[SOLVED] Computer randomly reboots

[Dabadas]

Hello!


After I applied some thermal grease on my CPU (the CPU became rather warm) my computer started to reboot randomly. With randomly I mean it does not seem to have a certain cause in what I do. So, for example, I can play games like Mordhau for an hour or two straight without the shut-down resp. reboot but then again the PC turns off when browsing the internet, watching videos on youtube, using chat-programs like discord, etc.
Beside that I used Prime95 to make a stress test, which went totally fine and without any shut-downs, complications, etc.
The temperature also seems okay. During the stress test or videogames the cpu temperature does not exceed 70°C (I used core temp to get that data).
Since I have a dual-boot system I also tested to just use Manjaro instead of Windows but the error still appears. On Manjaro, where I don't play games at all, mostly the CPU temp. is approx. 40°C (Here I use lm_sensors to observe the temperature). While having a look at the temperature though, it appeared strange to me to see a certain power-value "jump around". The power1 value jumps around between values from ~30W to 127(!)W (I noticed it crashed sometimes when exceeding the critical value of 125.02W but it does not do so always nor appear all crashes when exceeding those 125.02W (maybe because the data refreshes all 2 seconds and not in a smaller timespan?).
Beside that I used PowerTOP and found that the CPU appears to use a lot more power than estimated most of the time (said program shows around 150%-180% of the estimated power for the CPU usage).
Beside that I could notice the computer seems to not boot properly anymore sometimes. So when the error appears again, it still is turned on (I can hear the fans, see two lights of my PC, etc.) but there's no video output nor do the mouse and keyboard appear to be powered. Usually it does not lead to a proper boot anymore until I opened the case and do something with the hardware. Usually it does the trick to disconnect the CPU power cable from the mainboard, sometimes it appears I have to reset the BIOS and it boots again, etc., etc. I actually can't make a clear connection between what I do and why it boots properly again. Certainly I can only say it's not because I completely disconnect the PSU from power and turn it off, since I tried to only do so over night and the computer still didn't boot properly again.
Sometimes after rebooting a message saying the main BIOS is corrupted appears and that it will automatically recover after pressing a key. That does not always lead to a proper boot.
Personally I assume there's a hardware damage concerning the CPU but I hesitate to replace it, as computer parts aren't cheap and so I hope to have some of your opinions on what may be faulty.
Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to borrow myself a PSU, CPU or mainboard to test any of those.

My system:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit/Linux Manjaro
CPU: AMD fx 8320 3,5GHz
Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 770
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P (Rev. 2.1) Mainboard AM3 / AM3+
PSU: Corsair CX750 750W 80 Plus Bronze

Greetings and thank you in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

I applied some thermal grease on my CPU

Do you have an image of what you're referring to as "some"?

How old is that PSU? Are you on any aftermarket cooler for that processor? In reality that board shouldn't have that processor on it due to the lack of a robust VRM.

Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to borrow myself a PSU, CPU or mainboard to test any of those.

Part of troubleshooting requires you to breadboard the system with the bare minimum hardware and often times you're going to need a replacement part to rule out which is the faulty one among the entire lot.

 

[Dabadas]

Do you have an image of what you're referring to as "some"?

How old is that PSU? Are you on any aftermarket cooler for that processor? In reality that board shouldn't have that processor on it due to the lack of a robust VRM.


Part of troubleshooting requires you to breadboard the system with the bare minimum hardware and often times you're going to need a replacement part to rule out which is the faulty one among the entire lot.

I sadly don't have a pic of that but as I wanted to get myself a new CPU cooler anyway I got myself a be quiet! cooler with already applied thermal grease and put that on, after cleaning the CPU's heatspreader of course.

The PSU is about 6 years old IIRC.

I got that mainboard about one or two years ago as a cheap replacement for my former board.

I agree on that last part. Just hoped to hear some other opinions on that problem.

 

[smcleod]

Im having the exact same problem. My PC will randomly reboot unless i am in a game.

 

[Dabadas]

Im having the exact same problem. My PC will randomly reboot unless i am in a game.

Your problem seems a bit different to me, as my computer also rebooted or shut down while being ingame (seldomly but it did).
I finally found a solution to my problem, though. It appeared to me that the power plug for my CPU had a pin that melt down into the plastics casing of the said plug. In the meantime I had the chance to use a multimeter to measure the current and could see that the current still was within a 5% interval aroudn the 12V and seemed stable for a longer time.

I could determine this as the error's source though and bought a new PSU, which works fine now.
Even though I am not sure this could be your problem's solution as well, yet I wanted to share the solution to maybe help someone else.