The Problem:
My computer restarts, seemingly at random, and only when I'm gaming. There is no blue screen and no apparent warning that anything is about to happen. The problem is a little difficult to reproduce as it can happen seconds into starting up a game as low key as Minecraft, or hours later. Every time I get back into Windows I get the "Wattmand efault settings restored due to unexpected system failure" message. This is a huge problem for me because the truth is I don't know what I'm doing at all. I was just tired of dealing with predatory PC companies (I've had a string of very unpleasant experiences that I won't bore you with but which left a bad taste in my mouth) so I built my own. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men, eh?
To the best of my knowledge nothing is overclocked. I certainly had no intentions of overclocking anything.
Trouble-Shooting Steps I've Already Undertook:
- Performed a memory scan using Windows' built in memory diagnostic tool, and found no problems
- Have run virus scans using both Avast! and Malware Bytes. Nothing found in either.
- I upgraded my MB's UFEI to the most recent version, and as a requirement of the process updated the AMD All In One Driver Pack to 19.something. (This appears to have had an effect. The restarts actually seem less frequent although that could also just be a trick of perspective as, again, reproducing the problem is sketchy. It can happen a lot, it can happen rarely. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason to it)
- Updated Windows 10 several times just to make sure
- Updated the Gigabyte Aorus Engine. I always use the standard gaming settings.
- I used Prime95 in conjunction with CoreTemp and AMD's processor-specific overclocking tool to both stress test my CPU and keep an eye on temperatures. Temps were high normal, which is to be expected as I don't have quite as many case fans as I should yet. Otherwise, it stayed stable the whole time and I was even web browsing while I was running the test.
- GPU Specific Trouble-Shooting: So because I kept getting that Wattman message, I've been suspicious of the RX 580 from the start. I used DDU in safe mode AND with the router unplugged to do a full removal of Radeon software and reinstall the most recent version at the time, 19.6.2. I also ran Unigene Heaven while keeping an eye on the Wattman overlay which showed temperatures. The temps were reasonable at 65ish, all things considered. I had mixed results with the stress test though. The first time I ran it, the PC restarted within minutes. The second time, it ran for a solid hour or two with no problems.
EDIT: Additional troubleshooting added after this point
- I ran sfc/scannow from an elevated command prompt. It output:
Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
- It was suggested I run Memtest86 from a bootable USB drive. Passes 1 - 4 all completed with no cumulative errors found, and 0 total errors. It completed in 1 hour, 48 minutes, and comprised a sum total of 48/48 tests.
- I was instructed to download the Asrock Motherboard Utility found on my MB's page and then to perform two tests.
- Updated Wattman drivers from 19.6.2 to 19.6.3
The first test was to check the CPU Temp, M/B Temp, 3.3V, 5V, and 12V readings under normal load and after giving several minutes for the temperatures and voltages to normalize. It was not specified exactly what normal load is so I ran it with my web browser open to a playing youtube video and a forum site, with a folder open, and with Discord on...pretty much a stock non-gaming session for me. These are the results I got:
- CPU Temp: 34c
- M/B Temp: 34c
- 3.3V: 3.344v - 3.360v
- 5V: 5.160v - 5.184v
-12V: 12.091v - no fluctuations observed
The second test was to check these same variables while Prime 95 was running. I was instructed to give it 2 minutes for voltages and temperatures to stabalize. Unlike the first test, there was not voltage fluctuation observed during the entire running time, however temperatures took about 10 minutes to stabalize. Once that had happened, they did not change after letting it run another 10 minutes. These are the results from the second test:
- CPU Temp: 82C
- M/B Temp: 38c
- 3.3V: 3.344V - No fluctuation observed
- 5V: 5.160V - No fluctuations observed
-12V: 12.091V - No fluctuations observed
So, as you can see, for an absolutely naked-green ameture, I've tried to do my due diligence here but I'm completely out of ideas. I don't know how to trouble shoot this any more and my PC is basically useless for gaming now. It never does it when not gaming, although 1 single time it did reset when I was using a program called World Painter which is a Minecraft map making tool with a graphical interface. No overheating appears evident. Is there any type of file I could post that would give any kind troubleshooters a more specific idea of what's happening? Others have suggested switching out this bit and that, but I don't just have bits lying around, and, honestly, I'm poor. I can't just lob hundreds of dollars around for parts on a whim. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated and thank you for reading this through.
PC Specifications:
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
- RAM: 2 - 4gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DIMMs DDR4 Dual Channel @ 1064MHz (It's supposed to be @2666 according to manufacturer but only appears to be running @1064. It came from the list of compatible memory on ASROCK's page for my MB.)
- Motherboard: Asrock B450M Steel Legend (AM4)
- GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 580, 8gb model
- Storage: 500gb Western Digital SSD, 1tb Western Digital HD
- PSU: Seasonic S12III 650 SSR-650GB3 650W 80+ Bronze
If there's anything else you want to know I'll be glad to post it, but please remember I'm not bright about this stuff.
My computer restarts, seemingly at random, and only when I'm gaming. There is no blue screen and no apparent warning that anything is about to happen. The problem is a little difficult to reproduce as it can happen seconds into starting up a game as low key as Minecraft, or hours later. Every time I get back into Windows I get the "Wattmand efault settings restored due to unexpected system failure" message. This is a huge problem for me because the truth is I don't know what I'm doing at all. I was just tired of dealing with predatory PC companies (I've had a string of very unpleasant experiences that I won't bore you with but which left a bad taste in my mouth) so I built my own. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men, eh?
To the best of my knowledge nothing is overclocked. I certainly had no intentions of overclocking anything.
Trouble-Shooting Steps I've Already Undertook:
- Performed a memory scan using Windows' built in memory diagnostic tool, and found no problems
- Have run virus scans using both Avast! and Malware Bytes. Nothing found in either.
- I upgraded my MB's UFEI to the most recent version, and as a requirement of the process updated the AMD All In One Driver Pack to 19.something. (This appears to have had an effect. The restarts actually seem less frequent although that could also just be a trick of perspective as, again, reproducing the problem is sketchy. It can happen a lot, it can happen rarely. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason to it)
- Updated Windows 10 several times just to make sure
- Updated the Gigabyte Aorus Engine. I always use the standard gaming settings.
- I used Prime95 in conjunction with CoreTemp and AMD's processor-specific overclocking tool to both stress test my CPU and keep an eye on temperatures. Temps were high normal, which is to be expected as I don't have quite as many case fans as I should yet. Otherwise, it stayed stable the whole time and I was even web browsing while I was running the test.
- GPU Specific Trouble-Shooting: So because I kept getting that Wattman message, I've been suspicious of the RX 580 from the start. I used DDU in safe mode AND with the router unplugged to do a full removal of Radeon software and reinstall the most recent version at the time, 19.6.2. I also ran Unigene Heaven while keeping an eye on the Wattman overlay which showed temperatures. The temps were reasonable at 65ish, all things considered. I had mixed results with the stress test though. The first time I ran it, the PC restarted within minutes. The second time, it ran for a solid hour or two with no problems.
EDIT: Additional troubleshooting added after this point
- I ran sfc/scannow from an elevated command prompt. It output:
Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
- It was suggested I run Memtest86 from a bootable USB drive. Passes 1 - 4 all completed with no cumulative errors found, and 0 total errors. It completed in 1 hour, 48 minutes, and comprised a sum total of 48/48 tests.
- I was instructed to download the Asrock Motherboard Utility found on my MB's page and then to perform two tests.
- Updated Wattman drivers from 19.6.2 to 19.6.3
The first test was to check the CPU Temp, M/B Temp, 3.3V, 5V, and 12V readings under normal load and after giving several minutes for the temperatures and voltages to normalize. It was not specified exactly what normal load is so I ran it with my web browser open to a playing youtube video and a forum site, with a folder open, and with Discord on...pretty much a stock non-gaming session for me. These are the results I got:
- CPU Temp: 34c
- M/B Temp: 34c
- 3.3V: 3.344v - 3.360v
- 5V: 5.160v - 5.184v
-12V: 12.091v - no fluctuations observed
The second test was to check these same variables while Prime 95 was running. I was instructed to give it 2 minutes for voltages and temperatures to stabalize. Unlike the first test, there was not voltage fluctuation observed during the entire running time, however temperatures took about 10 minutes to stabalize. Once that had happened, they did not change after letting it run another 10 minutes. These are the results from the second test:
- CPU Temp: 82C
- M/B Temp: 38c
- 3.3V: 3.344V - No fluctuation observed
- 5V: 5.160V - No fluctuations observed
-12V: 12.091V - No fluctuations observed
So, as you can see, for an absolutely naked-green ameture, I've tried to do my due diligence here but I'm completely out of ideas. I don't know how to trouble shoot this any more and my PC is basically useless for gaming now. It never does it when not gaming, although 1 single time it did reset when I was using a program called World Painter which is a Minecraft map making tool with a graphical interface. No overheating appears evident. Is there any type of file I could post that would give any kind troubleshooters a more specific idea of what's happening? Others have suggested switching out this bit and that, but I don't just have bits lying around, and, honestly, I'm poor. I can't just lob hundreds of dollars around for parts on a whim. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated and thank you for reading this through.
PC Specifications:
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
- RAM: 2 - 4gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DIMMs DDR4 Dual Channel @ 1064MHz (It's supposed to be @2666 according to manufacturer but only appears to be running @1064. It came from the list of compatible memory on ASROCK's page for my MB.)
- Motherboard: Asrock B450M Steel Legend (AM4)
- GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 580, 8gb model
- Storage: 500gb Western Digital SSD, 1tb Western Digital HD
- PSU: Seasonic S12III 650 SSR-650GB3 650W 80+ Bronze
If there's anything else you want to know I'll be glad to post it, but please remember I'm not bright about this stuff.
Last edited:
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