I'll admit that I'm a bit lost and would thoroughly appreciate some guidance as to what I can do next.
Context
I've just built my 2nd ever PC (read: amateur) after deciding to upgrade most of the components of my first build 6 years ago. All parts (except 6 year old PSU) have been purchased <2 weeks ago with latest drivers/software installed and BIOS updated. Here's what I have:
The issue
Then, I tried gaming. Opened battle.net, started playing Call of Duty: Warzone, set the graphics to auto but increased a couple of settings a bit. Got into an online game just fine, getting ~75 fps. About 2 minutes into the game, the PC turns off and reboots (as if I'd pressed the reboot hardware button).
I immediately check CPU temp using HWMonitor, it's at about 70 degrees C.
I check Event Viewer, there's nothing in there for the <10 minutes previous to the surprise reboot, and no Errors for a while, but, timed after the reboot, there's an Error: "The previous system shutdown at <hh🇲🇲ss> on <dd/mm/yyyy> was unexpected." with Event ID: 6008. There's also a "Critical" entry with ID: 41 saying "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."
My troubleshooting
I couldn't find other clues in Event Viewer. I tried again to play Warzone, this time watching my CPU/GPU/Case temps as I play. Roughly 2 minutes in, PC does the reboot, and at this time, CPU was about 75 deg, GPU was about 70 and case as about 40. CPU volts didn't go above about 1.4 V. Fans all seemed to be working fine and CPU fan had hit ~2000 RPM.
Since then, I've tried a number of experiments:
In terms of software, I have AMD Radeon Software, Ryzen Master, Corsair iCUE, Samsung Magician all up to date and working seemingly happily.
Also, with heavy daily usage (e.g. multitasking, working, tons of internet tabs, music playing, stuff downloading, watching hi res youtube videos, driving a 1440p + a 1080p monitor etc.) performance seems absolutely fine and I don't get reboots. Also lower end games seem to run fine.
It's just prime95, Warzone and 10 "While True; Wend" .vbs scripts running that seem to make my pc reboot.
My conclusions so far
Context
I've just built my 2nd ever PC (read: amateur) after deciding to upgrade most of the components of my first build 6 years ago. All parts (except 6 year old PSU) have been purchased <2 weeks ago with latest drivers/software installed and BIOS updated. Here's what I have:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with stock cooler but using Artic Silver MX-4 paste
- DRAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro, 2 x 8 GB, 3200 MHz
- GPU: Sapphire Pulse RX 580
- PSU: Corsair CS 550M
- Mobo: MSI B450M Mortar Max
- 2 x Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB SSD (Dual booting between a fresh Windows 10 installation and an up-to-date and stable Arch Linux installation, one on each SSD)
- 2 x Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB SSD
- Case: Cooler Master Q300L
- 3 x Corsair AF120 LED 120 mm case fans
The issue
Then, I tried gaming. Opened battle.net, started playing Call of Duty: Warzone, set the graphics to auto but increased a couple of settings a bit. Got into an online game just fine, getting ~75 fps. About 2 minutes into the game, the PC turns off and reboots (as if I'd pressed the reboot hardware button).
I immediately check CPU temp using HWMonitor, it's at about 70 degrees C.
I check Event Viewer, there's nothing in there for the <10 minutes previous to the surprise reboot, and no Errors for a while, but, timed after the reboot, there's an Error: "The previous system shutdown at <hh🇲🇲ss> on <dd/mm/yyyy> was unexpected." with Event ID: 6008. There's also a "Critical" entry with ID: 41 saying "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."
My troubleshooting
I couldn't find other clues in Event Viewer. I tried again to play Warzone, this time watching my CPU/GPU/Case temps as I play. Roughly 2 minutes in, PC does the reboot, and at this time, CPU was about 75 deg, GPU was about 70 and case as about 40. CPU volts didn't go above about 1.4 V. Fans all seemed to be working fine and CPU fan had hit ~2000 RPM.
Since then, I've tried a number of experiments:
- Turning on and off XMP, and trying various DRAM clock speeds
- Updating BIOS to latest version
- Completely rebuilding and rewiring PC from scratch
- Reducing Warzone graphics settings (a lot)
- Reapplying stock cooler using new paste
- Ensuring there's no dust in the case
- Reinstalling Windows and Reinstalling Arch. (btw the problem happened once whilst I was using Arch too)
- Updating SSD firmware
- Moving DRAM to different slots
- Customising Page File size
- Turning off Windows game boost
- Resetting CMOS
In terms of software, I have AMD Radeon Software, Ryzen Master, Corsair iCUE, Samsung Magician all up to date and working seemingly happily.
Also, with heavy daily usage (e.g. multitasking, working, tons of internet tabs, music playing, stuff downloading, watching hi res youtube videos, driving a 1440p + a 1080p monitor etc.) performance seems absolutely fine and I don't get reboots. Also lower end games seem to run fine.
It's just prime95, Warzone and 10 "While True; Wend" .vbs scripts running that seem to make my pc reboot.
My conclusions so far
- I thought it was temperature but AMD say the r5 3600 can go up to 95 degrees C, right? I'm not getting that close. Also, I'm not overclocking.
- I thought it was DRAM but the issue persists with them even as low as 2133 MHz with XMP off.
- I thought it was wiring but I rebuilt and rewired cautiously.
- I thought it was PSU, but my total power draw even with boost should surely be lower than 550 W with decent headroom?
- I thought it was GPU but the vbs script doesn't use the GPU yet still reboots my PC.
- My current thinking is that it could either be a faulty CPU, some dodgy MSI Bios settings that I don't generally understand or my stupidity somewhere but I have no idea what to try next except for maybe a Memtest86 since I've seen some recommend that to others.
- Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool (passed, no errors)
Please, please help - any suggestions welcome!
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