PC keeps crashing, can't figure out why

[uggamugga99]

I beg your forgiveness for the lengthy post.

I have a friend that is experiencing an issue with his PC and neither of us can figure out what it is. He bought the computer pre-built from Best Buy a few years ago and has had nothing but problems. Basically, it experiences intermittent crashes that happen at seemingly random intervals. It doesn't seem to be related to a single game or program. Some days he can boot it up and play games all day with no issues, other days it crashes every ten minutes and he has to restart it. The crashes range from the computer freezing, going to a black screen, or sometimes going to a blue screen. The blue screen offers little insight as it just says "critical system failure." After that it runs startup repair but the problems persist. It has been this way from day one and has become worse over time.

Since the crashes typically happened when the computer was under load, I assumed it could be a problem with his GPU since it was a pathetic gt 640. It was also paired with a sketchy Chinese 500w power supply. He subsequently upgraded to an r9 390 and I sold him my Corsair GS 700 since I had upgraded to a modular 1000w. Though he was able to play games at higher settings the crashing issue remained. I then thought it could be crashing due to overheating as his case was some cheap mid-tower with horrible cable management, only two fans, and the notoriously hot running r9 390 was certainly not helping matters. We spent an entire day rerouting wires, cleaning out dust, and installed additional fans. The temps were improved but the crashing continued.

The next thing that came to mind was windows. He did the system file check which turned up no issues. He then had windows reinstalled under warranty. It ran mostly fine for a few weeks and then went back to its old ways. The next thing that came to mind was the hard drive. Pre-built computers usually skimp out on them so it was probably the cheapest of the cheap, like the power supply. He bought a new SSD, got a fresh install of windows and ditched his old hard drive. Same thing as before, ran decently for a few days and then started crashing. We also checked the RAM, he has more than enough at 16 GB but I thought he could have a bad module. Ran the tests, nothing was amiss.

I'm beginning to think the problem may lie with the CPU and/or motherboard. I have a hard time believing that the CPU is being overworked. The computer has an FX-6300 which is a decent CPU and should not be crashing due to load, especially playing games like Counter Strike and the Forest which I could play on my grandma's ancient laptop. He has dumped a lot of money into this computer and is understandably pissed off that it is not working the way it should. We have done nearly everything I can think of. I've looked at forum after forum and not seen any situation similar to his. Before he buys a new CPU/motherboard I want to make sure I haven't missed anything.

 

[Halo11702]

You sure the CPU isn't bottlenecking that r9 390 because that could be overworking the CPU causing it to crash, other than that, did you check to see if the motherboard had any problems with blown capacitors or anything like that? I don't know if a blown capacitor would cause the system to crash but I would check just so you know that's not the problem!

Note me if you checked the motherboard without any problems because then I can think of something else.

you can use this to check the temps on your system just to make sure his computer is turning off because of it https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

another thing also is that the computer might have a lower temp shutdown point, so like if the motherboards safety temp for the CPU is 60c and the CPU goes over that the system will shut down to make the CPU last longer.

another thing to do which I don't know if I missed reading about it, is to do a hard drive check. I know you replaced the hard drive with an SSD but I wouldn't hurt to test it again.

if you find out that the motherboard is shot you could buy a cheap motherboard on ebay to fit the fx 6300 unless your just going to upgrade.

 

[uggamugga99]

You sure the CPU isn't bottlenecking that r9 390 because that could be overworking the CPU causing it to crash, other than that, did you check to see if the motherboard had any problems with blown capacitors or anything like that? I don't know if a blown capacitor would cause the system to crash but I would check just so you know that's not the problem!

Note me if you checked the motherboard without any problems because then I can think of something else.

you can use this to check the temps on your system just to make sure his computer is turning off because of it https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

another thing also is that the computer might have a lower temp shutdown point, so like if the motherboards safety temp for the CPU is 60c and the CPU goes over that the system will shut down to make the CPU last longer.

another thing to do which I don't know if I missed reading about it, is to do a hard drive check. I know you replaced the hard drive with an SSD but I wouldn't hurt to test it again.

if you find out that the motherboard is shot you could buy a cheap motherboard on ebay to fit the fx 6300 unless your just going to upgrade.

I thought the same thing about the CPU at first but crashes occur even when the computer is at idle. Plus, it crashed even when he had the old gt 640 which was frankly incapable of bottlenecking that CPU. I'm having him take a look at the capacitors but neither of us noticed any signs of them being blown when we installed the new GPU or rerouted the wires. He's starting to think he may have a virus which I doubt since it has been doing this for a long time. Unless the virus infected his computer right after he got it, I find that scenario unlikely. Plus a clean reinstall on a new hard drive should've eliminated that possibility.

I don't think the temps are the problem. I know AMD stuff runs hot and it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an aftermarket cooler. Especially since his case has poor airflow and is pretty cramped. But the crashes can occur mere minutes after booting when the computer is cold. He tells me that his CPU and GPU run at 100% at times they shouldn't. For example, playing the forest his GPU was running at 100% when mine was running at 54% on the same settings and we have the same GPU. Could be because his processor is slower than mine but he FX-6300 isn't that bad. It can also spike to 100% running simple desktop applications like a web browser or skype. He has the latest drivers and has reinstalled them for good measure. He just doesn't have a lot of money to throw into this thing anymore. We've pretty much replaced everything but the CPU and motherboard but I want to make sure that's the issue before he spends a bunch replacing them.

 

[Halo11702]

You sure the CPU isn't bottlenecking that r9 390 because that could be overworking the CPU causing it to crash, other than that, did you check to see if the motherboard had any problems with blown capacitors or anything like that? I don't know if a blown capacitor would cause the system to crash but I would check just so you know that's not the problem!

Note me if you checked the motherboard without any problems because then I can think of something else.

you can use this to check the temps on your system just to make sure his computer is turning off because of it https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

another thing also is that the computer might have a lower temp shutdown point, so like if the motherboards safety temp for the CPU is 60c and the CPU goes over that the system will shut down to make the CPU last longer.

another thing to do which I don't know if I missed reading about it, is to do a hard drive check. I know you replaced the hard drive with an SSD but I wouldn't hurt to test it again.

if you find out that the motherboard is shot you could buy a cheap motherboard on ebay to fit the fx 6300 unless your just going to upgrade.

I thought the same thing about the CPU at first but crashes occur even when the computer is at idle. Plus, it crashed even when he had the old gt 640 which was frankly incapable of bottlenecking that CPU. I'm having him take a look at the capacitors but neither of us noticed any signs of them being blown when we installed the new GPU or rerouted the wires. He's starting to think he may have a virus which I doubt since it has been doing this for a long time. Unless the virus infected his computer right after he got it, I find that scenario unlikely. Plus a clean reinstall on a new hard drive should've eliminated that possibility.

I don't think the temps are the problem. I know AMD stuff runs hot and it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an aftermarket cooler. Especially since his case has poor airflow and is pretty cramped. But the crashes can occur mere minutes after booting when the computer is cold. He tells me that his CPU and GPU run at 100% at times they shouldn't. For example, playing the forest his GPU was running at 100% when mine was running at 54% on the same settings and we have the same GPU. Could be because his processor is slower than mine but he FX-6300 isn't that bad. It can also spike to 100% running simple desktop applications like a web browser or skype. He has the latest drivers and has reinstalled them for good measure. He just doesn't have a lot of money to throw into this thing anymore. We've pretty much replaced everything but the CPU and motherboard but I want to make sure that's the issue before he spends a bunch replacing them.

If you end up buying a new motherboard you could find a cheap Asus one on ebay like i did, i now have an fx 8350. But i ran out of ideas, sorry. If you need help finding a motherboard i can help you out if need be! I know an OK motherboard that will do the job if he is willing to spend about 40-60 dollars on a motherboard.