HELP with Motherboard replacement options

[DeepBlueSky]

Hi I need some wizdom on the best board to go with for my new PC I have had a stability issue with the system I just purchaced and have been offered a swapout of RAM and / or motherboard.

 

Current new system a week old:

• Motherboard - GA-H87-D3H(rev. 1.x)
  
• CPU - Intel i5 4670 with Corsair H60 Cooler
  
• RAM Corsair (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9)
  

 

I'm an old fart these days so not into over clocking just happy with a stable / fast system, the computers use is primarily for my wife and acts as the household hub for streaming to TV's, Amps, daughters laptop and my tablet.

 

The computer retailer has suggested:

• RAM - Kingston though I would prefer to stick with Corsair
  
• Motherboard - Asus Z87-C
  

 

Issue and reason for the change

Random Blue Screens Windows 8.1 even after a clean install with the latest drivers and BIOS applied, I have tried clocking the RAM at default 1333, upping to 1600 and dropping to 1066 no luck upped the RAM voltage from 1.5 to 1.65 then back to 1.5 as it seemed to make no difference. The computer dies while moving files to drives I have seen it display ZIP as corrupt, then after a reboot the ZIP unpacks fine ??.

 

The board is clean just using the integrated Intel 4600 graphics, so no riser cards.

 

So any suggestions on a good board for this setup is really appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

[wytnyt]

have you updated to the latest m/b drivers from the web and not from the supplied m/b disk as it may be outdated.

you dont mention how many memory sticks your using,,have you tried reducing the number and trying?

go into your events log and see if it directs you to a specific area to look at.

have you tryed running only the os drive connected?

[DeepBlueSky]

Hi wytnyt,

Thanks for the tips:

• Yes to drivers, I always check to updated drivers.
  
• The Corsair Memory is a Set I'm running 8GB 4+4 no I haven't dropped to one stick. - I should try this.
  
• The errors a all random depends whats happening when the computer Blue Screens I would love it if it was just one service or dll. I have a seen the computer stumble and fail the computer just goes weird. I'm sure its memory releated, just not sure if its hardware or an interaction issue with the motherboard.
  
• I haven't run the computer with just the OS drive as I've moved most of the data storage off to the D: drive WD Black. I might just try that to at least diagnose the issue.
  

[peanutz94]

Just from what I have seen here on the forums, I would go with the ASUS board hands down. The Gigabyte boards have been extremely problematic with the Haswell CPU's.

 

I would bet a pay check thats what your stability issues are stemming from now.

Here is a thread from a while back. It's kind of long but may be of interest to you and help you decide on a replacement.

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=119923&highlight=gigabyte+z87

[DeepBlueSky]

HI Guys,

Thanks for all the help and ideas.

I have some good News and its got me scratching my head the PC is now stable ??, after this I decided to run Memtest and Prime95 and and got one or two errors; then bumped the memory voltage from the default 1.5 to 1.61 now no errors at all.(I had previously upped the voltage with no luck)

 

I have made no physical changes to the computer as in changing hardware components.

Its Software / BIOS / Drivers

I think I have been a victim of a green system in that the Drivers / BIOS had issues with Windows 8.1, and maybe me getting a bit old.

 

BIOS Fix

Gigabyte supplied me with F6c BIOS a few days ago this did not help at the time with system lockups other than allowing me to run run the Corsair Memory at the correct speed and timings.

 

New Install of windows on a clean drive no luck either. I'm looking through Windows update history.

 

Drivers

Installed all the latest and this did not seem to do the trick at the time.

 

I'm going to keep a close eye on this system for the next week then I will be happy to give my wife back her computer ;).

[DeepBlueSky]

Negate that being Saturday over here I gave it a good long stress test and it failed the Prime and the Memory test possible memory issue. I'm swapping out the RAM first.

[DeepBlueSky]

Issues resolved RAM was the problem replaced with a set of Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX by Computer store. They confirmed what I had suspected an issue with RAM, said they had been having problems with reliability.

 

Anyway I Prime95ed the new RAM for a couple of hours no issues.

 

Thanks guys for the help with this issue.