Dual LGA1366 Server Motherboard (Tyan S7012) crashing with graphics card installed. (X-post from Mobos)

[Pyroven]

Hello, the original LTT forum post I made for this was in 'CPUs Motherboards and Memory' and is found here, however this post is more refined and I believe this section to be more appropriate after delving into the issue as much as I can.

System Specs:
Motherboard: Tyan s7012G4MNR (Link to manual; Pg10-12 for PCIe slot layout and labels)
Chipset: Intel 5520 / ICH10R
CPU: 2x Xeon X5660
GPU: R9 280 (Tested with GT 210 as well)
Ram: 2x8GB, Single Channel
PSU: EVGA 850W G2


Basically: Do you have any idea why using a graphics card would cause the system to completely power-off crash?

It started happening when I moved the GPU from the x4 slot (PCIE3) to an x8 (PCIE4 or PCIE5) slot, and I was using PCIe WiFi and USB3 cards in those slots beforehand without any issue. And it doesn't matter whether it's a GT 210 or an R9 280, the crashing occurs. ****I should add that the problem has now occurred even with the graphics card in its original slot (PCIE3)

I need the GPU to be in one of the x8 slots because of bottlenecking which was happening in the x4 slot (something to do with going through both the Intel 5520 and the ICH10R chip as far as I can tell, rather than just the Intel 5520.)

Finally, it happens pretty sporadically and instantly, no blue screen and no crash dump. The system just clicks itself off without warning of any kind. Seems to occur more often when using Firefox or loading/playing GTAV.

Things I've done:
-Reset the BIOS settings
-Tested CPU Thermals with Prime95
-Cleaned and reinstalled GPU drivers using DDU

Things I've considered:
-Flashing the BIOS (Extremely wary, never done it before)
-Reinstalling Windows (Going to buy a cheap hard drive and try this tomorrow)

-It could maybe be something to do with PCIe power delivery through the motherboard?

Thanks in advance if there is anything you can advise. I'm really desperate at this point I'm completey out of my depth.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Pyroven
Formatting

[komar]

Try with different PSU and if that doesn't help go for flashing new BIOS - not much you could do if that doesn't fix it.

[Pyroven]

Update:

    I'm not sure whether this is a symptom, but I think I hear a similar click sound to when the PC shuts down every now and again while it's running. It's not as loud but it's a very similar sound.

[Pyroven]

Could this have been anything to do with it?

[Salv8 (sam)]

9 hours ago, Pyroven said:

Could this have been anything to do with it?

they aren't touching but just in case if you don't intend to every use that SATA port, hot glue it so it can't be used, don't get the glue on other parts of the MB

this will prevent it from shorting out in the future

as for your issue, is the card on a riser, they sometimes don't supply enough PCIE power, if not try a completely different GPU (not the 280 or the 210) or hell the on-board graphics as that will help narrow down the issue, and also try linux and see how linux reacts

sometimes linux reacts differently then windows with these types of issues and in some cases doesn't cause the system the crash or hang (this points to the OS having problems with the drivers, even if they are supported the OS might just not like them (happens sometimes) and as a result, crashes the system)

[Pyroven]

I have now done enough testing to conclude that the Intel 5520 chip/set was overheating, similar to this forum post I found. I had a hunch it'd be something to do with the chipset so I did a bit of searching, and this scenario was very similar.

 

 

This toasty boy right here.

 

 

This was the testing solution while doing troubleshooting outside of the case a couple of days ago, all crashing stopped from this point onwards.

 

 

And finally the permanent solution. I cable tied this fan to the screwholes unused by my ATX Define R4. Haven't had a crash so far.

 

Fun fact, the fan came from a computer I got for free from the dump. It's actually a really strong fan and it's really quiet too.