Question Random Restarts

[woahwoahwilly]

Playing Garry's Mod on my dad's PC when suddenly it just restarts on its own with no warning. Specs here:

• AMD FX-8250
• MSI GeForce GTX 970 (2-way SLI)
• 32GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 RAM
• Some MSI motherboard
• Rosewill Quark 1000W

Relatively old (as in around 2-3 years or so), but I can't think of anything that could've made this happen. I know it can't be a power outage since when it restarted the light in the room was still on, so I have no idea what happened.

 

[Ralston18]

There being multiple restarts - correct?

What version of Windows is installed? Are you aware of any updates (Windows or otherwise) prior to the restart problem?

Look in Reliability History/Manager. Very likely to be some data entries that will correspond with the restarts.

Event Viewer may likewise provide further insight.

Another thing is "housecleaning". Has the computer ever been opened up, cleaned, components reseated, etc..?

Also: not sure of your age and, no offense intended, be sure to tell your Dad about the problem if he does not already know.

 

[shknawe]

Download hwmonitor and see if the temps on your cpu gpu or motherboard are excessive while gaming.

 

[woahwoahwilly]

There being multiple restarts - correct?

What version of Windows is installed? Are you aware of any updates (Windows or otherwise) prior to the restart problem?

Look in Reliability History/Manager. Very likely to be some data entries that will correspond with the restarts.

Event Viewer may likewise provide further insight.

Another thing is "housecleaning". Has the computer ever been opened up, cleaned, components reseated, etc..?

Also: not sure of your age and, no offense intended, be sure to tell your Dad about the problem if he does not already know.

Download hwmonitor and see if the temps on your cpu gpu or motherboard are excessive while gaming.

Only one restart, and about an hour ago.

Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) Version (no idea)

Once Dad took a GTX 970 out to put in my PC, but he just got another one. Nothing much. He hasn't cleaned it in who knows how long.

Will download HWMonitor, I have it on my home PC and laptop and it seems to work great.

 

[woahwoahwilly]

38 C right now on CPU and mobo. It's an FX CPU so I'm surprised it even runs this cool. Dad has a Cooler Master 240MM AIO, so maybe that has something to do with it? I've seen PCs leak and still work for a little bit.

 

[Ralston18]

Just one - hopefully not so bad....

Agree with @shknawe - good idea to start monitoring the temps.

And look into cleaning the PC: Dust and debris buildups will interfere with cooling. And over time heating up and cooling down will cause components to creep loose.

 

[shknawe]

If you look in computer and see a lot of dust on motherboard, memory and especially fans then you may have a dust arcing problem. Dust can cause static to jump around on motherboard and if that is happening the board will detect a sudden increase and shut itself down for safety reason.

 

[woahwoahwilly]

I'll tell my dad about it. Not sure he'll like Toms Hardware though since (most of) the techies in my fam think they have more experience than anyone else, but whatever. It's worth a try. He's got too much junk on here to lose it now.

 

[woahwoahwilly]

Temps are around 50C after a ton of Dying Light, the game that turns the PC into a space heater.