Asus Crosshair V formula Z BSOD and shut down

[mxquattro]

Hi everyone. I have been using my system for about a year now with no problems. I went all high end on everything.
Hitachi SSD
750W PSU
32GB DRAM

I started getting BSOD then intermittent shut downs. I thought maybe it was my SSD, since this has happened before and replacing it worked.
I got annoyed with SSDs at this point and went to a WD black. As Im installing windows Im getting the same thing, BSOD or shut down.

If I boot off the win 7 DVD, I can have it sit there on the intro screen seemingly forever. As soon as it starts doing something it freezes or bsod or shut down

What I did:

New hard drive
Removed 3 of the 4 RAM sticks - same thing
Replaced the remaing 1 with brand new - same thing
Unplugged every device (USB/SATA etc) except keyboard and mouse
Reset BIOS back to factory defaults.

Thermal camera shows nothing too warm at all. Besides, its cold up here in Alaska! Im kind of at a loss what to do next. Maybe replacing CPU but that isnt a cheap thing to replace just as a test.

Any tips would be HUGELY appreciated as this is my baby!

[mxquattro]

Wow cool, so chances are it might have worked? When I get home tonight Ill see what my bios version is. I didnt even think of booting it up and checking the version since I thought it didnt work. Thank you! Ill report back!

[mxquattro]

I would like to point out that I am the biggest idiot on 7 continents. I have been pushing the wrong button the entire time (just like the idiots on the videos I have watched).
Im pushing the clear CMOS button. Now that I push the CORRECT button it is doing the blink as indicated in the manual.
However when the light went out (indicating it was done), my system does not boot. no POST, no splash screen, no nothing. *sigh*

[mxquattro]

sorry for all the posts. When I take the side cover off, there is an LED blinking that says "VGA". its the LED right near my serial number tag near the RAM banks

[mxquattro]

when I power down, disconnect all power, wait, then boot up, still nothing happens. Q code says "10" which the manual says PEI Core is started". But it just sits there.

[MeanMachine]

Hello again. 😛

PEI core has started indicates to me that your bios is at least functional. You need to verify Bios version and that Flashback worked.
Post has halted at 10 but MB VGA_LED is lit, and will not advance until rectified. Recheck and make sure it is the VGA_LED that is lit.

Investigate your GPU and monitor setup, Can you test the card in another system?.
Check or swap out the cabling and inspect slots for any contamination. Ensure GPU is seated correctly.
Restart system to check if rectified. Does the VGA_LED still light up?

If Post advances, What is the readout at now?, (should it halt again).
Should post halt at a different Qcode, report here current Qcode error.

One step at a time. We are looking for Qcode AA, which is a successful transition to ACPI and your OS.

EDIT: You need ofc to get into Bios before OS, You may crash at this point if OS does not jell well with default CMOS settings.

[mxquattro]

Thanks Mean Machine. Im pretty close to 100% thinking its not the GPU or its slots since it worked fine before I did the BIOS flash. I did just reseat it though
per your suggestion and no change. Nothing shows up on the screen whatsoever. The monitors dont even come out of power saving mode.

Looking around though, I see this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1744713/crosshair-formula-posting.html

It seems its the CPU, which makes sense to me. My system crashed whenever the CPU got busy, then eventually just crashed pretty much any time. The fact
that I can stay in BIOS setup forever without the system crashing (before I flashed it) kind of confirms that.

[MeanMachine]

[QUOTE= It seems its the CPU, which makes sense to me. My system crashed whenever the CPU got busy, then eventually just crashed pretty much any time. The fact
that I can stay in BIOS setup forever without the system crashing (before I flashed it) kind of confirms that.

I suppose the only way to tell is to swap the CPU. owch!! :mad:
Benchtest before re-assy, in case it ain't the CPU.

Good Luck.

EDIT: If you are relying on that post you linked, don't forget he was NOT able to Post and access his Bios.

[Dr__Zchivago]

MeanMachine wrote:
Benchtest before re-assy, in case it ain't the CPU.

On that Hiren's Boot CD is a 'Mini Windows XP' installation - if I remember correctly, it is a full-support installation.

Put Realbench or Aida64 onto a flash drive, boot to the Mini-XP installation on the HBCD, and see what you see. Performance will be terrible (you're booting to a CD - haha), but you should be able to test your CPU without replacement.

Z

[mxquattro]

Dr Z. Unfortunately that wont happen... I cant get that far. And Mean Machine, thats exactly where I am right now. Cant POST, no BIOS, no nothing. Its basically giving me the big middle finger

I ordered a new CPU, so it should be in soon and I can report back here.
Bob