Maximus Extreme/Q6600 Board/Bios failure?

[ThunderRd]

My flagship rig has a sudden and unusual problem.

This board has been running flawlessly at 438x8, 1.375 vCore for a year now, doing everything I ask of it and more; SMP and GPU folding on two cards 24/7, gaming, etc. CPU temps have never exceeded 55C or so at worst.

I had to open the case the other day to do some dusting and I noticed that the coolant hoses were hot. Not warm, but really hot. Rebooting into the BIOS it reported 78C on the CPU. Booting into the OS has speedfan and all other utilities reporting high 90's on the CPU cores, and CPU-z showed 1.856 vCore!

Back in the BIOS, all settings seem to be perfectly correct as I set them. Even reloading the saved BIOS settings (I can save two setups for the BIOS to load) will not reduce the vCore according to CPU-z. It seems to be "stuck" at 1.856 which is clearly dangerous. I am impressed that the CPU itself has stood up to that voltage; I can't say exactly how long it has been there.

Coolant flow is good, but both the Northbridge and CPU are burning hot. They are in the same loop. I used to be able to feel a bit of warmth if I put my finger on the Swiftech block and a bit more on the NB, but right now it is clear that something is seriously wrong. In addition, the radiator is burning hot.

The LCD Poster device that displays boot info is acting strangely, too, showing garbled info.

I have attempted the following:
BIOS setting restore to my overclocked setup
BIOS settings to defaults
Reflashed BIOS to current, and previous 2 versions
overnight CMOS clear/battery out

None of the above have done anything to reduce the vCore.

Board is under warranty, but before I make arrangements can anyone see anything I'm missing?

[ccperf721p]

I would check to make sure the rails on the power supply are in spec. Then RMA the board.

[MUff1N]

Wow, I'm amazed that it hasn't burned up yet!
Sounds like the voltage regulators aren't working correctly anymore at all.
I'd unplug that before you waste the CPU & maybe even your graphics card and whatever else
is being powered by the mobo as you don't know what the voltages are going to everything else.
For all you know everything could be getting overvolted!!!

But if I saw this happening on my system I'd shut it down right away & RMA the mobo while it's still under warranty...if it still has one.

[ThunderRd]

@Muff-
Other than troubleshooting it's been shut down since the moment I realized the problem-my momma didn't raise no fool

@Cliff-
12V rails are good, but the 5V is showing something interesting.

Today, after having the machine shut down all night, I noticed that I hadn't turned the power supply off. I also noticed that the LCD poster wasn't garbled. Just for laughs, I started the machine and it came up normally-with normal voltages, and temps were also normal. I tested the correct points for 12 and 5V. Both were OK.

I tried a warm reboot, and everything came up normally again. I let the machine idle all day today, with no change in temps or voltages.

I shut it down completely, making a cold reboot. The problem appeared again. Tested the volts again, 12V normal on both rails, but the 5V is seriously sagging. I let the machine sit for about 5 minutes with the power off but the PS switch on(as I had the night before). The LCD poster snapped into focus again, and the box booted normally.

I'll take a guess that a cap is going south in the PS, and not storing the necessary juice to start the box properly. After sitting for a few minutes it charges up and functions OK. I'll bet that's why it will warm boot but not cold boot.

All board functions are perfect when the LCD poster is working, so that is my guide temporarily. I have removed the PS and will open it up tomorrow and take a look at the guts after it drains out. With some luck I'll see something strange like a bulging cap and that will be that. This particular unit isn't under warranty anymore so if it's bad I'll upgrade it to a single-rail Corsair. I'll be in Bangkok next week and they are easy to get there.

If I don't see anything obvious, I may upgrade it anyhow-and test the rig with a new PS next week, then if the problem continues I RMA the MB.

[Daniel ~]

I just hate it when a favourite board starts in with the "I just can 't find my ass today what do you think is bothering me" ?!!

Unfortunately I see an RMA ( power supply or board) in your future...Hoping I am wrong!