overheating. Head to https://
bit.ly/2zveela and download
Core Temp, which allows you
to read each core’s thermal
sensor, and ensure temps
don’t climb too high.
Because your issue is
related to audio playback,
heat probably isn’t the culprit.
Instead, there’s a long list
of possible hardware and
software sources to explore.
Failing PSUs, problematic
motherboards, RAM on the
fritz, and overclocked CPUs
are all potentially to blame.
Bad BIOS settings, graphics
card driver bugs, and audio
codec problems land on the
troubleshooting checklist, too.
Make sure you’re running
BIOS version 3602 for your
P8P67 EVO. Nvidia is still
updating the drivers for your
GeForce GTX 970, so check
you’re using the latest version
on its website. Grab the latest
driver package for Realtek’s
ALC892 on Asus’s support
page. Get Windows as up to
date as possible. And uninstall
any apps you don’t use.
If all else fails, it might
be time to start replacing
hardware. Upgrading from
a Core i7-2600K is going to
require a new motherboard,
CPU, and RAM. A newer PSU
probably wouldn’t hurt, and
there’s a fair chance you’ll
want a graphics card and
storage subsystem to match.
It should be possible to put
together a machine with a
six-core AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
CPU and corresponding
motherboard, 16GB of DDR4
memory, a Radeon RX 5700
graphics card, a large SSD,
and a 650W or 750W power
supply for under $1,000.Sleep Disturbances
Dear Doctor, I have a B450
Aorus Elite motherboard and
a Ryzen 7 1700X in a PC I built
last year. I intend to upgrade
to a Ryzen 3000-series CPU,
but know I need to update the
board’s BIOS first. The Aorus
support site said I’d need to
flash an intermediate build in
order to tweak the Q-Flash
utility so that it would accept
the newest firmware. I wentthrough the steps, upgrading
from version F2, published
8/15/2018, to version F32,
published 5/6/2019. I made
no other changes to the
configuration, and expected
no change of functionality.
Normally, I put Windows
to sleep rather than shutting
my PC down, preserving the
state of the apps I leave open.
This worked flawlessly until I
flashed BIOS F32. Since then,
the sleep function works
eventually, but never the
way it used to. Now there’s a
long pause after hitting the
key to wake my system up.
20 percent of the time or so
I get the Windows wallpaper
for the login screen, followed
a few seconds later by
a blue screen. The stop
code is usually “System
Service Exception,” but
I’ve occasionally seen
“Kernel Data Inpage
Error,” “Unexpected Store
Exception,” or “Critical
Process Died.” Then the
machine reboots and
displays the BIOS message
described below.
80 percent of the time, I
get no Windows wallpaper or
blue screen. In either case, I
wind up with a message from
the BIOS that says “Reboot
and Select Proper Boot
Device or Insert Boot Media
in Selected Boot Device and
Press a Key.” If I press a
key, punch in Ctrl-Alt-Del,
or hit the reset button, I get
the same BIOS message
again. But if I hold the power
button down for five seconds
and then fire everything
back up again, I get a login
screen that recovers from
sleep mode. All my apps
are reinstated. This takes
a couple of minutes to get
through, however, when it
used to take 10 seconds. If
I simply shut down, there is
never an issue rebooting.
I would not expect the
PC to wake up from sleep
after completely powering
off. That should be forcing a
clean reboot instead, right?
I thought the sleep feature
relied on memory contents
remaining intact. Or did thischange when the “hibernate”
option was removed?
I cannot come up with an
explanation for what could
be causing this. If it were
really the case that the
proper boot device was not
selected, my machine would
never work, so the BIOS
must be misreporting the
actual error. Also, if it were
scrambling the boot device, I
would never see the Windows
wallpaper and blue screen
appear some of the time. This
is a real head-scratcher.
Do you have any ideas? I
built my first computer, an XT
clone with a blazing 10MHz
NEC processor, in 1985, and
have built dozens since with
only the occasional mishap.
I mostly use Intel CPUs but
have chosen AMD when that
seemed a better option.
I’ve been a subscriber for
years and always use your
magazine as a guide for
selecting new components.
–Joe BinterTHE DOCTOR RESPONDS: It
sounds like you successfully
made the jump from a really
old BIOS version (F2) to a
much newer one (F32). Before
taking the next step to F40 or
F41, you must install the EC
FW Update Tool (https://bit.
ly/2YxHMvX), which allows
the motherboard to support
memory training on the new
Ryzen 3000-series CPUs.
After updating the firmware,you can flash BIOS version F40
(with AGESA 1.0.0.2) or F41
(with AGESA 1.0.0.3 AB). Then
it’d be a good idea to load the
factory default settings and
get your BIOS reconfigured.
Also, did you notice that
Gigabyte recommends updating
AMD’s chipset driver to
18.10.20.02 before flashing to
F4 and then version 18.50.16.01,
before writing F30 to your B450
Aorus Elite? Even if you haven’t
upgraded your CPU yet, try
uninstalling whichever version
of the chipset driver you’re
using and replace it with the
latest build from AMD.
If Windows still isn’t
behaving, jump back into
your BIOS and start looking
for settings that might have
changed between F2 and F32.
For example, tab over to the
“Power” menu and scroll to
“Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN.” By
default, this should be set to
“Instant-Off,” which shuts
your system down when its
power button is pressed. If it’s
set to “Delay 4 Sec,” it takes a
four-second button press to
turn your PC off. Hitting the
power button for fewer than
four seconds puts the machine
into suspend mode.
The Doc can’t say for sure
why your symptoms are so
sporadic, but he hopes that
using the latest BIOS, AMD’s
newest chipset drivers, and
build 1903 of Win 10 helps iron
out the inconsistencies you
are experiencing.You should have no problem moving hard drives that have been
configured through Storage Spaces to another PC.©^
MI
CR
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maximumpc.com OCT 2019 MAXIMUMPC 23