Computer crashes - CPU overheating? (i7 870 @ 2.93GHz)

[Boberg]

Hi!

The last couple of days my computer has been crashing randomly when I run Cubase 7 (music software). It shuts off completely and then restarts 2-3 seconds later. I'm currently on a quite tight schedule for a deadline, so I'm desperate to fix this.

I've tried to do some testing to try and identify what causes it to crash, and while I'm not completely sure it seems to be when I'm working with a VST/Plug-in in Cubase called Omnisphere 2. It's quite a heavy software synth, so I guess it could possibly be that.

I have a Intel i7 870 @ 2.93 GHz, not overclocked.
I've taken these screenshots of my CPU temperature while running Cubase:
https://s15.postimg.io/n0j85zxtl/Comp_Temperature.png
https://s15.postimg.io/khxj5bc3d/Comp_Temp_2.png

The temperature is normally between 60-70C, but goes up a little bit above that at times. Cubase is very resource intensive, and the CPU is working hard.
Could the CPU be the problem, or could it be my power supply?

Please let me know what more information you might need in order to help.
Thank you very much in advance!

 

[Boberg]

Just a slight update:

I've tried to do some other stuff to see if it crashes then aswell, like gaming, but not had a single crash... It only happens in Cubase. Could it be a problem with the software maybe? Or is it just that Cubase is so resource heavy?

 

[Boberg]

Today I tried to work on another project within Cubase, and I've had 3 hours of no crashes. So it seems there is a problem with the specific project I worked on yesterday, so I guess it might not only have to do with my CPU.

Though, I'm still quite clueless regarding my CPU temperatures. From some googling, I've understood that the real danger starts at 100C, and I'm quite far away from that at least. But it still seems to me that my CPU is getting hotter than it should be, am I correct in that?
If so, I'll look to clean my computer rig and possible change my cooler for something better, as I don't want to run into problems like this in the future.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Hi Boberg

Regarding the temps of your processor can I ask what CPU Cooler you are using? 100C is indeed dangerous ground for processors and I personally try to keep my processor below 75C max and that is with a AIO Liquid Cooler and is overclocked as far as it can go and be stable.

From looking at your screenshots are you sure these crashes are not being caused by memory issues as it seems that your software is using a large amount of RAM and in fact is eating into your virtual memory / Page file. This is not normally an issue but the screenshot also shows that your SSD is nearly 90% full and as a possibility this could be causing your crashes. Your CPU is not hitting 100% load at any point it and it seems to be between 60 - 70%.

When you did get a crash was it a bluescreen or just a lock up/ restart?

 

[Boberg]

Hi Memoflex, thank you very much for your answer.

I am not sure what cooler I have (can't check right now but will do as soon as I can), but this was a gaming computer when I bought it 6 years ago, and I haven't changed the CPU nor the cooler since then. Only added more RAM, an SSD and changed my GPU because it broke. Not sure if that can indicate anything though.

You are right, it could be due to the memory. I have a total of 12GB RAM, and a lot of it is being used (over 90%). The software I use is very heavy on RAM aswell, but since I am no expert on these things I thought it might be the CPU, but I am far from sure. I'll try to clean up the SSD a bit (how full do you suggest I can keep it approximately?), and try to lower the amount of RAM being used.
Could one of my RAM sticks be broken? Anyway I can test them?

When the crash happens it just shuts down and then restarted ~3 seconds later. No bluescreen or anything, it just goes off.

Thank you once again for your time, I appreciate it very much.

 

[Boberg]

Been working on another project for a while, that is really heavy. It uses 11,7 / 12GB RAM, and I've had no crashes while working with it at all. I just can't seem to understand what the problem is in this case...