[SOLVED] Random shutdown - exhausted almost every option I can think of ?

[foxhound525]

.

FX-8370
16GB DDR3 (8x2)
GTX 1060 6GB
Biostar TA970 plus v5
2SSDs 1TB each
2HDDs (8TB and 10TB)
EVGA superNOVA 850watt B2 80+ bronze psu

I've had a strange issue for the last year

I did some overclocks on cpu and gpu last year, as well as enabling xmp 1600mhz in order to try and fine tune my old hardware as much as possible for VR gaming. My CPU is normally 4.0 ghz boosting up to 4.1, but I took it up to 4.45 but kept dropping it down due to what appeared to be VRM throttling (temps were fine but core speed would drop to 1.4 ghz sometimes until rebooted). Eventually I settled on 4.2ghz with none of this behaviour.

I don't know if this is related, but I started experiencing random power loss about once a week. I replaced my PSU with a warranty replacement of the same model, and it happened again within a few hours of installing the new one. It might be worth noting that I only replaced the PSU and its non modular wiring (mobo/cpu/gpu power), all the original molex/sata connectors are still inside my pc. I then replaced the power kettle cord, no change. I then reset my cpu core settings back to how they were originally, still got a random shutdown. Nothing relevant shows up in event viewer as far as I can tell (not got a huge amount of experience using eventviewer). My PC is plugged into a surge protected 4 plug extension lead that goes directly into the wall but the surge protection has never tripped and none of my other hardware turns off when the shutdown happens.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what this is or how it could be fixed. The only thing I can think of is that I might have damaged the motherboard with too much voltage when I was messing around with overclocks? But that seems very unlikely and surely I'd hear about that more than a once a week

Help

 

[Ralston18]

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer.

Any errors codes, warnings, and even informational entries that correspond with the times of the crashes?

If I correctly understand your post you reused some of the original PSU cables when you installed the new PSU.

Use the cables that came with the new PSU.

 

[foxhound525]

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer.

Any errors codes, warnings, and even informational entries that correspond with the times of the crashes?

If I correctly understand your post you reused some of the original PSU cables when you installed the new PSU.

Use the cables that came with the new PSU.

In both Event viewer and reliability monitor, all it says was that windows was not properly shut down. Nothing else of any significance in the runup to that. There were some distributedcom errors and a browserlock.exe crashing (a program I just installed to allow me to take the COMPTIA exam from home). This is the normal lack of useful intel I get following a power loss.

And the PSU was semi modular, so the only cables I didn't replace were the molex connectors that provide sata power to my HDDs and SSDs

 

[Ralston18]

Did the problems begin with BrowserLock being installed? Check Reliability History - the timeline format may reveal some start to the problems.

Another thing to consider is that some earlier/original crashes caused file corruption.

Try running "sfc /scannow" and "dism" via the Command Prompt.

References:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

https://www.howtogeek.com/222532/ho...-system-files-with-the-sfc-and-dism-commands/

 

[foxhound525]

Did the problems begin with BrowserLock being installed? Check Reliability History - the timeline format may reveal some start to the problems.

Another thing to consider is that some earlier/original crashes caused file corruption.

Try running "sfc /scannow" and "dism" via the Command Prompt.

References:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

https://www.howtogeek.com/222532/ho...-system-files-with-the-sfc-and-dism-commands/

No this has been a problem going back as far as a year. I also have another problem that may or may not be linked; which is hitching. About 7 minutes ago it happened again, for about 20 seconds everything froze, and when it came back, task manager showed that my gpu, cpu and network usage were all at 100% during the lockup. I had assumed this was caused by instability introduced by the overclock, but it still happens even after dropping the overclock apparently. Again nothing shows in event viewer or task manager except distributedcom errors which are basically nothing and of no significance as far as I can tell.

When I upgraded from 7 to win 10, I first cloned my 7 OS to a different SSD (as I planned on dual booting initially), and did the whole dism thing to get rid of some corruption that introduced. Last time I ran it nothing came up, but it doesn't hurt to try that again.

I can't even just do a full system wipe as I'd loose my modded skyrim and fallout 4 vr installs (which took a long bloody time to setup), not to mention Tridef 3D which can no longer be installed as the verification stage can't communicate with the server after tridef went bust.

Edit: I read that you can do a more thorough windows install by running the upgrade program again and it preserved your programs. Going to give that a try

 

[Ralston18]

Also try Resource Monitor to observe system performance. (Much as you have done using Task Manager.)

You may be able to see some change that happens when the hitches and freezes occur.

Post what you find.

One other thought: Tridef 3D.

Not familiar with the software. However, if it is not being upgraded then I think it likely that some Windows change has created a conflict.

Noted DistributedCom errors - those errors may be significant.

References:

Background:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-d...sually occurs,not have the proper permissions.

https://support.controlup.com/hc/en-us/articles/208795449-DCOM-Error-Event-ID-10009

There may be some fixes but do not immediately do anything - especially Registry edits. Registry edits are a last resort and require that the system be completely backed up along with the Registry itself as well.

You have a very complex setup so caution must be taken.

Do your games permit saving configuration files - your "setups" as a separate file?

You may, indeed, need to do a clean Windows install and start over.

 

[foxhound525]

Also try Resource Monitor to observe system performance. (Much as you have done using Task Manager.)

You may be able to see some change that happens when the hitches and freezes occur.

Post what you find.

One other thought: Tridef 3D.

Not familiar with the software. However, if it is not being upgraded then I think it likely that some Windows change has created a conflict.

Noted DistributedCom errors - those errors may be significant.

References:

Background:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-distributedcom-error-10016-windows/#:~:text=The Distributed Component Object Model,networked communication on Windows computers.&text=A DCOM error usually occurs,not have the proper permissions.

https://support.controlup.com/hc/en-us/articles/208795449-DCOM-Error-Event-ID-10009

There may be some fixes but do not immediately do anything - especially Registry edits. Registry edits are a last resort and require that the system be completely backed up along with the Registry itself as well.

You have a very complex setup so caution must be taken.

Do your games permit saving configuration files - your "setups" as a separate file?

You may, indeed, need to do a clean Windows install and start over.

I've often seen resource monitor being mentioned, but have never used it. Is it any different to task manager or just a different UI for the same thing?

Tridef 3D works fine more or less, its functionality is often affected when steam changes things (as its a steroscopic injector - i.e. takes game depth information and uses that to produce a 3D image which I can view with my glasses on my 3DTV). The issue is that Tridef went bust, and the app had an antipiracy measure to 'phone home' when installing. Tridef went bust however, and in their infinite wisdom decided not to

[ Moderator edit to remove profanity.

]the installer for the public good, meaning if you lose your installation, you may not ever be able to legally install it again. I paid actual money for this program, and the cracked version is an older version, so I can't get rid and start fresh unless I'm willing to throw away my favourite way to play non VR games.

As for the distributedCOM errors, I get code 100016 near constantly, which according to Microsoft's forums and reps is a normal and insignificant part of win 10. As you say, editing the registry is a bit too much risk to try and fix something totally benign. It is the 'app doesn't have persmission' variety of 100016, but I don't think it actually say what application doesn't have the permission - which is helpful.

Unfortunately not. Theoretically, I could purge all the mods, move the game install to a different drive, do a completely fresh windows install, but then vortex (the mod manager I use) wouldn't be able to correctly configure my mods on the new OS. I am actively troubleshooting a large modlist for fallout 4, so mod management isn't something I can do without unfortunately.

I am downloading a win10 'upgrade' now though, according to an article I can opt to keep files, setting and apps. I know this win10 version isn't completely healthy anyway, as my win explorer doesn't work properly. When I right click it in the task bar; if I try and click on any of the pinned documents, nothing happens. If I open file explorer I can navigate normally, but pinned documents is broken and DISM/SFC never seemed to think there was anything wrong with my OS curiously. So I am hoping this upgrade reset can help solve my many puzzling mysteries.

 

[Ralston18]

Task Manager and Resource Monitor are different although there is some overlap.

Windows has another tool (Process Explorer) which also can be useful.

And Powershell can likewise help delve into the details of what a system has, how the system is configured, and what the system is doing.

Reminder: per Forum rules - no profanity.

 

[foxhound525]

Task Manager and Resource Monitor are different although there is some overlap.

Windows has another tool (Process Explorer) which also can be useful.

And Powershell can likewise help delve into the details of what a system has, how the system is configured, and what the system is doing.

Reminder: per Forum rules - no profanity.

Well doing the 'upgrade' hasn't fixed the issue with explorer, and now the gadgets that used to sit on my second monitor (coretemp and the nvdia temperature monitor) are gone. Looks like I wasted an evening and have nothing to show for it. System restore tomorrow methinks.

I guess I'll just have to put up with it until I get a new machine, then I'll know for definite if its a hardware/bios issue (excluding hdds) or a software/SSD/HDD problem

 

[foxhound525]

Well I think I may have solved it

My FX-8370 has been running with the default CPU VID value of 1.4125 volts. After seeing lots of people online in overclocking forums saying that 1.4v is a bit too high generally speaking, I spoke with someone on r/overclocking who said that default voltages are often higher than they need to be.

I lowered the VID to 1.3750 a few weeks ago, and since doing that, I haven't had any freezing or any random shutdowns. Now I'm actually keeping the core VID the same and using the CPU vcore offset (just plus 0.02v currently) to increase my core clocks with the voltage headroom available. +200mhz was completely stable without any cpu vcore adjustment, went up to +300mhz today with the +0.02v and it has had no issues under stress tests. Seems I might be able to squeeze some more performance despite my crappy mobo after all.

 

[foxhound525]

Well I think I may have solved it

My FX-8370 has been running with the default CPU VID value of 1.4125 volts. After seeing lots of people online in overclocking forums saying that 1.4v is a bit too high generally speaking, I spoke with someone on r/overclocking who said that default voltages are often higher than they need to be.

I lowered the VID to 1.3750 a few weeks ago, and since doing that, I haven't had any freezing or any random shutdowns. Now I'm actually keeping the core VID the same and using the CPU vcore offset (just plus 0.02v currently) to increase my core clocks with the voltage headroom available. +200mhz was completely stable without any cpu vcore adjustment, went up to +300mhz today with the +0.02v and it has had no issues under stress tests. Seems I might be able to squeeze some more performance despite my crappy mobo after all.

Just to update on this, I think my motherboard just isn't able to consistenly power my CPU cleanly. I still get a random shutdown occuring but its extremely rare. I have now switched to a better motherboard (Asus sabertooth 990fx) with much better VRMs and more of them, and things seem fine now. A word of advice to any readers... don't mess with your northbridge voltage. Its not worth it and can easily damage your motherboard.