6600k Freezing

[idata]

Hi,

In January of 2016, I built my PC and have had issues with it freezing ever since. My freezing symptoms are very similar to other Skylake freezes: the image on the monitor freezes - no BSOD, reset switch doesn't work, and it happens at seemingly any time, both under heavy gaming applications, and when left idle. The PC has frozen anywhere from 20 minutes after startup to five days after startup. I can provide more detail about the symptoms if necessary.

My build is:

CPU: Intel Core i5 - 6600k

Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16gb DDR4 - 3200 (2x8gb)

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980Ti Superclocked

Power Supply: EVGA Supernova 1000 G3

OS: Windows 10 home 64-bit

For the past year, I've been troubleshooting, and have replaced the ram, clocked it down to 2133mhz, replaced the power supply, replaced the OS ssd, not to mention many software tweaks, such as changing power profiles, updating the BIOS and GPU drivers, refreshing Windows 10, running memtest (came up clean) and passing several 3dmark benchmarks.

I would like to overclock the CPU in the future, though I've never attempted it because the PC has never proven completely stable.

I have found similar threads on the Intel communities and would appreciate help running CPU tests and analyzing. I can run an Intel Processor Diagnostic tool, or anything else if necessary.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[idata]

Hello Rossome9,

Sure, I can help and ir order to do so I would like to verify some information in regard to your system, so please provide the following reports;

• Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool Download Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool
• Intel® System Support Utility https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility

In the meantime, please try the following suggestions;

• Try unplugging the graphics card, and check the results without it.
• Test one RAM stick at a time.

To attach a file, you must click "Use Advanced Editor" in the top right corner of the response box, then the "attach" option will appear in the bottom right corner of the response box.

Regards,

Amy.

[idata]

Hi Amy,

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I've attached text files with the results to both of those tests.

As far as the RAM, I have tested the system on one stick and have been able to rule out the RAM as the source of the problem with some confidence.

I will look into testing the system without the GPU.

Please provide any and all insight you can into the CPU test results. Through all my diagnostics testing, I have some degree of certainty the issue lies in the CPU. Thanks!

[idata]

/thread/114066 Rossome9, thank you for the reports.

Your Intel® Processor Diagnostic report came just fine, based on the results the unit is completely fine. Regarding your Intel® System Support report, I noticed that a couple of drivers are not up to date, so let's try to update these to make sure that this is not driver related.

• BIOS version 3401.
• Intel_chipset_10.1.1.38
• ME_11.6.0.1032

These can be found here; https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-A/HelpDesk_Download/ Z170-A | Motherboards | ASUS Global, just filter by your operating system.

One more thing, once you update the BIOS make sure to set the default settings.

Please let me know how it goes with the installation and the test mentioned above.

Regards,

Amy.

[idata]

/thread/114066 Rossome9, hope you were able to follow the suggestions mentioned above.

Regards,

Amy.

[idata]

Hi Amy,

I updated the motherboard software that you mentioned and I will monitor the computer over the next couple days and let you know. Thanks for your time and help with this!

[idata]

Hi Amy,

I my computer froze today, with the typical symptoms. This is after I updated that motherboard software you suggested. Would you have any other suggestions?

[idata]

Thank you for following my suggestion.

I would like to know if there is a chance to take your motherboard to a computer shop and swap parts; specially RAM, motherboard and processor. This to rule out a possible conflict with these components.

Regards,

Amy C.

[TGrab1]

Hi Rossome,

I am assuming you built this machine yourself? Since it doesn't appear to be overheating and you have addressed the normal causes of these freezes I will suggest something else that hasn't been covered.

Have you removed the CPU from the socket and inspected both for bent pins? I have seen this cause issues like you are referring to in the past so if you do not have the option to switch out stuff on the fly you could just pop out the cpu and give that a glance.

It might not be the issue, but it will let us rule that out as well.

[idata]

Amy,

That's not really feasible for me right now - I have RMA'd the RAM from Corsair and am running a replacement set of that. I could RMA the CPU and motherboard, but that would probably the most direct way for me to try new parts.

[idata]

TGrable,

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I did build it myself. The PC has always had very good airflow and temps have always been very reasonable - I agree that it doesn't seem to be overheating.

It sounds like this is getting narrowed down to either the CPU or mobo, so I'll be removing those components from the case soon. When that happens, I'll definitely take a look at the pins in the socket. Thanks for your help.

[idata]

/thread/114066 Rossome9, not a problem, just wanted to check if that was an option for you. The replacement of one of these will be the next step, and in case from our end you can use the options at the following link; http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html Contact Support

Regards,

Amy C.

[idata]

Thanks, Amy. I've opened a warranty request for an RMA on the Support end. Please let me know if there's anything else I should do. Either way, thanks very much for your assistance.

--Ross

[idata]

Ross, you're welcome.

At the moment let's just wait for the replacement and hopefully it fixes the freezing situation.

Regards,

Amy C.