SOLVED PC shut down and freezes

[yoadknux]

Hi,

I have the rig in my signature. It was working fine for a few years, and recently it has begun doing weird things:

a. it froze 2-3 times over the last 2 weeks, as in complete freeze. The reset button of the case became unresponsive. The shut down button worked.
b. it shut down 3 times over the last 2 weeks: Once while playing a game and twice while idle. It is not the standard shut down (no "closing applications, shutting down...").

I am trying to diagnose this problem, but freezes and shut downs I think are very general and I am looking for more specific things I can do to figure it out. In terms of hardware changes, all I've done recently is add a USB device (wireless adapter for xbox controller) and add a 140mm fan which is connected with a low noise adaptar to the motherboard. Also did some cable management, maybe this applied some force on one of the connectors?

When I think shutdowns, I think motherboard, cpu, memory or PSU. Is there a way for me to narrow it down without replacing stuff? Maybe its actually something else? What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[Mr.Scott]

Complete power downs are usually power or heat related. If your temps are good, start looking at PSU or motherboard.
No, there is no good way to test without changing parts out.

 

[RollingThunder]

This sounds very much like power supply to me too. No blue screens, no messages, just shut down, black screen, nothing responds, pull the plug for a cold boot. Not carved in stone but that's where I would look first also. It's always a good idea to keep a spare power supply around, good ones aren't that expensive.

 

[trents]

I have had those kind of lockups be related to USB issues. You mention that these problems did not appear until after you added a USB wireless adapter. The first thing I would try is uninstall those adapter drivers and remove the device.

The second thing I would try would be running a thorough memory diagnostic such as memtest86 or the long test option of the Windows built-in memory diagnostic tool.

The third thing I would try would be to reduce your overclock a little.

 

[wingman99]

I would test with Prime95 to see if the extra load on the PSU shuts down your PC, also check the processor temperature.

 

[yoadknux]

So many comments. Thanks guys!

I will try going over your suggestions. I started with doing a 1 hour PSU stress test, which I've performed by stressing both the CPU and the GPU with high power consumption software. I ran Prime95 large FFT (highest power consumption) alongside MSI Kombustor. I used Realtemp and HWMonitor to get temperature readings. The results:

GPU is fine (56c), never suspected it. PSU delivered (or drew from the wall? not sure) 600W according to HWMonitor. PSU temperature after 1 hour is 58c, with the fan spinning at 800 RPM. CPU is where things get interesting, when I came back I noticed CPU usage remained at 100% but clock went down to 3.4GHz, and Max CPU (single core) temperature was 87c, which is HOT, but not outrageous. I wonder if it throttles? Maybe it's time to reduce clock and voltages.

As for other stuff, I took out the USB device and the fan for now to try to rule them out.

Memtest I will do overnight since it will take a few hours.

Anyway, more tests are needed, but I think I have 2 conclusions here:
a. maybe CPU overclock is unstable. Could be the chip, motherboard, or maybe VRMs. I'll reduce it after memtesting.
b. freeze and shutdown are not load related. it ran fine during this time.

 

[Alaric]

CPU usually gives a BSOD when it shuts down. It could just shut down for high temps (and 87C is high at188.6F). Is the radiator warm/hot on the AIO when it shuts down?

 

[yoadknux]

Hi,

This thread can be locked because I bricked my motherboard.

Thanks!

 

[trents]

Usually, we just mark such threads as "Solved". You can add that word to the thread title by clicking on the Go Advanced button.