System specs----(*) denotes items that are brand new
CPU - Intel Core i5 3570k ivy bridge*
Motherboard - Asus sabertooth z77 LGA 1155 - bought open box on newegg
RAM - Corsair vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600*
Power supply - Corsair HX750 70 modular power supply - bought new at the end of October 2012
Graphics Card - Nvidea 470 GTX
HDD - western digital 600GB and a 250GB both at 7200 RPM
Case - Thermaltake A60I should note that before this system was set up I was running a DDR2 system with an AMD dual core CPU socket AM2.
So my problem is that when the system boots my mobo sometimes gives errors. After a bit of time (about 1 min) it reboots and will give a different device error or no error. When trying to install windows 8 (7 seems broken after swapping the CPU, Mobo and ram) it freezes during install. Was looking around in bios and the system froze in there as well. I've tried using my friends 470GTX (we traded cards). Still had the same problem (he had none with my card). Tried with only one stick of RAM, still froze. Tried with other stick and got the same problem. Have not tried with my friends RAM yet. Will do so later. Any input you guys could give would be greatly appreciated as I just want my computer back.
Are you bench testing or did you already install everything in the case? If it's the latter, I suggest you remove everything & start over. Right now have no idea if you have a hardware problem or an assembly problem.
I have not done any bench testing, but I'm almost positive that it's not an assembly problem as I have built a number of computers for myself and friends. I've however never seen this kind of problem before, so maybe I didn't assemble it correctly. I'll have to look into that when I get back home. Any advice on how to go about bench testing? It's something I've never done before.
See the link that riider supplied above. You have to be a little bit crazy to keep you from going insane.
Did some bench testing. When out and bought some new thermal paste. System seems stable after that. No freezing or anything. I think it was the thermal tape that Intel supplied with their heatsink. Still need to plug in the HDDs, but so far it seems stable. I'll post on here again after I test the HDDs. Thanks a lot guys. Much appreciated.
Spoke to soon. System froze right after my last post. :-(
Ok so I've tested the graphics card, it's not the problem, swapped the ram with a stick I know works, still freezes, so that's not the problem, I'm not sure if this could be caused by the power supply. I'll have to test that next. The only things left to test are the CPU and Mobo. Seeing as how the Mobo was open box I'm leaning more towards that being the culprit. Not entirely sure though. This has easily been the most frustrating build I have ever done.
Tested it with my roommates power supply still froze. We both have 750W power supplies. Only two things lefts to check, CPU and mobo.
After numerous tests it is indeed the motherboard. Called Asus and set up an RMA. Thanks for the input riider. It helped a lot.
Did you try resetting defaults in BIOS?
Were you able to check your internal temperatures in your BIOS? These might be a clue if you have set the heat sink properly (temperatures climbing faster and past what should be normal for idle).
Look: http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_a...You have to be a little bit crazy to keep you from going insane.
Yeah I reset the bios to default. I even used the flashback to update it to the most recent version (Asus customer support suggested that.). Internal temps were completely fine (constant 30C while idle for CPU, about 25C for mobo temp.) got a RMA number from Asus, so I'll be sending the mobo back tomorrow.