Specs First:
3930k @ 4.4Ghz (Prime Stable for 8+ hours)
32GB Kingston Hyperx 1600 CAS 9 DDR3 (took 8 sticks out of two packs totalling 48GB initially, all tested and verified good)
Three GTX 670 4GB Video
Vertex 2 240GB (For OS and testing for now)
Asus Xonar U3 USB sound
SilverStone 1500w power supply
Plugged in all power connections (EATX 4pin, EATX 8pin, Floppy power for DIMM's, PCI-E 6pin for additional slot power, 24pin, etc...)
Windows 7 64-bit SP1 (all windows updates applied)
Installed all software on CD for drivers and utilities (updated Intel chipset and Enterprise storage drivers)
Fresh and clean install (also using driver sweeper) of Nvidia 301.42 WHQL driver
BIOS version 1305 (had tried the latest BIOS but found this one to be stable)
(unless where noted below, all other values were set by "load optimized defaults":
--Mem BIOS Settings
Followed Easy O/C guide:
AI O/C Tuner Manual instead of XMP, set ram to 1.65v as on package, 1600MHz set manually
--CPU BIOS Settings
Turbo - By all cores can adjust in OS (Set to 44)
CPU VCORE Voltage - Offset mode (Sign is "+")
CPU VCORE Offset Voltage - AUTO
CPU VCCSA Voltage - Offset mode (Sign is "+")
CPU VCCSA Offset Voltage - AUTO
--DIGI+
Load-Line Calibration - Ultra High
CPU Power Phase Control - Optimized
--Other options
Disabled on-board sound
Problem 1) Nvidia graphics instability
I've narrowed the first problem down that I may have one bad video card out of four when enabling PCI-E 3.0. PCI-E 2.0 I didn't have any erratic behavior in my old SR-2 system or this one. I honestly don't think the fourth card is bad, but so far the three cards left over have been good except the problem I describe below.
Now with three good running cards I have an issue now when vsync is enabled in any game. The video driver will crash and cause my system to hang and lock up. It appears that in-game vsync off, and adaptive vsync on seems to not cause this issue. Is there something with my CPU not clocking high enough or possibly turning speed step off that may help this problem? Should I disable PCI-E 3.0 and re-test? If disabling PCI-E 3.0 works, it sounds like I have a bad motherboard...? It may be worth mentioning that I did have PCI-E 3.0 stability issues before I started overclocking anything (but at that time I had my DIMM's at the default 1.5v which is way too low for my memory.)
Problem 2) USB 3.0 hard drives attach/detach multiple times in a second
These two seagate USB 3.0 drives have been flawless on my SR-2 system, my other SB ASUS system, and my Dell Laptop. I've noticed that when these hard drives are attached to my RIVE, that when I reboot the attach light (no activity light on the drives) will start blinking constantly like they are being attached and removed multiple times per second. If I re-attach them by removing the cable and re-attaching it the issue goes away, but I'm curious if this doesn't point to a voltage or stability issue that may also be causing me issues with the video cards and display problems. Also, every once in a while my wired 360 controller and mouse will periodically just stop responding (happened to me twice in the last 5 days) even though the devices still have power.
I have made sure my mainboard is not grounded out on the side of the case or at the bottom. Any suggestions on next steps?