Asus rampage IV Extreme was actively trying to kill my CPU

[xploited]

Greetings ROG community, this is my first post here!

During saturday I had the luxury of building a new system:

MOBO: Asus rampage IV extreme
CPU: Intel 3930k
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Silver arrow SB-E
GPU: NVIDIA 690 gtx
RAM: 4 x G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 PC17000/2133MHz CL11 2x4GB (F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL)
PSU: Fractal design Newton R2 1000W
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 120 GB
HDD: Western digital Caviar black 1 TB

The build went smoothly and the only minor hickup was that I hade some difficulties mounting the cooler. There really ought to be more room around the socket for users that don't fancy water-based cooling solutions!

The pc-bootet at first try and I was quick to load optimized defaults and setting AI tuner to X.M.P. I quickly installed Windows 8 and all drivers that I thought necessary. So far so good....

This is when the problems began.

I noticed my CPU was running HOT even with no OC. I downloaded CPU-z and was surprised to see that the mobo was pushing 1.3 Vcore. That is in no way a dangerous voltage but surprisingly high for a 3930k @ Stock. I lowered it to a more accpetable level of 1.24 V which still is a little on the high side for stock but i reconed that I would get back to lowering that voltage once I got the system up and running the way I wanted it to. The temperatures remained a bit on the high side during normal system load 50-60 degrees. These are far from dangerous temperatures and as such I disregarded this fact.

Suddenly the system starts rebooting, without any BSOD or any warning. It like someone pulled out the power cord. This imediately alerted me that there was something really fishy going on. A PC that suddenly shuts down without any warning implies that something is overheating, but ALL temperature readings (HWMonitor and AI Suite) were fine...

Next on my checklist was the RAM. I ran memtest for 4 passes and no errors was detected.

The system was still rebooting. I noticed that It was also happening during idle which made the me even more confused since this basically ruled out that low Vcore was the issue...

Put of by my missbehaving system I started reading OC-guides to a feel for the x79 platform and the SB-E processors. I even read the guide here on the ROG forum. There was a general consensus about three key voltages: VTT and VCCSA should be set to 1.1 optimaly and at most 1.2 V. CPU PLL voltage should be set to 1.8-1.9 V. Really grasping at straws I decided to check those voltages. I was reasoning as such: " I loaded the Optimized Defaults, there's no way in **** those are set at dangerous levels"

Voltage readings:

VCCSA: 1.3V
VTT: 1.25
CPU PLL: 2V

Horrified I corrected the voltages. This happened just an hour prior to creating this post. I'm still a bit of a shock and I apologize if the thread is in a compleet dissaray...

The first question I'm asking myself now is: How could this happen?

I know for a fact that after I finished the build I loaded the "Optimized defaults" and then used the X.M.P. If this is the cause then Asus has effectively implemented a one key instant degradation feature on this board.

Worth mentioning is that this is a used board, It was previously used in a Demo build at a local store. I bought it at a discount.

The second question is: Has this degraded my CPU?

The system has been in use since sunday and only a couple of hours when I was trying to solve this issue...

As of now I've had no reboots for the past 2 hours spent on trying to calm down and somehow manage to create this thread. The temperatures have lowered conciderably 4-8 degrees on the cores.

Third question: Are there any more voltages that I should look for that my murderous board might have set to dangerous voltages?

Ok... I'll stop rambling now and take some fresh air


Kind regards

Xploited

[zed]

To answer your first question, I'm guessing the reason this happened is because the XMP profile for your ram will set vccsa to 1.300v if you don't set it manually. Mine actually will push it to 1.350v but I'm fine with 1.150v

It's impossible to say for sure but, I'm quite sure a couple hours of use at those voltages won't cause any noticeable degradation.

[xploited]

Thanks for your reply Zed. I have also confirmed that it was the X.M.P that set the VCCSA and VTT, but what caused the absurd PLL?

Would someone from Asus please explain why the the X.M.P would set the voltages to dangerous levels? I can't for one second imagine that users that apply the X.M.P are expecting this, I for one wasn't. All previous boards I've owned, albeit not asus boards, haven't done anything like this. Seems a bit odd...

I acctually discovered the VCCSA and VTT issue a bit erlier than the PLL. The memtest was done after applying correct values on VCCSA and VTT. In other words I believe that it was the PLL voltage of 2 V that caused my system to crash/ insta shutdown. I was so upset that I confused what order I did things.

Could the PLL voltage have caused any damage? I have a hard time understanding what PLL does. The temperatures was kept at acceptable levels at all times. (Not sure how hot the CPU gets during memtest)

No random shutdowns as of yet, think that the PLL was the culprit.

// Xploited

[FireRx]

I hate to ask this question but are folks resetting Cmos before they fire up the systems for the first time?:confused:

[xploited]

Hey FireRX!

I thought that loading Optimized defaults would reset all user defined settings?

[FireRx]

Yeah, I hit the reset button right off before I even apply power for the first boot. but Looks like you have it sorted out nicely.

[xploited]

I think so too. I am still kinda grumpy over the whole fact though and the fact that the Chip might be damaged!

[Nodens]

What the XMP profile sets has nothing to do with ASUS. An XMP profile is essentially an SPD profile programmed onto the RAM modules themselves. XMP can set several values (contrary to a simple SPD profile) and you should always check what it sets. RAM modules are binned and XMP profiles written for them but falls to the RAM OEM to test, decide and program those values and they may or may not have your specific CPU/platform in mind when they do so.

So bottom line is always check what the XMP profile sets.

[xploited]

Hey Nodens!

I didn't know that. I guess I'll have a word with G.Skill then.

Does the XMP set CPU PLL aswell?

[Terminal_Meltdo]

I have G.skill 2133mhz, too. You have the manually set the RAM timings with that board's XMP profile. Switch it all to 11 & 30 (not 28) for which your CL is rated.