Strange Issue After Overclocking! Im Stumped!!

[MurderOne]

Ill try and be as brief as possible as this issue is driving me crazy! My build is all brand new as of Feb of last year! Everything went well as far as the build goes, and Installing windows/drivers etc. I waited a week or so to make sure all my hardware was performing up to spec before overclocking anything. I ended up with a 4.62ghtz OC on my FX-8350 and all was well with bench/heat/testing and performed amazing for me! I game for hrs without any hitches and still do! Well about 2 weeks after the OC my PC started to give "no signal" on initial power on! Some of these I can hear the Windows chime in the background, others I cannot and the VGA LED stays lit on my board! I quickly hit the jumper and did a BIOS reset, changed everything to default and poof I was looking at Windows! I thought I had an unstable clock and was relieved. However, since then Ive remained on default in the BIOS and this problem continues! Some days it will boot on the first try and others it can take 10 trys, but always will boot in the end! What is strange, if I dont want to sit and go through this gambit, all I have to do is reset the BIOS and im at my windows screen! I pulled my GPU and tried it in 2 different PCs and it booted fine, every single try for around 30 tries on each machine! My PC wont do that! So essentially I ruled my GPU out! I have tried 2 different monitors, switching between HDMI and VGA on both...problem persists! I unplugged and re plugged ALL cables in my machine and disconnected everything non essential to rule out other hardware..problem persists! Ive updated and rolled back my BIOS, reinstalled Windows/drivers etc...no change! Switched GPU slots as well! I have a strange feeling something in the BIOS is amiss! As the reset works 100% of the time....anyone know of a setting that may trigger this? There is actually no way to know if the OC caused this because since Mar there has been times where it has been fine for about 2 weeks then back to the BS even though it didnt happen before the OC! Also I do get the "Overclocking Failed" screen from time to time with everything set to default! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Ive stumped many ppl with this and am at wits end considering everything checks out when it actually boots and Im gaming or using it, with my average gaming time 4-6hrs with no heat or issues at all! I use system hog synths in FL Studio without any problems!

CPU-FX8350
MOBO-ASUS 970 Aura
GPU-Strix RX480 8gb OC Edition
PSU-EVGA Supernova 750w G3
RAM-Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133 2x8gb
SSD-Scandisk Ultra II 240gb
HDD-Seagate Barracuda 2tb 7200rpm
Cooling-Corsair H100i V2
Case-NZXT H440

 

[trents]

I would try lowering your RAM speed. The IMC on the FX series is pretty weak. They will often do 2133 with some tweaking and extra voltage but 1800 mhz was considered the most stable frequency without any coaxing. The IMC is only rated for 1600 mhz I believe. Another problem with the 2133 XPM setting is that the timings are tailored for Intel, not AMD. The IMC may have degraded a little over time and that may be why it worked for a period of time but is now giving problems.

 

[Johan45]

When you reset to defaults did you leave the RAM at default or set to 2133?
Do you think the PC is actually starting and you're just not getting a signal to the monitor?

 

[MurderOne]

My RAM is defaulted to 1600htz, and I used DOCP for 1866htz and the problem is still there! The XMP for 2133 puts my CPU at 3.4...I never actually used the XMP all was done manually! So yep, RAM is at default speed which is 1600!

- - - Updated - - -

Sometimes it boots as was stated with no signal, I can hear the windows chime from my speakers, others it hangs and the VGA LED stays lit with no signal! I pretty much have ruled out my GPU through testing it on 2 other machines!

 

[trents]

I would RMA the motherboard if it's still under warranty. It's been a little over a year since you deployed it so I'm not sure what the status of the warranty is.

 

[MurderOne]

Well Its def not under warranty anymore so Id have to pay for service, but like I said I totally feel somethings just off in the bios, although I forgot to add I did actually find someone with the EXACT board and RAM and had the same issue! Like him and I got into it over this..exchanged numbers etc...his only difference was he has a 1050ti, and literally it just stopped and hasnt happened in months..maybe an issue with the Vengeance Pro and the Aura IDK. Obviously mine hasnt stopped! Ive dealt with bad boards before but nothing like this though...Ive always been able to tell with a few steps and tests that its the board. I mean I have zero performance loss etc, when it was clocked it was just fine...I just dont want to pay for service and have it be something else...or something overlooked

 

[trents]

Do you have other DDR3 RAM you can swap in to test if it's a RAM compatibility issue?

What about the PSU? Have you tried using another PSU on the system?

Concerning an RMA and having to pay for it, it would probably be wiser just to go with a different motherboard, though the choices for doing that are pretty limited as overclocking the big gun FX CPUs required a really stout motherboard and only a handful of them would stand up to it. But I would hate to see you pay to return it to Asus, have them test it and not find anything wrong with it and then return it to you without the problem being solved. And I kind of think that is how it would come down since it is an intermittent problem.

 

[RollingThunder]

You may want to see if your SATA cables aren't the problem before an RMA

Well Its def not under warranty anymore so Id have to pay for service, but like I said I totally feel somethings just off in the bios, although I forgot to add I did actually find someone with the EXACT board and RAM and had the same issue! Like him and I got into it over this..exchanged numbers etc...his only difference was he has a 1050ti, and literally it just stopped and hasnt happened in months..maybe an issue with the Vengeance Pro and the Aura IDK. Obviously mine hasnt stopped! Ive dealt with bad boards before but nothing like this though...Ive always been able to tell with a few steps and tests that its the board. I mean I have zero performance loss etc, when it was clocked it was just fine...I just dont want to pay for service and have it be something else...or something overlooked

 

[MurderOne]

IDK....the whole BIOS reset fix still tells me theres something set wrong....IDK why but it does, as the issue vanishes for a day or a few days and then returns! Also another thing to add the issue is only present on initial power up 99.999999% of the time, its only happened once in a yr on a restart after updating my GPU divers.

 

[Johan45]

FX wasn't that great with ram and or Corsair and 2x8 GB won't help. Do you have other ram you could substitute? Or just take one stick out for a while to test?

 

[MurderOne]

Ive already pulled one, and swapped etc..the only other ram i have access to is yep you guessed it Corsair Dominator 2133..lol....quick question though Corsair states the RAM voltage at 1.5v. My board defaults it lower...should I manually set to 1.5v?? Oh and thank you guys for helping..every forum Ive tried...I get one person who says to change my VGA cable lol from ROG to AMD forums...not a peep! So much appreciated!

 

[RollingThunder]

I was taught very early to set RAM voltage manually a tad over their default (I generally don't overclock my RAMs) to not give your BIOS a chance to mess with it. If your BIOS is reducing your voltage, it's not good.

Ive already pulled one, and swapped etc..the only other ram i have access to is yep you guessed it Corsair Dominator 2133..lol....quick question though Corsair states the RAM voltage at 1.5v. My board defaults it lower...should I manually set to 1.5v?? Oh and thank you guys for helping..every forum Ive tried...I get one person who says to change my VGA cable lol from ROG to AMD forums...not a peep! So much appreciated!

 

[Johan45]

Yep I'm with R_T for 2x8 if it says 1.5V I'd set 1.55V you could also try setting the CPU_NB at 1.2V it'll cause a bit more heat but not that much

 

[MurderOne]

Well then, Ill give that a shot and report back....Ill just do the standard 1.5v and 1.2 for NB

 

[Johan45]

Trust me it won't hurt to give the ram a bit of extra voltage, it was a pretty common practice on AMD. You have to remember 95% of the RAM available was designed for Intel platforms

 

[trents]

Trust me it won't hurt to give the ram a bit of extra voltage, it was a pretty common practice on AMD. You have to remember 95% of the RAM available was designed for Intel platforms

Indeed!

 

[MurderOne]

Ok....so I believe we are getting somewhere....changing the RAM voltage to 1.55v most certainly changed the way my machine behaved during the no signal boots...Usually It would power on, then my GPU LEDs would flash several times before staying on the red I set, at the same time that was happening my DRAM LED would stay on for a bit with my VGA LED, then turning off to leave just my VGA LED on...However after the voltage change...I tried booting 20 times and for the life of me cant figure out, why now do my GPU LEDs STOP flashing and all my board LEDs did their normal thing leaving my VGA LED on in the end, with no signal! In over a year the only time thats happened is when boots normally(obviously going into Windows and no VGA LED)...buuut had to reset my BIOS to get back on! So now...Im wondering if its a 2 front issue with voltage and something else...because adjusting the RAM voltage stopped my GPU from going psycho when powering on, It powered on normally, still gave no signal but...WTF LOL..SMDH!

 

[trents]

You also may need to give the IMC some more juice. NB aka, CPU/NB.