Specs are at the bottom of this post.
This happened twice, but I have not found a solution this time. The first time, I simply forgot to turn off my computer overnight, and had to force shut down in the morning. Then, when turning on, it would freeze after BIOS when trying to load the OS (sometimes the blue volume selection windows screen - because of two boot drives - other times at the spinning wheel under ROG logo). It was solved by disconnecting a non-boot drive. I confirmed that it was the problem by reconnecting that specific drive. For a few days, with the drive remaining unplugged, everything on the PC worked as usual.
This time, all I did was hit restart on my computer. I do not recall any updates happening, and 30 seconds later I witnessed the same type of freezing as before. This time, disconnecting my SATA drives did not solve the issue. I can navigate BIOS for any length of time.
---
Now that it has been about a month of not working, I feel there is nothing else to do besides replace the CPU, motherboard, or RAM. The only "overclocking" I do is enabling XMP on the RAM, which obviously I have tested turned off, though it was working just fine for many months. To avoid issues, I'm almost always wearing a static bracelet when working with hardware components. Right now I'm running a minimal version of the PC, with only the cpu + cooler, two ram sticks, usb recovery media and the two power connectors from PSU.
Here's what I've tried:
- Ran memtest86 built into motherboard twice. The first time I cancelled it after 2 passes, second time I ran the full 4 with no errors.
- Tried Windows 11 (M.2), Windows 11 recovery (twice, with fresh format and test on separate PC beforehand, and with secure boot on/off), Linux Puppy on USB
- Reseating every single component - removed and checked CPU for damage (although I simply just restarted to start these issues), thermal paste, cooler, ram, PSU, etc
- Temps in BIOS (44C CPU, 55C CPU Package, 28C Motherboard, 31C VRM, 50C Chipset) - this was before reseating & reapplying thermal paste
- Tried different power supply
- Swapping memory slots (2 and 4, isolated 2 with each stick, isolated 4 with each stick)
- Auto Asus optimized and manual stock CPU speeds
- Virtualization on/off
- Secure boot on/off
- Clearing CMOS (back of motherboard button, also tried removing for 5 minutes, also tried a different battery that was confirmed working in another PC)
- Every single USB slot for recovery media
- Formatting recovery media, Fat32, NTFS, etc
- Different keyboard/mouse
- Tried outside of case
- Visually inspecting capacitors and motherboard in general
- Updating BIOS (ran stock for 6 months before updating to BIOS-2305)
- Different wall sockets, surge protector
- Disconnecting GPU
- Testing GPU in another PC
It always makes it past the BIOS, into the screen with ROG logo and solid spinning wheel (dotted for Windows 10), then freezes. When I have two boot drives connected, sometimes I can make it to the blue volume select screen before freezing. With USB recovery media, I usually make it to the purple language select screen before freezing (a few times I was able to move the mouse for about 1 second). PC is then completely unresponsive. I'm forced to hold down the power button to turn the PC off.
---
I don't understand how all of this can happen from a simple restart. The PC worked fine just seconds beforehand, and I don't think there were any updates in that time. At this point, I feel like I have pretty much ruled out settings/software/connection issues. At the same time, how can new and functional hardware fail at the exact moment I decide to restart the computer? This computer doubles as a work PC. I would really appreciate some help! Thanks.
OS: Windows 11
GPU: EVGA 1660 Super Black
CPU: i7-13700k (with Hyper 212 Black cooler)
MOBO: Asus ROG Strix Z690-F (BIOS-2305)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB 5600 (PC5-44800) - Slot 2 and 4 from CPU, according to manual.
PSU: Corsair RM850x
This happened twice, but I have not found a solution this time. The first time, I simply forgot to turn off my computer overnight, and had to force shut down in the morning. Then, when turning on, it would freeze after BIOS when trying to load the OS (sometimes the blue volume selection windows screen - because of two boot drives - other times at the spinning wheel under ROG logo). It was solved by disconnecting a non-boot drive. I confirmed that it was the problem by reconnecting that specific drive. For a few days, with the drive remaining unplugged, everything on the PC worked as usual.
This time, all I did was hit restart on my computer. I do not recall any updates happening, and 30 seconds later I witnessed the same type of freezing as before. This time, disconnecting my SATA drives did not solve the issue. I can navigate BIOS for any length of time.
---
Now that it has been about a month of not working, I feel there is nothing else to do besides replace the CPU, motherboard, or RAM. The only "overclocking" I do is enabling XMP on the RAM, which obviously I have tested turned off, though it was working just fine for many months. To avoid issues, I'm almost always wearing a static bracelet when working with hardware components. Right now I'm running a minimal version of the PC, with only the cpu + cooler, two ram sticks, usb recovery media and the two power connectors from PSU.
Here's what I've tried:
- Ran memtest86 built into motherboard twice. The first time I cancelled it after 2 passes, second time I ran the full 4 with no errors.
- Tried Windows 11 (M.2), Windows 11 recovery (twice, with fresh format and test on separate PC beforehand, and with secure boot on/off), Linux Puppy on USB
- Reseating every single component - removed and checked CPU for damage (although I simply just restarted to start these issues), thermal paste, cooler, ram, PSU, etc
- Temps in BIOS (44C CPU, 55C CPU Package, 28C Motherboard, 31C VRM, 50C Chipset) - this was before reseating & reapplying thermal paste
- Tried different power supply
- Swapping memory slots (2 and 4, isolated 2 with each stick, isolated 4 with each stick)
- Auto Asus optimized and manual stock CPU speeds
- Virtualization on/off
- Secure boot on/off
- Clearing CMOS (back of motherboard button, also tried removing for 5 minutes, also tried a different battery that was confirmed working in another PC)
- Every single USB slot for recovery media
- Formatting recovery media, Fat32, NTFS, etc
- Different keyboard/mouse
- Tried outside of case
- Visually inspecting capacitors and motherboard in general
- Updating BIOS (ran stock for 6 months before updating to BIOS-2305)
- Different wall sockets, surge protector
- Disconnecting GPU
- Testing GPU in another PC
It always makes it past the BIOS, into the screen with ROG logo and solid spinning wheel (dotted for Windows 10), then freezes. When I have two boot drives connected, sometimes I can make it to the blue volume select screen before freezing. With USB recovery media, I usually make it to the purple language select screen before freezing (a few times I was able to move the mouse for about 1 second). PC is then completely unresponsive. I'm forced to hold down the power button to turn the PC off.
---
I don't understand how all of this can happen from a simple restart. The PC worked fine just seconds beforehand, and I don't think there were any updates in that time. At this point, I feel like I have pretty much ruled out settings/software/connection issues. At the same time, how can new and functional hardware fail at the exact moment I decide to restart the computer? This computer doubles as a work PC. I would really appreciate some help! Thanks.
OS: Windows 11
GPU: EVGA 1660 Super Black
CPU: i7-13700k (with Hyper 212 Black cooler)
MOBO: Asus ROG Strix Z690-F (BIOS-2305)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB 5600 (PC5-44800) - Slot 2 and 4 from CPU, according to manual.
PSU: Corsair RM850x
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram