Random restarts when gaming or video streaming

[Steve Stillwell]

I've had this problem for a few months now and have been trying to pinpoint the source. My PC restarts in the middle of gaming or streaming video. No warning, and no explanation or errors when windows 10 boots again. It happens fairly infrequently (every other day or so) so it's been hard to pinpoint. I've tried 2 different PSUs and 2 different GPUs, and I think I've narrowed the problem to the hard drive. The motherboard is only 5 months old or so, and a clean windows install was done when I got it.

One time when starting my PC, the DMI pool verification test failed and windows didn't load. I restarted my PC and it worked fine, but that led me to believe the hard drive was failing (It's also fairly old, 4-5 years).

CHKDSK gives no errors however, so I'm wondering if the problem really is the hard drive.

 

[ArchitSahu]

We need full system specification. Which two PSU's? If they are both pretty bad, it would not make much of a difference. Could be your motherboard too.

 

[Steve Stillwell]

Mobo: Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3
CPU: AMD FX-6300
PSU: XFX TS Series P1550SXXB9 550W
Other PSU: EVGA 100-W1-0600 600W
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 04G-P4-2974-KR 4GB
Other GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x.
4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

 

[Steve Stillwell]

When I had the motherboard installed, I had to take it back and have them reinstall windows, apparently because of some motherboard settings. The whole thing didn't really sit right with me. I'm wondering if they didn't do something wrong installing the motherboard. I can see that the RAM is only running at 1333 Mhz so they didn't set that properly.

 

[Steve Stillwell]

The mobo is having boot failures when I set the RAM to 1866. I'm starting to think the guys that installed it didn't know what they were doing.

 

[ArchitSahu]

That XFX unit is a solid one, but it could have been failing due to the age. The EVGA unit is one of the poorest in the lineup, and could be your reason.

RAM maybe runs at 1333 due to the motherboard having a maximum of 1333 Mhz for the RAM. I am not too sure if it is HDD because I don't think they can lead to a problem like this. Do you have a motherboard you can borrow from a local or friend which is compatible with your setup and try it out?

 

[Steve Stillwell]

It appears the motherboard only supports 1600Mhz RAM (OC) so now I'm a bit pissed at the guys I took it too. Paid $150 for that motherboard that doesn't even support my RAM's speed when there's the exact same model but an earlier revision for $50. I set the RAM back to the default 1333 the mobo had it at now.

I was trying to avoid having to go through a motherboard installation not being 100% sure that it's the problem, when they said they would handle any problems with the motherboard for free. If I take it back to them, they either won't find any issues (because sometimes it goes for hours without having them) and I'll get charged for that, or the issue will be the hard drive and I'll get charged plus have to replace the hard drive myself.

Are there any tests I can run that can narrow down whether the issue is the motherboard or power supply?

I guess another option would just be to deal with it until it gets worse or gompletely gives out, which would make finding the faulty part much easier.

 

[Steve Stillwell]

I also just realized that the pro components of windows 10 were't installed, as when I checked system information it said it was windows 10 home. I was sure it installed when I entered my pro license key, but I just went to the store and saw an install button for windows 10 pro. I've done that now. I wonder if there was some kind of conflict in windows because of this?

 

[ArchitSahu]

It appears the motherboard only supports 1600Mhz RAM (OC) so now I'm a bit pissed at the guys I took it too. Paid $150 for that motherboard that doesn't even support my RAM's speed when there's the exact same model but an earlier revision for $50. I set the RAM back to the default 1333 the mobo had it at now.

I was trying to avoid having to go through a motherboard installation not being 100% sure that it's the problem, when they said they would handle any problems with the motherboard for free. If I take it back to them, they either won't find any issues (because sometimes it goes for hours without having them) and I'll get charged for that, or the issue will be the hard drive and I'll get charged plus have to replace the hard drive myself.

Are there any tests I can run that can narrow down whether the issue is the motherboard or power supply?

I guess another option would just be to deal with it until it gets worse or gompletely gives out, which would make finding the faulty part much easier.

Not really any tests unless substituting them with components which are compatible and work to confirm.

 

[ArchitSahu]

I also just realized that the pro components of windows 10 were't installed, as when I checked system information it said it was windows 10 home. I was sure it installed when I entered my pro license key, but I just went to the store and saw an install button for windows 10 pro. I've done that now. I wonder if there was some kind of conflict in windows because of this?

Windows 10 pro does not have extra features that can conflict AFAIK.