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i5-6600K graphics flicker/corruption?

idata
Employee
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I have been having a very odd problem with my system for this past year. Basically I get this screen flicker with vertical/horizontal bars during normal use, and sometimes the screen would crash to a black screen, and then a screen with weird artifacting. At this point the system is unresponsive and any audio in the buffer would repeat itself over and over.

I have taken many video clips of the corruption, but this clip I got while watching a video using the machine, and it happens often enough where I don't have to cut it: --> https://vimeo.com/194872310 Graphics Corruption # 1 (Long) on Vimeo.

That video should be enough to highlight the issue I am having, but I have more shorter clips: https://vimeo.com/album/4297593 Skylake CPU Graphics Problems on Vimeo.

Now, before you think it is a monitor/cable issue, it's not. Here are my troubleshooting steps:

I initially thought it was a problem with my discrete graphics card, but I am on my 4th card after RMA, and I still get the issue. I also suspected the motherboard, but I got that Gigabyte board RMAd, still had the problem, got an Asus board, problem still exists. I even flashed both to the latest BIOS, but no change.

I even tried with onboard graphics, I still get the same issue.

I tested the RAM, everything comes back ok, tried different combinations, different slots, everything works. Borrowed some extra DDR4, but problem still exists.

PSU died at some point, got it RMAd too, but I still get the graphical flicker/corruption.

At this point, I suspected it to be the monitor/cable, I tried a different monitor and cable, but the problem still exists.

So I used a minimal system, one RAM stick, one SSD, cooler, onboard video, but I still get the same problem. I also tried a different OS (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian), but I still get these crashes when running off a USB (and no HDD connected). So it most definitely is a hardware fault.

I also used Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Win10 Anniversary, with various drivers: Catalyst stable, Crimson beta, Windows Update, used Display Driver Uninstaller, clean format, but you guessed it...problem still occurs!

This lead me to believe the CPU is at fault, as it is the only component left that I cannot replace or rule out (expensive and no spare Skylake chips around). Also, nothing in the system is overclocked.

Is my CPU defective? This entire thing has been incredibly stressful for me, even to the point of me seriously considering parting out this cursed/haunted build. Do I have a solid case for an RMA?

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ssote
New Contributor II
636 Views

Just RMA the CPU, it is painless with Intel. That is what I would do after what you have been through testing and swapping parts. Post back how it works out.

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idata
Employee
636 Views

After going through your post, this clearly indicates an issue with the processor but I would like to know what is the memory part number on this computer?

 

 

Please contact Intel support at http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html processor area and request warranty for your product.

 

 

Allan.
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idata
Employee
636 Views

Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit (2X8GB) DDR4 2400 MT/S(PC4-19200) CL16 Dr X8 Unbuffered DIMM 288PIN

Manufacturer Part Number: BLS4K4G4D240FSA

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idata
Employee
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Thank you for updating this thread.

 

When checking the specifications for the crucial memory BLS4K4G4D240FSA, I see this is 1.2v and DDR4-2400.

 

After reviewing the memory supported by your processor, this will be DDR4-1866/2133, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V

 

The flickering and corruption might come from the usage of that memory.

 

You can request warranty for your processor at Intel but just for your reference, this might be a problem in the future.

 

 

Allan.
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GCsen
Beginner
636 Views

Hey

i just got the same problem. Enabling XMP on my motherboard's bios and locking RAMs memory speed to 2133Mhz solved for me.

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idata
Employee
636 Views

Do you know why this happens? I also tried disabling XMP, which locks it to 2133 but I still get the problem.

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GCsen
Beginner
636 Views

No idead, i just read this solution and worked for me, so i just got luck?

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CCris2
New Contributor II
636 Views

Hi Jon1764 ,

If you have connected monitor to the discrete video card and disable igpu you should not have that problem, unless there is something wrong with some common CPU circuits for igpu and PCIE lines. If you don't have that problem only with discrete graphics on, then it maybe a problem with the igpu.

Do that test and see if you have the same problem.

Either way it's time to RMA the CPU as Allan said.

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