GA-970A-UD3 freezing randomly during POST

[thenext1]

Hi all

I've got this m/b yesterday and I flashed the last (non-beta) F4 BIOS straight away via QFlash.

I've made all my usual settings (no overclocking, no core unlocking, default ram settings), installed Win7 and configured its drivers without any problem.

This morning, suddenly, the PC randomly freezes in the BIOS. May happen with a blinking cursor, just before it'd show "Loading operating system", or before detecting hard disks. Totally random.
I did already notice that the BIOS is a bit temperamental, since I had difficulties in entering BIOS configuration with my HP usb elite keyboard, sometimes having to reboot twice until it picked up the <del> key.

Besides clearing cmos, trying a usb-ps2 converter, disabling usb-related support in the bios (which I'll do when I get back home from work), what can I do?
Any ideas?
Is it me, or BIOS bugs really abound these times?

EDIT: I forgot my specs:
1) GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 F3 BIOS
2) ATI HD 6670
3) WD3200AAKS in AHCI mode
4) 8gb DDR3-1333 CL9 ram (default settings)
5) Ahtlon II X3 420e

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome.

Of course it could be a power or memory problem. Neither of which have you given us many details about. Can you post your make and model of PSU and memory please ?

Also try doing a complete CMOS clear before anything else just in case there are left over settings from testing.

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least one hour before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

[thenext1]

The PSU is a LC Power 550w.
I connected the 24-pix "combined" ATX connector and pin 3-4, 7-8 of the additional ATX12v connector (leaving the other 4 pins unconnected).

RAMs are TeamGroup Elite, 2x 4gb, in slots 1 and 3.

It sure may be the RAMs being faulty or incompatibile - I exclude the PSU since I used it with my old PC until yesterday - but if they were, I wouldn't have been able to throughly configure my windows installation yesterday evening. Right?

I'll try running a memory stress test when I get back home. Can you advice on which one?

Thank you

[Dark Mantis]

This does take some time but it is thorough and the only way to be 100% sure.

Please follow these instructions exactly.

I would suggest that you download and run the latest version of  Memtest86+ to check your RAM first.

Memtest86+        http://www.memtest.org/

Insert one stick of memory in slot 1 and run Memtest on it for at least 10 complete loops/cycles and if there are no errors then swap it over with the next one and continue untill you have checked all  modules.
 
If you have any errors the module is faulty.

If you have any faulty modules you will have to return the whole kit as they are matched.

Post back when you have done that with the results.
 

[Vezina]

The PSU is a LC Power 550w.
I connected the 24-pix "combined" ATX connector and pin 3-4, 7-8 of the additional ATX12v connector (leaving the other 4 pins unconnected).

LC Power supply units are firecrackers.Replace it asap before it does more damage.
You have cheap alternatives like Chieftec or Sirtec ,if money are an issue , but a Corsair ~400 W CX series should give you clean power for not to much money on that configuration. 

[Dark Mantis]

I would have to agree with  Vezina about the make of power supply. They have caused more than one big problem on this forum before and can end up costing you a lot of money in damaged components as well as having to replace the PSU. Always buy a good quality PSU as it is one of the most important components in your system.  Never buy a cheap and nasty power supply they can go wrong and take out all you other expensive components at the same time. Not only that just because it is marked 600W or something often they are nowhere near that rating. Purchase a good make like Seasonic, CWT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Enermax, Gigabyte, Coolermaster, Antec, etc and try and get one with a single 12V rail if possible. I would advise you to get one of about 650W minimum depending on your hardware demands.

[thenext1]

Would a coolermaster elite 500w suffice to my needs? I'm no gamer and all my components are geared towards energy efficiency.

Anyway, on to the problem.

I found that the pc hangs during POST after printing the processor model and its cpuid and patch id.
First time I tried, I hit <del> after a few minutes it was there, and out of blue it suddenly continued POST and booted to windows. (Ignoring my keypress to enter the BIOS setup).

Second boot, it was hung there again. I hit a random key (F8) and again it continued POST, but this time it freezed just after 1 more line of output ("Memory testing: 8192MB OK"). Or maybe it wasn't freezed, but I just couldn't get it to respond.

Third boot, it didn't hang.

Right now it is memtesting.

[thenext1]

Memtest is ok.
Did a 1.5-hour tests on all the memory together. I don't have time for anything more.
BTW, if it were so serious a memory problem to freeze during POST, memtest wouldn't have lasted error-free a single second, let alone 1 hour and half.

I brought the PC at my friend's, and tried his enermax 485w PSU and it booted without problem, after testing a bit I swapped my PSU back in and... it still booted flawlessly.

Let's see how it wakes up tomorrow morning. 

[Vezina]

Most probable the power supply is doing something to the HDD.
If your HDD will fail ,you will know your power supply is no good.
It will continue and overshot your components until one at least will die.
You can use such power supply for 3-6 months ,when they are new ,but after that you need luck so it doesn t blow up your rig.
I m not trying to scare you ,but generic PSU-s do that.
At start up is the biggest stress for PSU-s , by the way.

[Dark Mantis]

Would a coolermaster elite 500w suffice to my needs? I'm no gamer and all my components are geared towards energy efficiency.

The thing to remember is that most PSUs are at their most efficient at around 50-60% output. Not only that but within normal limitations a power supply will only draw what it requires so even a large PSU wont use more electricity to run than a small one. It more depends on the components that it is powering.

Vezina is talking a lot of sense by the way. I would take his advice.

[thenext1]

My current PSU is 4 years old, not 3 or 6 months.

Anyway I'm almost sold on a new PSU, and I need to decide between:

1) Coolermaster Elite Power 500w (RS500PSAPJ3)
2) Corsair CX430 V2EU 430w
3) FSP HEXA 500w


All are about the same price.

[thenext1]

Would a coolermaster elite 500w suffice to my needs? I'm no gamer and all my components are geared towards energy efficiency.

The thing to remember is that most PSUs are at their most efficient at around 50-60% output. Not only that but within normal limitations a power supply will only draw what it requires so even a large PSU wont use more electricity to run than a small one. It more depends on the components that it is powering.

Vezina is talking a lot of sense by the way. I would take his advice.

I don't want to put more than 40-50 euros in a >500w power supply.
That'd look a "modder"-grade power supply to me, and the world runs mostly on normal PSUs.

EDIT: Doing the math, I'm sure I am not ever going to exceed half of a 500w PSU. Heck, my video card doesn't even require the external 6-pin connector!

[Vezina]

I would take the Corsair personally as most probable the other ones deliver the same power in reality.
But any of them should be better than what you have now.
I would avoid using the PC until PSU replacement.

I have a 3-rd system ,ready to be sold, very similar to what you have ,that runs good from a Corsair CX 400.
Look at he Ampers on the 12V line on those 3 choices and choose the one with one line desing of 12V to avoid issues.
Corsair should have one beefy 12 V line with 30 Ampers.

[absic]

Gigabyte recommend a minimum of a 500 Watt PSU for your motherboard, so any of those on the list should be adequate. That said, you also need to bear in mind that over time, the power output will drop which is why we often recommend buying a higher powered unit as this will give you a longer working life from the unit.

That said, I agree with Vezina and if I were putting your system together I too would go for the Corsair PSU as these are usually very solid and reliable.