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Resolved Question

Computer Crashing and Making Loud Fan Noise

Nov 19, 2018 12:02PM PST

Hi fellas,

I built a new computer about 8 months ago and I’ve been gaming with no problems ever since. However, a few weeks ago I overclocked both my CPU and GPU. Everything seemed fine at first, I ran Cinebench and 3DMark with impressive performance gains and the system seemed stable. However, when playing video games, I now experience crashes after several minutes of playing. The display goes black and my computer starts making a very loud noise, almost like if the fans were running at 100%. I have tried to pinpoint what component is making this noise but I am not sure, as I have 8 fans and my GPU has an additional 3, but I do think it’s the GPU fans. I restored my bios settings back to default and my GPU as well, so no more overlocking but the problem still persists.

I have Googled this and most threads most threads I have seen, the people with the issue report a loud buzzing noise coming from the speakers, but mine doesn’t come from the speakers, it comes from the fans. In a thread that described a similar problem, it said to run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, which I did and passed. I also checked for driver updates and I am up to date. I updated my bios to the latest one, too.

The one thing I haven’t tried is formatting and starting fresh but from other threads I’ve read, that hasn’t necessarily fixed the problem.

Here are my computer specs:
CPU: Intel i7 8700k
Mobo: Asus ROG Maximus X Code
AiO: NZXT Kraken X62
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB
PSU: Corsair RM850i
OS: Windows 10

My intuition tells me it might be related to the GPU, but unfortunately I don’t have any spare parts so I can swap and test.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

kuikdown has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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That Speccy.
Nov 19, 2018 3:56PM PST

1. Both Seagate drives have high SMART values in 01 and 07. These need to be removed and the machine retested. Those high values appear to be in machines with complaints about seemingly random lockups.

2. Why is Virtualization: Supported, Disabled? I see VirtualBox so what's up with this?

3. I see the video card is going to some receiver. BE SURE YOUR NVIDIA FIRMWARE IS CURRENT.
Read and use https://www.nvidia.com/object/nv-uefi-update-x64.html even if you are on HDMI.

4. Try it with just a single stick of RAM.

My thinking has changed with this Speccy. Those drives could create all sorts of headaches.

Note: Edited for spelling error.

Post was last edited on November 19, 2018 9:38 PM PST

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Will retest
Nov 19, 2018 4:26PM PST

I've downloaded the latest NVIDIA firmware. I will remove the Seagate drives and leave just one of the RAM sticks, retest, and come back with results. Many thanks!

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Retested
Nov 20, 2018 9:46AM PST

Update: I upgraded the NVIDIA firmware and still experienced the issue. I then proceeded to remove both Seagate drives and was able to keep the computer running for about 2 hours without problems. I don't want to get my hopes up because it's happened before, but this looks like a promising avenue. I will try to retest it for more hours today and will report back. Thank you very much!

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Seems fixed
Nov 21, 2018 9:06AM PST

I ran a game for about 5 hours yesterday without a crash, with the Seagate drives removed. Seems like that has fixed the issue. Sucks about the drives though, the 8tb one was even less than a year old. Thank you for all the help!

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Now we can do one more test.
Nov 21, 2018 9:25AM PST

While I don't allow drives with those SMART Values in my PC, there is something else that could be going on. Removing 2 HDDs frees up about 20 Watts of power so if your PSU or cooling was on the edge these could send it over to failure mode.

There's only one thing to test. Add the one drive you want to keep and retest. I would not add two.

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I'll Do That
Nov 21, 2018 11:30AM PST

I think the problem might be on the 8tb drive, which is where I have most of my games installed. I will try adding back one drive and then the other to see if the problem happens again with only either of the drives added.

I monitor my temps pretty closely and CPU never goes above 70C under load, GPU doesn't go above 60C, so I'm thinking temps might not be causing the issue.

I'm thinking that 850W should be enough for my build; my previous one was a very similar build and it ran with only a 750W PSU.

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850W should be fine but
Nov 21, 2018 12:53PM PST

It usually has to be a single rail model or you see troubles. As to temps those are OK but we don't get measurements on all the other chips. For example a crasher was at the shop and the owner repeated many times it wasn't heat. In the end it was as we found one of the motherboard bridge chip heatsinks had old and cracked heatsink compound. So it can be heat of a part that doesn't have a temperature reading.

Back to your testing. That's the way to work it. Scientific method. Change one thing. Test.

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Quit screwing around
Nov 21, 2018 2:36PM PST

It does not matter if the the disk are causing the crashes or not.
Both seagates show problems and must come out of the mix.
It looks like your using 5-5.5TB total on both drives so use the link I provided and get a 8TB unit and copy the data from the seagates to the new hdd.
Remove the seagates and install the new hdd.

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On it
Nov 22, 2018 11:08AM PST

I have already removed both Seagate drives. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up, it's the perfect time to buy a new HD. I will buy one from the link you provided. Thanks!

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Answer
Seems folks are posting about a BIOS version and this board.
Nov 19, 2018 12:29PM PST
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Issue still happening after updating BIOS
Nov 19, 2018 12:38PM PST

Thank you for your reply. I installed the latest BIOS version I found in the Asus website yesterday (Version 1704) hoping that would fix it and it didn't happen again yesterday but I experienced the same issue today Sad

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Time to make a ticket about that to Asus.
Nov 19, 2018 12:59PM PST

I read too many lockup discussions on this board so if it's like those you get your ticket, maybe a RMA or they get back to you with settings to try.

Nothing in your post stands out as a cause other than bad or incompatible hardware. I take it you are a builder of PCs or had this made.

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Thanks for your help
Nov 19, 2018 1:06PM PST

I am, I build them myself. The weird thing about it was that it worked fine for months and then suddenly started happening after a standard OC. Seems like I'll have to take it up with ASUS. Thanks for your help!

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OC?
Nov 19, 2018 1:17PM PST

That's the path to trouble. There is nothing good about that sort of thing because even seasoned builders/users are lulled into the trap where it worked fine for so long overclocked and blammo it's goes pear shaped.

Some builders can't seem to find their way back to stock clocking. Here I usually have to load the BIOS defaults then check for any overclocking app to uninstall or disable.

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Answer
I missed an item. "Driver updates?"
Nov 19, 2018 1:18PM PST
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Interesting article
Nov 19, 2018 1:39PM PST

Thanks for the article, that was an interesting read. I usually get my drivers directly from Asus and the GPU ones from NVIDIA and typically never have any issues. I cleared CMOS to no avail, it seems like my last option is to see if a fresh install of Windows helps but I'm not holding my breath.

Also, thanks for taking the time to help me with this, really appreciate it!

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If you are able
Nov 19, 2018 1:45PM PST

and using the comp , can you publish a Speccy so the pro's can look into this further ?

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Speccy snapshot
Nov 19, 2018 2:23PM PST
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Thank You !
Nov 19, 2018 4:02PM PST

Are you learning anything ? Wink

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Both your seagate disk are junk
Nov 19, 2018 4:37PM PST
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Issue-related
Nov 19, 2018 7:16PM PST

Thanks for your reply. Do you think that my Seagate drives are the ones causing my issue? Another poster seems to think they might be related, too.

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Seagate drives
Nov 19, 2018 9:45PM PST
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Outdated Stats
Nov 20, 2018 10:38AM PST

I looked into that link and those seem to be the numbers from 2014. I found their newest Q3 2018 report: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/2018-hard-drive-failure-rates/

Very interesting numbers. Seagate does have the most amount of failures but they also have the most amount of Seagate drives, so it makes sense that they would. However, I'm thinking that if the problem really is the hard drives, then I'll move away from Seagate for the replacement hard drives.

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This is why we look at those SMART Values.
Nov 20, 2018 10:45AM PST

Not all drives show this issue. But when it does we kick those drives out. Those drives with high values are known to cause complaints like sluggish to outright BSODs. If the drive hasn't failed, some use them for off line backups.

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Disk
Nov 20, 2018 12:17AM PST

No idea if it's related.
It's what jumps out as a problem from the speccy report.
So you fix what shows first.

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Temp differentials
Nov 19, 2018 2:05PM PST

CPU
Intel Core i7 7700K @ 4.20GHz: 29 °C
Kaby Lake 14nm Technology

RAM 8.00GB Single-Channel Unknown @ 1069MHz (15-15-15-36)

Motherboard - MSI Z270 GAMING M7 (MS-7A57) (U3E1): 31 °C

Graphics - ZOWIE XL LCD (2560x1440@144Hz)
3071MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (EVGA): 49 °C


What stands out to me is the high temperature differential between your CPU temperature and the Video Card temperature. While running the speccy, it's more likely the CPU temperature would be same or higher than the GPU.

This indicates to me that when you are gaming, the GPU is probably running even hotter than expected, maybe even hotter than the CPU. There's a 60% difference between them. That's unexpected, indicating a problem with cooling on the GPU.

Is it's fan running OK?

11/10/2018 NVIDIA - Display - 10/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - 23.21.13.8813
NVIDIA Display driver update released in October 2017


Is the 2017 driver the latest update for your NVidia?

Since you are running Skype, why keep Discord? If not using Discord, uninstall it. It can cause problems and it's NOT a windows native file .

Post was last edited on November 19, 2018 2:16 PM PST

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Wrong Thread
Nov 19, 2018 2:25PM PST

Hi James, I believe you replied to the wrong issue.

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you are correct
Nov 19, 2018 2:29PM PST

I was looking at speccy on a different thread.

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Answer
You have a 9th generation CPU in....
Nov 19, 2018 3:27PM PST

an 8th generation motherboard. Seems your CPU is also OK for 8th generation motherboards, but only for sure with updated BIOS.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-X-CODE/specifications/
Intel® Socket 1151 for 8th Generation Core™ Processors

Please note this;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Lake#9th_generation

For the 9th generation, the Intel Core i9 branding made its debut on the mainstream desktop, describing CPUs with 8 cores and 16 threads. 9th generation i7s feature 8 single-threaded cores, marking the first time desktop Core i7s have not featured Intel's Hyper-threading technology. 9th generation i5 CPUs feature six single-threaded cores, just like their 8th generation predecessors.
The ninth Core i generation includes hardware fixes for Meltdown V3 and L1 Terminal Fault

300 series chipset on the second revision of socket LGA 1151
========================================
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-X-CODE/HelpDesk_CPU/

The following table shows the supported CPUs for this motherboard
CPU Validated since PCB Validated since BIOS Note
Core i7-8700K (3.7GHz, 6C, 95W, L3:12M,HT) ALL 0220

If your motherboard BIOS version number is greater than the BIOS version listed above, then you will not need to flash your BIOS. However, if your BIOS version is smaller than the version listed above, then you will need to select and download the latest BIOS to update your system. We kindly remind you that there is a certain risk level involved in BIOS flashing, please refer to " BIOS Flashing Method ". If you still have doubts, we will strongly advise you to consult with a PC Professional or your PC dealer for further assistance.

Download Latest BIOS
Version 1704
Description Improved system performance and stability. Update ME FW to 11.8.55.3510 Update CPU MicroCode Using USB BIOS Flashback, please rename to "M10C.CAP" after download;
File Size 10315803 Bytes10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM update
Download from
=Global

==========================

User Manual

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/D15DNeVlEOS.pdf

========================================

This is what gives me pause on calling your processor 8th instead of 9th generation.

Note it says you CPU was formerly considered "Coffee Lake", and this is about the time some motherboards had to be 300 series instead of 200 series.
https://web.archive.org/web/20171005221659/https://ark.intel.com/products/codename/97787/Coffee-Lake
==========================
https://www.asus.com/Search/results.aspx?SearchKey=ROG%20MAXIMUS%20X%20CODE

Conclusion;
I think this may come down to making sure you have the correct latest BIOS flashed to the motherboard.

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Answer
worth watching
Nov 19, 2018 3:39PM PST

Hopefully that motherboard has the 300 series chipsets on it.