Question PC Random Reboots

[stiveralex]

Hello for the past month I have been having random reboots while on my pc. Sometimes it's a few hours before it shuts down and other times is every 5 min. I have a Thermaltake 600w smart series psu that I thought was the issue so I RMA'd it. They sent me a refurbed one and my pc ran fine all day until tonight when I started gaming the reboots came back. This is frustrating the heck out of me...


I have checked the motherboard and do not see any capacitors fried. This computer is only a year old.

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700x
GPU: ASUS 1070ti
Mobo: Gigabyte (Not sure of model will get tomorrow)
PSU: Thermaltake 600w 80plus white

It ran fine for a year but am thinking maybe that Thermaltakes psus are crap and can't handle the power draw? I ordered a EVGA 650W G3 that comes in tomorrow to see if that solves anything. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Darkmoon17]

Download Core Temp and check what your cpu temperature is at along with looking at Event Viewer to see why your comp is restarted. There should be an error with a timestamp close to the time it restarts.

 

[stiveralex]

Download Core Temp and check what your cpu temperature is at along with looking at Event Viewer to see why your comp is restarted. There should be an error with a timestamp close to the time it restarts.

I have been monitoring Temps for awhile now with that and the CPU never gets over 60c. Gpu sits around 64c under load. Also I think the last error was a kernel 41 error or something similar. Will check tomorrow to be sure.

 

[Darkmoon17]

I have been monitoring Temps for awhile now with that and the CPU never gets over 60c. Gpu sits around 64c under load. Also I think the last error was a kernel 41 error or something similar. Will check tomorrow to be sure.

I know faulty ram can cause it. Try running with one stick, if it happens try the other.

 

[stiveralex]

I know faulty ram can cause it. Try running with one stick, if it happens try the other.

Alright once the new psu is installed today I will try that and let you know. Appreciate your quick responses!

 

[PC Tailor]

Just to clarify, the 41 kernel error is only an unexpected power loss error. You'd get the same error simply pressing the reset switch on your PC.

Most thermaltake PSUs aren't great, most of the Thermaltake Smart series are not great especially, so moving to a G3 is a better shout. As previously suggested RAM can also cause all manner of problems, you running memtest may help eliminate RAM issues. But I would cover other options first.

Is the temperatures you identified under heavy load?
Do the restarts only occur under load or any load?
Does the issue occur in safe mode?
Are you running and overclock anywhere?

 

[stiveralex]

Just to clarify, the 41 kernel error is only an unexpected power loss error. You'd get the same error simply pressing the reset switch on your PC.

Most thermaltake PSUs aren't great, most of the Thermaltake Smart series are not great especially, so moving to a G3 is a better shout. As previously suggested RAM can also cause all manner of problems, you running memtest may help eliminate RAM issues. But I would cover other options first.

Is the temperatures you identified under heavy load?
Do the restarts only occur under load or any load?
Does the issue occur in safe mode?
Are you running and overclock anywhere?

Right that's why I was thinking it's a psu issue at first. I was watching twitch all day yesterday no shutdown but an hour into gaming it shuts down. Now I can't really test Temps of my psu during load but gpu, ssd, hdd and CPU all seem to have low Temps. I tried safe mode but takes forever and never shutdown. Also this computer and components are only a year old.

 

[PC Tailor]

I tried safe mode but takes forever and never shutdown.

I understand the variation between times to shutdown is quite high, however it not occuring at all may indicate that it is software, or potentially even GPU related as the GPU drivers won't be loaded and you can't stress the system.

PSU temps aren't usually an issue, it is usually more troublesome when it comes to voltage output, each rail should output the specified voltage +/- 5% to ATX standard.

 

[scout_03]

use whocrashed and see if these is any minidump files also on crash do you have ahy bsod error code .

 

[PC Tailor]

use whocrashed and see if these is any minidump files also on crash do you have ahy bsod error code .

Personally I wouldn't use who crashed even if there were BSOD codes as it often points to the wrong drivers (usually Microsoft kernel) which is what crashes, but not what caused the crash in the first place.

This is because it isn't a debugger, all it simply does it grab system info, and displays the driver last in stack before crashing occurred. And it doesn't always pull through third party drivers correctly and can't identify which ones could be at fault.

If there are any BSOD at all (which I believe you are just encountering restarts) then we can help debug them.

 

[stiveralex]

I understand the variation between times to shutdown is quite high, however it not occuring at all may indicate that it is software, or potentially even GPU related as the GPU drivers won't be loaded and you can't stress the system.

PSU temps aren't usually an issue, it is usually more troublesome when it comes to voltage output, each rail should output the specified voltage +/- 5% to ATX standard.

Yeah well it's not always when stressing the GPU. I ran quite a few gpu stress tests and no restart occurred. But 1 to 2 hours into gaming it will happen. Just installed the new G3 psu and am starting to game. Will let you know if any issues arise.

 

[stiveralex]

Personally I wouldn't use who crashed even if there were BSOD codes as it often points to the wrong drivers (usually Microsoft kernel) which is what crashes, but not what caused the crash in the first place.

This is because it isn't a debugger, all it simply does it grab system info, and displays the driver last in stack before crashing occurred. And it doesn't always pull through third party drivers correctly and can't identify which ones could be at fault.

If there are any BSOD at all (which I believe you are just encountering restarts) then we can help debug them.

Unfortunately just restarts... No BSOD yet and it's restarted around 15 times now. Installed a quality psu so hopefully that fixes it. Will update if there are any restarts tonight.

 

[stiveralex]

Mobo: Gigabyte (AX370-Gaming-CF)

 

[stiveralex]

Well I just gamed for 2 hours and then out of no where got a restart. CPU was hovering around 54c under load and the GPU was at around 60c. I tried running one stick of ram by itself and might swap it out for the other one... Any other suggestions. Checked the MOBO for capacitors that are blown but didnt find any.

 

[stiveralex]

Well tried the other stick of ram. This time it took 6 hours to shut off. Not sure what else to do. My SSD is running at 41C at the time of shutoff. Not sure if that is the issue? Any way to check the Motherboard or the gpu without replacing them? Both are under warranty I believe.

 

[PC Tailor]

Well tried the other stick of ram. This time it took 6 hours to shut off. Not sure what else to do. My SSD is running at 41C at the time of shutoff. Not sure if that is the issue? Any way to check the Motherboard or the gpu without replacing them? Both are under warranty I believe.

So to clarify:

• You've replaced the PSU and the issue persisted?
• You've swapped all RAM modules and ran them individually and the issue persisted?
• You have monitored CPU and GPU temps and all remained below 60 degrees?

Are you running overclock anywhere or XMP?
You said safe mode it doesn't seem like it shuts down - which could indicate software.
Power issues once you eliminate the above can often be GPU or PSU related, so if you can I would swap the GPU and see if the issue persists.
Also, it may be worth doing a clean install of windows and repeating to verify if it really is a software issue.

 

[stiveralex]

So to clarify:

• You've replaced the PSU and the issue persisted?
• You've swapped all RAM modules and ran them individually and the issue persisted?
• You have monitored CPU and GPU temps and all remained below 60 degrees?

Are you running overclock anywhere or XMP?
You said safe mode it doesn't seem like it shuts down - which could indicate software.
Power issues once you eliminate the above can often be GPU or PSU related, so if you can I would swap the GPU and see if the issue persists.
Also, it may be worth doing a clean install of windows and repeating to verify if it really is a software issue.

Yes swapped the psu. I took 1 stick of ram out and it ran for an hour and then rebooted. Swapped it out for the other stick and it took 6 hours... Not sure what that was all about. Not overclocking nor XMP. Safe mode runs for awhile but can try it again tonight and leave it on safe mode. I will send an RMA to asus to get a different graphics card to see if that could be the problem. Could it be the MOBO too possibly? I do not see any bulging capacitors or anything like that. If all else fails I will have to bite the bullet and do a clean install. Windows defender couldnt be an issue right?

 

[PC Tailor]

Yes swapped the psu. I took 1 stick of ram out and it ran for an hour and then rebooted. Swapped it out for the other stick and it took 6 hours... Not sure what that was all about. Not overclocking nor XMP. Safe mode runs for awhile but can try it again tonight and leave it on safe mode. I will send an RMA to asus to get a different graphics card to see if that could be the problem. Could it be the MOBO too possibly? I do not see any bulging capacitors or anything like that. If all else fails I will have to bite the bullet and do a clean install. Windows defender couldnt be an issue right?

If it has faulted in safe mode before, don't worry. A clean install is usually the best way of identifying if it is hardware or software. If it has occured in safe mode, it is likely to be hardware or core OS corruption. Random reboots aren't typical of software problems however.

Motherboard can certainly be the issue, with reboots, I've known every component to cause reboots, just it is usually the GPU or PSU at fault first. It's just a matter of eliminating each one by swapping with a good unit and retesting. So it rebooted regardless as to which RAM module you used?

Windows Defender likely wouldn't cause an issue. Unless it was being ran alongside another antivirus for example, but usually third party AV disables defender anyway. I certainly wouldn't expect Defender to cause reboots even if it was misbehaving.

 

[stiveralex]

If it has faulted in safe mode before, don't worry. A clean install is usually the best way of identifying if it is hardware or software. If it has occured in safe mode, it is likely to be hardware or core OS corruption. Random reboots aren't typical of software problems however.

Motherboard can certainly be the issue, with reboots, I've known every component to cause reboots, just it is usually the GPU or PSU at fault first. It's just a matter of eliminating each one by swapping with a good unit and retesting. So it rebooted regardless as to which RAM module you used?

Windows Defender likely wouldn't cause an issue. Unless it was being ran alongside another antivirus for example, but usually third party AV disables defender anyway. I certainly wouldn't expect Defender to cause reboots even if it was misbehaving.

Yes rebooted with each stick I tried just one was more quick to reboot than the other. Its a dual channel motherboard but I do not think it matters to run just one stick. I will try the clean install tonight when I get home. Need to back up files to an external drive first so that may take some time. Appreciate your help in diagnosing these issues. Good thing is the motherboard and GPU are both in warranty if we have to go that route. Might take some time to get them though.

 

[PC Tailor]

Its a dual channel motherboard but I do not think it matters to run just one stick

I would usually suggest that It may be worth trying a stick in a different slot too - but based on what you've described i doubt it will make much difference.
Let us know how it goes my friend.

 

[stiveralex]

I would usually suggest that It may be worth trying a stick in a different slot too - but based on what you've described i doubt it will make much difference.
Let us know how it goes my friend.

Alright will try that as well! Thanks.

 

[stiveralex]

Also something I noticed is that my GPU clock will randomly spike to max for 1 second while idling not sure if that is an issue?

 

[stiveralex]

I would usually suggest that It may be worth trying a stick in a different slot too - but based on what you've described i doubt it will make much difference.
Let us know how it goes my friend.

So ran a Memtest86 and got no errors. Also reset windows 10 and wiped whole PC. Still having reboots. My pc case has a restart and power switch up top. Could that be a possible issue maybe it is defective? Any way of testing that?

 

[PC Tailor]

So ran a Memtest86 and got no errors. Also reset windows 10 and wiped whole PC. Still having reboots. My pc case has a restart and power switch up top. Could that be a possible issue maybe it is defective? Any way of testing that?

That would be my next port of call actually.
Completely remove the front panel from the MB, and short the PWR pins on the MB instead.

At the point the checklist would be:

• Software (clean install did not resolve issue)
• BIOS
• PSU (replaced PSU with decent unit and did not resolve issue)
• RAM (memtest and changing modules made no difference it would seem)
• Front panel issue
• Storage drive - less likely, but possible
• Motherboard
• CPU

Have you got latest BIOS installed?

 

[stiveralex]

That would be my next port of call actually.
Completely remove the front panel from the MB, and short the PWR pins on the MB instead.

At the point the checklist would be:

• Software (clean install did not resolve issue)
• BIOS
• PSU (replaced PSU with decent unit and did not resolve issue)
• RAM (memtest and changing modules made no difference it would seem)
• Front panel issue
• Storage drive - less likely, but possible
• Motherboard
• CPU

Have you got latest BIOS installed?

Have yet to update bios. I just unplugged power and reset buttons. Shorted it to get the power on and will see if that does the trick. If not will try bios update.

 

[stiveralex]

That would be my next port of call actually.
Completely remove the front panel from the MB, and short the PWR pins on the MB instead.

At the point the checklist would be:

• Software (clean install did not resolve issue)
• BIOS
• PSU (replaced PSU with decent unit and did not resolve issue)
• RAM (memtest and changing modules made no difference it would seem)
• Front panel issue
• Storage drive - less likely, but possible
• Motherboard
• CPU

Have you got latest BIOS installed?

Also isn't there a way to make sure the hdd and ssd are all working correctly? Maybe an over heat issue with the storage drive? It's so random though. Sometimes it's 5 min sometimes 6 hours. Maybe the switch for the restart button is shorting out when a bit of heat gets near it? Wish there was a way to diagnose without trying 15 million things. Appreciate you responding though!