# And the CPU socket is toasted



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

i thought it was the PSU. Turns out it was the motherboard. Plugged the CPU into a friend's MoBo ans it boots just fine. I have no idea how the hell this could have happened. Rig was working perfectly and all of a sudden it just decided to crap out. I have been super careful during swap out to 6950X. I am just sitting here scratching my head.

On close examination pins seems to be fine. I don't know WTH was wrong. It was stuck in a bootup loop. On and off and on and off for over 20 minutes


----------



## Toothless (Sep 12, 2017)

Pop goes the hardware


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

Toothless said:


> Pop goes the hardware



Yeah expensive shit


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 12, 2017)

doesn't need to be the socket could be a bad vrm bad cap bad trace a issue with one the bga's a dozen other things dead board is dead


----------



## FR@NK (Sep 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Yeah expensive shit



That sabertooth x99 is cheap compared to some x99 boards...


----------



## eidairaman1 (Sep 12, 2017)

FR@NK said:


> That sabertooth x99 is cheap compared to some x99 boards...



Pretty interesting how the sabertooth went from a truly tough product (990FX R2.0 ) to a cheap product (X99).

At op did you breadboard it?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

OK I unplugged the two additional 8+4 plug to mobo and it WILL boot up. But no signal. CPU fan wont spin


BTW thanks for the awesome help guys. I knew i could count on you guys.


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 12, 2017)

one of the vrm stages bought it then


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

Both VRM unplugged. Boot no signal. Either VRM plugged, boot looping.

VRM shot? Time to get the good old RMA then.


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Both VRM unplugged. Boot no signal. Either VRM plugged, boot looping.
> 
> VRM shot? Time to get the good old RMA then.


fried like tofu and Doritos


----------



## eidairaman1 (Sep 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Both VRM unplugged. Boot no signal. Either VRM plugged, boot looping.
> 
> VRM shot? Time to get the good old RMA then.



Id say so


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

Well everything is out now. Hope ASUS RMA won't be too much of a hassle.


----------



## johnspack (Sep 12, 2017)

I was gonna say,  how much for the cpu,  but guess you're gonna rebuild....


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

johnspack said:


> I was gonna say,  how much for the cpu,  but guess you're gonna rebuild....




Damn you thought i was gonna sell everything just now? lol


I hope my old cat doesn't get any funny ideas about knocking stuff to the ground then.


----------



## MrGenius (Sep 12, 2017)

*Kitteh Lazuhs FIRE!!!*


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

I am trying to think of any other possible cause. If CPU is toasted it should not even boot. I just don't understand when unplugging VRM can lead to booting up but no display signal


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 12, 2017)

no power to the peg slots would be a good start


----------



## Bill_Bright (Sep 12, 2017)

OneMoar said:


> doesn't need to be the socket


Sockets don't just go bad. Generally, they have to be physically abused and that is pretty hard to do once the CPU is properly mounted. 

Any component on the motherboard, however can fail. In fact, all electronics age and WILL fail eventually, if given a chance. 

If your motherboard is still under warranty, you don't want to do anything to it that would void that warranty. You might try one stick of RAM at a time just to see what happens. Since the CPU works on another system, I would attempt to reset the BIOS/CMOS settings. If no luck there, RMA it.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

Bill_Bright said:


> Sockets don't just go bad. Generally, they have to be physically abused and that is pretty hard to do once the CPU is properly mounted.
> 
> Any component on the motherboard, however can fail. In fact, all electronics age and WILL fail eventually, if given a chance.
> 
> If your motherboard is still under warranty, you don't want to do anything to it that would void that warranty. You might try one stick of RAM at a time just to see what happens. Since the CPU works on another system, I would attempt to reset the BIOS/CMOS settings. If no luck there, RMA it.




Tried all of that. Did not work. Scary part was on friends machine we didn't see if it would enter BIOS. We just did a quick on and off to see if it lights up. I sincerely hope the CPU is not dead. Now I need to ask him to spare me his machine for one more day.

FML





OK a quick recap of event:

I was trying to install Windows 10 onto the new NVMe SSD. Installed fine. Booted up fine. Then after I installed the drivers and thought to reinstall softwares the machine crashed. Then this refuse to boot problem started.

Waited overnight, eventually it will allow me to boot up again. Run good for about half a day and then dead again. This time it refuse to boot up.

Fast forward a week. Got the replacment PSU. Hooked up. Stuck in boot loop. If I unplug the VRM 8+4 plug it will stay on buy no signal display over monitor.

This board does not have a Q-CODE and the TUF detective requires an Andriod. RMA filed with ASUS.


Before the attempted Windows 10 Reinstallation everything was perfect. Honestly I have no freaking idea what went wrong.


----------



## infrared (Sep 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Honestly I have no freaking idea what went wrong.


Ugh, problems like this are the worst, hopefully smooth sailing once you get the new board. Nice pile of parts btw!


----------



## HD64G (Sep 12, 2017)

Cursed OS that win10 

I hope the CPU is live mate and with a RMA you will be up and running soon 

BTW, pretty weird series of events you faced there. From the looks of it, mobo is the cause as most already implied.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

One small detail. During both of the crash the problem happened right around when I installed the Intel Chipset driver. Now looking back I should have installed the 10.1.1.xx version which is for consumer version. I installed 10.1.2.xx, which is supposed only for server version.  Could this be causing all the problem?

Already got RMA lined up and ready to go ATM. Will the board to ASUS and hope for the best.


----------



## Cybrnook2002 (Sep 12, 2017)

No i dont think so, that would only be loaded once you are in the OS. If you are having a hard time booting, it's not software related.


----------



## Filip Georgievski (Sep 12, 2017)

Could be a BIOS coruption from that driver you installed?
Just a wild guess.

Take out that NVME, use a spare sata drive with Windows on it, reset the BIOS (take out battery) and try to boot.

Could be NVME failled or BIOS coruption.
That is all i can think of.

P.S: Forgive me for not following whole thread but i read your initial problem and first thing that poped in to my head, i wrote.

Boot looping tells me 2 things:
Bad boot device
BIOS coruption
Jayz2Cents had a simmilar problem, check out his video.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 12, 2017)

Thx for the input Filip, the board has already gone out to RMA. Just mailed it. Frankly i'd rather drive over there since their service center is only 3 hrs drive from where I live.


Now you mentioned it. Should i also get a replacement for the 960Pro just in case it is faulty? Still within newegg's return for replacement period.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 12, 2017)




----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 13, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I am trying to think of any other possible cause. If CPU is toasted it should not even boot. I just don't understand when unplugging VRM can lead to booting up but no display signal



Are you sure the machine is actually booting and not just powering on and not actually POSTing?

Without power to the CPU VRMs, the CPU shouldn't be able to initialize. So no POST should be happening.

Also, the two 8-pin plugs don't go to two different VRMs. They both power the same VRMs, the machine will work just fine with just one plugged in.

The reason the computer powers off when you have one or both of the 8-pin plugs is plugged in is because whatever failed went dead short, which is tripping the over current protection.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 13, 2017)

newtekie1 said:


> Are you sure the machine is actually booting and not just powering on and not actually POSTing?
> 
> Without power to the CPU VRMs, the CPU shouldn't be able to initialize. So no POST should be happening.
> 
> ...



So I assume (hope) it is the MoBo VRM that is shot?


----------



## Bones (Sep 13, 2017)

I believe the RMA will go fine. 
I say this due to an RMA problem I had with an Asus board (CHV) that died within three weeks of getting it new and did the RMA. Got the replacement in and guess what?
Was dead right out of the box itself. 

Contacted them again and they said "Send it back" so I did and when the third one arrived it worked fine. Things is for me Asus made sure I had a working board in the end even though it seemed like a crappy process - Which it was concerning a replacement itself being dead when received BUT as said they made sure I had a working unit at the end so... Can't really complain here. 
I don't know about RMA's from let's say...... ASRock for example. I've heard horror stories about their RMA process but in fact cannot say if true or not because I've never had to do one with them before. 

Good luck and if it's replacement doesn't work, just say so like I did and I believe they'll work to make it right in the end.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 13, 2017)

This is the firs


Bones said:


> I believe the RMA will go fine.
> I say this due to an RMA problem I had with an Asus board (CHV) that died within three weeks of getting it new and did the RMA. Got the replacement in and guess what?
> Was dead right out of the box itself.
> 
> ...




Still that sucks. And shipping cost does pile up fast.


----------



## Kissamies (Sep 13, 2017)

Bones said:


> I believe the RMA will go fine.
> I say this due to an RMA problem I had with an Asus board (CHV) that died within three weeks of getting it new and did the RMA. Got the replacement in and guess what?
> Was dead right out of the box itself.
> 
> ...


Heh, my friend had exactly the same thing with his CHV-Z. Then he just thought "screw this" and changed to Intel platform.


----------



## Bones (Sep 13, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Still that sucks. And shipping cost does pile up fast.



That was the only bad thing of it but in the end I had a working unit..... However with the costs of shipping thrown in with the original purchase price and all it was more than it should have been BUT I did get a shipping voucher the second time that covered shipping costs. 

You do have to ask for it but in most cases they'll do it to keep you as a happy customer.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 13, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> So I assume (hope) it is the MoBo VRM that is shot?



More than likely yes.  I've had it happen a few times.  Unfortunately, it is possible that when the VRM failed, it also killed the CPU.  The two times I've had VRMs die on the motherboard, the CPU was killed too.  Basically, if a part of the VRM when dead short, it was likely sending 12v straight to the CPU, which usually kills it.  You might have got lucky, but I'd be preparing to RMA the CPU too.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 13, 2017)

newtekie1 said:


> More than likely yes.  I've had it happen a few times.  Unfortunately, it is possible that when the VRM failed, it also killed the CPU.  The two times I've had VRMs die on the motherboard, the CPU was killed too.  Basically, if a part of the VRM when dead short, it was likely sending 12v straight to the CPU, which usually kills it.  You might have got lucky, but I'd be preparing to RMA the CPU too.



I got CPU 2nd hand, so chances are if CPU is fried i am out of luck.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 13, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I got CPU 2nd hand, so chances are if CPU is fried i am out of luck.



As long as it isn't an ES chip, Intel probably won't care.  They can go off the printing on the processor to determine warranty status.

You can check if it is under warranty here: https://supporttickets.intel.com/warrantyinfo


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 15, 2017)

ASUS got my MoBo in their service department. They promised to finish within 7~10 days either for repair or replacement. And the replacement is "dependent on the availability of motherboard at service center"

This kinda sucks, since the TUF X99 was the 1st gen X99 that came out in 2015 they may no longer have any in their service center. I hope they don't give me something worse than the TUF X99.


----------



## Bill_Bright (Sep 16, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> And the replacement is "dependent on the availability of motherboard at service center"
> I hope they don't give me something worse than the TUF X99.


Typically, when this happens and a reputable company is involved, you end up with the next tier up or the next generation. So in other words, you usually end up ahead. Of course, that assumes they are able to duplicate the problem there and are unable to fix it, or it is not economically feasible to fix it.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 16, 2017)

Praying to the PC god that it is the motherboard problem. If it is a dead CPU i will be fucked for sure. Might have to sell some components to help pay for the repair.


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 16, 2017)

*assuming you ever escape rma hell


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 16, 2017)

newtekie1 said:


> Unfortunately, it is possible that when the VRM failed, it also killed the CPU. The two times I've had VRMs die on the motherboard, the CPU was killed too.


That reminds of the one time I had a Athlon 64 3200+ fry when one of the mosfets popped on a nForce3 250gb Gigabyte motherboard. Nothing gets your attention faster than hearing a loud pop.

This board: GIGABYTE GA-K8NSC-939


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 16, 2017)

biffzinker said:


> Nothing gets your attention faster than hearing a loud pop.



Turning on a Enermax PSU that died on me this way once. POP!!! And it was over....


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 16, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> Turning on a Enermax PSU that died on me this way once. POP!!! And it was over....


But when this mosfet went it literally blew itself free from the board except for the two legs still soldered. Went from laying flat against the board to standing up right.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 16, 2017)

Come om. Ain't funny now about blowing up CPU


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 18, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Come om. Ain't funny now about blowing up CPU


Especially costing $1695.00, hopefully it didn't die.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 19, 2017)

Quick update. Called and chat with ASUS RMA customer service.

They are able to replicate the exact issue. Infinite boot looping. Board is 100% toasted.  I asked them regarding the "killing CPU" with it. The RMA guy had no idea so I was left on hold for ~20 minutes while he called one of their tech guy.  Response was as long as I am on BIOS 3505 or 3701 the over current protection should prevent anything like that from happening.   

Since the original board is beyond repair, they will ship out a replacement board to me. Only problem is they don't have TUF X99 in stock at the Indiana warehouse. RMA guy says the replacement board will be equal or greater value based on whatever is available at that warehouse. So this is kinda shitty now, since they can claim any of their X99 to be equal or greater value. And I will probably lose my Windows 10 Pro license since it is tied to that motherboard. On top of all that it will probably be next week that they can ship out a replacement to me. So a total of 1 month of down time, assuming the replacement actually works. Not fun at all. Not even a little bit.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 19, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> And I will probably lose my Windows 10 Pro license since it is tied to that motherboard.



You can call the activation service if you have to re-activate.  You are allowed to change out the motherboard with a similar one in the case that the original motherboard has failed.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 21, 2017)

Told you it wasnt the CPU... whew!


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 21, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Told you it wasnt the CPU... whew!



Wait and see man, wait and see.


----------



## Frick (Sep 21, 2017)

Is it an upgraded Win 7 Pro OEM license? If it's a purchased windows 10 pri licene it likely is a retail license.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 21, 2017)

Frick said:


> Is it an upgraded Win 7 Pro OEM license? If it's a purchased windows 10 pri licene it likely is a retail license.



Upgraded license


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 21, 2017)

I actaully have a spare full Windows 10 full retail license floating around here.  Never used it beyond one very brief install because I got an enterprise license setup from a former employer instead.

I'd sell it very cheaply if you end up having a hard time.  Just pm me if you end up needing it.


----------



## MrGenius (Sep 21, 2017)

I upgraded from OEM 7 Pro and ended up with a retail 10 Pro license. According to slmgr anyway.


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 21, 2017)

Check the activation status in settings app.  I'm betting you have a "digital entitlement" in which case I can pretty much guess your serial. 

VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T


----------



## MrGenius (Sep 21, 2017)

Mmmmmm...could be.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 21, 2017)

ASUS customer service seems to be in radio silent mode as of now. Kinda sucks TBH.


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 22, 2017)

so long as you can produce your windows 7/8 key OR a newegg/amazon invoice for windows 7/8 ms support will gen you a new retail key


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 22, 2017)

OneMoar said:


> so long as you can produce your windows 7/8 key OR a newegg/amazon invoice for windows 7/8 ms support will gen you a new retail key



Yeah I think I can find that somewhere in my backup drive.


----------



## Norton (Sep 22, 2017)

OneMoar said:


> so long as you can produce your windows 7/8 key OR a newegg/amazon invoice for windows 7/8 ms support will gen you a new retail key


Take a pic of the serial # from your mb box and leave a copy of it on your desktop- all you will need is that and your key to reactivate windows via MS Chat. The tech will remote in and take care of it for you. Took me 15 minutes early on a Saturday morning to do mine after a mb swap.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 26, 2017)

Every single time I contact ASUS support line I was giving no definitive answer regarding when i will have a replacement. Comparing to EVGA, ASUS's customer service is surely pretty shitty.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 26, 2017)

Should've went ROG.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 26, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Should've went ROG.



Do you think ASUS will have different RMA quality if it is ROG versus regular ASUS board?

I am probably not gonna touch another ASUS product for a long time. Their product looks good, the customer service is just too shitty to consider. EVGA would get my money no doubt.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 26, 2017)

Yes. Read around the web. They absolutely seem to.


----------



## Sasqui (Sep 26, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Do you think ASUS will have different RMA quality if it is ROG versus regular ASUS board?
> 
> I am probably not gonna touch another ASUS product for a long time. Their product looks good, the customer service is just too shitty to consider. EVGA would get my money no doubt.



Did they tell you what board you're getting?  I saw your post about them not having the Saber X99 in stock.


----------



## niko084 (Sep 26, 2017)

Asus is terrible at communication but I've never been let down on an RMA so there's that... I've done likely over a hundred with them over the last 15 years or so, communication has always been less than desirable sometimes getting a response weeks *after* the part arrives.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 26, 2017)

Sasqui said:


> Did they tell you what board you're getting?  I saw your post about them not having the Saber X99 in stock.



Nope. Right now they would not tell me anything. The customer service guy keeps saying "Your case is marked as urgent and escalated to highest priority, you will get a response within 24~48hrs"  Well they have been saying that for a week now.

I guess it probably has something to do with the warranty period. TUF carries 5 yrs of warranty. ROG carries 3 yrs. Say if they give me a different ASUS MoBo the warranty carry over may be a problem.

I have been doing a bit of background reading regarding the quality of TUF X99. At least from the VRM perspective it is of lower quality comparing to the rest of ASUS line up. It uses the same VRM setup as the low end X99-A. You would think for a board that carries the TUF logo and 5 yrs of warranty it will use better VRM to begin with.

All in all this entire ASUS RMA experience has to be the worst RMA experience I have ever dealt with. Even some of the car electronics company I had business have way better RMA communication and turn around.  Makes you wonder what happened to ASUS customer service and quality control over the years. My previous motherboard Maximus Formula X38 was rock solid for the 8yrs it served me.

I have a Better Business Bureau complaint letter written and ready to submit, if ASUS still gives no update by end of the week.  During my brief chatting with BBB, ASUStek seems to have LOTS of negative review and quite a handful of ongoing dispute regarding their shitty RMA service.


----------



## Sasqui (Sep 26, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Nope. Right now they would not tell me anything. The customer service guy keeps saying "Your case is marked as urgent and escalated to highest priority, you will get a response within 24~48hrs"  Well they have been saying that for a week now.
> 
> I guess it probably has something to do with the warranty period. TUF carries 5 yrs of warranty. ROG carries 3 yrs. Say if they give me a different ASUS MoBo the warranty carry over may be a problem.
> 
> ...



Arghhh, sorry, that's enough to drive a nun to punch the pope in the eye.  Yea, I swore by them for some older boards like the 775 Maximus and Rampage (I had both), like a tank.  I've been nothing but happy with my newer MSI Z97 and the former Giga Z77 UD5H I let go.  But who knows, the MSI could go pop a VRM  tomorrow for no apparent reason.

GL, I'll be following this thread.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 26, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Nope. Right now they would not tell me anything. The customer service guy keeps saying "Your case is marked as urgent and escalated to highest priority, you will get a response within 24~48hrs"  Well they have been saying that for a week now.
> 
> I guess it probably has something to do with the warranty period. TUF carries 5 yrs of warranty. ROG carries 3 yrs. Say if they give me a different ASUS MoBo the warranty carry over may be a problem.
> 
> ...


yeah, the TUF boards are about physical protection with all the armor and such. (Most of) The rog boards have better vrms, etc.


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 26, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I am trying to think of any other possible cause. If CPU is toasted it should not even boot. I just don't understand when unplugging VRM can lead to booting up but no display signal


How's the PSU?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 27, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> How's the PSU?



Tried a Seasonic Titanium 850watt. Same


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 27, 2017)

Thanks to some ROG forum member, I will be video taping when I open up the replacement motherboard. That guy sent in an ASUS laptop for repair and got it back with the chassis scratched like hell. Since he couldn't show it was the condition out of the replacement box ASUS refused to replace the chassis.

Apparently ASUS loves to ship defective product back to its customers and blame the customer for damaging the board. Good thing is I have saved tons of picture before I sent in the motherboard. Now I just need to make sure I video tape everything for evidence.

What has ASUS become?  Scam company? Trying all they can to get out of RMA? This is so low even for scams.


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 27, 2017)

Unfortunately, ASUS is amongst the worst in my RMA experiences as well.

You usually do get it resolved, but it is painful and takes 2-3 times longer than it should at minimum.

It's a shame because some of their products are actually good.  But their customer service makes me avoid them on principle.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 27, 2017)

Thanks to another awesome member, I will be taking ASUS to small claim court if their RMA failed in the end. Someone has already done similar things. Looks like ASUS does respond to legal tools pretty well.


----------



## xorbe (Sep 27, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Every single time I contact ASUS support line I was giving no definitive answer regarding when i will have a replacement. Comparing to EVGA, ASUS's customer service is surely pretty shitty.



This is no secret, lol. Huge asus rma nightmare thread over on [H]


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 28, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Thanks to another awesome member, I will be taking ASUS to small claim court if their RMA failed in the end. Someone has already done similar things. Looks like ASUS does respond to legal tools pretty well.



I've dealt with RMA service from Gigabyte, ASUS, and EVGA.

They are all subpar if considering what "should be" in a utopian universe.  But realistically, EVGA treated me the closest to par of the bunch.  GIGABYTE and ASUS were both pretty bad, with ASUS taking the cake sending me a laptop with no keyboard way back in the day after almost a 1 month wait.


----------



## Athlonite (Sep 28, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Quick update. Called and chat with ASUS RMA customer service.
> 
> They are able to replicate the exact issue. Infinite boot looping. Board is 100% toasted.  I asked them regarding the "killing CPU" with it. The RMA guy had no idea so I was left on hold for ~20 minutes while he called one of their tech guy.  Response was as long as I am on BIOS 3505 or 3701 the over current protection should prevent anything like that from happening.
> 
> Since the original board is beyond repair, they will ship out a replacement board to me. Only problem is they don't have TUF X99 in stock at the Indiana warehouse. RMA guy says the replacement board will be equal or greater value based on whatever is available at that warehouse. So this is kinda shitty now, since they can claim any of their X99 to be equal or greater value. And I will probably lose my Windows 10 Pro license since it is tied to that motherboard. On top of all that it will probably be next week that they can ship out a replacement to me. So a total of 1 month of down time, assuming the replacement actually works. Not fun at all. Not even a little bit.



You wont loose you win 10 licence if the replaced hardware button is used  when re activating windows if it doesn't work ring MS and have them sort it all you'll need to do is provide a receipt for the new mobo from Asus RMA and the previous activation number used when you did the upgrade and they'll give you a new number I just recently went through the same thing with a friends mobo having to be replaced with a higher model because of not being able to get the exact same one as before


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 28, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> I've dealt with RMA service from Gigabyte, ASUS, and EVGA.
> 
> They are all subpar if considering what "should be" in a utopian universe.  But realistically, EVGA treated me the closest to par of the bunch.  GIGABYTE and ASUS were both pretty bad, with ASUS taking the cake sending me a laptop with no keyboard way back in the day after almost a 1 month wait.



How the f*uck did ASUS manage to rip keyboard off of a laptop???


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 28, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> How the f*uck did ASUS manage to rip keyboard off of a laptop???



Well, they should've considering the issue was that the keyboard had a stuck key from the factory.

They forgot to put the replacement keyboard in, is my guess.


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 28, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> They forgot to put the replacement keyboard in, is my guess.


That was my first guess earlier when I read that post. At work still.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 28, 2017)

After a total of 4 escalation of cases according to

A). ASUS RMA customer service online chatting
B). ASUS Tech Support Phone Line
C). ROG Forum(This is where it actually helped)

I finally got an update this morning, Kudos to the ASUS Taiwan engineers that were stationed on the ROG forum. They actually shipped out a replacement board from Taiwan to one of ASUS North American distributors.  So yeah, the ASUS HQ cares more about customer satisfactions than their US based partners.

As for the cause of the entire shit show, I was briefed by one the engineers as well.



Spoiler



It was the muther f*ucking UEFI BIOS!!   GOD damnit. The BIOS chip is corrupted somehow and got stuck in a infinite looping. Due to ASUS cheaping out on providing their TUF line with only one BIOS now it would be impossible to recover the corrupted UEFI BIOS.  Local service center doesn't even have the tools to program the UEFI chip out of the motherboard so they placed an order of the BIOS chip. Once they received that chip the board will not recognize the new chip due to some minor updates ASUS made to the line of TUF X99 during production. So the local service team went on an adventure of testing a shit ton of different BIOS chips. That is where the ASUS Taiwan HQ got my complain and finally decide to get everything right for me. They internationally overnight a board(at least that is what I was told) to their US distributor and FeDex next day to me.

Long story short. So 99.99% the 6950X is NOT damaged. Phew. 

Would I still buy ASUS product? Probably not. This RMA experience has been as unpleasant as it can be. And it is still not over. Here is to me hoping the replaced board would actually work.

And thank you all for your support. I will report back once I have the system tested out. Wish me luck!


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 28, 2017)

Good luck with it. Having a 6950X running ~should~ be a lofty experience.
I hope it's sorted out soonest.

I'm getting ready to build an i9-7900X box soon. Using a MSI-X299 board with it, and that's a brand that ~I've~ had problems with in the past. 
I'm nervous about it.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 28, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> Good luck with it. Having a 6950X running ~should~ be a lofty experience.
> I hope it's sorted out soonest.
> 
> I'm getting ready to build an i9-7900X box soon. Using a MSI-X299 board with it, and that's a brand that ~I've~ had problems with in the past.
> I'm nervous about it.




From what I have surveyed, anything is better than ASUS.  Are there any good EVGA X299 boards? There customer service is top notch


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 28, 2017)

I have two ASUS boards that are running great. Both are Ryzen based. My usual choice when it comes to mainboards is Gigabyte Gaming series. I've never had one fail yet.

I do have one EVGA Z-170 M-ITX board in an InWin 901 chassis and I like it a lot. It has an i5-6600K and an EVGA GTX-980Ti in it. Gaming is sweet with it. It is WCG crunching 24/7 when I'm not using it. It's pretty bulletproof.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

Looks like i spoke too soon. Got replacement today. Plugged in everything and nope. No go. Boot looping again. The attached diagnostic sheet shows it was code 00. Looks like CPU is dead

FUCK


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 29, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Looks like CPU is dead


Can you get in contact with Intel for a RMA on the 6950?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

biffzinker said:


> Can you get in contact with Intel for a RMA on the 6950?




For details i cannot go into, i am fucked. Gonna be stuck with a now expensive paper weight dead CPU


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 29, 2017)

Bummer about the CPU, wonder if the mainboard had anything to do with the sudden death of the CPU besides the power supply? A CPU doesn't just suddenly die for no reason. 

Edit: So another CPU for the X99 mobo or switch over to a x299 mobo plus new chip?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

Quick question for people with new intel platforms. If you don't plug in CPU. Would the system still have display output? Or just no display?

With no CPU plugged in the system actually stays on. But no display


----------



## R-T-B (Sep 29, 2017)

Man, I seriously feel your pain right now.  If I could chip anything in, I would, but honestly I am poor af right now. 

I really hope you get something good going in the end.  That is a pure shitshow.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 29, 2017)

Oh boy.... I am floored the CPU went... wow.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

Things I tried:

One stick of RAM only, tried every single slot

BIOS flashback, doesn't work

Reseat CPU multiple times.



And I forgot to take the mounting screws of Noctua D15 off the motherboard. ASUS clearly had no desire to take them off for me and give them back. So now even if I get a new CPU i still won't be able to mount it on the board.


This is seriously shit piled over shit. Da fuck. I have not been this fucking pissed at hardware since the days of 486


----------



## Norton (Sep 29, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> And I forgot to take the mounting screws of Noctua D15 off the motherboard. ASUS clearly had no desire to take them off for me and give them back. So now even if I get a new CPU i still won't be able to mount it on the board.


I should have a set in the parts box if you need them- will send for free since I don't have a use for them.

FYI- you should be able to get a lower spec Xeon for a reasonable price


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 29, 2017)

If the 6950X is truly dead, you could throw it on Ebay as a keychain or souvenir. Someone bid a $100 for this one. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/i7-6950X-Pr...sh=item41d097761a:g:wDIAAOSw3YJZVIOl#viTabs_0

Don't what else to say other that sorry your CPU went kaput.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

biffzinker said:


> If the 6950X is truly dead, you could throw it on Ebay as a keychain or souvenir. Someone bid a $100 for this one.
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/i7-6950X-Pr...sh=item41d097761a:g:wDIAAOSw3YJZVIOl#viTabs_0
> 
> Don't what else to say other that sorry your CPU went kaput.




It is a ES, i will probably get in trouble for doing so.

Lesson learned, don't buy ES CPU. No warranty suck ass

OK here is some more information. I am trying to decide one last time whether it is a dead CPU or defective replacement motherboard.

With no CPU in socket. The CPU-LED lights up when powered on. System stays on no matter what.

With CPU in socket. I don't see ANY indicator lights show up when powered on. System goes into looping nuts.

If the CPU is dead, I think I am supposed to see some sort of LED lights up on MoBo indicating the CPU is toast right?

Only if I can afford another CPU. Then all question will be answered.


Also BIOS flashback doesn't seem to work.


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 29, 2017)

Do you happen to know anyone nearby with a x99 mainboard that would be willing to let you test the CPU or mainboard? CPUs are fairly resilient to abuse or dying unless the something on mainboard is still causing trouble.

Edit: The Xeon E5-2603 v3/v4 is the least expensive for a test CPU if you had to.
$115.00 at Ebay


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 29, 2017)

That would be my last ditch effort too. Beg your friend again to let him use his X99 system just to double check.

So, ASUS confirmed your board was dead or they sent you a new board? Im confused by your statement earlier... like, you got a replacement, but a diagnostic code attached was 00? They didn't test your CPU and what would a diagnostic code on the new board  matter?? So..........I dont get it.. Please clarify.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

biffzinker said:


> Do you happen to know anyone nearby with a x99 mainboard that would be willing to let you test the CPU or mainboard? CPUs are fairly resilient abuse or dying unless the something on mainboard is still causing trouble.



Nope. Carbondale is a tiny tiny town. Nobody here seems to be interested in PC. The only local computer repair shop still uses sandy bridge. Closest big city is St. Louis which is about 2.5hrs drive. Funny thing is my car is also down....



ASUS told me the original board showed QCODE 00, the board was dead dead. They plugged in their CPU it won't even boot. They sent me a replacement. I checked the stickers and some sharpie marks I did underneath the TUF armor. It is definitely a different board


Older CPUs were pretty robust. Somehow these X99 CPUs are just dropping like flies. Go look at ROG forum, Overclock.net and Newegg verified reviews. Tons of QCODE 00 problem, which almost always points to fried CPU


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 29, 2017)

Ok.. got it.

Yeah, I would beg that friend of yours to try on his PC, or try another RMA from ASUS...as painful as that may sound. Tell them the board took out the CPU as CPUs don't take out boards.

You said this in the first post: 





xkm1948 said:


> Plugged the CPU into a friend's MoBo ans it boots just fine.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 29, 2017)

I have 128GB DDR4-3000 Ripjaws 5. Hopefully they can at least be around same speed on a different platform.

TR system maybe good, but the RAM compatibility and low IPC is kinda turn off. On top of that I don't know whether TR may have similar segfault problem as RyZen.



EarthDog said:


> Ok.. got it.
> 
> Yeah, I would beg that friend of yours to try on his PC, or try another RMA from ASUS...as painful as that may sound. Tell them the board took out the CPU as CPUs don't take out boards.
> 
> You said this in the first post:



My "friend" has already politely refused me twice.

Now thinking about it he also didn't plug in the additional 8pin and 4 pin PEG that supply power to the PSU. Just like mine, if I unplug my 8pin PEG I would not be getting the boot looping
 place
All he did was swapping out his 5960X with the 6950X. Due to his AIO placement he disconnected the 8 pin and 4 pin PEG on the Asrock board of his. The system turned on and stayed on but no display to the monitor. I took that as a sign the CPU was OK.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 30, 2017)

So, when it was tested you never plugged in the 8-pin and 4-pin supplying power to the CPU? Oof.. there was false hope.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

False hope indeed. That was not a close friend as well. It was one of my lab undergrad helper's boyfriend. 

Now one months stuck using a little Macbook air for work. Not even a little bit fun.


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Quick question for people with new intel platforms. If you don't plug in CPU. Would the system still have display output? Or just no display?
> 
> With no CPU plugged in the system actually stays on. But no display



My x99 boards all run to a degree without the CPU in them, meaning that you don't need a CPU installed to Upgrade the BIOS on the board. Just apply power to it and plug a flash drive into the proper USB port (usually marked "BIOS" on the I/O shield) and it will read and install the new BIOS from the flash drive without the CPU.

I needed this function on two of my X99 boards that were made for older CPUs than the i7-6800K and i7-6850K CPUs that I had for them. You ~could~ try upgrading/downgrading your BIOS to see if that helps. (probably not)


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 30, 2017)

Intel Core i7-6850K sitting at $219.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i7-6850K-Broadwell-E-6-Core-3-6-GHz-LGA-2011-V3/302471337438?epid=20003304699&hash=item466cb255de:g:amEAAOSw3GtZvbl6

Core i7-5960X for $309 + $7.00 S/H
Long url to Ebay


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

Good deal on that 6850K I paid over 400 for mine when it was new.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> My x99 boards all run to a degree without the CPU in them, meaning that you don't need a CPU installed to Upgrade the BIOS on the board. Just apply power to it and plug a flash drive into the proper USB port (usually marked "BIOS" on the I/O shield) and it will read and install the new BIOS from the flash drive without the CPU.
> 
> I needed this function on two of my X99 boards that were made for older CPUs than the i7-6800K and i7-6850K CPUs that I had for them. You ~could~ try upgrading/downgrading your BIOS to see if that helps. (probably not)




That was the very first thing I tried. It does not work. I tried two separate flash drives on the ASUS flashback USB port and it will flash for 5 seconds then turning to solid blue light, which according to ASUS website is a sign of failed programming.

I am kicking myself for selling my old 5820K go now. I should have kept it for a longer period of time, because at least that CPU has warranty until 2018. 

I do not dare to touch any ebay CPU now, at least not another X99 CPU from ebay...


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 30, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I do not dare to touch any ebay CPU now, at least not another X99 CPU from ebay...


Fair enough


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> That was the very first thing I tried. It does not work. I tried two separate flash drives on the ASUS flashback USB port and it will flash for 5 seconds then turning to solid blue light, which according to ASUS website is a sign of failed programming.



Was the BIOS file the only thing on the flash drive?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> Was the BIOS file the only thing on the flash drive?



Not sure. I am using my MacBook to prep the file so OSX may have put something else on it. I am going to lab now and use a Windows PC this time.

Also thank you everone for the helpful advice and suggestions. I have already contacted Noctua for the missing bolts. Hopefully they would provide some mounting bolts and nuts.


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

Format the flash drive with a windows PC. Then put only the bios image on it.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

Flashed 3701 BIOS using flasback. Turns out ASUS label on the user manual was wrong. Switched to a different USB and it flashed just fine


And bios make no difference. Still boot looping as usual. Well fuck me



EDIT:

After checking my financial situation I don't think I would be able to afford a system that I want. So I am just gonna try to get another possible replacement from ASUS and go from there.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

ASUS X99 is kinda famous for killing HWE and BWE processors

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthre...CODE-00-over-night-after-several-small-issues


----------



## HD64G (Sep 30, 2017)

After reading all of the previous posts, I am sure that ASUS should pay for your cpu loss above the mobo replacemement. No mobo should allow the cpu to be killed ever. Especially if the PSU has the proper security circuits. As for TR, them and the Ryzens produced after the 25th week of 2017 don't have the bug for linux based oses. Seems to be a hardware bug that got corrected once the yields became better and stock volts dropped.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 30, 2017)

Oh yes, i would for sure tell asus your cpu is dead and see what they say..


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 30, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Quick question for people with new intel platforms. If you don't plug in CPU. Would the system still have display output? Or just no display?
> 
> With no CPU plugged in the system actually stays on. But no display



With no CPU, the board won't go far enough into the POST to initialize the display.  So no CPU = no video. I can guarantee that ASUS lied about the board boot looping due to the BIOS, too.  The board was boot looping because the VRM went dead short.

Good luck with getting a replacement CPU from ASUS.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Oh yes, i would for sure tell asus your cpu is dead and see what they say..



ROG forum ASUS engineers say they will not cover any damage outside of motherboard.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 30, 2017)

@xkm1948 do you still have your previous CPU or did you sell it.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> @xkm1948 do you still have your previous CPU or did you sell it.



I sold it already.......


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

I may have one testing CPU coming in, a huge thanks to @cadaveca 

Based on the testing results here are my options:

1. Use a different BWE CPU on the replaced TUF X99, hoping it will not kill it again down the road sometime. 
2. Buy an used MSI X99 from another member and buy a used 5960X or 6950X. Cost should be below $700 if I can sell the replaced TUF X99
3. Go 7900X with Asrock/MSI/Gigabyte X299.
4. Go 1950X with Asrock/MSI/Gigabyte X399, I do need to buy another cooler though because D15 doesn't fit onto TR4

I can get to a Micro center at St. Louis to get lower price on CPU and/or motherboard.  I have all the other components ready to go, just the CPU and motherboard.

At the point I am kinda torn apart. On one hand I'm broke af so spending huge on hardware is as painful as it gets but barely manageable. On the other hand I fear the ASUS boards are just timed bombs waiting to go off again in the future.

Need your suggestions.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 30, 2017)

Asus boards arent time bombs. Do understand whatever happened, its a fluke and 9999/10000 it wont happen again.


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

As I said before, all three of my ASUS boards are running perfectly. (Two Ryzen and one H81)
The main suspect in this is the CPU that you're using. 
Wait for the ~test~ CPU that you say is coming to you and test your board out. If it works with cadaveca's CPU, then use that board.

Look back at the transaction that you bought your CPU with. Was it a PayPal buy? If so, you can challenge the sale because the CPU doesn't work.
Maybe you'll get a refund. (even if it may be something like an engineering sample) You can challenge EBay sales too.


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

I bought it from an awesome guy who also is trying his best to help me.

 Just browsing through the amount of failed ASUS X99 threads seems to point to a trend that ASUS at least have some sort of design flaws on their X99 line up.

Maybe this is just the 1 out of 10000 chance that I happened to have. The board was going pretty strong for 2 yrs on the 5820K overclocked at 4.25GHz. I had some really heavy load on the CPU and the board when I was using the 5820K. For the brief one month of me having that 6950X it worked flawlessly. Until when I was reinstalling Windows 10 onto the NvME SSD.


----------



## RealNeil (Sep 30, 2017)

OK, so no issues with your seller. Good.

And yes, sometimes sh*t happens and there is no solid reason why.
Keep us posted as to what happens next.


----------



## biffzinker (Sep 30, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I may have one testing CPU coming in, a huge thanks to @cadaveca


So back in business finally?


----------



## xkm1948 (Sep 30, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> OK, so no issues with your seller. Good.
> 
> And yes, sometimes sh*t happens and there is no solid reason why.
> Keep us posted as to what happens next.




Definitely will do. I appreciate all the help folk!



biffzinker said:


> So back in business finally?



Don't know how long it will take before it gets here. But yeah at least I am going to check out whether the replacement TUF is a dud or not.


----------



## cadaveca (Oct 1, 2017)

biffzinker said:


> So back in business finally?


Hopefully he can confirm or deny what's working or not with the CPU loan...I want to see the end of this matter and how it plays out, and just so happen to have a 5930K sitting around unused. And no, I did not sell him the first CPU, nor am I selling him the 5930K... just a loaner.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 1, 2017)

Thank you so much for your help @cadaveca 

I asked a colleague of mine who manages a small department server to help test out the CPU. It is one of those dell poweredge slim rack servers that happen to have another empty socket. He also risked big time getting the server offline to test for me. Sadly it would not even power on once we put the 6950X on there. Not even the click on and off looping on consumer motherboards.

Conclusion: the CPU is dead.


----------



## Aquinus (Oct 1, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> I asked a colleague of mine who manages a small department server to help test out the CPU. It is one of those dell poweredge slim rack servers that happen to have another empty socket. He also risked big time getting the server offline to test for me. Sadly it would not even power on once we put the 6950X on there. Not even the click on and off looping on consumer motherboards.


*Another* empty socket? Servers usually have ECC memory and possibly registered memory. The 6950X wouldn't support either of those as it's not a Xeon. Are you sure that it was tested in a platform that is known to work with that CPU because I would expect any i7 in a dual socket motherboard intended for Xeons to fail to boot.


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 1, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Yes. Read around the web. They absolutely seem to.



Lol that's reason enough for me to avoid the brand entirely. 'We only provide service if you pay the retarded premium'... dafuq


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 1, 2017)

Aquinus said:


> *Another* empty socket? Servers usually have ECC memory and possibly registered memory. The 6950X wouldn't support either of those as it's not a Xeon. Are you sure that it was tested in a platform that is known to work with that CPU because I would expect any i7 in a dual socket motherboard intended for Xeons to fail to boot.


If i am 10 yrs younger and into online debating i would totally try to get my colleague to shut down the rack and snap a picture.

It had two sockets. One of which was populated with a bolted down heatsink. Another was empty 2011-v3 socket. We put that dead 6950x in and put my d15 on top. No power on. Removed the 6950x and power on just fine. That alone is telling something in the CPU has shorted out and the motherboard goes into protection mode without powering on.  That was the closest thing to a X99 i can find at this tiny town.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 1, 2017)

There are many reasons that your CPU may not work beside a Xeon processor in a dual socket system. The two CPUs may not be compatible together.
The memory's ECC structure may be incompatible with your CPU too.

You should stop plugging that thing in everywhere. If indeed it ~did~ kill your motherboard, why chance wrecking someone else's system?
I would wait for the test CPU and test the new Mainboard first. Go from there.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 1, 2017)

It should be more like the ASUS TUF killed the processor, not the other way around. But I agree, not worth damaging other systems now.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 1, 2017)

Your system was running good until you introduced that new CPU into the mix,........


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 1, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> Your system was running good until you introduced that new CPU into the mix,........



Actually it was running good until I started to reinstall OS on the NVME SSD. Would a 960Pro kill both the CPU and MoBo? Or was it Windows 10 that killed all of them. Guess I will never know.


----------



## EarthDog (Oct 1, 2017)

Neither... vrm sh1t the bed and managed to take the cpu with it.


----------



## OneMoar (Oct 3, 2017)

a moment of silence for the dead hardware please people


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 3, 2017)

Okay, now let's find out about the new CPU and if it worked.

Enquiring minds want to know!


----------



## Sasqui (Oct 3, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> Okay, now let's find out about the new CPU and if it worked.
> 
> Enquiring minds want to know!



After following this thread for a while, gotta wonder if there's some nefarious thing going on between as ES and microcode.  Just a thought.  I'm going to be really surprised if the "loaner" doesn't work... fingers crossed while donning a tinfoil hat.


----------



## FreedomEclipse (Oct 3, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Upgraded license



Call up the M$ Activation people. and tell them...."_I need a license to kill_." When they say "_what the f**k"_ then you come with the "_oh sorry, I meant i need my license reactivating_" then mumble "_shaken, not stirred_" down the phone hoping they'll hear you and hang up because your crazy.


----------



## Durvelle27 (Oct 3, 2017)

Any updates on the system


----------



## Sasqui (Oct 3, 2017)

Here's a post from @cadaveca 2+ years ago regarding ES chips... timebomb?

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/advise-for-against-engineering-sample-cpu.217577/



> I have many ES CPUs in my possession. My recommendation? Don't buy it. For one, you are then a participant in an illegal act (I'm not sure why anyone with an ES CPU would sell it, that in and of itself is pretty fishy since they signed a fairly tight contract in order to get it, and if found out, will likely never see another chip again),
> 
> Secondly, these chips are likely to be abused while also NOT being some of the best chips ever, contrary to popular belief. ES CPUs are typically just the same as any other chip. I have 3x 4960X, and of the three, only one was "good", and the best it can do is 4.5 GHz (pretty average). Intel sends out chips that are good and bad, and average, since those that get ES chips do need to be aware of how these chips might work in general, and only select reviewers are likely to get good chips (those that benchmark). Meanwhile, I am pretty sure that using an ES chip to post benchmarks on HWBOT puts you outside of the general user category.
> 
> ...


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 3, 2017)

Durvelle27 said:


> Any updates on the system



Nope. Not sure if @cadaveca has managed to send the testing CPU as he some sort of terrorist attack happened near him over Canada.

As for ASUS, they have been giving me the run arounds. ROG forum admin didn't say whether they will cover the CPU loss or not, only stating I need to contact local center. Meanwhile the online chatting agent has been acting like idiots:

Me:  The system got stuck in an infinite boot looping
Agent: Where on the windows screen does it show "Stuck in infinite looping"?
Me:  ??? No it doesn't even enter BIOS!
Agent: Have you tried Control-Alt-Del?
Me: (1000 * WTF)
Agent: Hello sir? Have you tried reset the Clear CMOS jumper?


And this happens every single day I talk to them.

So long story short: ASUS seems want to shovel this away as hard as they can.





Sasqui said:


> Here's a post from @cadaveca 2+ years ago regarding ES chips... timebomb?
> 
> https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/advise-for-against-engineering-sample-cpu.217577/




Well damn....

ES Chips degrades faster? Where was I during that thread? If I saw that before I made purchase....


----------



## newtekie1 (Oct 3, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> It had two sockets. One of which was populated with a bolted down heatsink. Another was empty 2011-v3 socket. We put that dead 6950x in and put my d15 on top. No power on. Removed the 6950x and power on just fine. That alone is telling something in the CPU has shorted out and the motherboard goes into protection mode without powering on. That was the closest thing to a X99 i can find at this tiny town.



This isn't going to work at all, which explains why it didn't work.  First, dual-socket machines require the CPU in both sockets to be identical.  Second, the 6950X doesn't have the correct connections to work with a dual-socket system.  Dual-socket Xeons have an extra QPI link that allows the two CPU to directly communicate with eachother.  Desktop processors only have one QPI link.  On a desktop(X99) motherboard, the 2011-v3 socket has unused pins that on a server/Xeon are used for these extra QPI links.  So putting a desktop processor in a dual-socket server motherboard won't work.



EarthDog said:


> Neither... vrm sh1t the bed and managed to take the cpu with it.



Yep, the VRM went short, sent 12v directly into the CPU, and killed the VRM built into the processor.  Seen it happen a lot.  Usually on machines that are just sitting idle, too.  But it can really happen at any time.

I doubt it is a timebomb on the ES CPU.  However, I guess it could be that the VRM circuit on the CPU is what died first and it killed the motherboard VRM.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Oct 3, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Nope. Not sure if @cadaveca has managed to send the testing CPU as he some sort of terrorist attack happened near him over Canada.
> 
> As for ASUS, they have been giving me the run arounds. ROG forum admin didn't say whether they will cover the CPU loss or not, only stating I need to contact local center. Meanwhile the online chatting agent has been acting like idiots:
> 
> ...



Because everyone is pooled into bottom level support, it is only when you tell them specifically everything you have tried does not work then they either move you to a higher tech or give you an RMA authorization


----------



## OneMoar (Oct 3, 2017)

this is why I have the policy of tell them only what they need to hear.
don't give them anymore information then what is required that includes don't tell them you where running a es cpu don't tell them you where overclocking at 1.4v don't tell them your cat peed on it

you need to remember that support agents are generally minimum wage retards

this is what I always tell them when I rma something
it stopped working one day. thats it


----------



## eidairaman1 (Oct 3, 2017)

OneMoar said:


> this is why I have the policy of tell them only what they need to hear.
> don't give them anymore information then what is required that includes don't tell them you where running a es cpu don't tell them you where overclocking at 1.4v don't tell them your cat peed on it
> 
> you need to remember that support agents are generally minimum wage retards
> ...




Don't forget we are dealing with major language barriers with most places too...


----------



## OneMoar (Oct 3, 2017)

he got him self into trouble by telling the truth

never ever ever tell a rma dept the truth

the warranty is writen in such a way that pretty much anything can be used as a reason to reject a rma


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 3, 2017)

Just to clarify i am not denied another RMA. Waiting for testing CPUs to check out this replacement board first.

If the testing CPU doesn't work i will be pressing ASUS for a new board.

As for my current communication with ASUS i am probing to see whether ASUS would cover the CPU cost.


----------



## Toothless (Oct 3, 2017)

OP is denied sanity.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 3, 2017)

Testing CPU incoming from cadaveca, also huge thanks to @Norton for sending me D15 mounting for 2011!!

One way or another I will get this system fixed.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Oct 4, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Just to clarify i am not denied another RMA. Waiting for testing CPUs to check out this replacement board first.
> 
> If the testing CPU doesn't work i will be pressing ASUS for a new board.
> 
> As for my current communication with ASUS i am probing to see whether ASUS would cover the CPU cost.




Goodluck with that.

Atleast you get the board, now i'd probe intel for a chip


----------



## Sasqui (Oct 4, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Testing CPU incoming from cadaveca, also huge thanks to @Norton for sending me D15 mounting for 2011!!
> 
> One way or another I will get this system fixed.



Ain't this place great? 

Pay it forward when you can!


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 10, 2017)

My cat just send me this picture, some package arrived.

Can't wait to get home and try out the test CPU from cadaveca. Huge thanks to this super awesome guy.

Hopefully the replacement motherboard is not a dud.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 10, 2017)

Hopefully, the Cat doesn't burn it to a crisp with those Laser-Eyes before you get there.


----------



## Frick (Oct 10, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> Hopefully, the Cat doesn't burn it to a crisp with those Laser-Eyes before you get there.



It will eat the CPU and defecate it onto an expensive suede jacket. Cats are terrible.


----------



## Shambles1980 (Oct 10, 2017)

if i was a cat, id defecate on a suede jacket too


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 10, 2017)

Frick said:


> Cats are terrible.



Mine isn't. We joke about having a cat with power steering because she's so easy to live with.
The only thing about her is that if you're in the house alone and you go to the bathroom, you have to close the door otherwise she'll sit in front of you and stare while you're doing your business.  (nicknamed: Shitty Kitty)


----------



## Toothless (Oct 10, 2017)

My cat is just fat.


When we gonna see that desktop fire up?


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 10, 2017)

Toothless said:


> My cat is just fat.
> 
> 
> When we gonna see that desktop fire up?




Still at work with at least 3hrs left.   



RealNeil said:


> Mine isn't. We joke about having a cat with power steering because she's so easy to live with.
> The only thing about her is that if you're in the house alone and you go to the bathroom, you have to close the door otherwise she'll sit in front of you and stare while you're doing your business.  (nicknamed: Shitty Kitty)




Yeah almost all cats do that.

My cat seems to like my armpits. It would sniff and lick my armpit in the morning to wake me up. Talking about weird cat.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 11, 2017)

And the motherboard seems to be good. Boot up in one go. This means the original 6950X was indeed fried.

Huge thanks to @cadaveca for lending me a CPU!!!


----------



## Aquinus (Oct 11, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> If i am 10 yrs younger and into online debating i would totally try to get my colleague to shut down the rack and snap a picture.
> 
> It had two sockets. One of which was populated with a bolted down heatsink. Another was empty 2011-v3 socket. We put that dead 6950x in and put my d15 on top. No power on. Removed the 6950x and power on just fine. That alone is telling something in the CPU has shorted out and the motherboard goes into protection mode without powering on.  That was the closest thing to a X99 i can find at this tiny town.


It's not going to power on because multi-CPU Xeons have extra QPI links to connect to the additional CPU. You need at least a E5-2xxx CPU for that, not even a E5-1xxx CPU could possibly boot in that config.


xkm1948 said:


> And the motherboard seems to be good. Boot up in one go. This means the original 6950X was indeed fried.
> 
> Huge thanks to @cadaveca for lending me a CPU!!!
> 
> View attachment 92895


Definitely fried if it won't boot the 6950x.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 11, 2017)

Happy to report this system is now running fine. No overclock of course. Not even XMP.

As for Windows 10, I put in my old Windows 7 CDKEY and it activated my system just fine.

Did some quick testing on this replacement TUF X99. It seems auto voltage really cannot be trusted. Bone stock 128gb ram at 2133, vccsa was 0.98V. Checked out Realbench stress test fine.  Manually input ram to 3000, vccsa auto wanted to set itself to 1.36V! Hell freaking no. The moment i saw that in bios i yanked the power cable from wall as fast as I can.

After some tweeking i can get 128gb ram realbench stable with vccsa only at 1.1V and vccio at 1.05V. Cache sits at default speed with 1.02VThe key is do not overclock uncore.  Final realbench stress test temp is 65C after 2 hours of stess testing. This is 5930K OC 4.2G core.

Honestly i would probably never touch cache OC ever again. 

For now the system seems to work just fine. Thanks everyone for the help! Especially thanks to @Norton and @cadaveca 

TPU has an awesome community


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 11, 2017)

I'm glad that it's working now.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 12, 2017)

Good to be back in business, for now.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Good to be back in business, for now.



That's a good looking build.

I like Noctua Fans.
Six 140mm and one 120mm here.


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 12, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> That's a good looking build.
> 
> I like Noctua Fans.
> Six 140mm and one 120mm here.
> ...




Looks like a Fractal Design case as well? What Noctua fans do you use? I am kinda debating whether I wanna go the Noctua grey PWM fans for better air flowing.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 12, 2017)

NZXT Source 530 case.
NFA-14-PWM and NFA-12-PWM fans inside.
I won all of the fans in a contest. It was pretty cool.


----------



## Sasqui (Oct 12, 2017)

So, all along this indeed was a faulty 6950X *ES* ?  You got an ASUS MB replacement thinking it was that... but it still didn't work, then some awesome TPU peeps sent you a CPU and now all is good?  Does that about sum it up?  Not trying to be flip or anything, just trying to wrap my head around the whole troubleshooting chain.

Nice looking system, do you still hate ASUS?


----------



## xkm1948 (Oct 12, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> NZXT 540 case.
> NFA-14-PWM and NFA-12-PWM fans inside.
> I won all of the fans in a contest. It was pretty cool.



Welp I guess I am probably not gonna just buy some then!



Sasqui said:


> So, all along this indeed was a faulty 6950X *ES* ?  You got an ASUS MB replacement thinking it was that... but it still didn't work, then some awesome TPU peeps sent you a CPU and now all is good?  Does that about sum it up?  Not trying to be flip or anything, just trying to wrap my head around the whole troubleshooting chain.
> 
> Nice looking system, do you still hate ASUS?



No, original board was fried while dragging the 6950X with it. It was the motherboard that killed the CPU. ASUS service center repair slip showed that board was dead as it would not boot on their test CPU as well. ASUS engineer from ROG forum also responded that the board was dead. 

TONS of threads at overclock.net and ASUS ROG forum showing the exact symptom. Be it faulty design of VRM or faulty design of OC socket. The ASUS boards are KNOWN to have fried a large portion of Broadwell-E processors.  As of now ASUS is still trying to address issue via BIOS updates.

Yes I still hate ASUS. Shitty customer service.


----------



## Sasqui (Oct 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> TONS of threads at overclock.net and ASUS ROG forum showing the exact symptom. Be it faulty design of VRM or faulty design of OC socket. The ASUS boards are KNOWN to have fried a large portion of Broadwell-E processors. As of now ASUS is still trying to address issue via BIOS updates.



Just wow.


----------



## RealNeil (Oct 12, 2017)

xkm1948 said:


> Welp I guess I am probably not gonna just buy some then!



They're worth the money IMHO. 
Another good fan is the Cougar Vortex PWM fan. I use those too.


----------

