Octo-core = kaput.

[S_G]

My system died today. It crashed in, of all things, Notepad++. I was writing some code and it just locked up. Held the power button and it beeped as it shut off, indicating a problem.

Tried to turn it back on, it powered itself off with a single beep after about 3 seconds. Waited a few minutes, tried again; got as far as the POST screen, it locked up at the end (after validating RAM), right before it was supposed to get to the next screen (the AHCI HDD loader).

I've tried a various combination of RAM sticks in different slots, tried unplugging any unnecessary items (HDD, sound) from both the PSU and mobo, tried switching video cards (8800 Ultra, 8600 GT, HD4850)... It yielded different results, but apparently randomly:

• Got to the Windows loader once
• Got to a black screen right before the Windows loader twice
• AHCI loader four times
• POST five times
• Immediate power off five times

So, what are the possible culprits?

• Motherboard grounding? I'm not sure this is the problem, as I think it would not get to different parts of the booting sequence.
• Failing PSU? Seems plausible.
• Overheating? It's on water cooling, and has been for months -- why would it fail now?
• Simply failing CPU(s) or motherboard?

Help me out guys, I'm losing my marbles trying to figure this out. I'm almost at the point where I may replace this expensive system with another expensive system, but my dilemma is that I cannot simply resell parts whose working condition I cannot verify.

[3.0charlie]

Have you tried a single chip (though I'd be very surprised).
Do you have another PSU? This is a must to test.

[Arinoth]

I would say by the immediate power off five times it could be potentially either the PSU is slowly dying and this is the warning its giving you, or it is the motherboard ying and this is the warning its giving you. To my understanding if your CPU was bad, you wouldnt get anything other then a black screen after boot up since well, the cpu does all the processing. If you have an extra PSU, try swaping them to see if they fixes the issue, or if you have an extra mobo try swapping that as well. If you haven't logged the result to the combination of parts you did, try starting over since those bundles of results without knowing your hardware config to get them could lead people to believe possible culprits/problems that aren't the right ones.

My 2 cents

[Phobia]

Did you clear cmos? I had something like that happen to me, and I cleared CMOS and it was fine.

[S_G]

I am now leaning towards overheating, which might have also damaged my motherboard.

Just noticed my pump was DEAD! Wasn't running at all. Very weird! I left it off for about 30 mins, and I managed to turn it back on and get into the BIOS to monitor. System temp was 31, with CPUs at "medium" (it doesn't actually say how much). After a minute, CPU1 went to high, system to 34. Shortly after the second minute, CPU2 went to high and it crashed about 10 seconds later.

[CMetaphor]

Oh my, i read this thread and almost got worried one the few other multi-cup systems was dying. get those temps under control!

... And once you do, post some #s on the wPrime thread okay? hehe.

[S_G]

Oh yeah, definitely overheating. I macgyvered a new loop using parts I had in my closet. My current pump was submersed in a reservoir, and I didn't want to take the whole loop apart (since I will be doing so again for my new case in a month or so). So, I boiled some water, slid on 3/8" ID tubing over what I think is a 5/8" OD tee, which goes to 1/2" barbs on the pump and I slipped in a fillport to replace the missing reservoir.

It's loud as hell, since doing what I did let in tons of air, but it's bleeding now, courtesy of a fillport duct-taped to my desk. It's doing stuff like this that makes me understand how some people can be so knowingly-reckless with their expensive hardware.

Been in BIOS monitoring for a good hour now, with both CPU temps listed as "low".

@Meta
My stats are under HWC at hwbot: Ranking For wPrime 32m

I got 7.13 seconds for wPrime 32 , but I think that was at 2.66GHz, not at 3. I'll have to run it again if I can get the machine stable. Still can't get anywhere close to the 1MB WR of 16x X7460s at 2.66GHz -- 96 cores!


Edit: Happy ending (for now). Thanks for your help, guys. Running stable, and it seems cooler than before, thanks to the CPX-Pro pump. And I ran another wPrime for you, Meta. I did 7.04s at roughly 3GHz. I tried to bump it up to 3.2GHz, but BSODed during wPrime -- probably from lack of voltage. Maybe I'll give it another shot at about 3.10-3.16GHz to see if I can at least break 7 seconds. Then I'll definitely be the coolest person ever, or so I've been told.

[3.0charlie]

Is that the XSPC pump I sold you last year that failed?

[S_G]

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

Is that the XSPC pump I sold you last year that failed?

Yes. I'm coming for you!

[CMetaphor]

Originally Posted by S_G

@Meta
My stats are under HWC at hwbot: Ranking For wPrime 32m

I got 7.13 seconds for wPrime 32 , but I think that was at 2.66GHz, not at 3. I'll have to run it again if I can get the machine stable. Still can't get anywhere close to the 1MB WR of 16x X7460s at 2.66GHz -- 96 cores!


Edit: Happy ending (for now). Thanks for your help, guys. Running stable, and it seems cooler than before, thanks to the CPX-Pro pump. And I ran another wPrime for you, Meta. I did 7.04s at roughly 3GHz. I tried to bump it up to 3.2GHz, but BSODed during wPrime -- probably from lack of voltage. Maybe I'll give it another shot at about 3.10-3.16GHz to see if I can at least break 7 seconds. Then I'll definitely be the coolest person ever, or so I've been told.

I'm not going to copy everyone's results from HwBot for our own wPrime thread... Ya gotta post a screenshot there . And btw... I posted up new numbers!