So I had a very weird issue a few months back, what do you guys think?

Loooooong post, going to try and sum everything up to the best I can remember :)


A few months back I powered down my rig for a short time to test an adapter I had on one of my GPUs. It wasn't the adapter I thought it was, so I put it away and powered back on. Upon POST'ing, I was then greeted with the message "usb overload detected, the system will power down in 15 seconds". At first I thought it was my overclock, so I said no biggie and reset the CMOS.

Well, even after resetting the CMOS it did the same thing. I powered down and waited a few minutes, and tried powering up once more. This time when I booted up, unless I was going crazy, the socket that my power surge was plugged into across the room started making buzzing sounds. Out of fear, I powered my rig off. I thought I was going crazy because everything was fine, so I powered back up once more. This time however.... I was not so lucky. When I booted up, all the power on one side of my room went out, but the lights on the other side of the room (different socket) remained ON.

I was scared as hell and ran out of my room, haha! I had never seen anything like this before. I came back into my room a bit after and tried powering my rig on and other things that were attached to the power surge, but it was a no-go. I went and got a different extension cord out of the garage and replaced the one that was going from the wall socket to the power surge, and it ended up working. So something overloaded my previous extension cord, that's mystery #1 for me.

After I noticed the new extension cord got things working again, I proceeded to boot up my rig, she was dead

When I would boot up, it would freeze on the motherboard logo screen. Sometimes I was able to get into the BIOS, but it said there was no HDD detected. I tried resetting the CMOS, etc... nothing worked. I have access to a backup computer, so I tested my PSU to make sure that was even working halfway as intended. I plugged the 750w Corsair into my backup rig and it booted into Windows with no issues.

Next I tried the HDD in the backup PC, and that wasn't detected in Windows nor the BIOS on the backup PC. So, I called Asus and told them what happened. The rep I spoke to said it sounded like I had a freak shortage that ended up killing my SATA controller, so they setup an advanced RMA. I called Samsung shortly after and explained to them, and they said they'd send me a brand new HDD (thank God, screw these current hard drive prices).

Well, after I got all the new replacement hardware and got everything setup, I started getting BSODs. (I AM NOT ASKING FOR BSOD HELP, JUST ASKING YOU GUYS WHAT YOU THINK. I have already had my issue looked at on here when I first joined). Interestingly enough, these BSODs every single time have only happened whilst the computer is under load while gaming ONLY. I have not yet BSOD'd whilst using Windows / idle, and I mean that.

I've tried reformatting, you name it. They're usually all related to dxgmms1.sys or ATI, no other faults. This did not happen on my old rig before the usb overload issue.

So, do you guys think my PSU isn't outputting the proper wattage anymore after that freak short (or whatever it was), or do you think it's an issue with the new board / HDD?

I recently cleaned out my entire computer because it looked like ground zero as far as dust goes, so maybe it was dust this whole time.. but I doubt it. If I BSOD again, I'll probably update the BIOS. Just asking what you guys think :)

TVeblen said:

Both Blue Screens are related to your video card.

You might try clean installing the drivers for the card. (Completely remove the old drivers and install them again new).
Also be sure to re-seat the card in the slot. If there was a lot of dust then be sure to blow out the slot and be sure it is clean.

Have you replaced the surge protector strip? If not I would. You do not want to fry another board.

And what size cable is used for the extension cord? The info is sometimes printed on the cord. An AWG of 14 would work if the length is below 12 feet. But you should have an AWG12 if it is more.

Thanks for the reply buddy!

Yeah, I have even reformatted and went from 11.12 to 12.1 and latest caps (since I am crossfire). I BSOD'd after I did that too, so I decided to open my rig up the other day like I said and gave it a good clean. I didn't have access to compressed air, so I used my mouth to blow dust out of the fans and thoroughly cleaned whatever else I could. I also switched the GPUs. I took them both out and thoroughly cleaned both and switched the slots they were in (top is now bottom and vice versa).

The fans were entirely caked with dust, it was pretty bad. My H70 radiator was almost entirely blocked by dust. The GPU fans were pretty bad too. My rig has been up for about five days without issue now, but it usually took 5-7 day intervals before it BSOD'd.

I guess we'll find out soon! No, I have not replaced the current power surge, I will do that as soon as I can... need a heavier duty one. As far as the cable goes, I will look at that too when I get the chance.