Question PC shuts down and restart during idle or gameplay.

May 31, 2020
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So I'm starting to lose hope since I've posted this on other sites such as reddit and I've brought my PC to a specialist.
My PC has been shutting down (sometimes freezes then shuts down) and restarting. I tried a torture test, reinstalling windows, checking the hard drive, updating the drivers and BIOS, etc. The specialist couldn't find anything wrong with the PC but the crashes have been happening more frequently. I don't think it's a PSU problem since I don't have BSoD and the specialist have tried testing the PSU. I play Red Dead 2, which is a large game and notice that it doesn't restart as frequently as when I play Valorant or Apex.
I don't know if this has to do anything with it but I have 3 monitors (2 2k monitors, 1 being 144hz, the other 60hz and 1 1080p 60 hz monitor) plugged into a 1660Ti
Core i5-9400 2.9 GHz
B360 M Aorus Pro
GTX 1660Ti
16 GB RAM T Force Delta DDR 4
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 250 NVMe M.2 PCI-E SSD
Toshiba P300 1TB HD
Seasonic M12II-620 EVO 80+ PSU
 
To begin with, that power supply is not compatible with your Intel platform unless you disable the C6 and C7 low power states in the BIOS. The M12II 620 EVO is a group regulated unit which is not "Haswell" or "Intel low power state" compliant. It would be advisable to either replace it or to go into the BIOS and disable the C6/C7 states.

Beyond that, how long has that power supply been in service?

The "specialist" isn't much of a specialist if they didn't even know (Or mention) that the PSU isn't Haswell (Or newer) compatible. That would be all I needed to know to never take anything to that "specialist" ever again.

Even though that is not likely the cause of THIS problem, it is "A" problem, and could be relevant.

Have you changed anything recently? Have you checked for recent driver updates on your motherboard product page, especially chipset driver?

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent stable BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.


Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



Fourth (And often tied for most important along with an up-to-date motherboard BIOS),

A clean install of the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.


Graphics card driver CLEAN install guide using the Wagnard tools DDU



And last, but not least, if you have never done a CLEAN install of Windows, or have upgraded from an older version to Windows 10, or have been through several spring or fall major Windows updates, it might be a very good idea to consider doing a clean install of Windows if none of these other solutions has helped. IF you are using a Windows installation from a previous system and you didn't do a clean install of Windows after building the new system, then it's 99.99% likely that you NEED to do a CLEAN install before trying any other solutions.


How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10, the RIGHT way
 
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May 31, 2020
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okay will do. I made and purchased this build June of last year. Have been using it since. The reason I went to that specialist is because that's where I bought the parts and had it built. So yeah, that was my first option.
Umm I updated my BIOS and tried clean installing windows since I already had that problem. Reinstalling the OS didn't fix anything.
to install the latest chipset versions and etc. do i need to go to the bios? or do i launch it after downloading the zip file?
 
You extract the contents or click on the zip file and then run the installer that is packaged in the zip file. If you have Windows 10 then it can automatically navigate zip files just like regular folder. If you prefer, you can download 7zip for free and use that to extract any zip, rar, etc. compressed files into regular folders.
 
It COULD be anything. Memory issue. Power supply. Motherboard. Anything. If it ONLY did it under heavy load conditions like gaming then I'd say yes, it's probably a graphics card or PSU problem. But since it does it also at idle, that makes it a lot less likely to be the graphics card. Still possible, but much less likely unless you are also seeing artifacts etc. all the time.

Much as I hate to tell somebody to replace something that we don't know FOR CERTAIN is faulty, my first instinct would be to go after the PSU since it is not fully compatible with your platform, older and not a super terrific design to start with. The quality of those units is good, for a group regulated power supply, but they do have problems with some types of hardware.

Before any of that though, let's regroup.

You upgraded to the MOST current non-BETA motherboard BIOS version? (F4)

You installed ALL relevant drivers from the motherboard product page including audio, network adapter/LAN and chipset drivers?

Audio: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_612_realtek_6.0.9034.1.zip

Chipset: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_632_infupdate_10.1.18383.8213.zip

LAN/Ethernet: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_61_intel_25.1.zip

You've installed the most up to date drivers for any other peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, headset, etc?

Have you installed any motherboard utilities such as RGB fusion, App center, Norton internet security (Or ANY Norton products for that matter), Easy tune, etc?

All Windows updates have been installed, including any "Optional" listed Windows updates, and the system is fully up to date?
 
May 31, 2020
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CHECK. But it's F5B. You upgraded to the MOST current non-BETA motherboard BIOS version? (F4)

CHECK. You installed ALL relevant drivers from the motherboard product page including audio, network adapter/LAN and chipset drivers?

CHECK. Audio: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_612_realtek_6.0.9034.1.zip

CHECK. Chipset: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_632_infupdate_10.1.18383.8213.zip

CHECK. LAN/Ethernet: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_61_intel_25.1.zip

CHECK. You've installed the most up to date drivers for any other peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, headset, etc?

Nope, I don't have such software. Have you installed any motherboard utilities such as RGB fusion, App center, Norton internet security (Or ANY Norton products for that matter), Easy tune, etc?

CHECK. All Windows updates have been installed, including any "Optional" listed Windows updates, and the system is fully up to date?
 
F5B is a BETA bios. I would recommend that you downgrade back to F4. I only recommend installing stable, not Beta versions. Sometimes beta versions create problems of their own. Probably not an issue in this case, but if you notice anything weird that wasn't going on before, could be related. I think going back to F4 would be wise for now. They'll probably release another stable version before long.

Did you buy your graphics card new or used, and how long have you had it? Did your problems begin at the same time or shortly after you installed the graphics card, or has it been working fine for a while with it installed and then just suddenly started having problems?
 
May 31, 2020
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I bought it last year, at the same time as my PSU and other components. It had been working fine until a few weeks ago. It had been freezing then restarting. But now, after all the troubleshooting, it only freezes now. I need to force restart it so I can use it again.
 
Are you certain that this "specialist" used all new parts in your build? Absolutely certain? Because it sounds to me like the legitimacy and reliability of this specialist is sketchy and ultimately, pretty questionable.

I'd say it's pretty likely right now that it's either a graphics card or PSU issue.
 
May 31, 2020
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Yes, they run a well-known business where I'm from. But I'm not gonna say they're like a 5-Star Business. I'm from a 3rd world country so we don't have much access to a good PC store. But they're a good store where I'm from.
 
I understand completely. But even very reputable businesses can sometimes be guilty of trying to swap a used on the shelf part into a build for convenience if they are lacking the required part and it would be a hassle to order it or would take too much time. I think that possibility is magnified in your case. Obviously, it doesn't mean that they've done this, only that you should consider it as possible.

I don't suppose this system is still under warranty, and even if it is, you already took it back to them and they couldn't find ANYTHING wrong?

Do you own a multimeter (Volt meter) or do you have access to borrowing one?
 
May 31, 2020
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The warranty has expired since it only had 1 year warranty. Yep, they couldn't find anything wrong.
Is that for testing the PSU? If it is, they already send they tested the PSU.
 
Any shop that couldn't find the problem isn't a place I'd trust with having tested the PSU to my satisfaction. If they can't find the issue and they are SUPPOSED to be a repair shop, then as far as I'm concerned, they can't test a PSU either. But that's your call.

Not sure I can be much more help to you on this, so I'm going to just say good luck and hopefully you'll get it sorted out.
 
May 31, 2020
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Any shop that couldn't find the problem isn't a place I'd trust with having tested the PSU to my satisfaction. If they can't find the issue and they are SUPPOSED to be a repair shop, then as far as I'm concerned, they can't test a PSU either. But that's your call.

Not sure I can be much more help to you on this, so I'm going to just say good luck and hopefully you'll get it sorted out.
Hey if it's not a bother, can you help me again? My PC won't turn on anymore. When I turn it on, the fans and RAM light up and my monitor detects it but after 5 seconds, it turns off agaim and turns back on. It repeats this over and over. My mouse and keyboard don't even light up when I turn it on.