Crosshair VII Hero WiFi totally unstable

[Flexerl]

Hello Forum,

I just built a brandnew rig:
ASUS Crosshair VII Hero Wifi
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
G.Skill 32 GB Quad DIMM Kit (F4-3466C16Q-32GTZR)
ASUS Strix Vega 64, mounted vertically via riser cable
Samsung 960 Pro M.2 NVME
Seasonic 650W Titanium Power Supply

All this is placed in a Lian Li PC-O11 WGX, cooled by 6 Enermax T.B. RGB Fans

I'm really frustrated right now and on the verge of sending everything back. No matter what I do, I just can't get it stable. For the record: Everything is @ stock, settings on AUTO unless otherwise stated. Temps have never been a problem, the CPU gets to 80° at max (CPU Fan @ 3000 rpm).

What I tried initially:
- The CH VII won't boot if i select the XMP setting in the BIOS, so booting with 4 DIMMS @3466 is impossible (gives me 3 beeps on boot, even with 1.4V), maximum it will boot: 3200 MHz
- So I went with 3200 MHZ and loose Timings (16-18-18-38, as deemed stable for 3466)

Where I am now, after several crashes:
- I gradually reduced RAM Speed from 3200 down to 2933 MHz and even looser Timings with 16-21-21-49 due to crashes without getting to the root cause (but I was guessing it's a RAM issue)
- I uninstalled all the ASUS Software like AISuite 3 and the like which is supposed to be responsible for sudden shutdowns as stated in other threads (even though I never had/ran Corsair Link or NZXT stuff)
- The only Software remaining is ASUS Grid, GPU Tweak II, Aura Sync, Sonic Studio 3, HWInfo64, Ryzen Master, CPUID
- it will still just turn itself off while Prime95 is running, or while gaming.. I still want to check if it happens when I let it sit idling for some time

What I checked:
- Temps: OK. No overheating issues, no throttling, neither CPU nor GPU. M.2 SSD is fine as well, MB too
- Cables: Everything plugged in nice and tight
- Software: Uninstalled most of the bundled stuff, see above.
- Drivers: Installed the latest available from AMD and others
- RAM: Reseated the 4 DIMMs, didn't make any difference
- Voltage: Everything stock, see above. Tried bumping up RAM to 1.4, no difference
- Power Supply: I figured 650 W could be a little tight, but under full load (CPU: Prime95, GPU: FurMark), it pulls 450 - 500 W @wall, so that should do...

My guesses (into the dark): Some board component is getting too hot. Faulty Board. Faulty RAM. Faulty CPU.
Any suggestions?

[gupsterg]

Flexerl wrote:
BIOS is 0509, WiFi is disabled.

UEFI 0601 is most current release, I would try that, link.

I may have my C7H WiFi running in a day or so. Sometimes I find drivers from actual manufacturer of x are better, perhaps if Realtek do drivers for the WiFi module use those instead of ones from ASUS.

[gupsterg]

I have had C6H since launch and also ZE (now C7H). I use virtually all UEFIs that Elmor (ROG MB R&D) releases on OCN/ROG. When they turn "official" I can tell you byte for byte the betas match the official release of same version number. So technically even every official release is beta, when a bug is found we gain a new UEFI, so was the official really so much better. So use the latest UEFI IMO, use this forum and the OCN C7H thread to share feedback which ASUS reps view.

I use Flashback method of flashing always. This feature is using a onboard SPI flasher, even if you had power outage whilst doing flash you can rerun and recover board.

Update HWINFO, latest build shows best core status, besides best to be on latest IMO, especially when you have gleaming latest kit 🙂 .

Load 3466MHz The Stilt within DRAM Timings Control > Memory Presets. Set Memory Frequency [DDR4-3200MHz], change VBOOT found in Digi+ menu to 1.35V and VDIMM on Extreme Tweaker to 1.35V. SOC on [Auto] is on higher side from my experience with Ryzen Gen 1 and what The Stilt has said for Ryzen Gen 2. Change to manual mode, try 1.05V, ran HCI or RAM Test or GSAT and check out what you need.

Some things left on [Auto] due to another change, can change unnecessarily. For example SOC, you'll find if you do CMOSCLR, at 2133MHz SOC: [Auto] will be lower than when at >2933MHz. As it changes based on "auto rule" and not determination of silicon characteristics, etc. Looking at your HWINFO screenies, due to RAM MHz and SOC voltage [Auto] your at >1.1V. The Stilt has experienced negative scaling of SOC for increased RAM speed when >1.1V is applied.

I prefer using Ai Overclock Tuner [Auto] set as [Manual] and then setting BCLK 100MHz. I also set 1.8V PLL and 1.05V SB voltage from [Auto] to 1.8/1.05V.

Report back how you get on 🙂 .

I set also:-

On DRAM Timings Control:-

Gear Down Mode [Disabled] (Can ever so slightly gain you performance, also then allows odd CAS or it's rounded to next even)

Power Down Enable [Disabled] (Can improve RAM latency as it does not power down when idle, etc)

On Digi+:-

VRM Spread Spectrum [Disabled] (Improves aspects of VRM when you OC, I do it even at stock, VRM is not switching frequency unnecessarily to conform to EMI regs)

On Tweakers Paradise:-

Sense MI Skew [Disabled] (Keeps TCTL/TDIE as AMD stock setup, if ever you change 1.8V PLL the temps do not get skewed when this is disabled)

[Flexerl]

Thanks a bunch all of you, I'll try all of this (BIOS settings, 2 DIMMS instead of 4, etc) once I get the BIOS flashed.
Update: It worked, even with the USB stick being formatted NTFS.

After some googling, I read the advice to contact ASUS and request a new BIOS chip. Seriously? The C7H is starting to look like a proper banana product to me. How can anyone with proper QA release something as crappy as this to the public? I don't have enough spare time for all of this, and it's getting highly annoying. I may be interested in building my own rig, and setting up basic stuff, but I'm not by any means an expert at fiddling with the last setting in the 5th sub menu to get a stable PC. But anyways, I'll do my best to get this expensive pile of electronics working properly.

[gupsterg]

In this section of forum is a thread which is stickied, Crosshair VII Hero Essential Info Thread. I will place a flashback guide in there. I do not believe currently there is issue with your bios chip.

AMD Ryzen gen 2 officially when you use 2 dims out of your kit the CPU supports 2933MHz, when you use all 4 2400MHz. So IMO using 2 sticks you should need very little tinkering in UEFI to have 2933MHz.

The reason I'm stating to you to lower SOC is it may aid you to improve what RAM MHz you attain.

[Flexerl]

Just a short update: Didn't have much time to fiddle around, everythings running as before (BIOS 0601, most things stock, RAM @ 2933 with crappy timings) and is unstable as ever. Today it happened again: The PC turned itself off, and I was only able to restart it by switching off the PSU for a while. At the time before lights out, I had HWInfo, GPU Tweak II and CPUID running. Since it didn't go dark the last days while I wasn't using any monitoring/OCing software, I presume the crashes are related to those.
Apart from that, I got two BSODs lately, one MEMORY MANAGEMENT and one other I can't recall atm (not memory related).

[gupsterg]

I've not had a chance to load up 4 dimms on C7H yet. On 2 dimms (F4-3200C14D-16GTZ) this is how my SOC voltage was set to achieve x MHz.

0.900V set in UEFI for 3200MHz The Stilt Safe, but TRC 44 & TRFC 256, VBOOT/VDIMM: 1.35V

0.912V set in UEFI for 3333MHz The Stilt Fast, VBOOT/VDIMM: 1.37V

0.925V set in UEFI for 3400MHz using The Stilt 3466MHz timings, VBOOT/VDIMM: 1.37V

0.956V set in UEFI for 3466MHz The Stilt, VBOOT/VDIMM: 1.37V (I also needed to set VTTDDT: 0.687V ProcODT: 48 Ohms)



If I manual OC CPU whilst on 3466MHz The Stilt, I need SOC: 0.968V.

[purecain]

another person finding 48ohms their sweet spot on these dims.... thanks for the soc voltages... very interesting....
i upgraded too but i kept the ch6hero.... 2700x loves its new home... i cant believe they havnt managed to make the transition to their chipset less of a fuggly experience...
as long as you dont mind finding the perfect settings instead of being handed them your fine... imo...
good luck to OP aswell! cheers!

[schweigert]

Ive been having major network adaptor issues - where they will completely disappear (even in bios) if its a reboot. if im loading up from the computer shut down they work fine. a lot of gremlins in this board it seems.

[michaelemcken]

schweigert wrote:
Ive been having major network adaptor issues - where they will completely disappear (even in bios) if its a reboot. if im loading up from the computer shut down they work fine. a lot of gremlins in this board it seems.

I have the exact same experience. Sometime both WiFi and Ethernet is just gone from both BIOS and Windows.
*

[schweigert]

michaelemcken wrote:
I have the exact same experience. Sometime both WiFi and Ethernet is just gone from both BIOS and Windows.
*

im on my THIRD new CH7 board - this time I went with non wifi - and still experienced it.


Asus engineering still hasn't called me back - and when I talked to three different techs over the phone last weekend, they said they've never heard of this problem.... so im glad im not the only one.