Hi,
I’ve been working on the following build for the past few weeks and for the first time in a long time I’m stumped. I thought I’d look to this forum, as well as a couple of others, to get some suggestions on analyzing the problem, identifying the core issue(s) and possible corrective actions.
Background:
Build is for my personal use and is used for desktop productivity, gaming, audio/video media consumption, web surfing and some light video exiting (planned). Replacing my 4 year old Abit IP35Pro/Core 2 E8400/8800GTS desktop which has been 100% stable with a 4.0GHz processer overclock and just a joy to use though it is starting to show its age.
Build Specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz
Processor Cooling: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B with push/pull PWM fans
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Graphics: MSI N560GTX TI
Storage: Intel 510 Series 120GB (system drive)
Samsung: SpinPoint F3 1TB
Asus DRW-24B1ST
Audio: Asus Xonar D1
Enclosure: Lian Li PC-8FI
Power supply: Corsair AX750
Easy assembly, with a couple of minor challenges, cleared POST on first boot. I liked the new UEFI BIOS for the most part, checked for default AHCI setting, set boot priority and changed memory setting from 1333 to 1600 and off I went. Installed the Win764, loaded up current drivers from ASUS, MSI etc. and ran Prime95 for an hour on all 8 cores with great thermals, 32C idle/61C load as a quick test. Seemed like a nice solid build. I was actually a little disappointed there weren’t more challenges along the way as I find I get the most enjoyment from the problem solving and developing new skills to address issues along the way. I suppose you could say I’m now in the “be careful what you wish for” camp.
Did some additional testing, installed a raft of OS updates and some minor software and a week went by with no issues and I went about buttoning up the build with a little cable management, closed up the case and applied a few more OS updates. My plans were to start testing some overclocks and run some benchmarks with some more stability tests before moving my data over and decommissioning my current system. Life, work and family pulled me away for a week and upon next boot, cleared the POST, continued to boot and I got an American Megatrends Logoed screen telling my overclock failed. Ok, I didn’t have an overclock in place at the time but the boot continued, windows failed and after a little diagnosis discovered a 0x8000ffff error and a corrupt registry. I went back to the BIOS and loaded defaults, just in case, rebooted and let windows try to fix it and tried System Restore with no results. Assumed I did something wrong and reinstalled the OS, drivers, updates etc. only to have the same thing occur a few days later. I tried some advanced recovery “install last known working” as well as 2 different restore points, all with the same BSOD and corrupt registry error. It would appear all versions of the registry are corrupt. I went throught the build and checked all physical items with nothing standing out.
Tests:
1. Memtest86+ for an hour with no errors (I’ve read there is benefit to running this for longer periods – thoughts?)
2. Chkdsk didn’t give me any errors
Plans:
1. Apply the newly available BIOS update
2. Reinstall OS and drivers
My view of potential root issues.
1. BIOS (this would be the easiest fix if the new version addresses my currently unknown issue)
2. Motherboard (test suggestions here would be a big help)
3. SSD (test suggestions here would be welcome, Intel Optimizer gave me no issues)
4. Processor (hard to imagine this is the problem but I suppose it is possible)
5. OS Update (I’ve noted that MS has had a similar issue with “update” in the past)
I’m reluctant to start the “repair by replacement” approach because that will present an unwanted expense and I am simply too stubborn to do that today without trying to understand what the issue is. I could use some help either suggesting some more tests either before or after installing the OS, opinions on root cause and/or your thoughts on what next steps to take. I’ve thought about running a diff between a working version of the registry and one after failure to try and find the errant entries or deletions and use those as a way to diagnose the issues. A bit tedious but I’m willing if there are no other ideas.
Please forgive the length and thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Russ