Did I actually clear cmos??

[Valgua]

Hi!

Today I cleared cmos (in an attempt to solve a random boot freeze). I have an Asus z170 pro gaming. I followed the manual. I shorted the pind, plugged the cord back in and powerd the pc. Everything went black. Then I remembered that I had to boot while pressing del. I turned of the PC and turned it on while pressing del. I was than urged to press F1 to enter setup. I clicked on "optimized defaults" and exited. Windows 10 booted normally (although it will take several days before I can say if the issue has been solved). I then realized that I had not set date and time, so I went back to bios but, to my surprise, date and time were alteady correctly set. I now have a doubt: did I manage to clear cmos or not??

 

[Nebulous]

Yep, you cleared Cmos perfectly. No run the pc normally as you would and see if the problem you experienced repeats itself. Random boot freezes are caused by corrupted files or Cpu temps spiking. It can also point to a bad memory stick.

1)To test ram use memest. Download here . Run the test on 1 stick at a time to rule out the culprit.
2)Check your CPU temps. Be sure your CPU fan is connected correctly and working as it should.
3)Run a system file checker to check and repair corrupted files: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...er-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system

 

[trents]

Yeah, I've noticed as well that clearing the cmos doesn't necessarily reset the date on newer boards for some reason. I wonder if it has something to do with UEFI if you are connected to the internet.

 

[Nebulous]

Me thinks so too. I've cleared my cmos several times and when I reboot, the date and time are already set.

 

[wingman99]

The old Bios you needed to set the date and time. With UEFI and windows it sets the date and time in Bios.

 

[Valgua]

Yep, you cleared Cmos perfectly. No run the pc normally as you would and see if the problem you experienced repeats itself. Random boot freezes are caused by corrupted files or Cpu temps spiking. It can also point to a bad memory stick.

Thanks! Unfortunately clearing the cmos did not help. After several restarts the pc froze again. It freezes at the Windows logo just before the circling dots appear. The lights of the mouse and keyboard go off. I then need to push the reboot button on the case. The freeze occurs about one time every twenty restarts (it's very irregular though, sometimes it can take a hundred restarts for the problem to manifest itself).

Curiously the pc works as a charm once it has booted. I can play very intensive games without any problem.

I have tried everything I can think about:

- I have tested ram for 12 hours with memtest (0 errors).

- I have monitored the CPU. The cooler does its job. It peaks at 78 C in Prime95. As I mentioned, I can play demanding games without any hiccups.

- I have checked the SSD. SMART says that everything is good.

- I have done a clean install of Windows 10 (from USB drive).

- I have updated the bios and cleared the cmos.

- I have changed keyboard and mouse.

- I have blocked services in msconfig.

Any other ideas?

 

[Robert17]

What PSU?

 

[Valgua]

What PSU?

Evga Supernova G2 850. I immagine that a PSU problem would manifest itself all over the place and not just at reboot (but correct me if my assumption is wrong!).

 

[Valgua]

P.S. In a further attempt I disabled HD Audio in bios (I have an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming) intending to use my corsair usb headset. I saved and exited and something weird happened. The screen got dark and I had to wait a really long time for boot to proceed. Even weirder, all reboots fail and I have to turn off the pc by pressing on the on/off button. These effects go away if I enable HD audio again. I am more and more perplex.

 

[Nebulous]

It sounds to me the board is starting to get finnicky. Little random things that keep creeping up is a sign the board may be going south. Best to RMA.

 

[Valgua]

It sounds to me the board is starting to get finnicky. Little random things that keep creeping up is a sign the board may be going south. Best to RMA.

My conclusion as well. I am more than a little disappointed though. My old (and quite cheap) Gigabyte board lasted five years and was only swaped as I wanted to upgrade to Skylake. I chose Asus Z170 Pro Gaming for its promise of durability. Oh well, at least I still have the warranty. It is so typical though that my gaming rig breaks on the first day of my summer vacation :-(

 

[trents]

Yeah, it sounds like the motherboard is beginning to fail. Sometimes the failure can be progressive instead of sudden.

 

[wingman99]

Have you tried reflashing the Bios?