AI Suite 3 may have bricked my X99 CPU.

[Mainfold]

tl;dr: Asus AI Suite 3 causing overheat shutdown and bluescreen. PC will no longer boot.

I was just on the Windows 7 desktop downloading microsoft visual studio, had AI Suite 3 in the background to monitor activity like always. AI Suite 3 was for some reason displaying 11.0°C on the CPU, and then automatically put itself in to "silent mode" for the fans. Nothing I would reacted to, but just did a mental note of it (as it seemed normal that it would go in to silent-mode if temperatures were that low). Then seconds later, a bluescreen occurred, and it was a CPU-overheat bluescreen.
So the PC shut down and did an automatic reboot straight in to BIOS, where it said the CPU-temperature was 75°C (but went down to 65°C after 2 seconds), then it shut down via bluescreen again.

As I had noticed how high the temperature was, I let it stay off for some minutes, then to proceed attempting to boot again.

As I pressed the power-button, no actual booting happened, only a single short "beep" and a "00" Q-code on the motherboard (aka; no Q-code yet), and the fans spinning up for less than a quarter of a second, to then it all shutting back down again.

Retried 2 more times, same exact thing happened. So I attempted to clear cmos, but same exact thing happened. Then I attempted to do BIOS-flashback of same version of BIOS (in case the bios had gotten messed up), fans spun up for a few seconds and then it shut back down again, then the same beep-shutdown-sequence happened again.

I honestly hope that Asus AI Suite 3 didn't burn out my brand new CPU, but I'm not exactly sure what's going on or what I can do to fix it. But it clearly seems like the effect of the overheat-shutdown.

Any input on what I can try to get it back up and running, would be greatly appreciated, as I need the computer to operational as quickly as possible.. to not fail my programming education that I started earlier this week (as all the required software etc is on that computer, and the laptop I'm writing this from is insufficient for such work).
If anyone has any input or feedback on this, or what actually may have happened (and if there's anything I can do to fix it), it would be greatly appreciated.. as this is a fairly critical problem, and could possibly impact economically too (because lord GabeN knows how expensive these X99-CPU's are as well).

 

______________________

 

(edit:) Mobo: Asus X99 Deluxe

[Raudi_]

Clear your CMOS boot the system up and check for a BIOS update.

[Sevilla]

Have you tried unplugging the power to the machine entirely and even pulling out the coin battery?

 

Also, push the power button while it's unplugged to remove any charge from the capacitors.

 

65 Deg. C is too hot for a CPU at idle, so check your cooling because that is WAY too high.

[Toddwjp]

Have you tried unplugging the power to the machine entirely and even pulling out the coin battery?

 

Also, push the power button while it's unplugged to remove any charge from the capacitors.

 

65 Deg. C is too hot for a CPU at idle, so check your cooling because that is WAY too high.

 

do all of this, 

[UnknownEngineer]

1. Dark theme users can't really read what you typed, remove formatting.

 

2. You could try reseating the CPU, while doing this make sure that there is no issues caused by your cooling.

 

3. Have you done any overclocking? 

[Mainfold]

Have you tried unplugging the power to the machine entirely and even pulling out the coin battery?

 

Also, push the power button while it's unplugged to remove any charge from the capacitors.

 

65 Deg. C is too hot for a CPU at idle, so check your cooling because that is WAY too high.

 

The cooling is sufficient, but AI Suite 3 turned it down for some reason.. and clearly didn't show the correct temperature, hence why it crashed and I only saw how high the temps were after when it booted in to BIOS after the bluescreen, and then it crashed again. Gonna try to take out the coin battery.

 

 

Clear your CMOS boot the system up and check for a BIOS update.

 

As I said in the original post, I cleared CMOS.. 

[Mainfold]

1. Dark theme users can't really read what you typed, remove formatting.

 

2. You could try reseating the CPU, while doing this make sure that there is no issues caused by your cooling.

 

3. Have you done any overclocking? 

 

I haven't done any formatting to the post. Gonna try a reaseating, but cooling isn't the problem.. the problem was that AI Suite 3 turned it basically off for some odd reason.. and overclocking would matter in this case, as.. again.. cooling was basically turned off (wasn't a crash caused by any overclocking or such).

[Sevilla]

The cooling is sufficient, but AI Suite 3 turned it down for some reason.. and clearly didn't show the correct temperature, hence why it crashed and I only saw how high the temps were after when it booted in to BIOS after the bluescreen, and then it crashed again. Gonna try to take out the coin battery.

 

 

 

As I said in the original post, I cleared CMOS.. 

 

Even silent mode shouldn't turn the cooling down to the point where it idles at 65 unless you're in a room that is extremely hot, but then again you said it shut down 2 seconds after so chances are your CPU is trying to protect itself from overheating damage.

 

What kind of cooler do you have on it? The fact that it showed an incorrect read like 11 deg. C is a bit odd though. Also, what is the longest amount of time you've let the CPU cool down? If it's just minutes, it may not be enough. Blow a fan straight on it and give it 15 mins or so. The fact that it overheated that quick to the point of shutting down is a red flag.

 

[UnknownEngineer]

I haven't done any formatting to the post. Gonna try a reaseating, but cooling isn't the problem.. the problem was that AI Suite 3 turned it basically off for some odd reason.. and overclocking would matter in this case, as.. again.. cooling was basically turned off (wasn't a crash caused by any overclocking or such).

Is it possible to contact Asus support? I would imagine that such an expensive platform would have some customer support. If you were still getting 00 on the mobo then I would blame that for the problem, faulty readings and all. I don't think it could have bricked your CPU however. I would most likely attempt to RMA the motherboard.

I am certain that you copy-pasted your text from somewhere, that is the origin of the text color problem.

 

New platform new problems.

EDIT: Text is still nearly unreadable.

[Mainfold]

Contacted Asus, but gotta wait for support to actually answer, so just gotta wait.

 

also, watercooling, so it's not like I'm running aircooling on it. and the computer has been off for a while now, so it's definitively cool.

 

I did the whole cmos-battery-and-power-drain thing now, so lets see if it makes a difference (even though I doubt it will).

[Mainfold]

Nope, same "beep!" and back off again, as assumed, cmos not relevant to the problem.

[Sevilla]

Contacted Asus, but gotta wait for support to actually answer, so just gotta wait.

 

also, watercooling, so it's not like I'm running aircooling on it. and the computer has been off for a while now, so it's definitively cool.

 

I did the whole cmos-battery-and-power-drain thing now, so lets see if it makes a difference (even though I doubt it will).

 

I think at the moment you realized Ai Suite decided to turn off your cooling, you need to consider all variables (even though you doubt them).

 

Also, again, what type? Is this an closed pre-made loop that actually uses CPU_FAN /CASE_FAN headers? Have you maybe tried running the fans/pump not connected to the motherboard headers and straight to a molex (if available)?

[Andi]

If you did nothing more than downloading something it's more or less impossible to kill a CPU, as long as the CPU cooler is mounted correct. Even passive it would have had enough time to throttle itself down.

[Mainfold]

If you did nothing more than downloading something it's more or less impossible to kill a CPU, as long as the CPU cooler is mounted correct. Even passive it would have had enough time to throttle itself down.

 

which is the really odd thing.. by all means it seems weird that it could happen at all.. hell you should be able to even start up a pc with no cooler, without it just overheating instantly.. and it had been running flawlessly up until that happened.

 

 

I think at the moment you realized Ai Suite decided to turn off your cooling, you need to consider all variables (even though you doubt them).

 

Also, again, what type? Is this an closed pre-made loop that actually uses CPU_FAN /CASE_FAN headers? Have you maybe tried running the fans/pump not connected to the motherboard headers and straight to a molex (if available)?

 

The cooler is the Coolermaster Eisberg 240L (because i haven't moved the custom-loop over from the other case yet), but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the cooler itself, and the fans are plugged in to CPU_FAN, and of course the pump is on CPU_OPT. So, there's no incorrect plugging or defective coolers in this case.. it's just that AI Suite 3 messed with something, and I didn't really have time react to what was actually going on.

 

But, the thing that boggles my mind, is that 11.0°C.. and why it showed that (and no variations of it, just that exact number). It may be a long shot, but I'm starting to wondering if AI Suite 3 was messing with the strap and ratio, without it showing, or for that matter, the volting.. because CLEARLY there was something wrong with it, as it showed a temp that's unlikely even on startup. (room temperature is normal, nothing more than 25°C at most, and it's not a very dusty room, + case has dust-filters anyway)

 

 

One thing to note is: If I do a bios-flashback, it starts the boot/POST for a few seconds, before it shuts down again and goes back to the same "beep"-thing.

[Sevilla]

which is the really odd thing.. by all means it seems weird that it could happen at all.. hell you should be able to even start up a pc with no cooler, without it just overheating instantly.. and it had been running flawlessly up until that happened.

 

 

 

The cooler is the Coolermaster Eisberg 240L (because i haven't moved the custom-loop over from the other case yet), but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the cooler itself, and the fans are plugged in to CPU_FAN, and of course the pump is on CPU_OPT. So, there's no incorrect plugging or defective coolers in this case.. it's just that AI Suite 3 messed with something, and I didn't really have time react to what was actually going on.

 

But, the thing that boggles my mind, is that 11.0°C.. and why it showed that (and no variations of it, just that exact number). It may be a long shot, but I'm starting to wondering if AI Suite 3 was messing with the strap and ratio, without it showing, or for that matter, the volting.. because CLEARLY there was something wrong with it, as it showed a temp that's unlikely even on startup. (room temperature is normal, nothing more than 25°C at most, and it's not a very dusty room, + case has dust-filters anyway)

 

 

One thing to note is: If I do a bios-flashback, it starts the boot/POST for a few seconds, before it shuts down again and goes back to the same "beep"-thing.

 

The fact that it isn't even going through the POST (even after resetting the BIOS in multiple ways) may be bad news. Also, keeping in mind that AI Suite can overclock/mess with your CPU settings kind of sucks too if something got changed randomly--which it shouldn't.

 

Let us know what ASUS says, this one is tricky.

[Mainfold]

The fact that it isn't even going through the POST (even after resetting the BIOS in multiple ways) may be bad news. Also, keeping in mind that AI Suite can overclock/mess with your CPU settings kind of sucks too if something got changed randomly--which it shouldn't.

 

Let us know what ASUS says, this one is tricky.

 

Will keep it updated if anything changes etc, and yes.. it's an interesting one. 

I hope Asus-support answers as quick as possible, so I don't have to result to a cruddy laptop, or actually reinstall my X79 stuff again (which work perfectly fine.. but sucks having spent so much on X99 and it working only for a couple of days not great)

 

Edit: They JUST added this to the bios-version section of the driver/support-page for the X99 Deluxe:

 

X99-DELUXE BIOS 0801

1. Improve compatibility for certain USB keyboards

2. Improve temperature monitoring

3. Improve XMP settings

 

 

So clearly there was something up with the temperature monitoring.. 

[Tazzy2040]

have to tried to revert the bios using jumpers on the motherboard?

 

also check that the cpu has the right amount of thermal compound on it and check the pins on the board are all ok

[Mainfold]

have to tried to revert the bios using jumpers on the motherboard?

 

also check that the cpu has the right amount of thermal compound on it and check the pins on the board are all ok

 

Was thinking about trying juming.. we'll see

 

cpu has right amoount of paste, and pins should be ok.. as said before, it has worked flawlessly up until it happened, 

[Tazzy2040]

Was thinking about trying juming.. we'll see

 

cpu has right amoount of paste, and pins should be ok.. as said before, it has worked flawlessly up until it happened, 

have you tried the jumpers yet

[Mainfold]

Tried jumpers, did nothing. 

Talked to Asus today, they said to send the mobo (and possibly the cpu with it) for RMA, as they thought that the CPU could in no way be burned out by it (as they are supposed to have protection against it), but rather the mobo itself was more likely to be burned out.

 

On another note, in the process of all the troubleshooting, I noticed that the Eisberg 240L cooler (while I had it off) started to leak from one of the screws on it's cpu-block (the screws on the actual block that's in contact with the cpu itself).. luckily, it hadn't managed to leak on to the X99 stuff.. but, I am now one 4820K less rich.. as that got messed up by the cooler (though the X79 mobo is fine).. so that's just my luck.

 

Gonna contact Cooler Master about the Eisberg 240L, and I would strongly advice anyone who has it to get rid of it, as it's capable of leaking directly on to the cpu/cpu-socket because of the screw-placement and them (even though they should never have been in contact with the coolant itself) being capable of leaking. Guess there should be made a PSA on the forum or something for that.

 

Will again.. keep thread updated as more to update comes along.

[Mainfold]

UPDATE: Got a new motherboard today, and the cpu was fine (as expected really), no specified explanation of what actually was up, but the motherboard was apparently fried (it seems).

 

So, my X99 is back up and running now.