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[Troubleshooting] $3,000 Rig, First-time Builder, Serious Problems, PLEASE HELP

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BuildBuildBuild

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Joined
Mar 24, 2012
UPDATE (Sunday, March 25 @ 3pm GMT):
  • Ran Memtest for over 12 hours and after 6 full passes, there were no errors. Is it safe to say the RAM is not the problem and is OK?
  • Updated BIOS to latest firmware.
  • Since updating BIOS firmware:
  • * SSD: benchmarks are all normal EXCEPT 4K Writes which have improved but are still underperforming by about 33%. This is definitely progress, but any ideas why that specific benchmark could be underperforming while everything else is now normal?
  • * Sleep issue: Put computer to Sleep, and it stayed asleep (remember, before it would wake up automatically after about 30 seconds). Woke it up after 15 minutes, and several minutes later, noticed Q-Code was at “AA” (remember, it used to remain at "30", which was the Sleep cycle). This is the first time I’ve witnessed the Motherboard report a normal Q-Code of “AA” after waking up from a Sleep. Again, this is definitely progress.
  • * Have been running Prime95 Torture Test for over 2 hours now after waking the computer up, while looping TWO Youtube clips on EndlessYoutube.com (remember, my PC had frozen twice while on Youtube previously), with no errors so far. During this time, I decided to push my computer to the limit, and also ran 3dMarks11 benchmark. System did not crash, and got a 3DMarks score of P4385. How long should I run Prime95 for?
  • * CPU & Fan Info after 2+ hours of Prime95:
    https://imgur.com/UqSFG
    (I have no idea how to read this,is it all looking normal?)
  • Graphics Card: Can someone please 100% confirm if a 3DMarks score of around 7200 is indeed low for my specs? I’m not yet clear on that, but have not benchmarked the card since after the BIOS update (other than during Prime95 as above), so I'll have to wait until I complete the Prime95 testing before benchmarking it again.
So it seems the BIOS firmware update has helped in at least a few areas, so I'm glad to see some progress. Thanks for everyone's help so far, I know that last thing you guys want to be doing on the weekend is helping someone with their PC troubles. Hopefully I can get this all resolved and running smoothly by tomorrow, or at least pin-point the cause and get it exchanged. Thanks again and I'll continue to answer all the posts and keep everyone updated until this is 100% resolved.

____________________________________

Specs:

Note: All the latest Drivers and Windows Updates have been installed.

Pic of Build:
https://imgur.com/90l4L

Close-up: http://i.imgur.com/GIuSo.jpg

Notes:
  • No major issues during build.
  • All latest Drivers and Windows Updates have been installed
---

Turning On First Time:

First time I turned it on, got a green flashing screen. Turned it off. Waited a few minutes, turned it back on, worked OK (never had the green screen problem since). Got CPU Fan errors. Read on forum that’s normal for Noctua NH-D14 fan due to efficient RPM, so I lowered CPU Fan Alarm threshold and never got the CPU fan error again.

---

Main Issues:
  • When it wakes up from from a short sleep, the Q-Code stays at “30” (which refers to the sleep cycle). A couple of times I saw it stay at “30” and then it changed to “80” (DXE Initialization) while still working, but I never saw it go back to “AA” after waking up. Shouldn’t the Q-Code change to normal “AA” status once the computer wakes up and has been used for over 30 minutes? In case it helps, when I put it to sleeps, it goes from “AA”, to “03” (System Agent initialization before microcode loading), and then goes off.
  • At first, computer would wake up immediately from a short (few hours or less) sleep. But it did not seem to respond to an overnight sleep. After leaving it asleep overnight, pressing the keyboard or moving the mouse did nothing. I had to shut it off.
  • Now, after installing the last 36 Windows updates, it only sleeps for about 30 seconds and then wakes up by itself but the screen is still blank. If I move the mouse, Windows then appears normally on the screen.
  • Computer has frozen at least four times so far. Once when editing the Windows Hosts file in Notepad, second time while opening a Youtube Video, third time when running 3dMark11, fourth time while opening a Youtube video again. I checked the Q-Code of the MB when the second freeze and fourth freeze happened and it showed a Q-Code of “30” on both occasions, so it might have to do with the Sleep. When it freezes, the screen stays on whatever it was on, but nothing moves or reacts or changes (neither on the screen nor on the computer itself). It simply stops responding and reacting. When it froze on 3dMark11, the screen was just dark and stayed that way (I ran 3dMark 11 4 times, it only froze on one of those four times).
---

Diagnostic Screenshots:

Fans & Voltage:
https://imgur.com/ct8cc

RAM:
https://imgur.com/pQbU0

---

Underperforming Benchmarks:

1) SSD
  • Samsung 830 512GB with latest firmware.
  • Partitioned and properly aligned.
  • Clarification: Forgot to mention that it's been running in AHCI mode, TRIM on, Intel Rapid Response installed, and plugged into Intel X79 Sata 6Gb/s Controller all since the beginning.
  • S.M.A.R.T. Screenshot:
    https://imgur.com/ULKf9
  • Crystal Disk Marks: http://i.imgur.com/WPI0O.png

Based on average Crystal Mark Scores from 4 different sources online (see below), my SSD is underperforming an average of -36%:
After doing the last 36 updates on Windows, I ran it again, and it’s still underperforming: http://i.imgur.com/vngtJ.png

2) GPU

---

Based on all of the above, it is clear to me that something is very wrong with my build, which is quite disheartening after all the time and money I invested in it.

Please help me figure out all these issues as I’m way in over my head and have no idea how to diagnose or resolve them.

Building a PC was far more complicated than I anticipated (especially due to the poor instructions in the manuals regarding so many cables), but I thought it was still worth it when I finally finished the build and saw what I had created with my own two hands. Now, with all these problems that my old Dell never gave me (it pains me to say that), I’m starting to have regrets and second-thoughts, especially since I saved up a lot of money to buy top-of-the-line components to avoid precisely these kinds of issues. To be honest, after this experience, I probably won’t be building a PC ever again, but I want to at least salvage this one so that it lasts me at least 3 years.

I’m willing to test, diagnose, and try anything, so I’m all ears.

Please help. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
You may feel a bit "burnt" right now, but you'll recover and look back on it, with a better outlook.

There aren't a lot of wires, but that depends on what your frame of reference is doesn't it? A lot could be more than 15, or more than 200 - it's just what you're used to.

First thing I'd look at is what are you comparing your system against?

1) Are these systems using the same clockspeed you are using, or are they overclocked? BIG difference. You have a cpu at stock speed, and they have a cpu at stock speed + 500 to 1,000 MHz - big difference.

So nail down the specifics of what you're comparing your system against - hardware AND the drivers, if possible.

2) Are you running a 64 bit version of Windows 7 or a 32 bit? What are the comparison PC's running?

3) The SSD table you showed, indicated your drive had no errors, and no failures. It's accuracy appears to be perfect. Is your complaint with the speed of the drive, then?

Note that if you put your system (primary) partition, on the SSD, you'll have a faster system - but you'll also be vastly limiting the amount of data that you can work with, on the SSD. So it's a trade off, and unless you're in a hardware benching contest, leaving the SSD available for data, makes a lot of sense. If you don't, you could wind up having to transcode movies, or music, or work on any kind of data, on a much slower HD, because the SSD space is all used up by the system. :(

IMO, it's best to look at each performance area of the computer:

1) cpu, northbridge, and RAM: integer and floating point calculations, using loops. Pi and SuperPi benches come to mind, but there are many others.

2) southbridge and HD's.

3) gpu and monitor.

If you can't find the details of the comparison rigs, I'd urge you to go register at hwbot.org - it's ALL about hardware races/benches, and catalogs the results INCLUDING cpu-z screenshots and bench results! That stops a lot of exaggerations and outright lies, and you can usually find good comparisons with your hardware.

Be aware that the members at hwbot.org also go to EXTREME measures to overclock and otherwise speed up their hardware and tests. I'm not suggesting you go to that extreme, just compare results on benches, with yours, from comparable PC's.

The goal is to ID just what area of the PC is not up to par, and see what can be done to correct it. It may be as simple as a change in your gpu driver. Note that the latest driver may not be the best driver for your card. I've seen that many times.

Before you change drivers, look into your BIOS for two things:

1) Hitting the "del" key as it boots up, (several times), takes you into the BIOS. Press f9 to load the Optimal Default values, into the CMOS.

2) Now find the power saving mode, and disable it. In AMD it's called PowerNow, Intel has a different name, but it's for a similar purpose, and has a similar description - if you have a power area on your BIOS, it will be there. If not there, just look around and you'll find it. Don't change anything else, because what you have now, after pressing f9, is NOT what you are seeing in the BIOS screens - you loaded something else, remember?

After changing the power options to disabled, press f10 to save and exit.

Reboot, and again, hit "del" key a few times during boot up, and go into the BIOS. Check that you have now loaded the performance settings, and that the power saving features have been disabled. They should be fine, so exit that, making no changes.

Go into Windows, and set your power management options to the highest performance. You should not be suspending anything or hibernating either. These options may disable your cpu from going into Turbo mode, at all, and are universally a buggy idea. If you want to save power, use a balanced performance option, (but don't use it when you are benchtesting!). IMO, never suspend or hibernate your PC.

This last part could be the only two things you need to change, at all, so I'd start there - set your BIOS to top performance, and turn off the power saving features - and set Windows up to full performance mode with NO suspend, NO hibernation, and NO power saving features running at all.

Then reboot, and retest your benchmarks.

P.S. If you want to join the folding team for a race, we would love to have you. Race starts May 5th at Noon, but set up and prep for the race starts May 1st.

It's the most fun you can have while keeping your clothes on, and helping medical research! :D
 
Last edited:
What score were you expecting in 3DMark 11? That score you posted looks very good for that video card honestly.

Here is just a quick review I googled about the card and 3d mark 11

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1853/9/

notice that in this article the 7950 scores almost the same as a Nvidia 580 GTX. Your score is much higher than what they got, it's within spitting distance of the 7970's score.

Also you need to keep in mind that again you have not overclocked your processor, do you plan on doing that?

Unfortunatly I can't help you with the SSD as I don't have any experience in it. But to me from what you showed your system looks like it's working. However I disagree with the previous statement about you placing the OS on the drive limiting your working room. You have a 512 gig hd there, using 20 gigs for the OS isn't going to hurt a thing. Besides, it looks like you're already running the OS on the drive. It's the only one you list in your build. :p

Edit : I did a bit of googling, your not the only one who has issues with a solid state drive and low 4k read / write speeds. There are a few remedies out there to try, I'd suggest looking at those and then see if they fix anything.
 
Last edited:
Not sure what happened to my OP, but I have an update and have reposted OP below it.

UPDATE (Sunday, March 25 @ 3pm GMT):
  • Ran Memtest for over 12 hours and after 6 full passes, there were no errors. Is it safe to say the RAM is not the problem and is OK?
  • Updated BIOS to latest firmware.
  • Since updating BIOS firmware:
  • * SSD: benchmarks are all normal EXCEPT 4K Writes which have improved but are still underperforming by about 33%. This is definitely progress, but any ideas why that specific benchmark could be underperforming while everything else is now normal?
  • * Sleep issue: Put computer to Sleep, and it stayed asleep (remember, before it would wake up automatically after about 30 seconds). Woke it up after 15 minutes, and several minutes later, noticed Q-Code was at “AA” (remember, it used to remain at "30", which was the Sleep cycle). This is the first time I’ve witnessed the Motherboard report a normal Q-Code of “AA” after waking up from a Sleep. Again, this is definitely progress.
  • * Have been running Prime95 Torture Test for over 2 hours now after waking the computer up, while looping TWO Youtube clips on EndlessYoutube.com (remember, my PC had frozen twice while on Youtube previously), with no errors so far. During this time, I decided to push my computer to the limit, and also ran 3dMarks11 benchmark. System did not crash, and got a 3DMarks score of P4385. How long should I run Prime95 for?
  • * CPU & Fan Info after 2+ hours of Prime95:
    https://imgur.com/UqSFG
    (I have no idea how to read this,is it all looking normal?)
  • Graphics Card: Can someone please 100% confirm if a 3DMarks score of around 7200 is indeed low for my specs? I’m not yet clear on that, but have not benchmarked the card since after the BIOS update (other than during Prime95 as above), so I'll have to wait until I complete the Prime95 testing before benchmarking it again.
So it seems the BIOS firmware update has helped in at least a few areas, so I'm glad to see some progress. Thanks for everyone's help so far, I know that last thing you guys want to be doing on the weekend is helping someone with their PC troubles. Hopefully I can get this all resolved and running smoothly by tomorrow, or at least pin-point the cause and get it exchanged. Thanks again and I'll continue to answer all the posts and keep everyone updated until this is 100% resolved.

____________________________________

Specs:

Note: All the latest Drivers and Windows Updates have been installed.

Pic of Build:
https://imgur.com/90l4L

Close-up: http://i.imgur.com/GIuSo.jpg

Notes:
  • No major issues during build.
  • All latest Drivers and Windows Updates have been installed
---

Turning On First Time:

First time I turned it on, got a green flashing screen. Turned it off. Waited a few minutes, turned it back on, worked OK (never had the green screen problem since). Got CPU Fan errors. Read on forum that’s normal for Noctua NH-D14 fan due to efficient RPM, so I lowered CPU Fan Alarm threshold and never got the CPU fan error again.

---

Main Issues:
  • When it wakes up from from a short sleep, the Q-Code stays at “30” (which refers to the sleep cycle). A couple of times I saw it stay at “30” and then it changed to “80” (DXE Initialization) while still working, but I never saw it go back to “AA” after waking up. Shouldn’t the Q-Code change to normal “AA” status once the computer wakes up and has been used for over 30 minutes? In case it helps, when I put it to sleeps, it goes from “AA”, to “03” (System Agent initialization before microcode loading), and then goes off.
  • At first, computer would wake up immediately from a short (few hours or less) sleep. But it did not seem to respond to an overnight sleep. After leaving it asleep overnight, pressing the keyboard or moving the mouse did nothing. I had to shut it off.
  • Now, after installing the last 36 Windows updates, it only sleeps for about 30 seconds and then wakes up by itself but the screen is still blank. If I move the mouse, Windows then appears normally on the screen.
  • Computer has frozen at least four times so far. Once when editing the Windows Hosts file in Notepad, second time while opening a Youtube Video, third time when running 3dMark11, fourth time while opening a Youtube video again. I checked the Q-Code of the MB when the second freeze and fourth freeze happened and it showed a Q-Code of “30” on both occasions, so it might have to do with the Sleep. When it freezes, the screen stays on whatever it was on, but nothing moves or reacts or changes (neither on the screen nor on the computer itself). It simply stops responding and reacting. When it froze on 3dMark11, the screen was just dark and stayed that way (I ran 3dMark 11 4 times, it only froze on one of those four times).
---

Diagnostic Screenshots:

Fans & Voltage:
https://imgur.com/ct8cc

RAM:
https://imgur.com/pQbU0

---

Underperforming Benchmarks:

1) SSD
  • Samsung 830 512GB with latest firmware.
  • Partitioned and properly aligned.
  • Clarification: Forgot to mention that it's been running in AHCI mode, TRIM on, Intel Rapid Response installed, and plugged into Intel X79 Sata 6Gb/s Controller all since the beginning.
  • S.M.A.R.T. Screenshot:
    https://imgur.com/ULKf9
  • Crystal Disk Marks: http://i.imgur.com/WPI0O.png

Based on average Crystal Mark Scores from 4 different sources online (see below), my SSD is underperforming an average of -36%:
After doing the last 36 updates on Windows, I ran it again, and it’s still underperforming: http://i.imgur.com/vngtJ.png

2) GPU

---

Based on all of the above, it is clear to me that something is very wrong with my build, which is quite disheartening after all the time and money I invested in it.

Please help me figure out all these issues as I’m way in over my head and have no idea how to diagnose or resolve them.

Building a PC was far more complicated than I anticipated (especially due to the poor instructions in the manuals regarding so many cables), but I thought it was still worth it when I finally finished the build and saw what I had created with my own two hands. Now, with all these problems that my old Dell never gave me (it pains me to say that), I’m starting to have regrets and second-thoughts, especially since I saved up a lot of money to buy top-of-the-line components to avoid precisely these kinds of issues. To be honest, after this experience, I probably won’t be building a PC ever again, but I want to at least salvage this one so that it lasts me at least 3 years.

I’m willing to test, diagnose, and try anything, so I’m all ears.

Please help. Thank you.
 
UPDATE (Monday, March 26 @ 12:40pm GMT):
  • Ran the Prime95 Torture Test for over 10 hours yesterday after waking the computer up, while looping TWO Youtube clips on EndlessYoutube.com the entire time, and while using the computer normally throughout the day, and had NO errors. These are the CPU stats towards the end of the Torture Test: [2]
    https://imgur.com/VQm4i
    I think it's safe to say the CPU is fine.
  • The above, coupled with the earlier [3] Memtest Results seem to show that both the CPU and RAM are fine.
  • I've enabled XMP in the BIOS and my RAM is now running at its intended clock speed of 1600 Mhz.
  • Since enabling XMP, my SSD and Graphics benchmarks have improved (no idea if related, or just coincidence, but happy either way). Furthermore, I also did a “Performance Optimization” using the Samsung 830 Magician Software and now my SSD speeds are exactly where they should be across-the-board
  • * New SSD Scores: [4]
    https://imgur.com/j05cu
  • * New Graphics Scores: [7]
    https://imgur.com/FfwUD
    (P7419, nice improvement, have been advised elsewhere that the 3dMark scores are compared against other cards, including Overclocked Cards and GPU’s, which is why 3dMark is reporting my results as "low" since everything of mine is at stock speed.
  • I left the computer asleep overnight (remember, before the BIOS update, it wouldn’t wakeup or respond after an overnight sleep) and it woke up without a hitch.
  • Computer has not frozen at all since I updated the BIOS early yesterday (not even during the simultaneous Prime95 Torture Test, 2 Endless Youtube clips, and the 3dMark benchmarking).
All in all, it looks like everything is normal now and working as it should, which is a HUGE relief for me. What my inexperienced mind first thought were multiple hardware failures was simply an outdated BIOS firmware and lack of optimization. I didn’t even have to open my case to get everything working like it should.
Moral of the Story: ALWAYS update your BIOS to the latest firmware when you build a new PC. I learned the hard way, but you don’t have to! :)
I can finally begin to enjoy my creation, and that is a wonderful feeling. Thanks again for everyone's help, you’ve all been great and made this a lot less painful than it otherwise would have been. I'm very glad this type of support for newbies exists otherwise I would have been drowning alone in a sea of silicon.
If anything else happens, I’ll report back, but I’m happy to say this will not be the last PC I build.
END UPDATE.
 
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