SOLVED Interesting Issue I'm having (LONG POST)

[lonewolfmage]

Greetings~
First off i would like to say this is going to be a rather long post.. thank you for those that read through it.

The reason for the title is I'm NOT 100% sure if this would be hard ware or software related and hoping someone can help.


Situation(s): ( there is no exact cause that I can see using event viewer or Blue Screen viewer meaning it is NOT creating a BSOD)

• Every once in a while, no matter if my system is idle or running something ( me watching a video or browsing wed pages, etc.) my system will "blink out" and not even the power button will be able to shut it down.. By blink out i mean it will get a TOTALLY White , grey , or light blue scree, it depends on what i have active and what the most color happens to be that is showing.
• Power button and or reset button does not allow a rest or power down.. i have to PYSICALLY unplug ( I know not a good thing) the power cord from the power supply and then power the system back up.

Drivers:

• As far as i know ALL driver are current as per MANUFACTURES specs no updates to drivers were done for ANY hardware or peripherals vis WU.(checked and double checked)
• BIOS is updated to current ( had to to be able to install Windows 7)

Recent Changes (hardware and software)


Software:

• Recently ( as per my other post in another area) updated to SP1 and IE 9 RC
• Updated ALL necessary drivers from all Mfg's.

Hardware:

• No major changes aside from changing cases. if you would consider a case a hardware change.

What I have noticed:

• By comparing event logs ( it shows when an unexpected power incedent happens from unplugging direct)) and comparing those with when I did SP1 and Ie 9 update .. they SEEM to correlate. SOME WHAT.
• I did do a "finger touch test" on my processor and north and south bridge for temp. North Bridge Heat sink is hot ( not enough to burn but enough to say "oh thats rather warm") to the touch where the others are not.
• I did happen to notice the Heat sink on my NORTH BRIDGE is "loose" it is held in place.. but it moves from side to side. This was NOT like this before even when switching from one case to the other .. this heat sink issue is a RECENT development.

Inquiry:

• Could I safely, seeing as though its loose now, take the heat sink off and reapply thermal paste to the Heat sink and/or North Bridge Die and not have any MAJOR reprucssions.
• Possible software related ? if so what software ? What would be needed to diagnose the issue seeing as tho it is NOT producing a BSOD ?
• Any other info you need I will gladly give. Its not, as far as i can tell a MAJOR problem just a bit of an annoyance.

I await your suggetions.
~LoneWolf

 

[clifford_cooley]

One question for you.

Are you using onboard video?
This sounds like a video problem, I believe the north bridge is where the graphics controller is located unless integrated with the CPU.

Either way I would definitely re-apply thermal compound to the chipset.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Clifford~

No .. not using On board Video at all .. I have a totally Independent vid card.. (XFX Ge Force 9500GT)

As far as re applying thermal paste .. .. when I FIRST (with the help of a freind ( thank you simon) built this sysem and up and till about LESS than a week ago ..
everything (as far as the north bridge and south bridge heat sinks) were set and not moving even with doing the transfer from one case to the other ....

This system is now on 4 to 5 years old .. and this is a NEW issue that i have not experienced on ANY system.

MY WORRY is with the heat sink "moving " on the north bridge im hoping that no damage has been done to the "die" of the North Bridge.

I could possibly take it off .. its only held on with a wire that is about the diameter of a mid to large sized paper clip.. that goes across the heat sink from one corner to the opposite diagonal corner....

I just don't want to do any more damage that MAY have already been done by it being loose as it is .. ...

Just a bit of worried and concern ..
~LoneWolf

 

[Nibiru2012]

The North Bridge still has the graphics controller, regardless of whether you use on-board video or a dedicated video card. It's the PCI-Express controller portion of the North Bridge.

You can remove the heatsinks from the North & South Bridge chipsets and reapply thermal compound. Just be sure you thoroughly clean the heatsink and chipset with 100% isopropyl alcohol or ethyl alcohol. Use one of the newer thermal compounds such as Tuniq 3, or similar since these don't require a break-in period.

Remember that most OEM thermal compounds are usually not that efficient and some will break down over time and temperature. That's probably why your heatsink is becoming loose.

 

[davehc]

If them power button is non functional, I would doubt the problem is with the graphics card, but computers are always spewing out indefinables!
Do you have any other cards in the computer? I suspect a short in that area, or even a faulty Ram chip. If , for example, you have a TV card, remove it and see if it is any better. Try reseating any cards you have.
Accepting that it could be centered around the graphics, do you have a bios option to run on the motherboard graphics only? If so, that could certainly be worth a try.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Greetings~

To Nib~

True you are correct about the North Bridge for the controlling, i thought about that as well .. i just wanted to make sure it was OK to remove that heat sink and apply another type of thermal paste with out doing POSSIBLY anymore damage than what MAY already be done from it "popping" loose.

Thanks for the info it does help. I'll work on that later today.

Davehc~

As far as other cards . Not as far as video is concerned I don't have any other cards .. BUT I DO have a sound card in . There is NO independent video on this Motherboard.. I kinda bought it like that purposefully so i didn't have to worry about the potential of on board video "eating up" extra ram that wasn't necessary.

Ill also try re seating all my connections later today and see if that helps.

Thank you both. I'll let you know how this progresses.
~LoneWolf

 

[lonewolfmage]

Just an update here in regard to this issue.

Earlier this morning when I booted the system up for the first time for the day .. it IMMEDIATELY "locked" had to do a direct shut off.

I shut left the system running while(idle) I was tinkering around the house .. came back (about 3 hours later) and it locked again.

At that point i took the heat sink for the north bridge off.
Cleaned the "paste" ( was more like a "ceramic" type of material) off both the Heat sink and die as best I could.

Reapplied thermal paste (arctic silver 5.. only thing i had on hand from building the system) and re attached the heat sink and took out and reseated ALL cards and Memory Modules.

Since then (its been ABOUT 3 hours since I did all this) the system has locked up as before about 3 times. Again WITHOUT a BSOD .

At this point I'm THINKING .. MAYBE its the power supply that came with this case. DO happen to have another power supply from my old case.

According to reviews ( on new egg which is where i bought this case from with the power supply included ) some have said they had problem with the power supply "flaking out" or just going TOTALLY dieing after a period of time.

Unless there are any other suggestions you here can give me .. that is my next plan of attack if this happens one more time .

Thank you to those who have taken the time to respond and give advice thus far .. its much appreciated.

~LoneWolf

Thats my next plan of attack

Edited to add: while i was originally trying to edit this port.. the system locked yet again. I swapped out the powersupply (550 W Raid Max) with my OLD power supply (350 W Powerman). The Power Consumption hasnt changed much at all sacve for an extra fan, Usb Wirless keybaord, and a USB (non independent power) 4 port Hub.

We shall see what happens now as the rest of the day goes on .. ill keep you all posted .

 

[Nibiru2012]

Regarding power supplies, always get at least 80 Plus Certified PSUs.

Corsair, Seasonic, Antec, Thermaltake are all good PSU manufacturers.

Check out some of the reviews regarding PSUs and see what they say.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Update

Hello everyone~
Just thought I’d give a bit of an update as to this issue. Again thanks to everyone that has given suggestions.
Well the problem has gotten progressively WORSE L
I have uninstalled EVERY bit of software that was installed since this problem bean.

Such as, SP1, IE 9 , sound card drivers , speckie , basically anything I can think of that could P{OSSIBLY be software based that MAY have caused the problem.

As far as hardware, I have reapplied thermal paste and the heat sink on my North Bridge, and took out a sound card ( which I WAS having problems with any way ) and put a another sound card in that I happened to have lying around. Same mfg. Also swapped out the power supply that came with this case… still had the same issues.

Interesting thing, is that it happens in “cycles” of about 45 minutes in between “lock ups” ( darn 45 minutes goes fast when your engrossed in internet stuff LOL ).

So I have resorted to drop about 300$ on a new Mobo and other things(memory,processor and heatsink ,exteral hd encloseure), HOPEFULLY this expense will stop the issue.. If not well then I might have to reinstall windows( not totally viable but , gotta do what ya gotta do) Im just hoping that when replacing that I am going to replace , that it doesn’t cause Win7 to “puke back” and have to “eat” another key activation.

Knowin’ my luck this past week tho, it wouldn’t surprise me L So far Iv’e had Desktop problems, laptop problems ( Win Vista wont connect to the internet wirelessly unless with an external adapter, get local access only no internet) and my watch took a dive this week to.. Sheeesh I’im Techologially ‘jinxed’ this week ..

I'll mark this as solved IF replacing what I am will solve my issue.

Thanks again all.
~LoneWolf

 

[clifford_cooley]

Good luck lonewolfmage

 

[Nibiru2012]

You'll probably need to reinstall Windows 7 regardless since you're getting a new motherboard,etc.

Just remember to install the latest Windows 7 drivers.

 

[sdmnysimon]

they say things happens in threes. ohh wait it would be 4 he came into my room as i was pushing the button on my blue ray player and it was acting as if I was not pushing it. I know it has nothing to do with him just joking

 

[lonewolfmage]

Update on this issue~

I got the new parts in today ( 6pm Eastern time)

SO far so good .. Win 7 recognized all my parts .. from Mobo to sata, to sound card and vid card.

Thankfully I didnt uninstall my drivers that I had..

System has been up and running since ABOUT 7 pm eastern time.. no lockup..

My Processor is downgraded to a 3.0 Ghz (Processor was a 3.3 Ghz) my RAM is at 4 GB ( was 3 GB approx)

Windows Rating went up .. from 4.3 to 4.6

SO far so go .. marking this problem as SOLVED for now .. if i have nay more issues .. ill make a new thread and will update my System Specs accordingly.

Thank you all for you help and advice in this issue Was much appreciatted..

And a BIG thank you to Simon .. for helping me with the parts that I needed

~LoneWolf