Random shutdown repeatedly

[Kristian]

So I could really use some help here. Yesterday I was minding my own business finishing the entire internet when all of a sudden my PC shut down without warning (not like logging off or anything, more like “yeah let’s kill power now”). When I restarted the system, it thought about it for maybe a second and then killed power once again before trying to auto startup a few times without success (power supply LED eventually turned red).

 

- ASUS Rampage IV Extreme, Socket 2011

- Core i7-3930K cooled with Corsair H100i

- Corsair Dominator DDR3 1866MHz 4x4GB

- Corsair AX1200i PSU

- GeForce GTX 780Ti

- Windows 7 Ultimate running RAID 0 on 2x OCZ Vector 128GB

- Various other disks for storage

 

It should be noted that the system is built on a test bench environment rather than in a proper computer case, but I don’t think that’s a problem (temperatures are very good and I regularly remove dust).

 

The CPU has been overclocked to 4.4 – 4.7 GHz from time to time, although temperatures hardly ever exceeds 60 deg. Voltages should be fine as well, since I have been using the custom OC profiles from ASUS every time I overclock. 

 

The GPU has been overclocked with a slight GPU clock offset (+100) and temp target on 82 deg (default). I usually dial it down when I don’t need the extra speed. When I first got the system (couple of years ago) I tried overclocking the ram. I got BSOD very quickly so the RAM stays on stock speed or lower.

 

[spoiler=Troubleshooting]

First thing I did was disconnecting all wires to the PSU and running a self-test. LED indicator turned green, which tells me that the PSU is fine. Then I disconnected all PCI Express cards and booted up with motherboard, CPU and CPU cooler only. It worked for a second but then killed power. Since I was overclocking at the time, I disconnected the CMOS battery from the motherboard and got things back to default in addition to switching to Slow Mode on the motherboard to dial the CPU speed down. This time at least I got to BIOS without PC shutting down. I now switched from AHCI to RAID mode so I could get back into Windows. I also switched off Slow Mode.

 

After 5 minutes with the PC randomly shutting down and attempting to start again, I could finally log into Windows. But then BSOD happened. When I try again, the PC starts but then shuts down almost immediately. This happens over and over again. Eventually I can fight my way back into Windows, and I immediately go to Event Viewer --> Windows Logs --> System. There is a ton of critical events and errors, and these are the Event IDs I could write down before the PC killed power again:

 

Event ID 7001 (about ten of these recorded)

Event ID 10005 (7 or 8 of these)

Event ID 7026

Event ID 41

 

After that last shutdown, I called it a night and now here I am. I tried to do some research on these Event IDs, but from what I understand it only tells me what Windows tried to do without success. It does not say why it happened. 

 

So I’m really stuck now PC shutting down on me all over the place and I failed troubleshooting badly. At least in the end I sit with a feeling that my CPU is shot to hell. It seems a lot more stable on lower clock speeds now (although not near as stable as it should be). But could it be the motherboard or the PSU? Or what could it be? It’s just real depressing not knowing what is wrong. I’ve had this computer for a few years now, and it has worked flawlessly up until now. 

 

 

[dragoon20005]

what i could think of is the RAID controller on your board has failed

 

another guy who is using the Rampage Black also has a similar situation

[c3p0]

ID 41 Calling psu

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028504/de#method1

 

 

 

If event 41 is logged because power to the computer was interrupted, consider obtaining an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) such as a battery backup power supply. An underpowered or failing power supply may cause this behavior. For example, if you added RAM or additional devices or hard disks when this problem began, the power supply may cause the problem.

 

 

ID 7000 Raid driver?

 

 

The Parallel port driver service failed to start due to the following error: The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. 

[Kristian]

what i could think of is the RAID controller on your board has failed

 

another guy who is using the Rampage Black also has a similar situation

 

Well I use the RAID controller for both Windows (RAID 0) and two Seagate Barracuda in RAID 1 for storage of more important stuff. Which means it is likely to believe that something might have happened here. However, with the motherboard set to default settings I don't think the raid controller is enabled? SATA = AHCI as of default, and the PC keeps shutting down even before power-on self-test and before I can hit F2/delete to enter BIOS. The Serial ATA controllers shouldn't cause any problems this early in the startup process?

 

ID 41 Calling psu

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028504/de#method1

 

 

 

ID 7000 Raid driver?

 

If I'm not mistaken the motherboard will tell the PSU to kill power if something is wrong (i.e. motherboard shuts down due to w/e). Will this end up with Windows displaying  ID 41?

[Kristian]

I may also add that I've been hosting some local Mincraft and Feed the Beast servers on this computer (using java which can be quite CPU heavy). I did some 'ghetto test drive' on the CPU by opening the Feed the Beast launcher which caused an immediate shutdown as well. At this point the computer had been running stable on low speed for five minutes or so.

[dragoon20005]

weird

 

but one way to test for power and RAID issues is this

 

if you got a spare PSU try that with your setup

 

this is to rule out PSU troubles

 

follow by Installing your OS into a spare SSD using only AHCI instead of RAID

 

if you still get a BSOD and shut down

 

I will point to the mobo or RAM

 

do a MemTest too 

[Orthodoctus]

Is your electricity stable? Here in my city it used to fluctuate badly (could see the lights flicker), and when that happened the PC would shutdown. It would struggle to even begin to boot at a times. If it is stable, then it might be the PSU as the others pointed out, given how soon it shuts down.

[Kristian]

Thanks for your replies. Electricity should be pretty stable, and we also have a few other desktop computers running in the same house without any issues. 

 

I actually tried to do a memtest yesterday, but of course the PC just shut down in the middle of the process. I was using all memory sticks for this test tho, so I will try running the test on single modules when I get back home! I will also see if I can find another PSU, even tho I really trust the AX1200i as well as the PSU self test being successful   Installing OS on a single disk in order to rule out RAID issues was a great idea actually. I assume the RAID controllers are completely disabled when running in AHCI, and thus motherboard will not detect and power off if there is an issue with the RAID? Also, can the RAID controller ‘wear out’ over time as I use both RAID 0 and RAID 1 straight off the motherboard, or is this something I can continue to be doing without being worried? Thanks again for your help guys.

[Kristian]

8 months old Corsair AX1200i died. Swapped it for a new one and the system now works fine Thanks for the help