parltow wrote:Warpete, I am having the same problem. Did you get a new one? Did it fix it?
I will try to keep this short! Asus still uses imported South American Pod Scum as their thermal compound and it gets harder than cement. Before all my water-cooling parts came in I ran the board as it came directly from newegg. My temps were absolutely horrible with my Southbridge being a good 20° higher than my Northbridge. Finally my parts came in so I removed the stock heatsinks. The CPU had pretty good coverage although I removed the old compound with a single-edge razor blade and then cleaned it up extremely well. The Northbridge had about 3/4 coverage and the Southbridge had less than 1/3 coverage. My full coverage waterblock (made by EK) takes care of the Southbridge, Northbridge and Mossfets. I've also learned over the years about premium thermal compounds through independent sites and not merely marketing hype. My choice is Shin-Etsu G751 (made by Masscool) available in 0.5 gram syringes at a cost of only $3.95 and available from performance-pcs.com. NASA uses this Shin-Etsu for their mission critical components. Performance-pcs.com also has another Shin-Etsu version (the X23-7783D). It is available in a 0.5 syringe at $4.50 and a full one gram syringe at $8.95. The G751 is extremely easy to apply, doeasn't need any (200 hour) cure time and will not degrade over extended periouds of time, meaning you need not reapply every year or so. It's just a guess, but I believe the X23-7783D is geared more towards computers and the G751 more towards mission critical parts in any industry, including NASA. I purchased TWO tubes of the G751 which was enought for everything including my Intel 980X Cpu and my ATI HD5970 which has two GPU's to apply compound. The Heatkiller GPU-X3 5970 supplies thermal pads where compound is not needed. With the original stock heatsinks from Asus, my temps were absolutely horrible. Playing Farcry2 my HD 5970 would reach 100°C and all my other temps would be scary. After my waterblock installs and using the Shin-etsu G751, playing FarCry2, my GPU temps never went above 42°C My CPU idles around 32°C and reached 45°C during some CPU stress testing. My Northbridge and Southbridge range from about 32°C idle to about 36°C under full load. The approx. two weeks of running the Southbridge with hardly any thermal compound was enough (I think ) to destroy it. When using on-board sound, it would take approx 15 minutes before the sound would "kick-in" and start working. After my description to the Asus tech support, they wouldn't even talk to me----they sent me directly to the RMA department where I communicated with a girl name Trinity. I explained first about the USBHUB.sys error and that I got that error every single time I tried to shut down or restart. 100% of the time---eventually even with no USB devices attach except my USB mouse (i hooked up a ps2 keyboard). Still USBHUB.sys errors with only one USB device attached. I explained that it took 15 minutes for the onboard sound to initialize-----another Southbridge problem. I also explained that the Southbridge temps ran 20-25-30°C HIGHER than my Northbridge. I requested again to talk to Tech support but her comments to me made everything clear. There is no point in talking to Tech support---we already know what the problem is and we will send you a new board that has had the Southbridge proplem resolved. You can get an advanced replacement if you don't want several weeks down time. Asus will email you a form which you fill out with your info and credit card information. Email it back to ASUS. Asus will immediately send you a new board with the Southbridge problem solved and allow you 14 days (which they will extend if you ask) to send the defective board back. They will NOT charge your credit card unless they do not receive the old board back, so---send it UPS or FedEx, save the tracking number and email it to whomever you have been communicating with. I paid the extra for signiture on delivery so Asus will know who signed for the box. With the new board I can use the NZXT 1U01 or any other hub. I can use my Dell U2711 monitor's two hubs. USB 3.0 works very well and I added two more USB 3.0 ports through an add-on card. So, the first thing I would try in your case is replacing the thermal compound with anything you have lying around making certain the Southbridge is completely covered. Don't attach anything USB except your mouse and keyboard and let the system heat up for an hour or so.Then see if it will restart properly. If so, Then start adding USB devices one at a time, and restarting your system. You may avoid an RMA by doing this, but to tell you the truth, I would RMA it anyway. Good luck and keep us up to date! Pete