Intel i5 6600K random lockup Freeze or BSOD...

[satas]

Hi to all!

firstly here is my configuration:

Intel i5 6600k at stock speeds

Asus Z170 ROG VIII Gene (latest bios 1504)

Corsair DDR4 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz (CMK16GX4M2A2400C14)

EVGA GTX980 SC (at stock speed)

I am experiencing random system freezes and BSODs. The screen locks up and the sound is stuck or it is just BSOD.

I already started a thread over at Tenforums and did a lot of troubleshooting but nothing really helped.

most of the time the issue happens while just browsing the internet, playing some flashgame in the browser etc.

it can randomly happen with listening to music with wmp or aimp or just while starting a portable application from usb drive.

it's really very random and unpredictable, that makes it very difficult to analyze - but the issue is there in the background all the time.

I'm running Windows 10 Pro and have the all the latest bios and drivers installed.

there is no manual overclock except the ram running on XMP profile at 2400MHz (instead of 2133Mhz).

how is it possible that Intel's Skylake can not handle ram at 2400MHz while Z170 chipset advertises speeds at >3000MHz.

Thank you in advance for the help and advices,

Sahin

[satas]

I assume you use the 6700K, right?

the XMP profile also has impact on the voltages, my XMP keeps mine on 1.2V but yours would be higher for sure.

anyway it's not normal that the sytem crashes at stock speeds, even if it's very random.

that's just not ok, it sould also have no issues with XMP 2400MHz as the difference is so small.

[CCris2]

Yes I have the 6700k.

Your system crashes with stock ram speed also ?

The difference is not small, XMP lowers the timings on memory, and increases speed if you check on CPU-Z

[satas]

yes, this is the second part of my problem.

I get the same random crashes with XMP and SPD speeds.

that leads me to believe the issue is not really ram related but caused by the cpu.

[CCris2]

What VGA driver version you use ?

If you have windows 10 it probably auto updates to the last version and is not good .. because last version has this problem http://wccftech.com/nvidias-latest-game-ready-driver-allegedly-killing-gpus-plagued-issues/ Nvidia Users Beware, Latest Driver May Harm Your PC - Allegedly Plagued With Issues

[satas]

I was using 364.72 whql but got a crash with it, so I switched to the older 361.75 whql.

it is easy to tell if the crash is driver related as it causes "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal" bugcheck.

the actual issue I have causes mostly the "irql_not_less_or_equal" or the "memory_management" ones.

[CCris2]

I read this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/4316xl/nvidia_driver_36175_still_crashes_windows_10/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/4316xl/nvidia_driver_36175_still_crashes_windows_10/ and I suggest try remove video card from system and try if system is stable with the intel graphics.

It seems NVidia is shooting bullets in its foot.

I had gtx 8800, and they were forcing that card with each driver release till the card gave up on working. I don't trust NVidia that much since then

[satas]

that's a real wired issue with this DTRs existing since very long time.

I had the TDRs with most of the latest nVidia driver versions but they never led to BSOD crashes.

I always got the famous "driver stopped responding and has recovered" notification, never crashed.

I must admit with the latest 2 versions 362.00 and 364.51 the TDRs got much less, very very few in fact.

I'm troubleshooting my crashes since some months now and I didn't see any relevance to the nVidia driver I was using.

I did not realize any increase or decrease in the crashes after changing nVidia driver.

running on the iGFX is not a bad idea at all, what prevents me from doing it is that it can take from a day to some weeks until I crash.

that's the biggest problem I have while troubleshooting, the problem is not easily reproducable.

additionally while testing I ran Windows Driver Verifier for more than 72 hours, which stresses nVidia driver as well, with zero errors.

[CCris2]

Anything is reproducible. You just need to find how

I had an issue with driver from intel which I managed to reproduce and they fixed the driver. Now they try to fix other things

Usually a graphic driver problem can be reproduced by running applications that force the video card to its maximum performance. Also try set to 1 min time to turn off display, if you have problems when pc is not doing anything.

[CCris2]

You Just have a new bios if I am not wrong

The message there is "Improve system stability."

Lets hope that I was right about that mainboard, and repair the problems you have.

[EstebanA_C_Intel]

Hello, All:

Thank you all for your input on this.

I would like to get some investigation done, please provide me with some time to provide you with my outcome of the research.

Regards,

Esteban C

[satas]

@Ronin

I hope so as well. I had already a crash on the new bios but it was definitely caused by the newest nVidia driver.

so there is a hope that the new bios could change the game.

@EstebanC_Intel

thank you for taking your time, I hope it helps further.

[EstebanA_C_Intel]

Hello, sahafiec:

Sure, no problem, I am currently getting this reviewed.

As soon as I get an answer, I will be providing you with it.

Regards,

Esteban C

[satas]

Hello Esteban C,

thank you very much for the assistance.

I'm also still troubleshooting on my side trying out some bios settings suggested on different forums.

Greetings,

sahafiec

[mhann6]

Hi to all!

firstly here is my configuration:

Intel i5 6600k at stock speeds

MSI Krait Gaming Z170A

Kingston Hyper X : 2X8 G ( 2133MHZ) or Kingston Hyper X : 2X4 G ( 2666mhz ) or both at same time.

no gfx card.

I am experiencing random system freezes BUT no BSODs. The screen locks up and the sound is stuck .

Most of the time the issue happens while just browsing the internet, playing some flashgame in the browser etc.

it can randomly happen with listening to music with wmp or aimp or just while starting a portable application from usb drive.

it's really very random and unpredictable, that makes it very difficult to analyze - but the issue is there in the background all the time.

I'm running Windows 10 Home

there is no manual overclock.

Thank you in advance for the help and advices,

I mainly copy paste Sahin first post cause it rings a bell to me I just modify what is different .

I carefully read this entire thread. I m speaking french mainly so I maybe missunderstod some of the details.

But I m experiencing this for month now. I was told it was the ram so I bought another ram set .. and well here I am .

SO If i understand it right . Its about the CPU that some how got a malfunction...

What can I do ? who m I supposed to speak with ?

I m from Belgium .

Thx if you can help me throug ... All my computers was intel powered I never face anything like that in the past .

Thx for reading .

[CCris2]

Hi myio ,

First of all do a bios update, if you haven't, from this page : https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z170A-KRAIT-GAMING.html# down-bios Support For Z170A KRAIT GAMING | MSI Global | Motherboard - The world leader in motherboard design

After bios update, go in bios and enable XMP. Also in memory settings (in Advanced mode bios / OC), you have an option "Memory Try It!". With this option you can change compatibility settings for different manufacturers of memory (Hynix, Samsung, Micron). You need to find what memory you have and change it according to it.

[abarb]

Are you sure you do not work for Intel?

[mhann6]

Bios and all drivers updated .

Everything is running ok so far . I'll keep in touch and let u know if a crash occur ...

Thx

[CCris2]

So you updated bios to 1601 ?

[satas]

yes I did as soon as it was out but the particular changes I'm trying out right now are not something new.

I just tried to prioritize what I want to test first as it takes some time until the issue is reproduced.

now that I'm out of other choices I remembered those settings shared in my Asus ROG forums topic.

it would be a real shame on Asus if those bios settings could cause such a mess.

but we'll see, I'm running the new settings for 2 days now - not much as my issue can take up to 2 weeks to occure.

[CCris2]

Yes, I read a bit also on the Asus forums and it seems many people have problems there

I hope you will get it fix as it seems is giving you a big headache.

[satas]

indeed, I'll be very happy to fix this issue finally - it's been going on for months.

there are many user having similar strange issues, a bit scary, even exchanging components didn't help for some of them.

I still hope for the best and cross my fingers.