Does my motherboard need to be RMAd?

Hey guys, I recently upgraded from a Q6600 to an i7 920 and have had nothing but problems with the build since day 1. I've been building computers for about a decade now so typically most problems that arise I can squash with little to no fuss. This one is very deceiving though.

The System is as follows:
CPU: i7 920
RAM: G.Skill 3x2gb 1333
MB: Asrock x58 extreme
HD: WD 640gb HD
GPU: ASUS Radeon 5870
PS: Corsair VX550

Now the hard drive and the 5870 I've used in the Q6600 build with zero problems whatsoever. When I first got the new system up and running I entered BIOS and changed a few settings then proceeded to install windows but it would keep crashing over and over. I saw the RAM timings were set way too low (ram is rated 9-9-9-24 at 1333 but was set at something like 6-6-6-16 and 1T!) After that windows installed okay but every now and again when I would install something that required the computer to restart the Ethernet port would decide to stop receiving power. The only way to fix that would be to turn the system off, and take out the power cord for a little then it'd work just fine.

Any attempts at overclocking past ~3.4ish fail, BUT they don't fail in any normal way that I'm used to. The system would just hard lock randomly or at some point when playing games. I tinkered with voltages forever to no avail, so I reflashed the BIOS to an older version and that fixed that. But the crashing during games still happened. I don't get errors in Linx or Prime95, in fact it even passed 40 passes in Linx with memory set to 2gb. But just at a random point in a game, could be 5 minutes or 25 minutes the system would randomly lock up. First the keyboard and mouse stop responding but the video keeps going as normal with the sound being a constant "beeeeeeeeeep" then the whole thing just locks up. I've tried with and without the sound card but no difference.

I've tried so many different settings with voltages and multipliers but can't get this thing stable past a certain point, even though I know it SHOULD be stable. Should I RMA the motherboard?

Almost sounds like a power supply problem to me.

550W for an i7 system with a 5870 and trying to overclock the CPU? I'm not sure I would trust a 550w to reliably handle what you are trying to do.

Here is what I founf on newegg for the 5870 PS requuirements:

"500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended"

You could have also just gotten a bum board or a bum power supply.

What are your temps like?

Does it happen without any overclocking?

cyclone3d said:

Almost sounds like a power supply problem to me.

550W for an i7 system with a 5870 and trying to overclock the CPU? I'm not sure I would trust a 550w to reliably handle what you are trying to do.

Here is what I founf on newegg for the 5870 PS requuirements:

"500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended"

You could have also just gotten a bum board or a bum power supply.

Click to expand...

You know I was thinking it's possible my power supply couldn't handle the new setup (forgot to mention I carried that over as well), but it worked flawlessly with my Q6600 at 3.4ghz with 1.4 volts while the 5870 was overclocked. I have a hard time thinking that the i7 would draw more power than that with 1.2-1.3 volts going through it, though I suppose it's possible. I'd just hate to get a new power supply to find out that it's not causing the problem.

I'd think my system would consume no more than 400 watts. I have one hard drive, one cd drive, and a sound card. I've tried running without both the cd drive and sound card as well with the same freezing happening.

King Icewind said:

What are your temps like?

Does it happen without any overclocking?

Click to expand...

My temps are great, got a nice case with good airflow (Lian-Li P50). My CPU temps have yet to rise above 75, and that was at 3.8ghz doing small FFTs (stable I might add).

It doesn't crash stock, nor on the way up to 3.4ghz. It's like once it gets past there it's a crapshoot as to how long it will last during games. I've had it at 3.8 for 20 mins gaming then it would crash, but it's also done that in 10 mins at 3.6, same voltages.

I am having a lot of problems with this motherboard as well, recently I sent an email to ASRock about it and here is the list of problems I included:

1) When I start my system it has a chance to either:
-Not post (Screen never shows the bios screen)
-Restart a few times (I've seen anywhere between 1-3 restarts) and then Post (or not depending on my luck)
2) The integrated LAN on the motherboard may cut out after a shutdown or restart and will not come back until I cycle the power supply.
3) When trying to access one of my hard drives it sometimes hangs up for a few seconds and I hear my hard dive make a clicking sound then it starts working again. This only happens with one of my hard drives, I initially thought it was because it was a dynamic disc (rather than basic) so I reformatted it to dynamic but the problem still seems to be occuring.
4) Upon coming back from turning off my displays (the power saver method after 10 mins of idle) my second monitor will not turn back on(blank signal). To fix it I have to go into screen resolution and manually disable the second screen and then re-enable it.

This is my second board already, the first one I had to RMA for some faulty power thing on the motherboard. I am using the most recent firmware, and most recent drivers (except for the sound driver because I use a PCI sound card) from the ASROCK downloads section for my motherboard. I am also using the most recent versions of drivers for my video cards/audio card. This is all on a fresh install of Windows 7 x64.


I understand that #1 seems to be an overclocking problem and only occurs when I am trying to overclock my system, but #2 and 4 are the most vexing to me. If ASRock cannot fix these problems I will probably return this board to Newegg and purchase a different one. Also one problem i didn't include in the email is sometimes when overclocking my motherboard will not detect all of my RAM chips. I've been able to get a stable 4.1 OC with my i7 920, but if overclocking on this board comes with this many problems I will replace it with something better.

I'm having the exact problem w/ that MB also.

I honestly believe the RAM is to blame since it won't stay stable at any of the recommended settings. I installed 6GB OCZ Gold Series 1600 RAM and it failed in Prime95 within seconds of running the program and also made several games lock-up and crash at different times.

I had the RAM set to 8-8-8-24 and the voltage at 1.654 but it didn't seem to make a difference. If you go to the OCZ forums it looks like lots of people are having this problem so I figured it was the RAM.

The RAM has been RMA'ed and I've purchased some G.Skill 1600 to replace it. I'll let you know if anything changes when it gets here. If not, then I think I'll RMA the MB too. It's been nothing but a headache ever since I got it.

Yeah I think I'm gonna RMA the motherboard. I've never had problems like this that I couldn't solve. I tried underclocking my 5870 to the lowest speed it would go to to see if power draw was the issue. Still crashed. I've tried countless combinations of voltages, multipliers and taking components out of my system. It's crashed with all 3 sticks of ram individually that pass memtest.

Can you exchange an item on newegg? I think an evga 758 is more suited to my needs anyway so I'm going to try and exchange for that.

I think for the Asrock Extreme you can only exchange it for a replacement (i.e. you get another Asrock Extreme board and not something else).

Here's the policy from Newegg's site:

May I exchange my RMA'd item for a different product?

No. Unfortunately, we do not exchange RMA items for different items. We will only replace an RMA'd item with a an identical replacement item of the same make and model.

If the return policy period for a refund has not yet expired, you can request an RMA Refund (subject to 15% restocking fee), order a new item, and we'll refund your original purchase after we receive your returned product.

I'm probably going to get a new board from a different manufacturer too so we might both be out of luck

This board is so frustrating because it would be... perfect if it didn't have these problems with RAM, OC'ing, and the LAN adapter. The next best thing I've found for my uses would be the Asus P6TD Deluxe, but the $112.50 premium over the ASrock is hard to stomach.

So far ASRock support has been as useless as I expected:
>Hi,
If you still getting the error msg after new bios installed. Its seems like mainboard issue. Please contact the vendor for replacement. Thank you for your time.
Asrock Support Team

>To whom it may concern,
What error message are you speaking of? In none of my emails have I even mentioned an error message. I am receiving no error messages, my problems all deal with the smoothness of how my system runs.

If anyone has other suggestions for a good board that can replace the ASrock x58 Extreme I'm all ears. The only things I am looking for is 1) can support 2 vid cards in crossfire (preferably with and extra slot in between for better thermal levels) and 2) overclocks fairly easily

Checkemdown said:

I think for the Asrock Extreme you can only exchange it for a replacement (i.e. you get another Asrock Extreme board and not something else).

Here's the policy from Newegg's site:

May I exchange my RMA'd item for a different product?

No. Unfortunately, we do not exchange RMA items for different items. We will only replace an RMA'd item with a an identical replacement item of the same make and model.

If the return policy period for a refund has not yet expired, you can request an RMA Refund (subject to 15% restocking fee), order a new item, and we'll refund your original purchase after we receive your returned product.

I'm probably going to get a new board from a different manufacturer too so we might both be out of luck

Click to expand...

Thankfully newegg rocks. I talked to someone today and told them the problems I was having and asked if I could exchange it and get a different motherboard. The rep said that they'll make an exception and allow a refund for it even though it's supposed to be non-refundable and I can just purchase the other board. They emailed me the shipping label and everything! <3 Newegg. I ordered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049 because it has all the features I want, has a good rating, and looks damn good to boot. Hopefully this will solve my problems.

Wow, that's awesome Mrrogers. Did you just email them the problem and they agreed to refund? Let me know if you would bc I might try the same. I've got kind of a sour taste for Asrock bc of all of this so it would be great if I could switch to a different brand.

Checkemdown said:

Wow, that's awesome Mrrogers. Did you just email them the problem and they agreed to refund? Let me know if you would bc I might try the same. I've got kind of a sour taste for Asrock bc of all of this so it would be great if I could switch to a different brand.

Click to expand...

No I called on the phone. I'd assume the online reps have the same authorizations but the lady on the phone said shed make a "one time exception." I'd try the phone route like I did just to be safe.

K got my evga 757 today (thanks newegg!) and everything is up and running. No prolems with standard use yet. I'll post later tonight if I still have issues during gaming.

Well I would definitely recommend the Evga E757. The only downside is the long wait for POST after you make changes in BIOS but other than that no problems at all. Been gaming for 40 mins so far with no crash at 3675 mhz. Time to start OCing like I know this chip could. Hope this helps other people in the same situation.

Well I can happily say that it was definitely the motherboard. I'm at 4.0ghz right now with HT on, and 4.2 with it off. I haven't had a ton of time to tweak things but it looks like this chip is capable of going pretty quick.

That's why I don't buy open box from newegg. Usually those are items that had just the problems described here and then they get returned back to newegg...

I finally got mine stable by switching the RAM to G.Skill 1600 modules instead of the OCZ Gold.

I've got it overclocked to 3.6 and it was stable during 9 hours of Prime95 blend test and it showed no errors in memtest86+ after 8 passes (around 8 hours).

Hopefully I wont have to RMA the board now but we'll see how it goes. Glad you like the E757. I might try that for my next board since all the reviews seem positive.