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My PC Keeps randomly rebooting by itself. Hardware or Virus related? Possibly PSU or RAM?

Mysticstrider
By Mysticstrider
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Hi everyone. My name is Andrew and I'm new here to the forums but I have been following LInus Tech Tips and NCIX channel for a long, long, time since 2007 I believe. I just want to to thank you Linus and everyone here for giving me the knowledge on how to troubleshoot and solve certain problems, even helped me build my own PC Rig by myself with the help of his videos, so thanks for that.

 

Anyway I have a problem right now with my PC. 

I have this gaming PC since 2008 and I haven't replaced anything besides my graphics card since the past 6 years and upgraded my RAM to 8GB since 2010. I also upgraded to a new Power Supply in August 2010, which is a Corsair TX750, and it's upgraded from a OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600 watts.  Now I know it's not my Graphics card because it's not showing random nvidia display error or artifacts, weird colors flickering and stuff. But I think it's probably either Power Supply. This is a pretty old system, I know which I think I'll need to upgrade soon anyway befor the end of the year. I don't think it I have a virus, I tried running malwarebytes and AVG and there's scanning finds nothing. Do you guys think it's a hardware related issue?

But i think it might be my PSU(Power Supply), but not sure. I had this PSU since August 2010, and I do leave my computer running a lot and hardly turn it off or put it into sleep. 

 

Also, I regret getting this PSU because it's a Bronze certified and should've gotten the "HX" series which is Gold certified plus it's a Modular.

Is it most likely my PSU? My computer would reboot without BSOD randomly every 5-10 minutes now, it used to be like every 30min-1hour or few hours in the past few days. It's been starting to do this the past few days which is why I'm worried. 

 

I also used a Can of Compressed air to clean my computer and also to blow my powersupply from the back and saw a lot of dust coming out. Is dust a factor of reducing the life span of my Power Supply? I haven't used it to clean my computer in the past few months which is probably the reason why my PSU is failing, not only that but it has reached a 4 year mark...

So I also want to know if it's okay to blow air inside of my Power Supply to get rid of all the Dust accumulation? 

 

Anyway, do you guys think it's my Power Supply and will I need to replace my Power Supply?  

 


But here are my specs: 
Intel Core Quad Q6600 3.0ghz 
Corsair XMS2 8gb(4x2gb)(DDR2-800) 
eVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 760 2gb 
Corsair TX750w watts 
Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium 
2x1tb Harddrive

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If it's getting BSOD I would say it's a driver problem, Windows problem, or virus

"Rawr XD"

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If it's getting BSOD I would say it's a driver problem, Windows problem, or virus

I said it's not BSOD. 

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I said it's not BSOD. 

When you're using it does it just turn off out of nowhere? If so, then it's likely a PSU issue since power is being cut. 

 

TX, nor HX, are great PSUs. Would be a good idea to get something that's not CWT based

"Rawr XD"

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When you're using it does it just turn off out of nowhere? If so, then it's likely a PSU issue since power is being cut. 

 

TX, nor HX, are great PSUs. Would be a good idea to get something that's not CWT based

HX is decent enough to not have this happen. Still though that sounds like a PSU issue.

RIG: I7-4790k @ 4.5GHz | MSI Z97S SLI Plus | 12GB Geil Dragon RAM 1333MHz | Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970 (1550MHz core/7800MHz memory) @ +18mV(Maxed out at 1650/7800 so far) | Corsair RM750 | Samsung 840 EVO 120GB, 1TB Seagate Barracuda | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Closed) | Sound Blaster Z                                                                                                                        Getting: Noctua NH-D15 | Possible 250GB Samsung 850 Evo                                                                                        Need a console killer that actually shits on every console? Here you go (No MIR/Promo)

This is why you should not get an FX CPU for ANY scenario other than rendering on a budget http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/286142-fx-8350-r9-290-psu-requirements/?p=3892901 | http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/266481-an-issue-with-people-bashing-the-fx-cpus/?p=3620861

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When you're using it does it just turn off out of nowhere? If so, then it's likely a PSU issue since power is being cut. 

 

TX, nor HX, are great PSUs. Would be a good idea to get something that's not CWT based

Yeah, my computer would randomly reboot, which I had this problem with my super old computer back in 2004-2005 and I realized it was my power supply. So I'm guessing that might also be related to this problem that I'm having so I figured it's my power supply, do you think? 

Also, what's CWT? Why isn't it good that it's not CWT based?

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Yeah, my computer would randomly reboot, which I had this problem with my super old computer back in 2004-2005 and I realized it was my power supply. So I'm guessing that might also be related to this problem that I'm having so I figured it's my power supply, do you think? 

Also, what's CWT? Why isn't it good that it's not CWT based?

Corsair does not make their own power supplies. They get power supplies from other companies (OEMs) and put their sticker/name on them.

 

Most TX and HX are made by CWT. Long story short, CWT also makes the low end CX. When you're looking for a PSU look for one by a more reputable OEM like Seasonic or Super Flower, as those OEMs generally use better caps, filters, etc. Overall better quality power supplies based on what's on the inside, not what the brand name is

"Rawr XD"

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Corsair does not make their own power supplies. They get power supplies from other companies (OEMs) and put their sticker/name on them.

 

Most TX and HX are made by CWT. Long story short, CWT also makes the low end CX. When you're looking for a PSU look for one by a more reputable OEM like Seasonic or Super Flower, as those OEMs generally use better caps, filters, etc. Overall better quality power supplies based on what's on the inside, not what the brand name is

Oh, I didn't know about that, that's good to know... didn't realize that about Corsair though. So what PSU do you recommend me getting and may you link me a good Power Supply that's 600w-800w? I see that you have a OCZ ModXStream, also your sig shows "OCX" just want to let you know that you should fix that to a "OCZ". Does OCZ make good power supplies and do they make their own supplies unlike Corsair?  I had the GameXStream 600w back in 2008, but yeah I upgraded to the Corsair TX750 back in August 2010.

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Oh, I didn't know about that, that's good to know... didn't realize that about Corsair though. So what PSU do you recommend me getting and may you link me a good Power Supply that's 600w-800w? I see that you have a OCZ ModXStream, also your sig shows "OCX" just want to let you know that you should fix that to a "OCZ". Does OCZ make good power supplies and do they make their own supplies unlike Corsair?  I had the GameXStream 600w back in 2008, but yeah I upgraded to the Corsair TX750 back in August 2010.

I don't even know who makes the ModXStream but it's not a very good power supply. Even though mine is "700W" I still wouldn't run any more then what I already have in my system off it.

 

For you, if you're not planning to SLI in the future, I would suggest the 550W Rosewill Capstone or Seasonic G

"Rawr XD"

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Okay, thanks for recommending a power supply to me and I will look into those.

 

But just to make sure, is there any sort of way to test if it's really my power supply that's causing the random restarts on my computer or something else? It's probably my power supply just to be sure though. 

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You could try another power supply, which you probably don't have, because you won't be asking.
Try removing graphics card, that will cut the load on psu a bit, and you will see if it still restarts.

 

Btw, my personal tip is psu also. I got office computer like this once with note 'PSU failing'. At first, there were blown caps on mobo, which i fixed and computer was running fine. I could even put it under stress test for hour, system ran fine. But psu started failing after a while. Totaly random reboots. Sometimes during game, sometimes in ms office... No signs of problem, then click, computer reboot. It looked like I pulled it from wall and put it back, but faster.

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You could try another power supply, which you probably don't have, because you won't be asking.

Try removing graphics card, that will cut the load on psu a bit, and you will see if it still restarts.

 

Btw, my personal tip is psu also. I got office computer like this once with note 'PSU failing'. At first, there were blown caps on mobo, which i fixed and computer was running fine. I could even put it under stress test for hour, system ran fine. But psu started failing after a while. Totaly random reboots. Sometimes during game, sometimes in ms office... No signs of problem, then click, computer reboot. It looked like I pulled it from wall and put it back, but faster.

Okay, so it's actually my PSU then based on the symptoms I've posted? 

Also, what you're saying in some of your sentences don't makesense, what do you mean I won't be asking? I won't be asking what?

 

Anyhow, I just ordered a new Power Supply on newegg, it's the Cooler Master V750: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171094

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Also, what you're saying in some of your sentences don't makesense, what do you mean I won't be asking? I won't be asking what?

Aah, sorry, I'm not native english speaker / writer.

I meaned it this way: You should try to swap PSU for another one. But you probably don't have, because if you had spare psu to test with, there won't be this diagnostics and guessing whether it is psu failing or not.

I hope, it's clear now :)

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Hmm... well still waiting for my power supply to arrive and will give an update about this. Do you guys think it might be my motherboard? The motherboard is from 2008, I don't know if it's a motherboard problem, one of the capacitors might have died. I hope it's just my PSU and not my motherboard.. ><

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