AMD FX 8150 w/ Gigabyte ga-970a-d3 = Freezing under load in games and prime95. Not a temp issue.

Gentlemen.

Long time observer, first time poster. Thanks for having me.


I have an AMD FX 8150 (stock clocks) in a Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 board with updated F9 bios. I'm also running 8GB (2x 4gb sticks) of GSKILL RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ CL8-8-8-24. I've also used Corsair brand with the same speed/timings.

In addition, the PSU is an 800 watt Xtreme Gear, and GPU is Nvidia 550.

CPU is cooled by CM Hyper 212 + and idles around 28-30C and goes no higher than 45-50C under heavy load. Case cooled by 6 Rexus Top Motor 120mm fans at around 110 CFM. Case ambient temps are around 25C idle and 30C under heavy load.

The OS is windows 7 64 bit ultimate, freshly installed and updated with everything including bulldozer hotfixes. I have not installed any fluff programs or anything other than drivers at this point.


Upon running Prime95 or any game that puts the system under heavy load, I get a complete system lockup. Everything freezes, keyboard doesn't work (including num lock) and I am forced to hard restart. In bios immediately after freezing, temps are low, with CPU around 40C and Ambient around 27C.

Starting windows back up I sometimes receive error message "Windows has recovered from a serious error." Other times no message appears.


This build was causing the owner issues in the same way from before, I attempted to repair by doing the following:


1. Re-seating the ram.
2. Replacing the ram.
3. Increasing cooling.
4. Fresh install of windows w/ all updated drivers.
5. Re-seating the processor.
6. Removing expansion cards (1394 and others).
7. BIOS Fail-Safe defaults.
8. BIOS Optimized defaults.
9. BIOS Customized with optimal settings (per my own selections).
10. Ran Memtest and Memtest 86+ and received errors on test # 7 with all ram modules (gskill and corsair) in all slots tested one at a time.


I am assuming this problem is either AMD CPU related (as the memory controller is on the CPU itself), or the MOBO itself is faulty, or the PSU is not giving the CPU enough power when it needs it.


Bottom line, how would I go about isolating the problem at this point without purchasing another CPU/MOBO/PSU to test it with?

Any suggestions?


Thank you, sorry for the huge post.

Thank you, and everyone above you for the replies.

I have a few things I'd like to add, and also a few concerns:

1. The revision of my GA-970A-D3 Rev 1.1 - I noticed the VRM cooling is horrible. Is this really enough to cause lockups under load @ all stock settings with the fx8150? If so, is there no temperature probe for VRM or way I can confirm this before buying another board?

2. When running Memtest or Memtest86+ I always get the same errors on #7 test, even after isolating each module individually in each slot. However, the PC does NOT freeze during memtest.

3. PC does NOT freeze when using Prime95 if I isolate it to TWO workers at a time. I'm working on further prime95 tests right now by setting the affinity to 2 separate cores at a time, and 2 workers at a time. Any further suggestions here on how to properly rule out the CPU?

4. My CPU and RAM are completely stock with absolutely no adjustments to voltage. What motherboard settings should I modify for the FX 8150 and the Gskill DDR3-1600 @ 8-8-8-24, if any?

5. What VRM cooling should I purchase? I noticed the Enzotech MST-88 C1100 are sold out....any might not fit with my hyper 212...hmm. Any suggestions?


Here are the pictures of my board if this helps:


http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/53/img20120705091314.jpg

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5696/img20120705091305.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/668/img20120705085516.jpg

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1124/img20120705085457.jpg

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/715/img20120705085407.jpg



Thank you very much.

UPDATE

Please read the above post if you haven't already before getting to this one.


I just hooked up my industrial shop fan and positioned it to the side of the pc with the side panel open. There is now an obscene amount of airflow in the case, particularly towards the MOSFETs.

Prime95 has NOT locked up the PC once in over an hour of testing. HOWEVER, after 15 minutes of testing, I received this message:


"FATAL ERROR: FINAL RESULT WAS 00000000, EXPECTED: 54030992.
HARDWARE FAILURE DETECTED, SEE STRESS.TXT FILE."

The message repeats for both Core #1 and Core #2, and "WORKER STOPPED" appears after it.


As for Cores #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 - they are all still working just fine on Prime95 and passing all tests.



Now, could an overheating VRM be causing this? Or is the CPU bad and likely the culprit here? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.