[SOLVED] Random PC restarts - no leads

[ChristianO]

I've been having constant issues with my system, I can't seem to pinpoint the root of the problem. I want to say it's a combination of the motherboard and PSU, as they're both around 6 years old. The only new part in my system would be the RTX 2060 which I've had since launch, with no issues until now.

My issue is that I am experiencing random restarts, NOT SHUTDOWNS, full on restarts.
There is no BSOD, even when I disabled the Win10 "Auto restart on hardware failure" feature. I've used software to try and catch an error code before restart, I've stress tested every component from memory, PSU, and CPU. I've ran the tests uninterrupted for almost 2 or 3 hours each. I've checked event viewer to find anything and I see an occasional error and info logs but nothing alarming.

So nothing. I've come up absolutely no answers or clues to the problem. I've updated drivers and every little thing that I can to try and remedy it. I know it specifically started when I installed the game "The Outer Worlds", that is when the issue started. I've uninstalled and now it's happening often, even when sitting on my desktop with just chrome open.. I'm considering doing a full wipe to see if that would fix the problem.

I'm also debating on just upgrading my Mobo, ram, and PSU if I can't find any answer. I don't have friends who can loan me any parts so I can't test my system that way. I just want to fix this issue, it's awfully annoying.

It is currently running:
i7-4770k
RTX 2060 (Only part already upgraded, my GTX770 couldn't keep up with new releases)
16GB DDR3 1600
250gb SSD
2TB black WD HDD
1TB Seagate HDD

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the exact model of this 6 year old PSU?

What is the model of your motherboard?

When are you experiencing the restarts? While gaming ONLY, or randomly at any time when the system is on? Just wondering because you say you can run tests for 2 or 3 hours, so that somewhat indicates that it's not happening outside of gaming but IDK because you didn't really specify that.

 

[ChristianO]

What is the exact model of this 6 year old PSU?

What is the model of your motherboard?

When are you experiencing the restarts? While gaming ONLY, or randomly at any time when the system is on? Just wondering because you say you can run tests for 2 or 3 hours, so that somewhat indicates that it's not happening outside of gaming but IDK because you didn't really specify that.

I should have specified, my apologies. It occurs most often with gaming, however, it has happened a number of times when I'm just browsing online with only chrome open, which is why I'm at a loss. It'll happen outside of gaming as well, but yet stress tests are fine.

My PSU:
NZXT Technologies HALE90 V2 850W ATX12V/EPS12V Modular 80 Plus Gold Power Supply NP-1GM-0850A

My MOBO:
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so that unit was very decent when it was new, however, it had voltage regulation that was incredibly mediocre and was barely within ATX specifications even on a brand new unit in both of the two reviews for that model. I would suspect, being six years old now, that is is probably outside of ATX spec, due to the simple fact that things tend to relax on power supplies over time.

A four year old PSU is not going to have the same output capacity, tight voltage regulation and low ripple and noise that a brand new identical model would have. This COULD mean that since your unit had borderline voltage regulation when it was new, that it is going out of spec and causing the system to go all "zip, zip, bing" with one pinched eyeball, so to speak. Or there could in fact be any number of problems with it at this point, being fully a year, at least, outside it's five year warranty. In my opinion, it is a very good idea to replace any power supply that has exceeded it's warranty period especially on high demand gaming or professional use systems that tend to experience demands that are not typical of the average system. And probably even for average systems as well, if we're being honest.

This could certainly be a number of other things as well, including the motherboard, since it's about five years old and that is generally about the timeframe where we start seeing boards failing in higher numbers from a given generation, but I would be very hesitant to try and convict ANY other hardware without first knowing I have a new, known-good power supply in place if for no other reason than the fact that any evidence pointing to a given component could be completely false because a failing or faulty power supply can create conditions which mimic perfectly the failure of practically any other component in the system. In simpler terms, all hardware relies on the PSU and if it is not delivering sufficient, and clean power, then no other hardware can do it's job properly and can look like it is failing when in reality the problem is only power delivery, not the actual component itself.

I'd start there.

And to start there, I'd start here:

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[ChristianO]

Ok, so that unit was very decent when it was new, however, it had voltage regulation that was incredibly mediocre and was barely within ATX specifications even on a brand new unit in both of the two reviews for that model. I would suspect, being six years old now, that is is probably outside of ATX spec, due to the simple fact that things tend to relax on power supplies over time.

A four year old PSU is not going to have the same output capacity, tight voltage regulation and low ripple and noise that a brand new identical model would have. This COULD mean that since your unit had borderline voltage regulation when it was new, that it is going out of spec and causing the system to go all "zip, zip, bing" with one pinched eyeball, so to speak. Or there could in fact be any number of problems with it at this point, being fully a year, at least, outside it's five year warranty. In my opinion, it is a very good idea to replace any power supply that has exceeded it's warranty period especially on high demand gaming or professional use systems that tend to experience demands that are not typical of the average system. And probably even for average systems as well, if we're being honest.

This could certainly be a number of other things as well, including the motherboard, since it's about five years old and that is generally about the timeframe where we start seeing boards failing in higher numbers from a given generation, but I would be very hesitant to try and convict ANY other hardware without first knowing I have a new, known-good power supply in place if for no other reason than the fact that any evidence pointing to a given component could be completely false because a failing or faulty power supply can create conditions which mimic perfectly the failure of practically any other component in the system. In simpler terms, all hardware relies on the PSU and if it is not delivering sufficient, and clean power, then no other hardware can do it's job properly and can look like it is failing when in reality the problem is only power delivery, not the actual component itself.

I'd start there.

And to start there, I'd start here:

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...

forums.tomshardware.com

That was exactly my thinking behind it. It was nice to hear it from someone else, I appreciate the response and I'll definitely be taking a look at the link you posted.

Hopefully I can resolve this issue!

 

[Darkbreeze]