Question What is going on with my computer? Have you ever seen this?

Jun 29, 2019
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My build is as follows:

PSU: Sentey 725W "XPP-725HS"

Mobo: MSI DDR4 "B350M Mortar"

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 3.0 ghz

RAM: 4x4 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 LPX 3000 MHz

GPU: XFX GTX Black Core Edition RX580 8GB 1405 MHz

OS: Windows 10 Pro V. 1809 Build 17763.379


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The problem:

The screen freezes, followed by either -

A.) returning back to normal after a 3-4 second pause, no beeps

B.) screen goes black after 3-4 seconds, beeps come from speakers (not mobo) and returns to normal

C.) screen goes black after 3-4 seconds, then to no signal after 3-4 seconds. System reboots automatically.


In all 3 events, I will get a notification from Radeon settings stating "Wattman settings restored due to unexpected system failure" even after event C as soon as the desktop is back up.


This issue has persisted since building, and mostly event A or B occurs, although event C occurs most often while gaming. If any of them occur while gaming, the game most likely crashes as well.. although some games recover (unless event C). Any of the issues happen at random while doing anything on the computer, but I'm most likely to see an issue when opening something (e.g opening folder, right clicking to open drop down menu, clicking on link in browser, clicking tabs in browser, loading web pages and scrolling with mouse wheel is highly likely to cause it) The problems almost never happen when the computer is not being used, or while I'm only typing.


It seems to have gotten worse over time as well, as it started out as usually being A and occasionally C, very rarely B. Possibly being exacerbated by software and drivers?


THINGS I HAVE RULED OUT:

GPU - surprisingly enough, the problem continues after installing alternate GPU (and reinstalling drivers, etc) and GPU functions flawlessly in other systems

GPU Drivers - I long suspected this, but no matter how many times I uninstall previous drivers and reinstall, as well as reinstalling windows 3 times now, the problems persists.

HDMI cables - persists on different cables.

RAM - system boots normally, never once heard the mobo speaker beep, RAM functioning fine.


THINGS I HAVE NOT RULED OUT/MOST LIKELY:

Motherboard - this suggestion came from friend who has some years of experience with this stuff. didn't go into much explanation or detail of what he thinks it is, just a bad board perhaps. couldnt be anything like electrical shorts, right? I have no idea.

CPU - there was a particular incident after a C event in which the CPU was running at 1.51 ghz, about half of its factory clock. I had to flash the bios and restore defaults to fix this issue. thought it might be related

Windows - you all know the sheer amount of stuff Windows could be conflicting with here. automatic driver installs, group policy, yadda yadda could be interfering. Although I have turned those settings off and seen no change in performance, I will not rule of this (P)OS.

PSU - I feel like I would be getting a lot more issues if the power supply was malfunctioning but I have not found a way to rule it out.


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My build is as follows:

PSU: Sentey 725W "XPP-725HS"

Mobo: MSI DDR4 "B350M Mortar"

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 3.0 ghz

RAM: 4x4 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 LPX 3000 MHz

GPU: XFX GTX Black Core Edition RX580 8GB 1405 MHz

OS: Windows 10 Pro V. 1809 Build 17763.379
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jun 29, 2019
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I wouldn't rule out RAM just because the BIOS isn't detecting problems. Try running a windows memory diagnostic on it. RAM is honestly the first thing I would suspect.

It could also be that the CPU isn't getting enough power from the motherboard. I had an issue with my 9900K on a Z370 board. Scenario C happened often. A game would either randomly close or the system would randomly reboot in the middle of it. I changed my motherboard to a z390 with a better VRM and the issue went away. Doesn't mean your motherboard is an issue however, it could be that or the PSU in this case.

This is based on my experience over the years anyway.
 
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COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
Is your motherboard running the most recent BIOS? Is your motherboard BIOS trying to auto-overclock the system? If so, change the setting to disable that.

What speed is your memory running at (you can check in your BIOS). If higher than 2133, lower to that.
 

Defenestrator IX

Prominent
May 10, 2019
64
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Okay, I've gotten VERY similar issues with my RX 580. The problem you're seeing with Wattman settings getting restored is usually caused by an overclocking fail. If that's the case, and you're not overclocking, the problem is something about your GPU. But you said you tried multiple, and the problem persists. I cannot answer that. Maybe it's what the other people were saying about your PSU. I have a "poor quality" PSU, but I haven't had any problems (yet), even while overclocking my GPU and it's using almost 200w.
 
Jun 29, 2019
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Thank you guys so much for your quick guidance! Reddit "tech support" still hasnt replied for over a month lol. I will run the memory diagnostic and if theres no problems I will just go ahead and get a new PSU. This is one is pretty old, the company isnt around anymore, but I got it because they also make headphones and the headphones were pretty good. I had a previous system running with it but upgraden to Ryzen so changed the mobo, cpu and ram but left the PSU. So thinking about that now it is probably the most likely. If the new PSU fixes it, I should feel very lucky, they are relatively inexpensive. Also I have 50 bucks on my Amazon gift card balance, I could very possibly give an update later on today with same-day shipping. Thank you guys again!
 
Jun 29, 2019
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Alright guys.. I got the new PSU but it didnt fit in my case so I had to get a new one and change everything over which is why it took so long. While I was changing the case I inspected the mobo, hard drives, cycled the ram so each stick was in a different slot, and made sure all the connections were good and there were no shorts. Everything seemed to run smoothly the first day so I redownloaded Steam and all my games. I tried playing and it was all back to normal... which normal in this case is the same problem I had before. Freezes to black screen and beeps. Haven't had a complete crash yet. Just A and B so far and it almost seems to be worse.. So add PSU to ruled out things. Could it be anything else? Faulty motherboard? Should I just upgrade my CPU anyway.. or could it be a RAM problem? I just want to be able to game!!
 
Jun 29, 2019
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Alright guys thread can come to close. I tested each stick of memory in main slot booting up one at a time. 2nd stick would not boot. The culprit has been found, bad RAM stick. I replaced it with 4 8GB sticks and I'm in gaming heaven!
 

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