CPU Issues

Been here a couple of times in the past for malware removal when I didn't know much, and now I'm back to ensure I'm on the right track with hardware and see if we can't get some fresh eyes looking at this. My old computer was several years old, a Dell, and had issues from the start. Was definitely time to upgrade. So, I built one with the following specs:
Case: Cooler Master HAF X
MB: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
GPU: ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP x2 SLI
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB PC312800 kit (4x4)
CPU: Intel i7 2600K
PSU: Corsair Professional Gold AX1200
SSD/HDD: OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD/WD Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Drive Bay: LG Super-Multi-Combo Blu Ray Drive x2
Sound card: ASUS Xonar DX
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

So everything was going smoothly enough with the initial install, though the installation screen had some funky colours when it came to some of the text. Just barely noticeable, but there. I started updating everything and found more funky text, as shown at the bottom, when looking for some ASUS drivers. Tried the nVidia support forums, but never even got a response. At this point, I'm thinking it might have been the CPU all along. I got a BSOD regarding memory once, though Memtest checked out all right and I haven't seen it since. I did get a BSOD regarding the CPU twice, stating, "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval" and was unable to replicate it. Made sense considering the lag I was getting on a simple enough game like Portal. Then I needed to encode some footage, which went through the first time and aborted because it defaulted to the system volume and there wasn't enough room on such a small drive. After rooting around in the registry for an option regarding the default folder, I tried again. All subsequent attempts resulted in that same BSOD about the CPU. I had less and less time before it happened with each attempt, but the temperature never rose above 70C, so it's clearly not a heat issue. This caused a program or two to act pretty wonky, so I went ahead and reinstalled Windows and did so on the HDD, planning to remove the SSD as it's proven to be too small when I can't choose the install directory for some applications. In doing so, I noticed things were very slow. The difference between broadband and dial-up, not SSD and HDD. Am I right to assume the CPU is faulty, and is it causing this incredible slowdown in everything? I would blame program start-up speed and installation of updates on the HDD, but I never had trouble with it before this. Are there any other problems I could be missing, and does anyone have any ideas on the screenshot? I've tried disabling SLI and plugging the monitor in to each DVI slot on each card, and I know it's not the PSU considering it was bought with upgrades in mind.

Thanks,
- Sarge

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/5583/issueb.jpg

 

Please report your post as the pic is huge! Have you tried disabling the SLI and see how that goes?

 

Sorry, 30" monitor so screenshots tend to be pretty large.

Been here a couple of times in the past for malware removal when I didn't know much, and now I'm back to ensure I'm on the right track with hardware and see if we can't get some fresh eyes looking at this. My old computer was several years old, a Dell, and had issues from the start. Was definitely time to upgrade. So, I built one with the following specs:
Case: Cooler Master HAF X
MB: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
GPU: ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP x2 SLI
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB PC312800 kit (4x4)
CPU: Intel i7 2600K
PSU: Corsair Professional Gold AX1200
SSD/HDD: OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD/WD Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Drive Bay: LG Super-Multi-Combo Blu Ray Drive x2
Sound card: ASUS Xonar DX
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

So everything was going smoothly enough with the initial install, though the installation screen had some funky colours when it came to some of the text. Just barely noticeable, but there. I started updating everything and found more funky text, as shown in the previous post, when looking for some ASUS drivers. Tried the nVidia support forums, but never even got a response. At this point, I'm thinking it might have been the CPU all along. I got a BSOD regarding memory once, though Memtest checked out all right and I haven't seen it since. I did get a BSOD regarding the CPU twice, stating, "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval" and was unable to replicate it. Made sense considering the lag I was getting on a simple enough game like Portal. Then I needed to encode some footage, which went through the first time and aborted because it defaulted to the system volume and there wasn't enough room on such a small drive. After rooting around in the registry for an option regarding the default folder, I tried again. All subsequent attempts resulted in that same BSOD about the CPU. I had less and less time before it happened with each attempt, but the temperature never rose above 70C, so it's clearly not a heat issue. This caused a program or two to act pretty wonky, so I went ahead and reinstalled Windows and did so on the HDD, planning to remove the SSD as it's proven to be too small when I can't choose the install directory for some applications. In doing so, I noticed things were very slow. The difference between broadband and dial-up, not SSD and HDD. Am I right to assume the CPU is faulty, and is it causing this incredible slowdown in everything? I would blame program start-up speed and installation of updates on the HDD, but I never had trouble with it before this. Are there any other problems I could be missing, and does anyone have any ideas on the screenshot? I've tried disabling SLI and plugging the monitor in to each DVI slot on each card, and I know it's not the PSU considering it was bought with upgrades in mind.

Thanks,
- Sarge

 

Check to see if your CPU is configured properly and is running at 3.4GHz unless you OC'D. Still, using CPU-Z gives me accurate info, it's old but it works for my 2600K. I can't think of anything else ATM. Sorry.

 

CPU aren't usually faulty form what i seen. If they are bad they usually wont post. I would blame the motherboard before the CPU. Do you have another video card to try?

 

Well, I spent all of yesterday installing Windows on a laptop so I could encode the footage. In doing so, I got the same graphical issue. The only similar items between the two computers are the copy of Windows and the browser version, which nobody else is having issues with. So, I think we can safely dismiss the screenshot as a faulty Windows disc. I've already sent an RMA request for that.

I've got BIOS set to automatically use the turbo boost and take care of the CPU for me until I have all items working and can get some liquid cooling set up. Regularly, it sits around 1.6 Ghz and under 15-20% load it jumped to about 4.4 Ghz.

It could be the MB, hard to say. Everything in this is new, so pinpointing anything is going to be difficult. I've got the old 7900's from the other computer, but I think we've got graphics sorted at this point. Now I just question the slow-down. What can I use to measure the speed of my HDD? Should be 7200, but it's that or the CPU that's causing problems here.

Also, I believe eSATA controllers are within the CPU chipset? Neither the two on the MB, nor the one on the front panel function. Any thoughts?

 

Rather than start a new topic, thought I'd add to this one with the latest information.

Got the new Windows disc and ran in to the same graphics issue, so I'm pretty stumped there. Got a replacement drive, as I thought it might be why things were slowing down on me. Eventually it got to the point where I couldn't even boot to safe mode to back up, and it took roughly five days just to change file permissions on the minimal amount of data I had stored at that point since I knew I'd have to move stuff over anyway. Not to mention taking forever just to confirm the drives existence. Things are once again beginning to slow down on me.

It just hangs for a short while during little things, but could easily get worse again to the point of freezing for several minutes even when I'm doing next to nothing. Could a CPU with a little too much thermal paste cause these kinds of issues, or am I looking at something else? On the old drive, any attempts to boot gave an error regarding RAM for each program it tried to load, but I'm not sure what that could really be attributed to at that point. Any ideas on what my next move should be?

 

I'll agree with the motherboard being suspect. If you're getting CPU and memory BSODs, then perhaps it's not the CPU OR memory, but the motherboard handling them... it's possible a bus is faulty, or something else on the motherboard.

You mentioned too much TIM (thermal interface material)... is it possible you got some on the motherboard circuitry? If so, that definitely can cause issues. Using too much TIM is often more dangerous than using too little, as CPUs have a failsafe built in to shut down when overheating (and too much TIM can cause overheating issues just as using too little can). Even if you haven't gotten TIM on the board... if you suspect you misapplied it, I would highly recommend cleaning off the CPU/heatsink and redoing the procedure. You definitely want to make sure that is done right.

If I were in your shoes, I'd RMA the motherboard. ASUS has a good reputation for making great boards, but I'm sure they have a small percentage that end up faulty, and you could be in that boat (assuming the TIM isn't the issue).

Also, as to your SSD "issue", it's possible to redirect almost every program's want to write to the root directory... it just takes more research, work, and tweaks for some. I personally opted for a 120GB SSD so I wouldn't have to squeeze as much stuff out of it... something you may consider. Or, they do have a good selection of hybrid drives out that work pretty well from what I've heard as well.

 

I was wondering about the MB, and thought I may be having to RMA that anyway simply because I can't get any eSATA ports to function.

None got on the circuitry, I know that much. It's not a massive over-application, just my first time using it and potentially a little too much.

I'll start with RMAing the board and case (as it needed it anyway) and reapply the TIM more conservatively when doing so and see how it goes. After five years of the Dell not working and now this mucking up, I'm about ready to RMA everything I hadn't already and get new parts. =P

I've gone ahead and simply gone with the HDD only and will sell off the SSD. I think the extreme lag in boot times right now is due to whatever else is being a problem, so I feel sure it'll be all right. I know there shouldn't be a difference in speed like there is between dial up and cable here, after all.

 

i don't know how old your m/board is but it could be something to do with the sandy bridge chipset
There was the massive Cougar Point bug in Sandy Bridge chipsets which affected SATA operation. There was a huge recall at the beginning of this year whilst B3 revisions were made to all boards

more about it here
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2379241,00.asp

and here
http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/Identify_B3_Motherboards/