Hi everyone!
I’m hoping to find someone who has an idea how to fix an issue I’m having.
Here’s a PC I’ve been using for 2 years with no issues whatsoever:
Asus Prime TRX40 Pro motherboard
4x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz C16-18-18-36
AMD Threadripper 3970X (32core)
Cooler Master Wraith Ripper cooler
Asus GeForce GTX 1660 Super
Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe SSD
TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 PCIe WiFi Card
EVGA 210-GQ-0750-V1 750 GQ, 80+ GOLD 750W PSU
2x Cooler Master Sickle Flow RGB fans
2x NZXT fans (that came with the case)
I work in video production/motion graphics/3D and have decided to upgrade my graphics card. About 2 weeks ago I got a new Gigabyte 3060 Ti OC from BestBuy and replaced the 1660 Super with it. Everything was fine.
Feeling good about upgrading it with the current state of the market I wanted to keep upgrading my system…
I got the XPG Gaming GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB NVMe, but BestBuy delivered it in a crushed flattened box packed in an unprotected envelope and forced into my mailbox. Even the inside plastic packaging was flattened, it probably had something heavy sitting on it in transport. The SSD didn’t look broken, so I decided to try to install it. It was working fine for a day or two, but then while unzipping a large file on it the computer froze for a few seconds and the drive was no longer functional, it wouldn’t initialize at all. I replaced it with a new one at BestBuy and it’s working perfectly now in the same M.2 slot.
One of the NZXT fans was making a weird chirping noise, so I replaced both of those with another pair of Cooler Master Sickle Flow RGB fans. each pair of fans is connected to one header via a splitter. And so is the RGB cable. So 4 fans on 2 fan headers and 2 RGB headers.
Then I got another 4x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz C16-18-18-36 to boost it to 128GB. So now I have 8x16GB. The motherboard manual says this particular RAM is supported in configs of 1/2/4 sticks. So technically 8 sticks are not supported, but I’ve never overclocked any of my system components and the Asus motherboard is said to have good headroom when it comes to power, so I’ve decided to try it and it does work beautifully with 128GB at 3200MHz 16-18-18-36 - standard DCOP profile. It’s showing up in the task manager and works great.
Now here’s where the issues start…
If I do manage to boot into Windows the system is super stable and cool when stress testing with everything stock, including RAM at 3200. After 10-15 minutes of Prime95 with RAM and CPU saturated at 100%, the CPU is at a cool 70degC and stable. I never got a blue screen or a system crash even if doing 3D renders or heavy stress tests with FurMark, Ryzen Master or Prime95.
Problem is, sometimes it doesn’t want to POST. Most of the time actually. It gets stuck at code 94 or sometimes it gets in a code loop.
I thought it was RAM since it’s not officially supported, but then I tried removing the new sticks and it still wouldn’t post. I tried MemTest86 and in the beginning it would show errors, them freeze, but after several tries it would just freeze around half way through testing. And that’s with 8 sticks, 4 sticks or just 1 stick, so I don’t think it’s an issue with RAM. Especially since RAM is doing great once I manage to boot into Windows. My system just doesn’t like MemTest86 for some reason and it never finishes. I tried it at 2133, 2933, 3000 and 3200. All of them work fine in Windows, but BIOS is still not posting most of the time.
I tried moving the GPU to PCIe1 (recommended by the MB) since I always kept my card in PCIe3. It’s pushing slightly on the Wraith Ripper cooler if in PCIe1… It didn’t help. I tried rearranging the power supply cables to it as well. Still not POSTing.
I tried removing M.2 SSD and leaving just the original SSD in, but it’s still not fixed.
I unplugged the RGB headers since that’s the only thing left that changed, but nothing.
So now I’m getting frustrated and I don’t know what else to try. Since I’ve made all of these upgrades in the same timeframe, I feel like it could be anything. That faulty SSD could have fried something on the MB maybe? But now it works fine in the same M.2 socket. It could be the RAM< but even if I go back to how it previously was, the problem is still there. The PSU is good quality and 750W should be fine and it’s stable when stress testing in Windows.
I’m sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give a detailed explanation. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thank you!