Various problems with PC

[Pavu]

Hey all,

 

Recently my PC has been having a bunch of seemingly unrelated issues but they seem to all be triggered by the same thing - leaving my pc for 3+ hours and letting it go to sleep. It's hard to put a time frame on things since they all started happening at different times, but I would say most of the following issues started happening about 3 months ago:

• When I wake my computer, the internet will occasionally stop working. I use my motherboard's (Asus Prime B450-Plus) onboard ethernet + a separate wifi card (some random cheapo Amazon brand) that I only use if our home internet goes out so I can use my phone as a hotspot. By "stop working," I mean that Windows will straight up not recognize any network device. It will show ethernet as disconnected even after I physically reconnect the cable, and wifi will appear as "turned off." Using troubleshooter to try and turn on the wifi card will give an error that simply says "unable to turn on device". 
• Windows will sometimes not recognize my monitors after waking. I have a dual monitor setup - both are Acer VG240Y's but with different refresh rates: a 144hz panel connected via HDMI 2.0, and a 75hz panel connected via DP out to HDMI in (my graphics card only has 1 HDMI output). It is always the 144hz monitor that isn't recognized. 
• Restarting will always fix the above issues, but sometimes the computer will be unable to restart. As in, it will be stuck in the restart loading screen for over 5 minutes. My boot drive is a Crucial P1 nvme drive, so boot times are usually within the 10 second range. In these cases, holding down the power button for 5+ seconds on my tower will restart.
• A much rarer occurrence is the computer freezing with complete inability to restart. The frequency of this happening is maybe 1-2 times a month, and to my recollection only happens under load (i.e. heavy memory usage from many many Chrome tabs, or heavy hardware load during gaming). The only way to restart in these scenarios is to flip the switch on the PSU.
• Even rarer is Windows spontaneously restarting. I get no BSOD, and Windows starts up without any error report. When I look at the event log there is nothing out of the ordinary (the only critical event was the restart). This has only happened twice so far.

I would really like some help on resolving these issues. I posted this in the mobos section since most of these issues seem motherboard related, though I'm also inclined to believe my power supply (EVGA 500W BQ) is faulty. Again, these problems usually only happen after 3+ hours sleep or under heavy load. At first I thought it was an overheating issue, but generally temps on all hardware is fine. CPU (relatively new 2700X running at stock cooled by a Hyper 212) generally stays under 75C, GPU (EVGA 1660Ti SC Ultra) under 70C. Memory and SSD temps are of course normal. Nevertheless, I dust-cleaned all my fans (2x140mm intake 1x120mm exhaust), my CPU and GPU cooler heatsinks, and reapplied thermal compound on both chips. Just about the only thing I haven't done at this point is crack open the PSU. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If this definitely sounds like a hardware issue, I'm more than willing to search for motherboard/power supply replacements. 

[Votivee]

How often do you use that wifi card? I feel like that might be a cause of some of the issues. If you can, I'd pull it and leave it out for a while and see if your problems persist. 

 

Have you tried a reinstall of windows?

[OnionRings]

6 minutes ago, Votivee said:

How often do you use that wifi card? I feel like that might be a cause of some of the issues. If you can, I'd pull it and leave it out for a while and see if your problems persist. 

 

Have you tried a reinstall of windows?

I'd 2nd that reinstall on windows. Sometimes when you have a bunch of problems that make no sense, a reinstall of windows can be a good start. Just remember to save and backup anything important before you do.

[Jinu]

Can you elaborate on this "A much rarer occurrence is the computer freezing with complete inability to restart. ". This error is worrisome. What happens when you try to restart.

- Does your motherboard have a speaker and does it give any beeps when this error occurs. 

- Does it show the usual post messages ?

- Does it give you a boot error.

[Pavu]

2 hours ago, Votivee said:

How often do you use that wifi card? I feel like that might be a cause of some of the issues. If you can, I'd pull it and leave it out for a while and see if your problems persist. 

 

Have you tried a reinstall of windows?

It's hard to quantify since I pretty much only use it for emergencies. I do however use it occasionally to connect my bluetooth headphones. I'll take out the card and reinstall Windows this weekend when I have time and see if it helps.

1 hour ago, Jinu said:

Can you elaborate on this "A much rarer occurrence is the computer freezing with complete inability to restart. ". This error is worrisome. What happens when you try to restart.

- Does your motherboard have a speaker and does it give any beeps when this error occurs. 

- Does it show the usual post messages ?

- Does it give you a boot error.

With the exception of one BSOD, all the restarts happen without warning, no motherboard error sounds/codes, no boot errors, and no POST message (only the Asus logo screen before the Windows boot animation). 

[C17H23NO2]

Really torn between a windows install related issue 
or a Mainboard driver related issue.

[Jinu]

Given that you are not seeing BSOD, this definitely looks like a hardware issue. Unfortunately, its practically impossible identify your issue given the long time between errors and the various components that could be in the process of failing. Some of the common culprits are:

1. Motherboard (obviously.. )

2. Faullty Ram stick. I would try removing it and cleaning the contacts and sticking them back. Change the RAM Slots if possible

3. The Nvme drive SSD drive. If you have a spare HDD lying around, replace it for testing purpose and run for a week and see if the error is coming

4. Failing powersupply. Again borrow from somewhere a test unit replace and try. 

5. Faulty USB device/connector to the motherboard, causing a temporary short or similar.

6. Dust causing electrical problems. Clean the board using a blower.

7. A faulty  fan causing powersupply or motherboard to overload.

 

How would i go about solving this issue (no matter how painful the process)

1. Dismantle the whole PC, right down to removing the motherboard from the case and removing all the connectors from the motherboard. Also remove the cooling fan and RAM stick, NVMIE disks etc. But do not remove the CPU.

2. Do a visual inspection of the board (is it bent), sometimes the weight of the CPU cooler can cause the board to bend (if not installed properly), does anything on the board look coroded/rust etc.

3. Now clean the motherboard using a high power blower and a smooth brush. Pay close attention to the sockets (PCI, RAM, NVMIE, power connector, around the CPU socket) and also sockets on the sides of the board like USB, LAN, HDMI etc.

4. similarly also clean your graphics card

5. Now reassemble your PC. Just make sure when you put the motherboard back into the PC Cabinet there is ample spacing between the motherboard and cpu cabinet. 

6. Run your system with only motherboard, RAM, Graphics card, keyboard, mouse and HDD (not Nvmie SSD). Or you can also boot from a USB and skip the HDD. There are many apps available (boot from USB) that can be used for stress test.  Do not connect any of the FANS except for the CPU Fan.

7. If it succeeds then gradually add each component and see if anything fails.  

 

This process does is very long boring and frustrating, but then you get to learn something. All the best