PC restarting "randomly"

[M A J O R]

Problem:

My PC restarts randomly (instant turn off then goes through the rog logo etc to Windows).

 

When does it happen?

Usually when gaming although no exclusively, it has occured whilst using other programs.

 

Detail:

I've used the PC and played games etc in it's current config for months with no problems it started happening about a month ago. Apex Legends seems to set this issue off more than other programs.

All of the standard things (drivers, clean windows install, reinstalled certain games, tried different powerpoint and so on) Last week I took the PC in for a diagnostic at the local I.T store and they reported no issues beyond a potentially faulty HDMI port on my GPU (which I don't use anyway). They checked everthing and clean installed drivers etc too. After that I completely rebuilt/cleaned the entire system checking the physical condition, wiring and connections of all the components. I then used the PC for gaming, photoshop and browsing for 6-8hrs with no issue. I started playing again today and the issue has returned out of nowhere.

 

I don't know what else to do at this point. I was planning to build a new system, but that's not really an option right now for obvious reasons. Any insight into this matter would be greatly apprecited.

[Tigbanua]

If you can, try isolating parts that might cause the problem. I'd start with your GPU, then RAM.

[Vishera]

Try testing the CPU with Prime95 with the Small FFTs option for a hour.

Try testing the GPU with GPUPI 3.3.3,Press Calculate then use the following settings:

32B HWbot GPU

choose your GPU in OpenCL GPU devices

Batch size: 20M

Reduction size: 512

Then press OK to start.

(Press cancel if a message about HPET appears)

 

Tell us if you get any errors while testing.

 

Prime95 download page:

https://www.mersenne.org/download/

 

GPUPI 3.3.3 download page:

https://www.overclockers.at/news/gpupi-international-support-thread

[KREWLIFE]

Could be several issues, heat could be a factor, perhaps a PSU issue. Have you checked in your event viewer to see if Windows is giving you any error warnings?

[M A J O R]

Will do, thanks for the links too mate. A gold star from me haha.

[M A J O R]

1 hour ago, Wayupthere said:

Could be several issues, heat could be a factor, perhaps a PSU issue. Have you checked in your event viewer to see if Windows is giving you any error warnings?

Will post what I find in the Event Viewer after trying Vishera's suggestions.

 

My cooling setup is pretty good, AIO on the CPU + plenty of airflow throughout the case. CPU temp is currently 62 deg celcius 45mins into the Prime95 test. Exhaust air feels cool and it's around 20 degrees celcius ambient. Haven't tested the PSU (not sure if the I.T shop did either) as it's hard to test through software. My PSU is pretty high quality, but it's also around 5yrs old if memory serves me correctly.

[M A J O R]

@Vishera

Last few lines of the Prime95 test for reference.

 

 

 

GPUPI Error:

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.56 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 512 (Type: Default)

Error: Device ran out of ressources (Radeon RX 5700 XT)
Tip: Try to reduce the Reduction Size first, maybe the Batch Size as well.

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

Last few lines of the Prime95 test for reference.

 

 

What about the other threads of the CPU?

5 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

GPUPI Error:

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.56 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 512 (Type: Default)

Error: Device ran out of ressources (Radeon RX 5700 XT)
Tip: Try to reduce the Reduction Size first, maybe the Batch Size as well.

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

Reduce the Reduction size and try again.

[M A J O R]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

What about the other threads of the CPU?

Reduce the Reduction size and try again.

0 errors, 0 warnings on all "workers". Some had 1-2 less tests completed. Other than that all the same.

 

Reduced Reduction Size one step:

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 256 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.422s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.423s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.618s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.179s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000052766997

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

Reduced Reduction Size another step (128):

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 128 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.353s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.322s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.499s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.035s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000189376873

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

Reduced Reduction Size another step (64)

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 64 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.492s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.569s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.874s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.542s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000006200868

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

 

[Vishera]

6 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

0 errors, 0 warnings on all "workers". Some had 1-2 less tests completed. Other than that all the same.

 

Reduced Reduction Size one step:

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 256 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.422s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.423s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.618s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.179s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000052766997

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

Reduced Reduction Size another step (128):

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 128 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.353s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.322s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.499s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.035s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000189376873

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

Reduced Reduction Size another step (64)

 

Timer: RTC (1 ms, unsafe due to clock drift)
Init HWiNFO: Ok

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing 2.1
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (20 CUs, 1795 MHz, OpenCL 2.0)
   Compiling OpenCL kernels ... done.

Calculating 32.000.000.000th digit of PI. 20 iterations.

 Allocated device memory : 335.55 MB
 Batch Size              : 20M
 Reduction Size          : 64 (Type: Default)

 00h 00m 39.492s Batch  1 finished.
 00h 01m 21.569s Batch  2 finished.
 00h 02m 02.874s Batch  3 finished.
 00h 02m 43.542s Batch  4 finished.

Error: Invalid partial result by a margin of 0.000000006200868

Calculation aborted due to an invalid partial result.

 

 

CPU looks good,

But with the GPU you have a problem,and since it's AMD i cannot know for sure if the problem is the driver or the card itself.

Your card doesn't make accurate calculations,which points to instability and may cause stability related issues.

 

But if it didn't trigger the crash then we may have to look elsewhere.

 

Does the system crash with a BSOD?

[M A J O R]

3 minutes ago, Vishera said:

CPU looks good,

But with the GPU you have a problem,and since it's AMD i cannot know for sure if the problem is the driver or the card itself.

Your card doesn't make accurate calculations,which points to instability and may cause stability related issues.

 

But if it didn't trigger the crash then we may have to look elsewhere.

 

Does the system crash with a BSOD?

No blue screen. Essentially the screens go black (still on), the PC seems to switch off but immediately starts to boot again. Within a few seconds I'm seeing the mobo logo and into Windows as usual. On rare occasion it gets stuck and is unable to boot and keeps turining on and off and on and off. This has only happened twice. Also, once it happens one time in a session, it seems to happen a lot more if I try to go back to playing games etc.

[Vishera]

19 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

No blue screen. Essentially the screens go black (still on), the PC seems to switch off but immediately starts to boot again. Within a few seconds I'm seeing the mobo logo and into Windows as usual. On rare occasion it gets stuck and is unable to boot and keeps turining on and off and on and off. This has only happened twice. Also, once it happens one time in a session, it seems to happen a lot more if I try to go back to playing games etc.

Try running MSI Kombustor and Prime95 (with the settings i advised to use earlier) at the same time.

 

MSI Kombustor download link:

~Deleted,It was a virus!~

[M A J O R]

21 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Try running MSI Kombustor and Prime95 (with the settings i advised to use earlier) at the same time.

 

MSI Kombustor download link:

<removed>

The download page hangs or sends me to some random other sketchy page, is there and alternative download link/software for this?

Edited June 1, 2021 by Spotty
Removed link

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

The download page hangs or sends me to some random other sketchy page, is there and alternative download link/software for this?

You are right!,I am so sorry about it!

It's a virus for sure!

 

Here is a link from MSI's website:

https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

[M A J O R]

15 minutes ago, Vishera said:

You are right!,I am so sorry about it!

It's a virus for sure!

 

Here is a link from MSI's website:

https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

So start Prime then start Kombustor, any specific settings there?

[Vishera]

1 hour ago, M A J O R said:

So start Prime then start Kombustor, any specific settings there?

Small FFTs

[M A J O R]

10 hours ago, Vishera said:

Small FFTs

Tested both simultaneously for 1hr (Prime95 had 0 warnings/errors, 1440p resolution with Kombustor)

[Rex Hite]

If the problem is the computer just shutting down without any freezing up or bad responsiveness...

 

I'd start by confirming the power cord, power bar etc are all 100% by swapping them out. I'd then check the internal power supply connectors inside the case.

 

I'd then confirm the case power button and reset button are functioning normally. If there's a power and reset button I would disconnect them at the motherboard header and test the computer without them. If there's a small power or reset button directly on the motherboard then testing them will be tricky.

 

System instability or freezing up prior to shutting down might indicate bad component connection or heat.

 

You could try powering on the machine to the BIOS and carefully reach in and gently apply some force to the various connectors. By  only powering into the BIOS and reproducing the shut down you might eliminate the Operating System and applications as the source of the problem.

 

Reaching in to a powered machine isn't especially dangerous but should only be done if you're confident about what you're touching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[M A J O R]

Also @Vishera@Wayupthere, here is the Event Viewer, I'm not at all familiar with this interface so just ask if there are any sections that would assists us and I can post images.

 

[KREWLIFE]

Check on the left menu. Under the system tab, what error warnings if any are you getting?

 

[M A J O R]

4 minutes ago, Wayupthere said:

Check on the left menu. Under the system tab, what error warnings if any are you getting?

 

This is the only one I'm seeing however instances of the same error predate the shutdown issues. (Also my mouse wheel just broke out of nowhere, woe is me! )

[KREWLIFE]

6 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

This is the only one I'm seeing however instances of the same error predate the shutdown issues. (Also my mouse wheel just broke out of nowhere, woe is me! )

Damn man, that sucks. Well that COM message is normal...hmmm. Since it doesn't seem to be CPU issue I'm starting to lean towards a power delivery issue, perhaps get your PSU tested? One other thing you can do to at least rule out a RAM issue. Go to your start menu magnifier glass, type Windows Memory, run that diagnostic tool to see if that will give us some more information.

[M A J O R]

1 hour ago, Wayupthere said:

Damn man, that sucks. Well that COM message is normal...hmmm. Since it doesn't seem to be CPU issue I'm starting to lean towards a power delivery issue, perhaps get your PSU tested? One other thing you can do to at least rule out a RAM issue. Go to your start menu magnifier glass, type Windows Memory, run that diagnostic tool to see if that will give us some more information.

Ran that tool, I stepped away for a while as it took good while to complete. When I returned I was at the login page so I assume no issues were found unless there's a log generated somewhere.

[KREWLIFE]

53 minutes ago, M A J O R said:

Ran that tool, I stepped away for a while as it took good while to complete. When I returned I was at the login page so I assume no issues were found unless there's a log generated somewhere.

Hmm.. yeah if it brought you back there there were no issues. I'd say we should focus on the PSU since we've pretty much ruled out RAM and CPU. Any way you can go somewhere to get it tested and/or perhaps borrow a PSU from a friend to see if with another one the issues persist?

[M A J O R]

Just an update, the I.T shop I went to has offered to look at my PC again free of charge seeing as the issues persisted after their diagnostic service. I'm going to take it in towards the end of the week, will post again with results once I get it back.