[SOLVED] Computer randomly crashing since factory reset

[leapoz]

I got a new graphics card the other day, and in preparation for it I factory reset my computer. Upon arrival, I installed all the necessary drivers and went on my merry way. Shortly after however, I started experiencing a strange problem. At first, the GPU fans weren't starting on startup, but I made a new Afterburner profile for it and that fixed it. Then, at seemingly random times with no notice, the computer would suddenly shut off with no reasoning. The first 2 times, it happened while trying to launch Minecraft. The next 3 times, it was while playing a game of Rainbow 6 Siege. I tried reinstalling drivers and changing fan speeds, I never overclocked it. The issue didn't seem to be overheating, at least not the GPU overheating, because it crashed before at 35c. So today I went on newegg and ordered a replacement for the product being faulty, packed it up, and reinstalled my old 1060. I booted up fine, played Minecraft fine, and then tried R6. I got through a game with no hiccups, which was 10x more than the 2070 had done. So I was reassured that the GPU was the problem; that is until my second game, when the computer crashed again. I don't know what to do, or what could be the issue. Somebody raised the idea of my PSU not being powerful enough, as it is a 600w, 5 year old PSU. That would make sense, but I never had issues running the 1060 on it, and it now has crashed the same was as the 2070 did. I really am devastated, confused, upset, and frustrated. I have no clue where to start or what could have gone wrong.

Also, I have not shipped the 2070 away yet, so I can use both the 1060 and 2070 for testing if need-be.

 

[Nemesia]

Hi leapoz.

"GPU fans weren't starting on startup, but I made a new Afterburner profile for it and that fixed it."

GPU's now doesn't spin the fan unless the temperature is over like 60C. So that's why yours wasn't spinning. You can make them spin if you want with that fan curve but you don't have to. They should kick in over a certain C.

5 years old PSU. Unless you have a very good model like a 7 to 10 years warranty PSU I would replace that PSU. It does point out to a PSU issue. Your PSU was fine with the 1060 after 5 years but PSU degrade and it just can't keep up with the 2070. That's what you should replace first. Get a good 650Watts model.

 

[leapoz]

Hi leapoz.

"GPU fans weren't starting on startup, but I made a new Afterburner profile for it and that fixed it."

GPU's now doesn't spin the fan unless the temperature is over like 60C. So that's why yours wasn't spinning. You can make them spin if you want with that fan curve but you don't have to. They should kick in over a certain C.

5 years old PSU. Unless you have a very good model like a 7 to 10 years warranty PSU I would replace that PSU. It does point out to a PSU issue. Your PSU was fine with the 1060 after 5 years but PSU degrade and it just can't keep up with the 2070. That's what you should replace first. Get a good 650Watts model like a RMX 650 or Seasonic Focus Gold.

Thank you for the speedy reply, but I have to ask : why would there be no issue in the days leading up to the 2070, but then persist once it is gone? I understand that a jump in required power with the 2070 could certainly cause issues, but why is it not able to continue with the 1060 again? Also, do you know any other pretty good 650w+ power supplies that aren't so expensive? Or how about the Seasonic GX-750? https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-plus-750-gold-ssr-750fx-750w/p/N82E16817151187

 

[leapoz]

Thank you for the speedy reply, but I have to ask : why would there be no issue in the days leading up to the 2070, but then persist once it is gone? I understand that a jump in required power with the 2070 could certainly cause issues, but why is it not able to continue with the 1060 again? Also, do you know any other pretty good 650w+ power supplies that aren't so expensive? Or how about the Seasonic GX-750? https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-plus-750-gold-ssr-750fx-750w/p/N82E16817151187

NVM about that one I linked, shipping is $70. I can spend $150 on the Seasonic 650, but it's a bit upsetting to have to spend more tbh, despite it being my fault.

 

[Nemesia]

I did not see that it crashed with the 1060 too. When you installed the 2070 and it started crashing it might just have degraded the PSU even more or damaged it. If it's on the way out you never know but you really do have to start somewhere to find what the issue is and when you have power issues like that you just start with the PSU. I'm not saying this will guarantee a fix but there is a very big % that the problem is the PSU. If it's not at least you will have a good PSU for the future and the troubleshooting session can continu.

It could be a few things. RAM instability, CPU, Board etc but the most common cause of this is the PSU. Like 95% of the shutting down or restarting system threads in this forum.

 

[Nemesia]

NVM about that one I linked, shipping is $70. I can spend $150 on the Seasonic 650, but it's a bit upsetting to have to spend more tbh, despite it being my fault.

Yeah PSU's are not cheap at the moment :S

How much is the 650 Corsair RMX?

 

[leapoz]

Yeah PSU's are not cheap at the moment :S

How much is the 650 Corsair RMX?

The corsair 650 RMX is actually only $95 on their website, thank you for suggesting it. The 750 is only $10 more too, so I see no reason to not go for that. My only hope is that shipping doesn't take too long.

 

[Nemesia]

The corsair 650 RMX is actually only $95 on their website, thank you for suggesting it. The 750 is only $10 more too, so I see no reason to not go for that. My only hope is that shipping doesn't take too long.

Let me know when you installed the new PSU.

 

[leapoz]

Let me know when you installed the new PSU.

Will do if I remember, just ordered the 650 on Amazon, supposedly will be here on the second.

 

[leapoz]

Let me know when you installed the new PSU.

I've installed it. I at first took out one of my sticks of ram for more clearance when plugging all the PSU connectors in, then forgot to put the stick back in when I started. Once I got it back in I decided to try Rainbow again. A round or two into my first game, the computer blue screened, I saw that the error started with "KERNEL" but it restarted too fast for me to see anymore. A blue screen is still better in my books than a random shut off. When I got back on I tried Battlefield 1, another game I tried on the old PSU that caused crashes, and I am happy to say that I have gotten through 2 whole games (30-45 minutes) without any hiccups. It might be too early to really call it a success, but regardless there is already improvement.

 

[Nemesia]

I've installed it. I at first took out one of my sticks of ram for more clearance when plugging all the PSU connectors in, then forgot to put the stick back in when I started. Once I got it back in I decided to try Rainbow again. A round or two into my first game, the computer blue screened, I saw that the error started with "KERNEL" but it restarted too fast for me to see anymore. A blue screen is still better in my books than a random shut off. When I got back on I tried Battlefield 1, another game I tried on the old PSU that caused crashes, and I am happy to say that I have gotten through 2 whole games (30-45 minutes) without any hiccups. It might be too early to really call it a success, but regardless there is already improvement.

What is your CPU, RAM, Board and at what speed is the RAM running right now?

 

[leapoz]

What is your CPU, RAM and at what speed is the RAM running right now?

I have a Ryzen 7 1700x, and 16gb (2x8) TridentZ DDR4-3200 RAM, but task manager says its running at 1067 mhz rather than the 3000 I think I remember it being at previously. Might have to check the bios or something for that.

 

[Nemesia]

I have a Ryzen 7 1700x, and 16gb (2x8) TridentZ DDR4-3200 RAM, but task manager says its running at 1067 mhz rather than the 3000 I think I remember it being at previously. Might have to check the bios or something for that.

Your problem could be RAM instability at this point. Maybe you had 2 issues to begin with. The PSU and the RAM.

Please let me know what is your board. It would help. What BIOS version are you running right now on your motherboard? Go in the BIOS and activate your XMP/DOCP profile for the RAM. You have a 1700X so you should put that RAM at 2933MHz. That RAM needs to be in the good slots on the board from your manual.

 

[leapoz]

Your problem could be RAM instability at this point. Maybe you had 2 issues to begin with. The PSU and the RAM.

Please let me know what is your board. It would help. What BIOS version are you running right now on your motherboard? Go in the BIOS and activate your XMP/DOCP profile for the RAM. You have a 1700X so you should put that RAM at 2933MHz. That RAM needs to be in the good slots on the board from your manual.

My motherboard is an MSI X370 Gaming Pro, and the bios is running on version E7A33AMS.4E0

I have enabled A-XMP profile 1 which says that it will put the ram at 2933, like you said.

 

[leapoz]

My motherboard is an MSI X370 Gaming Pro, and the bios is running on version E7A33AMS.4E0

I have enabled A-XMP profile 1 which says that it will put the ram at 2933, like you said.

I have just noticed that in Task Manager it must show the speed of an individual stick, so when I said it was at 1076, it was actually at 2133 or so, cause that's what it said in the BIOS as well. Now it says 1467, so I think it is back to normal speed.

 

[Nemesia]

My motherboard is an MSI X370 Gaming Pro, and the bios is running on version E7A33AMS.4E0

I have enabled A-XMP profile 1 which says that it will put the ram at 2933, like you said.

Now you should do some testing. If your system doesn't have a Blue Screen anymore leave the RAM at that speed and call it fixed. If it still blue screen I would start updating some stuff. Like GPU drivers, Chipset drivers, The BIOS etc.

If your BIOS version is really 7A33v4E from 2018-11-06 there are 3 more BIOS updates after the one you have. 7A33v4F, 7A33v4G and 7A33v4IQ(Beta version).

The one I'm looking at is this one :
7A33v4G
Description

• Improve memory compatibility.

Do not update to the beta version but you can update to 7A33v4G.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X370-GAMING-PRO

Have you ever updated a BIOS before? Did you ever have a crash directly in the BIOS?

 

[Nemesia]

I have just noticed that in Task Manager it must show the speed of an individual stick, so when I said it was at 1076, it was actually at 2133 or so, cause that's what it said in the BIOS as well. Now it says 1467, so I think it is back to normal speed.

Yeah it's running at 2933MHz now. Before it was running at default DDR4 speed. 2133MHz.

 

[leapoz]

Now you should do some testing. If your system doesn't have a Blue Screen anymore leave the RAM at that speed and call it fixed. If it still blue screen I would start updating some stuff.

If your BIOS version is really 7A33v4E from 2018-11-06 there are 3 more BIOS updates after the one you have. 7A33v4F, 7A33v4G and 7A33v4IQ(Beta version).

The one I'm looking at is this one :
7A33v4G
Description

• Improve memory compatibility.
• Improve compatibility with Bristol CPU.

Do not update to the beta version but you can update to 7A33v4IQ.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X370-GAMING-PRO

Have you ever updated a BIOS before?

Firstly, the initial BSOD that I mentioned was the first one I have had in a long time, but also was the only one I've had today, so obviously I don't know if it is gonna be a recurring thing since it's only been 1.5 hours. But as it stands that one was standalone.

Secondly, I have not updated BIOS before technically. I tried to update it after I factory reset my computer, so it was very recently. I decided to look up a tutorial on how to do it and there was one directly from MSI, where they said to download the file, then go into M-FLASH in the BIOS, select the file and choose a certain part of it. I did this, but when I opened the folder that I downloaded from them, it showed as completely empty. The files that were actually in the folder were also seemingly different than the ones they used in the tutorial. I tried with the most recent Beta version, the most recent full version before that (the one you say to do now) and the one that came before that, and all of them had the same issue. If you can shed some light on how to go about this, please do, as I have thought of doing it for a while without ever knowing how.

 

[Nemesia]

Firstly, the initial BSOD that I mentioned was the first one I have had in a long time, but also was the only one I've had today, so obviously I don't know if it is gonna be a recurring thing since it's only been 1.5 hours. But as it stands that one was standalone.

Secondly, I have not updated BIOS before technically. I tried to update it after I factory reset my computer, so it was very recently. I decided to look up a tutorial on how to do it and there was one directly from MSI, where they said to download the file, then go into M-FLASH in the BIOS, select the file and choose a certain part of it. I did this, but when I opened the folder that I downloaded from them, it showed as completely empty. The files that were actually in the folder were also seemingly different than the ones they used in the tutorial. I tried with the most recent Beta version, the most recent full version before that (the one you say to do now) and the one that came before that, and all of them had the same issue. If you can shed some light on how to go about this, please do, as I have thought of doing it for a while without ever knowing how.

It didn't work because you have to extract the content of that file and only place what's inside on the USB flash drive.

Please only do this if you still have the blue screen. Do not update the BIOS if you don't have to.

Download 7A33v4G. Extract the content on the USB flash drive. Go in the BIOS. Use the M-Flash. Go to the folder and you should be able to see the file now. Choose the file and accept the flash. It will take a minute. While this is doing it's thing you can pray that the power doesn't go out ;p

After it's done it will reboot. Go back in the BIOS and load the default settings. Turn on XMP again to 2933MHz.

 

[leapoz]

It didn't work because you have to extract the content of that file and only place what's inside on the USB flash drive.

Please only do this if you still have the blue screen. Do not update the BIOS if you don't have to.

Download 7A33v4G. Extract the content on the USB flash drive. Go in the BIOS. Use the M-Flash. Go to the folder and you should be able to see the file now. Choose the file and accept the flash. It will take a minute. While this is doing it's thing you can pray that the power doesn't go out ;p

After it's done it will reboot. Go back in the BIOS and load the default settings. Turn on XMP again to 2933MHz.

I completely skimmed over the part where you said only do it if I blue screen again 😬 hope it isnt a bad thing to have it up to date. On the bright side, it did successfully install so now I know how to do it in the future. Thanks for all of your help over the past couple days, i'll come back if any more problems or questions arise.

 

[Nemesia]

I completely skimmed over the part where you said only do it if I blue screen again 😬 hope it isnt a bad thing to have it up to date. On the bright side, it did successfully install so now I know how to do it in the future. Thanks for all of your help over the past couple days, i'll come back if any more problems or questions arise.

You're completely fine Having a more recent BIOS is not a bad thing unless it specifically says otherwise on the website like a BIOS update not supported by your CPU or some steps to follow before updating the BIOS.

Let me know if the system still Blue Screen.