Dell Optiplex 9020/i7-4770

[garo]

That's exactly the content I am here for! Would appreciate any links to the BIOS tweaks. I'll reseat RAM today and disable C-states and other power saving features.

[garo]

Reseated RAM and all other connections. Disabled C-states.Then got a weird error with the Matrox video card that was still in but not being used so took that out. Ran memtest for 2 passes and there were no errors. Box stable for last 48 hours. Fingers crossed.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by garo

Reseated RAM and all other connections. Disabled C-states.Then got a weird error with the Matrox video card that was still in but not being used so took that out. Ran memtest for 2 passes and there were no errors. Box stable for last 48 hours. Fingers crossed.

What kinds of uptime were normal for this system prior to the recent glitchiness?

[garo]

This is a new-old box that I got free from work, now ex-work. So I have nothing to go on as the system was "re-built" from parts. But it's been up for 5 days now which is the longest I have had the machine.

[section31]

Originally Posted by garo

This is a new-old box that I got free from work, now ex-work. So I have nothing to go on as the system was "re-built" from parts. But it's been up for 5 days now which is the longest I have had the machine.

If that five days isn't now five weeks, you might want to blow out the dust. I have an old machine (circa 2003) which I thought was shot (random crashes, prime95 stress test failures, sometimes would not finish loading the OS) ... but one trip to the air compressor and that system was back to normal. I blew out the CPU heatsink, power supply, case fans, etc. I also removed the RAM and blew out the memory slots. Be careful to hold fans while you do this so you you don't spin them up too fast and (possibly) ruin the bearings.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

If the per-watt throughput from the GPUs is expected to be better than for the CPU, just idle the CPU, which should keep the wattage < 200. But, yes, you want whatever workload gives best total throughput while keeping the PSU no more than ~70% of rated wattage.

Of course I'm flagrantly violating my own advice, running the Corsair RM850 PSU in my new 3 x Radeon-VII build at close to 90% rating 24/7. But much depends on the quality/age of the PSU.

[garo]

Fortunately it is five weeks. When I reseated the RAM I took the opportunity i.e. a can of compressed air, to the mobo. System hasn't rebooted since.