Question PC has random restarts and sometimes won't turn on properly ?

Oct 20, 2022
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Hi folks,

I'd recently had some issues with a PSU on the blink: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/pc-restarting-with-error-id-41-zero-bugcheck-code.3782122

It seemed I had fixed these random restarting problems with a new PSU after replacing basically everything in my PC except storage. My Windows 11 is a fresh install with the C:/ drive wiped clean and my Gigabyte Z690 motherboard has had its BIOS updated to the latest version. Otherwise I am running an i7-12700k, 2x16GB of DDR4 RAM set to 3200MHz, and an RTX3080Ti Founder's Edition, powered with a Corsair H1000W. All cables were replaced when getting the new PSU. Everything but the GPU was replaced in the past 2 months, with the GPU being a full year old.

However these problems appear to have resurfaced but not in the same way:

First I had one game that was guaranteed to randomly restart my PC (Same zero bugcheck code, windows 11 has no idea why the restart happens), in this case Metro Exodus Enhanced. I suspected it was a Driver issue on the GPU, used DDU to fully wipe the drivers in safe mode and then install the latest ones directly from Nvidia without going through GeForce Experience. This fixed the issues with that game, but new issues have arisen in the days since.

The PC suffers from relatively rare (but growing more common) restarts or full sudden shutdowns. This sometimes happens when playing games, there is a distinctly weird trend that after using Microsoft Edge it becomes more common (I use that for Netflix watching). In Chrome, though as far as I can tell only in chrome, there are occasional graphical glitches where when scrolling on a website a patch of it will be small checkerboard white squares for a brief few frames before it simply shows the proper part of the page. That this is unique to chrome is confusing to me. The restarts can happen regardless of program intensity (This week it's managed to happen whilst playing Dwarf Fortress on Steam, nevermind anything that will actually give my GPU a hard time). These restarts have (very rarely) been just a minute or two after booting, more commonly are many hours into using the PC, but vary wildly.

The restarts sometimes happen when gaming, but can happen with no warning too. Just today there was a restart, upon rebooting I basically didn't get past startup apps before another random restart hit. Sometimes these are complete system shutdowns where the power button cannot turn it back on without draining the capacitors by holding it down. You can hear the PC try to turn on, the fans clearly get a brief moment of power. The RGB of my keyboard and the motherboard remain powered despite these shutdowns.

I've tried using OCCT again to test RAM, which is running without errors on an hour-long test on its current settings. The GPU can't cause a shutdown just by stressing it with a benchmark like 3DMark's Raytracing benchmarks, and CPU stressing with OCCT also did not lead to direct restarts or shutdowns after 2 hours whilst I was at work.

The PC runs into this shutdown problem if I try to wake it from sleep mode sometimes as well. Again uncommon but happening more in the past week. Once in a while the PC does not want to boot in the morning as if it had this problem whilst fully shutdown somehow, and I have to just keep trying to turn it on for it to work. I'm experiencing no BSODs in any form during this time so I don't think Windows is having any problems of its own. The restarts sometimes can just leave me alone entirely for a day sometimes even two, other days I'm facing restarts frequently.

At this point I have no idea what is causing this problem and would like to ask if anyone has experience with something similar. I'm nearing the limit of what I know to do to troubleshoot this and would just like to avoid having to pay a repair shop to nail it down properly for me and have them install all their usual rubbish when they do so. My only running theory at this point is a hardware issue caused by accessing or doing something specific, as many applications simply never trigger the restart problem, or the mobo is engaging some kind of safety measure that it isn't mentioning.

I'm wondering if Windows 11 is just Vistas-levels of unstable or if somehow I'm missing a driver issue or what. I got my PSU tester out and it seems consistent when testing the new PSU. The problems are getting frequent enough to disrupt my day-to-day use of the PC and are leaving me completely stumped as if there's overtime degradation happening somewhere. Any insight would be immensely appreciated.
 
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Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
my Gigabyte Z690 motherboard has had its BIOS updated to the latest version
For the sake of relevance, can you please state the BIOS version at this moment of time?

You speak of reinstalling the OS onto the old drive though you didn't mention two things;
1| where did you source the installer for the OS and how you fabricated the installer
2| what is the make and model of your storage drives
 
Oct 20, 2022
8
2
15
my Gigabyte Z690 motherboard has had its BIOS updated to the latest version
For the sake of relevance, can you please state the BIOS version at this moment of time?

You speak of reinstalling the OS onto the old drive though you didn't mention two things;
1| where did you source the installer for the OS and how you fabricated the installer
2| what is the make and model of your storage drives

My Gigabyte Z690 DDR4 motherboard is running BIOS version F8, which I installed via their own App Center program.

The installer for the OS was via the Windows 10 free upgrade to Windows 11, downloading it via Windows 10 and then telling it to do a clean install so there's nothing left on the C: drive from the previous install (other drives were disconnected until the new parts and new OS were all up and running fine)

The C; drive in this instance is a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Model MZ-ZTE250. I have other newer SSDs and NVME drives but haven't bothered to sit down and move Windows around yet.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
I'm having to pull info off of your other thread, for your motherboard's proper model, in spite of it being a Z690 chipset made by Gigabyte. Might want to stick to one thread or include all the info possible on one thread to prevent brain cells getting jumbled up, That being said, if you're indeed on BIOS version F8, you have BIOS versions pending update.

Do NOT use an App to update the BIOS, do so with the BIOS file and from within the BIOS update feature in BIOS(not the OS).

Clean install as in, keeping your data? Samsung's Magician app showing any updates for your SSD?
 
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Oct 20, 2022
8
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I'm having to pull info off of your other thread, for your motherboard's proper model, in site of it being a Z490 chipset made by Gigabyte. Might want to stick to one thread or include all the info possible on one thread to prevent brain cells getting jumbled up, That being said, if you're indeed on BIOS version F8, you have BIOS versions pending update.

Do NOT use an App to update the BIOS, do so with the BIOS file and from within the BIOS update feature in BIOS(not the OS).

Clean install as in, keeping your data? Samsung's Magician app showing any updates for your SSD?

I'll look into updating the BIOS again after work. The clean install was originally installed over windows 10, then from there immediately telling Windows 11 to do a full clean reinstall that wiped the C: drive and all its contents.
Samsung Magician says my Samsung drives are up to date and have no new firmware also.
 
Oct 20, 2022
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Did you perform a clean install after a full format of the drive?
Yes I did a clean install after.
Did the bios update to F21 before work, seems to have went alright as it boots and whatnot at the moment. Problem with these restarts is they're not something I can consistently reproduce so if it somehow fixed it then it'll take a while to know. If its still happening later I'll update accordingly
 
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