K 4.3ghz overclocked. 8gb DDR3 ram. Because I am not needing the very latest I want to stay with the i5-2500K. Price target less than $200. Looking for reliability and overclocking.

 

I used to use an Asus P8Z77-V-LX and it was a great over locker. Had an i5 3570k @ 4.8 ghz using the Asus overclock feature.

Basic maintainance first. Might be nothing wrong with the MB. Whats the CPU temp? Lockups along with a reduction in performance is a symptom of throttling, due to the proximity to TJ Max.

 

Lots of issues can cause your system to freeze, not just a defective board.

Will take a look at the Asus board-Thanks

 

CPU normally under 50% with my usual train simulator load. 4 core avg 35c.I do not have any grounds for suspicion since the evidence is slim. It is just the oldest element in the PC. CMOS battery is another possible item. I will get new battery first. Just seeing what might be the best board in the meantime.

First thing to check is... are you overclocking? If so, eliminate the overclock as a variable, reset the BIOS to optimised defaults. You may have had a stable overclock, but an overclock can become unstable over time.

 

4 core avg 35c.

 
 
No, that would be at idle. Load temps are important. Having said that if the idle is 35 it's probably okay at full load... but do check under load.
 
 
 

It is just the oldest element in the PC.

 
 
Doesn't mean that's definitely where the problem lies. Lockups can be caused by software, temps, graphics card, unstable overclock, etc etc. many things. It's a process of elimination. If you have spare components to swap out it makes fault diagnosis far easier.
 
 

CMOS battery is another possible item.

 
 
When the CMOS battery starts to fail, the first symptom is usually the windows clock that keeps reading the wrong time.

Now I am having trouble booting/restarting. Restart from Windows10 and fans start, LAN port lights on, but no restart. tried various things including clear ROM and onboard reset. Had to remove power then came up with the setup screen. There I found the SATA protocol was not IDE. Setting to that and it came up. All ok then slight screen flicker and my SSD "disappeared". Power off, setup, showed ACHI not IDE for disks. SATA to IDE and then ok. "Browser" load at occurrence. SSD is on ok right now.

 

New motherboard is next step. I could get a bios chip and a battery but financial stuff on PC. so reliability needed. Will get same one. Can't afford new Skylake CPU and the old i2550K gives me proper FPS with reasonable settings.

 

Thanks for help

How old is your power supply? I was having a lot of strange lock ups as well (to the point where only a hard reset would work). Replaced my 7 year old power supply and all appears well (kinda to my chagrin, I was looking for an excuse to upgrade my cpu!)

Sticking with the 2500k will severely limit your choice to older 1155 socket motherboards if you can find a decent stockist. My 4790k runs in 1150 socket board and in Aus decent boards are hard to buy. The current 6700k and 7700k due in Jan 2017 use the current 1151 socket.

 

Strongly recommend you try and minimise spending on your current system to second hand parts until you can invest in the Kaby Lake processors early next year along with a new motherboard and DDR4 ram.

 

Good luck.

 

Cheers,

Your right David. BUT - I found my problem. It was not the motherboard but an SSD. I was in the process fo trying to laod a program from it when the PC locked. I pulled the side panel off an unplugged the SSD since that was the target for getting the program and the PC began to work. I only had a train simulator on it so no great loss.

 

My performance with the i5-2500K is quite acceptable with 47% load on a flight simulator and 35% on the train simulator. A lot of the computational stuff is now on the video card GPU and that does go to 100% sometimes. Thus I may get a fatter video card before any CPU changes.Thanks and regards,

Dick

Thermal paste.

Thermal paste.

 

I am not sure of the inference. However, the thermal paste is properly applied as a very thin film with the specific objective of filing microscopic voids that detract from the transfer of heat. I spread it with the edge of a credit card, the safest use of this item. At several seconds of 100% load the CPU temp max's at 62C. I am sure a strong stress program could get it to TJ. Currently ay 3.5ghz but ran for several months at 4.2ghz with no issues. The real advantage was not significant so leaving it stock.

62C @ 4.2ghz is very good if you are using air cooling, with liquid cooling you could jack it up to @ least 4.6. I use to have an asus Rampage V  xtreme  but switched to X99 E WS as it is compatible with raid controllers and it has a lot more slots. 

62C @ 4.2ghz is very good if you are using air cooling, with liquid cooling you could jack it up to @ least 4.6. 

 

No! 62C at 4.2 is not at all very good if you are using air cooling.

 

I'm using an NH-D15S, 4.6 GHz, ultra quiet and max core temp on the hottest core, running Cinebench is  63 degrees, and that's with an ambient temp of 25C, so a delta temp of 38C. Running FSX, P3D or any game temp is lower.

 

And no again, to state "liquid cooling" as a generalised statement implies any water cooling would enable 4.6 OC. This is not the case, some water coolers are good, some are bad, some are very bad.

 

Too many people are of the opinion that if it isn't water it isn't up with the best. Not true! :smile: 

I5 2500K here since 2011 running at 4.7Ghz using a cheap Corsair A50 air cooler.

There is absolutely no need for AIO water coolers, you just need to be lucky with the chip you buy.

Well said Glynn. I'd go further and say that the vast majority overclocking their CPU's don't NEED an AIO. If they favour the aesthetics yes.