4 months ago I had a pc store assemble a pc system for me after carefully selecting most components (except the RAM).
From day one it had some minor issues. Short sound distortions. But it happened rarely and since the computer was very large, heavy and difficult to transport, I dealt with it.
A month ago freezes started to happen during games and the pc would shut down with Q-Code 8 and a blinking orange Q-LED (DRAM). I had to bring it back to the pc store. They did some tests and came to the conclusion that the entire hardware was okay and that it was some software issue, which they claimed to have fixed. They updated bios, installed some drivers, optimized the OS... and made everything worse.
After I got the pc back, the internal speaker would make no sounds during boot anymore. Not even after removing all DRAM and starting the pc. And yes, the internal speaker is connected. Also the boot process had issues all of a sudden. It would stop booting after about a second and even the cooler stopped, accompanied by a clicking sound as if some switch was pressed. After a few seconds break the clicking sound reoccured, the boot reinitialized/continued and the OS started.
I did some online research on the topic and found out that RAM issues could occur if the RAM configuration in bios was wrong. There was the recommendation to either adjust the settings (which requires more knowledge on the topic than I have) or deactivate D.O.C.P. I did the later and also deactivated fast boot. One of those fixed the clicking and boot interrupt, so at least the computer starts normally now, without taking a break. The silent internal speaker is still a mystery and an alerming sign.
Anyway, freezes with Q-Code 8 and the blinking, orange Q-LED are still happening and I feel like they are getting more frequent. I don't know what the pc store tested in regards of hardware, but I ran memtest86 and found no issue with the RAM. What I did find were reports that Q-Code 8 could indicate a CPU issue or a buggy mainboard. Unfortunatelly I don't know how to find out and the pc store that assembled the pc is either unwilling or incompetent of finding out what is causing the issue. Therefore I registered in the official forum and would like to ask for some help/advice on the topic.
Sorry for the long intro. Here are the system specifications.
Mainboard: Asus Rog Crosshair VI Extreme
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Power Supply: Enermax MaxTytan 800W
RAM: 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX, DDR4, 2400Mhz, PC4-19200, CL14, 1.2V
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Hard Discs: 2x Samsung Evo 850 SSD, 500GB
P.S.: I also noticed a significant performance loss before and after the reported issue. Severe slowdowns and delays in games or even during simple tasks like opening a folder in the explorer or navigating sites.
edit: I found a thread with the same issue and a very similar hardware configuration.
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?97986-Crosshair-VI-Q-code-8-Orange-LEDShould I just try to increase said voltage values or do I need other values? I wouldn't want to fry my hardware... also I don't know if it has to do with the problem at hand. But I'll try removing the bluetooth and wifi drivers in the meantime. No harm in trying that one, I guess.
