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CH7 - QCODE 8 when starting a game

fullerms
Level 7

‎04-11-2020 02:25 AM - last edited on ‎03-05-2024 07:54 PM by Community Admin

Hi all,

As mentioned above, the PC freezes with QCODE 8 whenever I start a game or any software which utilises the GPU (like DxO Photolab). Re-seated the RAM and checked all connections, and ran memtest overnight with no errors. What could be the problem?
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12 REPLIES 12

fullerms
Level 7

‎04-11-2020 05:05 PM

84538

Looked through the manual, and since the first LED is lit up it appears to be a DRAM issue. But, the latest version of memtest (v8.3) ran overnight without any issues. What else can I do to test the DRAM?
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RedSector73
Level 12
In response to fullerms

‎04-11-2020 06:17 PM

Q-code 8 is 'System Agent initialization after microcode loading' which suggests a problem with CPU/Motherboard. I would be looking at these components.
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fullerms
Level 7
In response to RedSector73

‎04-11-2020 08:45 PM

RedSector73 wrote:
Q-code 8 is 'System Agent initialization after microcode loading' which suggests a problem with CPU/Motherboard. I would be looking at these components.


Thanks for that. Where do I start? Any testing software I can use to isolate the problem?

BTW, MB BIOS updated to from version to 2801 latest Version 3004 yesterday; and system crashes when I start a game even with default settings.
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fullerms
Level 7

‎04-11-2020 09:53 PM

I swapped out the RX580 GPU with a 2006 vintage GPU, and the PC does not crash when loading games. Of course I cannot play them, but the games load and I am able to browse the games in the Steam desktop app too. Something which was not possible with the RX580 since the trouble began.
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BigJohnny
Level 13

‎04-11-2020 10:32 PM

First thing I would try is removing heatsink then remounting and tighten a little at a time. Often over tighten heat sinks cause too much compression on the CPU corners and the bow up. Depending on the chip it can result is the PCIE lanes messing up or memory losing channels.*
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fullerms
Level 7
In response to BigJohnny

‎04-12-2020 12:27 AM

BigJohnny wrote:
First thing I would try is removing heatsink then remounting and tighten a little at a time. Often over tighten heat sinks cause too much compression on the CPU corners and the bow up. Depending on the chip it can result is the PCIE lanes messing up or memory losing channels.*


Thanks for the response, but I am not sure if over tightening the CPU Heatsink is the issue. This setup has been running for the last 4 months without any issues, until this weird problem cropped up three days ago.

Will try that as a last resort anyway.
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fullerms
Level 7
In response to BigJohnny

‎04-15-2020 02:13 AM

BigJohnny wrote:
First thing I would try is removing heatsink then remounting and tighten a little at a time. Often over tighten heat sinks cause too much compression on the CPU corners and the bow up. Depending on the chip it can result is the PCIE lanes messing up or memory losing channels.*


Tried this too, still no luck.

The screen goes blank and QCODE changes to 08 after a few seconds. Have to hit the reset button or pull the power to reboot the system.
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Grimpak
Level 8
In response to fullerms

‎07-04-2020 09:26 PM

This happened to me, altho in a bit of a different fashion.

I could start the game but after a while, it would hard crash the system and the Q-code 8 would show up, together with an infinite boot loop on that.

Turns out it was probably because of Virtual Super Resolution. Screen is native 1080p resolution but I had VSR turned on for 1440p resolutions. Turning it off and playing at 1080p for a few weeks already and no crashes.
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fullerms
Level 7

‎04-12-2020 12:29 AM

*Update*

I moved the RX580 GPU from PCIE_1 to PCI_2, and I am able to game without any issues. Could t his be a problem with the PCIE slot on the MB?
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