Question At my wits end trying to fix PC Rebooting

Jun 3, 2020
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TLDR - Pc reboots every 1-15 minutes with WHEA 17 Event Logger

SPECS:
Ryzen 7 3700x
16 GB Ram
1TB Samsung SSD
RTX 2080S
Gigabyte x570 GamingX
Corsair Gold 850W PSU

THE ISSUE:
My PC crashes/reboots ever 1-15 minutes while in use. It acts essentially as if i hit the restart button, no blue screen or error message, it just turns off then back on at the logon screen, a process of about 10 seconds. Upon looking in the event logger, I see WHEA LOGGER 17 - PCIE EXPRESS ENDPOINT each time it crashes (I dont know if this is caused by the crash or is a potential cause of the crash).

WHAT I HAVE TRIED SO FAR:
-Ran Dxdiag and similar functions to fix corrupted files
-Installed new drivers, BIOS, Chipset, DirextX
-Did a clean reinstall of windows and it is updated to the max
-Checked temps (they are good)
-Cleaned Dust
-Looked at probably 100 online forums trying to fix the issue
-Finally took it to a PC repair shop, who charged me 30$ for diagnostic only to tell me he had no idea what this error was, and looked up potential solutions on forums right in front of my face, only to say "ehh IDK whats causing it, I'd say maybe try replacing the PSU"
-I replaced the PSU today, same issue is occurring.
-There were a few potential fixes that i tried a few months ago such as messing with windows sleep mode settings but they didnt work either

Any help would be much appreciated. I recently left my home for the military and am now unable to game with friends back home which was my main way of staying in touch, and it sucks
 

Turtle Rig

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Jun 23, 2020
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Grab a small no install utility called TDR Manipulator. Then increase the tdrdelay timeout to give the card more time to talk with system. Just a quick thought and a possible fix. Good luck let us know.
 

R_1

Expert
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My canned random reboot Rant
Random reboots are usually caused by the PSU, the RAM or software AND in that order of likely-hood.
PSU - If you can borrow/swap a PSU for testing. sibling/friend you can swap out the PSU and each system will be testing the other.
RAM - run the system with one stick of RAM see if stability returns if not Test all the RAM with memtest 86 for five passes or overnight. if you get no 0 errors after more than five passes the ram is good. with the random reboots I would suggest running this test after the PSU swap or after the PSU has been cleared.
Software - Drivers or other issues can cause reboots. Boot to a linux distro on a USB drive. mint linux will boot to memtest86. you can run the OS from the USB and await reboot.
end canned rant
 
Jun 3, 2020
13
0
10
My canned random reboot Rant
Random reboots are usually caused by the PSU, the RAM or software AND in that order of likely-hood.
PSU - If you can borrow/swap a PSU for testing. sibling/friend you can swap out the PSU and each system will be testing the other.
RAM - run the system with one stick of RAM see if stability returns if not Test all the RAM with memtest 86 for five passes or overnight. if you get no 0 errors after more than five passes the ram is good. with the random reboots I would suggest running this test after the PSU swap or after the PSU has been cleared.
Software - Drivers or other issues can cause reboots. Boot to a linux distro on a USB drive. mint linux will boot to memtest86. you can run the OS from the USB and await reboot.
end canned rant
thanks so much for taking the time to read. I already put in a new PSU which did not fix it so I will try your other suggestions!
 
Jun 3, 2020
13
0
10
My canned random reboot Rant
Random reboots are usually caused by the PSU, the RAM or software AND in that order of likely-hood.
PSU - If you can borrow/swap a PSU for testing. sibling/friend you can swap out the PSU and each system will be testing the other.
RAM - run the system with one stick of RAM see if stability returns if not Test all the RAM with memtest 86 for five passes or overnight. if you get no 0 errors after more than five passes the ram is good. with the random reboots I would suggest running this test after the PSU swap or after the PSU has been cleared.
Software - Drivers or other issues can cause reboots. Boot to a linux distro on a USB drive. mint linux will boot to memtest86. you can run the OS from the USB and await reboot.
end canned rant
So I tried it with 1 stick, still crashes. I am running memtest right now (with only 1 stick in still) and in 7 minutes in I have 176 errors on this one stick. I will try it on the second stick as well soon.

My question is - if they are getting errors, would these cause Reboots? Does it matter what the error codes are? Would getting new ram fix the issue, or could it be the slots?

additionally, would ram be causing crashes even in situations that are not ram intensive? For example even if I open the PC and only open, say, task manager, it will still crash the same amount and frequency as if I was playing a game
 
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R_1

Expert
Ambassador
any errors (more than zero) are too much. I would say you found the rebooting issue.
swap to the other stick and try it. it may be just one.
if they were a set they should be warranted and be replaced by the manufacturer as a set.
when contacting them ask about an advanced RMA, they send new parts, charge you, you send in old and get a refund, this way you can keep your system running on the one stick (assuming the other is good) minimizing the downtime.

in any regard you are looking at a new set of memory.
 
Jun 3, 2020
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Both sticks were very very error filled (hundreds within 10 minutes) so keeping it running on one isn’t an option, but ram isn’t super expensive so I’ll be getting new ram tomorrow. Thank you so much for your help! Is there any reason the ram would go so bad? The PC is only 6 months old, is there anything I can do to preserve the health of my new ram I’m going to be getting?
 

R_1

Expert
Ambassador
a theory. out of spec power can damage parts. you changed a PSU that damaged the RAM which continued the reboots after the new PSU was connected.
as you have already changed the PSU, I'd say you've done it.

when the new RAM arrives I suggest a couple passes through memtest. IF it was out of spec power the RAM slots or the memory controller (in the CPU) COULD be damaged - its a possibility.
 
Jun 3, 2020
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a theory. out of spec power can damage parts. you changed a PSU that damaged the RAM which continued the reboots after the new PSU was connected.
as you have already changed the PSU, I'd say you've done it.

when the new RAM arrives I suggest a couple passes through memtest. IF it was out of spec power the RAM slots or the memory controller (in the CPU) COULD be damaged - its a possibility.
Okay, so bad news. Got new ram, put it in, took the old ones out, and I’m still getting many many (hundreds) of errors on memtest still.

I highly doubt this new out of the box ram is bad, so where does this leave me? Is it my motherboard or CPU? Could the crashes have to do with this WHEA 17 Logger? And if so, does that mean my old ram that tested bad is not really bad? This is so stressful 😫
 

R_1

Expert
Ambassador
Have you reset the BIOS after adding the new RAM?
you checked the new RAM settings are correct, voltages and such?

I think the old PSU damaged some parts.
if the new RAM is throwing errors that leaves the motherboard or the CPU. the memory controller is embedded into the CPU.
 
Jun 3, 2020
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Have you reset the BIOS after adding the new RAM?
you checked the new RAM settings are correct, voltages and such?

I think the old PSU damaged some parts.
if the new RAM is throwing errors that leaves the motherboard or the CPU. the memory controller is embedded into the CPU.
I do not know how to reset bios but I shall try, also not sure exactly what ram settings/voltages should be or how to change them.
What would you think would be the more likely problem, mobo or cpu? Also, does this mean my old ram is still good? Should I return the new ram that I got?
 

R_1

Expert
Ambassador
easiest way is to unplug the power from the motherboard and then remove the silver button cell battery on the motherboard, give it a few minutes for the power to drain and then replace the battery and power and boot up. the BIOS will be reset to its defaults.

different BIOS version will have different ways to clear from within the BIOS I cannot provide a step by step, too many, but the above steps will work on all motherboards

As to what is at fault, that is harder with two suspected parts. swapping and testing are the next steps.
 
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