Proccesor has gone bad or the motherboard?

[Dimitry49]

Hello everyone. Right of the bat, would like to thank in advance anyone who helps.

Here it the problem.

I have been experiencing multiple blue screens of death latley, all when using CPU intensive programs like LightRoom, or Sony Vegas. I also ran Prime95 tests, the one at default setting, and causes a blue screen after about 5 sec into the test.

I have ruled out the following internals: RAM with memtest86, HDD with HD Tune, PSU with another working PSU.

So my question is, which component (either CPU or mobo) is most likely at fault here?

In terms of settings in BIOS, i have the Core i7 920 D0 OC for 3 years at 3.8 @ 1.18v no problems. ALl of a sudden, this happens. Not sure if the chip went, so i down-clocked it to default speed at 2.67 @ 1.35v, and the same thing happens. So i know its not the voltage that is coming in for the CPU.

tried all the cables, made sure they are all in right places. Im no noob. :D

Specs:
core i7 920 D0 2.67 @ 1.35
EVGA X58 3way sli
12GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600mhz
Hitachi 1TB + OCZ Ver 2 60GB SSD
XFX 650W XXX PSU
Asus GTX 570 Direct CUII 732/1600

CPU Watercooled very nicely.

Cheers!

[supaflyx3]

Have you checked temps, maybe your pump failed? i know my computer instanta BSODs if i turn off my pump.

[Dimitry49]

Originally Posted by supaflyx3

Have you checked temps, maybe your pump failed? i know my computer instanta BSODs if i turn off my pump.

Yes, the temps are fine. Using Real Temp, show the temps around 40F at idle for the cores, and jumps to around 60F when i start Prime95. The pump is connected through a molex connector, double checked it, and its securely plugged in, and i can see its working, so that cancels out the pump. Thanks for the suggestion! :D

[ilya]

If you haven't missed anything in your testing, from the information you've given us, I would think it's a VRM issue.

The earlier x58 boards from Evga had some pretty wimpy heatsinks and minimal power phases. Since you're watercooling in a 690, I assume that you have a negative pressure case with a rad on top exhausting. So airflow is probably limited to a little convection in a low pressure environment. Assuming you didn't miss anything in your testing, I can't think of anything else, unless your VRMs are under water too.

Check the VRM temps when you run prime, if the board doesn't have a sensor, stick your finger on the heatsink. If it's hot or too cool, something's wrong.

[Dimitry49]

Originally Posted by ilya

If you haven't missed anything in your testing, from the information you've given us, I would think it's a VRM issue.

The earlier x58 boards from Evga had some pretty wimpy heatsinks and minimal power phases. Since you're watercooling in a 690, I assume that you have a negative pressure case with a rad on top exhausting. So airflow is probably limited to a little convection in a low pressure environment. Assuming you didn't miss anything in your testing, I can't think of anything else, unless your VRMs are under water too.

Check the VRM temps when you run prime, if the board doesn't have a sensor, stick your finger on the heatsink. If it's hot or too cool, something's wrong.

Hmm! Thats interesting! very interesting and probable observation. The heatsink on the motherboard is very hot, and the fan on the middle heatsink is hardly spinning. Where do i check the VRM temps? And no, i am not WC my mobo, so any way i can re-attach the heatsink to perhaps provide better cooling, maybe with new thermal paste?

[zsamz_]

set ram voltage manually to 1.67v and qpi to 1.4v

[Dimitry49]

Originally Posted by zsamz_

set ram voltage manually to 1.67v and qpi to 1.4v

yes i did all of the RAM settings manually, adjusting the timings for the XMS3 @ 9-9-9-24 1.65v
didnt touch the qpi, so will check if that works. But i ran memtest86 for each individual stick and then all 3 installed. Found no errors, so im not sure if its the memory here. But will give the qpi a shot. :D

[ilya]

Originally Posted by Dimitry49

Hmm! Thats interesting! very interesting and probable observation. The heatsink on the motherboard is very hot, and the fan on the middle heatsink is hardly spinning. Where do i check the VRM temps? And no, i am not WC my mobo, so any way i can re-attach the heatsink to perhaps provide better cooling, maybe with new thermal paste?

The middle fan is meant for the north/south bridge chipsets, which doesn't get hot in modern systems. It's probably not spinning up because of that, despite your VRMs getting hot.

If there is a temp sensor for your VRMs, you should be able to get a reading in something like HWmonitor or Speedfan. You could also check the motherboard manual. If there isn't a sensor try a infrared thermometer or thermal probe if you have access to one.

The heatsinks on EVGA boards are usually screwed on or at least have pushpins, so it should be fairly easy to re-attach them. I would check to see that the thermal pads are making proper contact with the mosfets first. If temps are still out of control, try sticking a small fan on the heatsink itself or getting an aftermarket cooler. You could also try an Antec Spot Cool if you don't mind the noise.

[KaptCrunch]

first try updating intel chipset drivers to current RST, USB

found that cured BSOD in the past for ICH10R

[Eldonko]

clear cmos, load defaults, retest