Odd behaviour on new computer

[Oreax]

Hello there everybody,

 

After years of holding back, I finally went ahead and bought myself a new computer (for my own birthday, yay, but....). 

 

 

Specifications:

ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Ti TUF OC - TUF-RTX3070TI-O8G-GAMING

Intel Core i7-12700K CPU

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 5200MHz 32GB - KF552C40BBK2-32

CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD CPU - CW-9060062-WW

Cooler Master MasterCase H500P Mesh ARGB Mid Tower - MCM-H500P-MGNN-S11

Corsair RM850 850W PSU - CP-9020235-EU

ASUS PRIME Z690-P - PRIME Z690-P (DDR5) - Updated BIOS to 1620

WD Black SN850 2TB M.2 SSD

 

Running Windows 11 with Secure boot on.

 

 

Problem is, it's freezing at random times. So - story goes... For the first week there were no issues, but then suddenly it started blinking twice with monitor, stream deck, keyboard, all RGB in

the computer - you name it. It blinks twice, sound sounds like reconnecting, disappears at both blinks, then reappears. It started out with the keyboard disconnecting, and I would have to reconnect it each time, after which it would start working again. Completely sporadic when it would happen. 

 

The freezes and everything explained here will happen no matter if I'm gaming, watching LinusTechTips or just browsing.

 

After tinkering with it, looking up USB errors on the z690 boards and testing various BIOS settings (which I've completely lost overview of at this point), it was okay for a few days. However, suddenly it started freezing up entirely, doing the same stunt of blinking twice (everything I just explained above), only this time it would freeze up the computer entirely, could only hold down the power button. The RGB lights inside the computer will reset its settings when this happens (to whatever it has when it boots, and not what I've chosen as profile in iCUE). 

 

So... I started some more in-depth testing, starting with Microsoft Memory Diagnostics tool, which first time said there was a memory issue. I tried another test again immediately, which said nothing was wrong. So... I went on to MemTest86+, which failed kind of on/off.

 

First couple of tests had errors, as shown below..

IMG_3299.HEIC

After that I started testing the RAM sticks one by one, slot 1,2,3,4 and when one of them failed in slot 4, I tried with the other stick, which didn't fail. I then went back to the first and tested again in slot 4, which then passed this time around. Each RAM test did only 1 pass at this point, granted. After the first stick had initially failed, but passed the re-test, I did a complete re-test of all again, and it didn't fail the second time again. I tested a bit in all the slots with both sticks, I there seemed to be no consistency whatsoever when it would fail and when it wouldn't. More passes than fails though. More like 20% fail, 80% pass.

 

I then proceeded to put in both memory sticks again, back into A2, B2 slots after which it failed with the following:

 

I stopped the test after a while of it counting to 300 errors, restarted it and it didn't fail after 1 pass.

 

I then tried slots A1 and B1, which didn't fail either. Testing the sticks again, one by one failed once again. All results so far were completely inconsistent. 

Realising there were some limitations to the free version of MemTest86+, I went with the good old open-source memtest86 software, which gave the same inconsistent results. Sometimes both MemTest86 softwares even would freeze after just 2 seconds... 15 seconds... a couple of minutes...

IMG_3315.HEIC

 

I got fails like it shows above, but also a pass test after almost 7 hours, and 8 passes running overnight, back in slots A2, B2

IMG_3309.HEIC

 

The 8 passes came after searching around on the internet, I found that it was recommended to run the additional 4-pin CPU connector (that said optional in the manual) - I understand the limitations in power and figured that sounded like a plausible explanation. 

I then proceeded to benchmark the computer, graphics, Cinebench, but also with Prime95 with no hiccups. The computer then went for a week, hours each day, with no issues. However, tonight it happened again, it blinked twice, after which it was still working for a while, but at the same second I used Windows button + shift + S and took a screenshot, I heard the "camera shutter sound" and then the computer froze.

 

In the beginning, I thought for a minute it could be software, so I have tried replacing some drivers and testing another keyboard and such, however - with MemTest86 failing on/off and even freezing during scans - sporadically, I figure it's something else?

 

I have not overclocked anything at this point, I feel it's unstable enough as it is. Any help, pointers, anything I should check in BIOS, cabling on motherboard, known issues. I would love any insight or suggestions.

 

I bought the components the 29th of July, so I do have the possibility to send back individual components and have them replaced, still, if they're faulty. However, I would like to be more sure about where the problem is, as I'm just not entirely sure with these RAM sticks when results are so inconsistent. 

 

I hope it makes sense, as it's a mess in my head and hard to untangle into text.  

 

Thanks in advance,

Brian

[Sjaakie]

Run the memory at 4800 MHz, see if that resolves the issue.

[Oreax]

1 minute ago, Sjaakie said:

Run the memory at 4800 MHz, see if that resolves the issue.

Hey! Thank you for your response!

 

Yeah, so after a while I actually realised that the i7-12700k didn't really care much for 5200 Mhz memory (Had I only known, I would've gotten the 4800Mhz RGB sticks), but it down clocks automatically to 4800Mhz in fact. CPU-Z, task manager and what have you, shows this as well. I can try to manually set it in BIOS, maybe that'll make it more "enforced", no idea if that would change a thing?

[Sjaakie]

Hmm yes i'd still put it at 4800 in the motherboard if it isn't already. Or turn off xmp all the way and just keep it at the stock speed it defaults to and see if that resolvers anything.

 

What bios version are you on? If there's a more recent version available install it, they usually improve memory compatibility.

[Oreax]

Alright, so I went ahead and forced it to 4800Mhz now - it said it was already running at 4800Mhz in the BIOS/Memory overview. But let's see if this does anything, unfortunately it can take a week of testing before it shows its true colors, so any more suggestions are much welcome.

As for XMP, it's been disabled since first boot.

 

BIOS version is 1620, which should be newest for my board. Attempted fix #1  

 

Thank you so far, Sjaakie!