Unstable system with i5 4460

[adowd2]

* CPU: Intel core i5-4460 3.2GHz

* CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7

* Motherboard Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150

* Memory: HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

* Storage 1: Samsung 850 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

* Storage 2: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

* GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card

* Power: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX

* OS: Windows 10

* Wifi adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800

I recently built a brand new PC with all new parts and have been encountering kernel powers under load. Usually during gaming, but if I try to stress test the cpu then it would instantly cause a kernel power. I would use prime95 or OCCT on the CPU:OCCT test, and they would crash my whole system. No blue screen at all, just black.

Things I have taken note of:

* Temperatures aren't reaching anything high while gaming and are quite low.

* Ran memtest over night and passed all the tests for the ram.

* Replaced the power supply with the same unit and had same encounters with both units.

* Ran Intel diagnostic tool on and my CPU has passed.

* Ran Samsung magician to double check that my storage is good, and it is.

I am at a complete loss of words at this point and really need help. I have contacted ASUS and they have told me that it could possibly be a heat issue(which I doubt it is because I am checking it) or it could be a problem with the motherboard. If anyone could help or could possibly recommend what I should do in any way I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

[AlHill]

Remove the video card and use just the onboard video, and see if the system is stable.

Doc

[adowd2]

Taken out video card ran prime95. Still crashed 2 seconds after test starts.

[AlHill]

Does the system crash only when using prime95? If so, do not run prime95.

Doc

[adowd2]

No, the system would crash under certain types of load for some reason. Certain games that require high cpu usage, watching videos that require flash player, it has also crashed using aida64.

[AlHill]

Unless the ASUS site is horribly incorrect, it appears that only the Xeon E3-1281 V3 is supported on this board.

http://www.asus.com/support/CPU/1/45/6/1/ic9YbXVua78KEzSH/C20140504155350/ ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- CPU Support - Z97-A

Both the xeon and your processor support the 1150 socket:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80817,80907 ARK | Compare Intel® Products

I was checking that site to see what bios version was required for your processor.

If the ASUS site is correct regarding processor support, then I would not be surprised to find your system unstable.

Doc

[adowd2]

From what ASUS has told me, and since they had the board at the repair office then I would assume that it would be supported. Could the cooler be at fault for this?

[AlHill]

Hard to say. You said the temperatures are quite low.

I would go back to the basics. Unplug everything you do not absolutely need. Use one dimm and test it in each socket. Remove the video card. Use only one disk drive. Etc, etc, etc.

I would also try a different power supply (different manufacturer, higher wattage) and see what the results are.

Unless you have access to the xeon or another i5-4460, you would need to verify with ASUS the cpu support, and the bios needed for that CPU.

I am still concerned about the supported CPUs page from ASUS.

Doc

[adowd2]

Sadly I do not have another PSU, nor a CPU to test. I will do process of elimination in order to see what I can do. Thank you for your help, I will also contact ASUS tomorrow morning.

[adowd2]

I got in touch with ASUS and they have informed me that the board does support my processor. I have also tried to go to basics and run simply with just one drive, no GPU, and one stick of ram. The problem still continued when running any stress test. I have also tested the one stick of ram in each slot and still continued. I am currently going to try a different power supply and see if the problem continues. I am starting to point fingers at the power supply now and might invest in a higher grade PSU and a different brand as well.

[idata]

Hello dowd83:

I just wanted to confirm that the board does support the processor, as you can confirm on the following link: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97A/HelpDesk_CPU/ https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97A/HelpDesk_CPU/ So, a BIOS update to the latest version is a good thing to try in this case, the latest BIOS version is 2801: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97A/HelpDesk_Download/ https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97A/HelpDesk_Download/ At this point besides using a different power supply, you already tried all the troubleshot steps that we recommend, the next thing to do will be to swap parts. To use the processor on a different board, or to use your board with a different processor will be the next thing to try, since you mentioned you do not have the option to do that, maybe there is a PC repair store close to you where they might be able to do that for you, at this point the problem could be related to the board or processor. The processor has 3 years of warranty, and we can always replace it for you, most of the times this problem is related to the board, and since the processor passed the test of the IPDT that will indicate the problem could be the board. If you are interested in the replacement, please get in contact directly with us through chat, email, phone or online support, you just need to select processor on product type and you will get those options: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html# @12 http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html# @12 Any questions, please let me know. Alberto