Random freezes with Asus Rampage IV Extreme after updating to BIOS 4502

[RamGuy]

I'm not entirely sure what's going on with my system.. Ever since I updated to BIOS 4502 on my Rampage IV Extreme it's been freezing on me at random.. It might freeze while booting within a few seconds before reaching the BIOS, or it might boot into Windows and be just fine for several days before freezing.

After updating to Windows 8.1 a few weeks back after grabbing the RTM ISO from Microsoft Dreamspark my system have been reporting various issues with some kind of USB devices even though all my USB devices seems to be working just fine and connecting them to other systems is providing no such issues, it even reports this without any USB-devices connected at all and Device Manager claims there are some issues with a USB HID device for five seconds, then it's fine for about five seconds, then it claims there are some problems for five seconds and it keeps going like this forever. I tried to delete the ASMedia USB 3.0 drivers, install the newer v1.16.20.0 ones but it doesn't make any difference. I have no such problems on my server running Windows Server 2012 R2 (basically the server version of Windows 8.1) and it also features a Asus Rampage IV Extreme motherboard and it's also updated to BIOS 4502.


I've tried to revert back to older BIOS released without any luck, I also tried the latest 4503 release but it's all the same. I tried to re-install Windows 8.1 from scratch and after numerous freezes during the install I finally managed to get through the setup, installed all the drivers and got all the updates install but it's still the same USB related issues and it freezes at random. The only thing I've noticed is that things have started to get progressively worse, now my system don't seem to be able to run for more than max 15 min before freezing, earlier it would at least be able to run for a few days at best but no more. In the beginning I suspected it to have something to do with Windows 8.1 as it seemed like I could run memtest86+, various Linux Live-CD's forever without issues but now it's halting and freezing even before the Windows loading kicks in and during memtest86+ my display might go black or the system might just shut down for no apparent reason.


There is, and there never has been any overclocking involved at all. I've always ran everything at stock, the only thing I've done is setting the RAM to 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-32 @ 1.65V, increased the current capability of the CPU and RAM to 120%, the various power options to Optimised and the Load-Line-Calibration to Medium and changed various on-board controllers and boot settings and that's it. Now it won't even work with safe default settings or anything and at times I have to shut down the power supply for several minutes in order for it to get through the BIOS boot at all.



I have no idea what's going on, and even though these USB related issues existed before I updated from 4206 to 4502 (I updated with a hope of fixing the USB issues as the update stated to "1 Enhance compatibility with some USB device." my system was at least running stable 24 / 7, but ever since I did this update it's been all nonsense and now my system is utterly useless.


The motherboard, RAM and PSU is less than six moths old, I've been running Rampage IV Extreme since release but got another board and placed my old board in my server which seems to be running fine (but it has a defective on-board audio, but I don't really care much) and got new ram and PSU while I was at it so it seems strange that any of this should cause problems already.


My system consists of:

- Asus Rampage IV Extreme (BIOS 4503)
- Intel Core i7-3960X
- 2xCorsair CMD8GX3M2A2666C11 (normally running at 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-30 @ 1.65V)
- Gainward GeForce GTX Titan
- Corsair AX 760i Plantinum 760W PSU
- Creative Titanium HD Audio Card
- Samsung 840 Pro 500GB SSD
- Intel 320-Series 160GB SSD
- Intel 510-series 250GB SSD
- Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit
- Corsair Link GPU Kit
- Razer DeathAdder 2013 Edition Mice
- Ducky Year of the Dragon Mechanical Keyboard
- Samson C03U Microphone
- Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter
- nVIDIA 3D Vision USB-adapter
- Logitech C910 Webcam
- Asus Xonar Essence One External DAC (connected using SPDIF / Optical from Titanium HD)
- Windows 8.1 Pro x64 UEFI Installation

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Hi RamGuy those are two dual channel kits you are trying to run? If so I would remove one of the kits for troubleshooting since running two separate kits is very often trouble as I guess you know?

Try Clearing CMOS, removing all power to the board including the battery and leaving it over night and then maybe flash the BIOS (bios flashback) back to the previous working BIOS.

I would also reinstall the OS on only one kit or one stick of RAM....the freezes during the last install may well have left the OS installation corrupt.

I would also remove all non essential things connected to the PC and not install corsair link to start off with....

[RamGuy]

Will give that a go, first I'll try to see if it works with the Quad-Kit I've got running in my server as I know those are perfectly fine and toss the ones I've got in my system in the server for good measure.

[RamGuy]

Scratch that.. It seems like memtest86+ is not found of me activating the SMP (Multi Threading) mode as it behaved exactly the same when testing on my server as well, just randomly shuts down. I guess I have to keep using the normal mode which takes ages..

[RamGuy]

Exact same symptoms with the other RAM sticks in the system, it just randomly shuts down during memtest86+ and upon the next boot the display was black until the system randomly shuts down after about five seconds after I hit the power button, restarts goes for a few seconds and shuts down again. Will clear the CMOS and start testing with one stick and see how that goes. Not particularity optimistic as I'm faced with the same symptoms with another kit of RAM which I know is 100% stable on my other system also featuring a Rampage IV Extreme BIOS 4503.

[RamGuy]

Okay, I get a error in memtest86+ testing the RAM on my server. But these CMD8GX3M2A2666C11 modules are very hard to test as I can't run the XMP specification as neither my Intel Core i7-3960X or my Intel Core i7-3930K is capable of booting at 2666MHz at all.

I lowered them to 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-30-2T @ 1.65 which I thought would be safe as these are supposed to be some very capable modules and my other Corsair Dominator GT modules have a XMP for 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-27-2T @ 1.50, but I was obviously mistaken. In order to rule out overclocking failure what would be some safe settings to test with? The Intel Core i7-3930K and i7-3960X are both rated for up to 1600MHz, correct? And the base CAS for 1600MHz is normally 9-9-9-27? So would the best way to test the RAM to see if it's actually working at all to test with 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-27-1T @ 1.65? Or should I even go as low as 1333MHz @ 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.65?

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Yes I would Memtest86+ them one stick at a time at the default JDEC settings that they will have...1333 (F5 defaults in BIOS) just to make sure a stick itself is not dodgy. Do they only have one XMP profile at 2666 or is there a lower clocked profile on them.

My 2133 corsair have 2133 at 9-11-10-30 2T you could try that on one kit at a time if the single sticks turn out OK

[RamGuy]

And there we go again, my desktop is just randomly shutting down by itself. No errors on the RAM, not when testing with only one stick, not when testing all four at the same time. And this was with the four RAM I'm 100% certain is working perfectly so this is pretty much telling me that RAM has nothing to do with it. Tested with starting up the machine, with only one stick of the RAM which I know it's working and it keeps freezing, not only in Windows but also while booting and even when browsing the BIOS if I'm unlucky.

I guess the next step is to test without having the Corsair Link installed, but what harm can the Corsair Link really do as it has nothing to do with how the motherboard and the system behaves? Unless it for some reason would mess with the fan settings making my system overheat (it's not overheating without any overlocking in a matter of seconds.. That's highly unlikely.) which it's obviously not as the fans are running and the Intel Core i7-3960X is not overheating on stock settings on low-load when all fans are running with a four-fan push / pull configuration on a Corsair H100, there is no sign of high temperatures in the BIOS either.


It smells like a faulty motherboard if you ask me, and as this is my fourth Rampage IV Extreme going haywire on me I'll ask my reseller to provide me with something other than a new Rampage IV Extreme as this is starting to become quite silly. What would be the best pick for a 24 / 7, 110% stable and reliable LGA2011 setup? The Asus Sabertooth X79, the new P9X79-E WS perhaps?

[RamGuy]

I'm running memtest86+ on both my Rampage IV Extreme now, I've taken the RAM we suspect to be faulty to my server which I know is working and the RAM I know is working over to my desktop which have had problems.

So far running 4x 4GB Corsair Dominator GT (the ones I know is good) seems to be doing okay on the unstable system, the other 4x 4GB Corsair Dominator Platinum ones on the other hand gave me a error in about five minutes on the board I know is working okay with 2133MHz @ 9-10-11-30-2T @ 1.65V settings. I'm currently testing them (all four at the same time) on 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-27-1T @ 1.65V now to see how that goes while my desktop is still running memtest86+ at 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-27-2T @ 1.50V without errors so far with all four sticks.


I will try running one-by-one if any of them ends up with an error, what's very hard though is that I ran a memtest86+ a few days back on my unstable system, with the suspect RAM on 2133MHz @ 9-11-10-30-2T @ 1.65V and they seemed to be doing okay for over 6 hours without errors until a error showed up in pass number 6 or something. So they might be okay as I guess all these freezes and troubles I have going left and right should provide several errors in memtest86+ if it has anything to do with the RAM? Not one single error on pass 6 or 7 after over 6 hours of testing?


But lets see how it goes, it's strange that my server got an error within five minutes with the exact same settings that my desktop could run for several hours without any errors showing up before pass 6-7 after several hours of continuous testing. I'm not entirely sure if that's random, if it means there something wrong with the RAM or if it's simply my other Rampage IV Extreme or my Intel Core i7-3930K not being as capable of pushing these specific modules as my desktops Rampage IV Extreme and it's Intel Core i7-3960X.

There are several ways to test this, if the RAM from my server is testing okay I could always try to run my desktop using them for a few days and see if I get any freezes, if not I guess it's safe to blame the other RAM modules. If it keeps freezing even when using these RAM modules that I'm certain is working okay and my server is capable of using the others which we suspect to be faulty I guess I have to dig in and rip the Corsair Link out of there and check whether that might have something to do with it. If not I guess I'm on my fourth faulty Rampage IV Extreme motherboard..

[Myk_SilentShado]

Quick question, did you clear the CMOS between swapping the RAM between the systems?