Computer automatically restarting when playing games

[PatronPauper]

Hey everyone, I recently upgraded a few parts in my computer (CPU, GPU, RAM, and added an NVME SSD), and have been experiencing an issue wherein my computer will randomly freeze, then automatically restart shortly after.  It mainly only occurs during gaming, but has happened even when I'm watching youtube or something.  My thermals are fine, usually in the 60's-70's C for CPU, and 50's to 50's C for GPU.  I've tried reseating RAM, changing slots, and I've made sure that all of my power cables are secured properly.

 

I've also made sure that I'm using separate cables for my GPU, which I have upgraded from an RTX 2070 Super to an RTX 3090.  Both 8 pin connectors are fit snug and properly.  

 

My current specs are as follows:

 

Motherboard:  ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-PLUS Wifi on Bios Ver. 2401

CPU:  Intel Core i9-11900k, not Overclocked at all

RAM:  32GB of Crucial Ballistics, DDR4 3200mhz, XMP is enabled in BIOS

GPU:  Nvidia RTX 3090
PSU: Corsair RM750x, 750 Watt Gold Fully Modular 

Boot Drive is an M.2 NVME SSD:  Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 

Storage SSD which I used as a boot drive before using the Samsung migration tool:  Samsung 860 QVO SSD

OS:  Windows 10 Home edition

 

So far I've just been trying to play Forza Horzion 5 with friends, and I can play for around a half hour to 45 minutes before my computer will freeze, my monitor will turn off, and my computer will promptly restart itself.  When I check Event Viewer in Windows, it only gives me a Critical Error for Kernel 41, but I don't see any other errors or logs about what might have caused the hitching or crashing otherwise.  I do not experience a bluescreen, it simply freezes and immediately restarts on its own.  As I've mentioned earlier in the post, I've also experienced the same issue when I've been doing something as relaxed as watching youtube videos.  

 

If I can provide any additional information to help with troubleshooting, please let me know, I'm a bit new to forums and tried to be as detailed as possible, but if I miss anything, I'll do my best to help get the information as soon as possible.  Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

[An0maly_76]

Sounds similar to an issue I experienced that turned out to be a RAM instability issue. Check your RAM's SKU (part #) against the list in this link. If it's not there, the RAM cannot be guaranteed to be stable.

 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-Z490-PLUS-WI-FI/HelpDesk_QVL_Memory/

[Brooksie359]

11 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Sounds similar to an issue I experienced that turned out to be a RAM instability issue. Check your RAM's SKU (part #) against the list in this link. If it's not there, the RAM cannot be guaranteed to be stable.

 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-Z490-PLUS-WI-FI/HelpDesk_QVL_Memory/

Tbh even if it is on the QVL that doesn't guarantee that you can hit those speeds with 100% stability. I mean just like you can get a dead stick of ram you can also get an out of spec ram where it simply fails to meet the xmp speed advertised. 

[MLConian]

Try turning off XMP and see if that's stable for you.

[Guest]

Do the testing at system defaults. Then test with XMP enabled. 

 

Does it restart at defaults? 

 

Yes = memory is not the issue. 

No = Memory settings are likely the issue.

 

Check the memory temperature during those heavy loads. Cooler is better. Default memory 60c is ok. XMP memory 60c may not be OK and memory becomes sensitive to temperature and flakes out. 

 

Check the SPD in the bios for the XMP timing set. There will be a couple of secondary timings you want to manually set up if the settings on auto are incorrect.

 

It would be helpful next time to include the memory part number and the XMP speed and timing set if nothing else. Because it's not really clear what you're working with, though Intel has a very stout memory controller, I'm having doubts the memory is the issue at all.

 

_____

I'd lean more towards the Power Supply just can't do it after a while and the GPU gets dropped and this tumbles the board into a restart typically Kernal 41 "unexpected power loss" - 

 

If the PSU feels like it's dumping a lot of heat, that's a good indicator to upgrade. 

 

 

[Dukesilver27-]

That PSU is cutting it way too close to the recommended capacity. Since you did not mention that PSU is a part of the upgrade, I assume you didn't. Linus mentioned that latest RMx line up have RTX 30 series in mind, which accounts for the transient spikes they have, which are quite bad.

Especially for a very high powered card like yours, I think your PSU could not handle the transient spikes.

I mean most people use 750w PSUs for 3080s, your 3090 couple that with a 11900K, well...

 

[191x7]

I would first flash the latest BIOS.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-Z490-PLUS-WI-FI/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

And I would also check this

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5233/~/nvidia-gpu-firmware-update-tool-for-displayid

and for the latest VGA BIOS from the manufacturer as well.

 

 

[Edgar R. Zakarian]

HAH! I think you're running into the same problem I am. 
Power Spikes from the RTX 3090 on a 750W PSU. I have the exact same setup, and in some demanding games, especially with Ray Tracing, the PSU just gives out, power goes out and PC restarts.
 

 

[PatronPauper]

5 hours ago, Dukesilver27- said:

That PSU is cutting it way too close to the recommended capacity. Since you did not mention that PSU is a part of the upgrade, I assume you didn't. Linus mentioned that latest RMx line up have RTX 30 series in mind, which accounts for the transient spikes they have, which are quite bad.

Especially for a very high powered card like yours, I think your PSU could not handle the transient spikes.

I mean most people use 750w PSUs for 3080s, your 3090 couple that with a 11900K, well...

 

I was worried my PSU might not be up to snuff, but if it's cutting it too close to power the system then I'll swap it out.  It's just barely a year old at this point haha.  Thank you for the insight though!

 

I'll order a new PSU and get everything changed out and let you guys know how it goes.  

[PatronPauper]

Hey all, an update on my situation.  I upgraded my PSU to a Corsair HX1200 Platinum, and just tried Forza once again.  Around the same time frame the same situation occurred.  I'll try once again with XMP disabled and see if that helps anything.  

[PatronPauper]

On 9/7/2022 at 2:40 AM, MLConian said:

Try turning off XMP and see if that's stable for you.

Unfortunately even with XMP off, that didn't solve the issue.

[PatronPauper]

On 9/7/2022 at 3:49 AM, 191x7 said:

I would first flash the latest BIOS.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-Z490-PLUS-WI-FI/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

And I would also check this

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5233/~/nvidia-gpu-firmware-update-tool-for-displayid

and for the latest VGA BIOS from the manufacturer as well.

 

 

I checked the firmware update tool for my GPU, and it says everything is up to date there.  However, my Motherboard is running version 2401, but when I try to update to 2602, it keeps telling me "Not a proper BIOS" despite checking several times that I have the correct model of motherboard.  I'm certain I have the Wifi version and not just the Z490 Plus.

[PatronPauper]

On 9/7/2022 at 3:15 AM, Dukesilver27- said:

That PSU is cutting it way too close to the recommended capacity. Since you did not mention that PSU is a part of the upgrade, I assume you didn't. Linus mentioned that latest RMx line up have RTX 30 series in mind, which accounts for the transient spikes they have, which are quite bad.

Especially for a very high powered card like yours, I think your PSU could not handle the transient spikes.

I mean most people use 750w PSUs for 3080s, your 3090 couple that with a 11900K, well...

 

Unfortunately even after upgrading my PSU to a 1,200W, I'm still having the same issues.  Any other suggestions you may have?

[Robchil]

7 minutes ago, PatronPauper said:

Unfortunately even after upgrading my PSU to a 1,200W, I'm still having the same issues.  Any other suggestions you may have?

have you DDU'ed yet and reinstalled drivers or just used original drivers for new card? 

 

[PatronPauper]

5 minutes ago, Robchil said:

have you DDU'ed yet and reinstalled drivers or just used original drivers for new card? 

 

I'm just using original drivers for the new card at current.

[Robchil]

1 minute ago, PatronPauper said:

I'm just using original drivers for the new card at current.

when swapping cards for permanent use.. ALWAYS DDU and reinstall the drivers. 

[PatronPauper]

1 minute ago, Robchil said:

when swapping cards for permanent use.. ALWAYS DDU and reinstall the drivers. 

Alright, I'll keep that in mind if I need to make any changes down the line.  Thank you.

[PatronPauper]

17 minutes ago, Robchil said:

when swapping cards for permanent use.. ALWAYS DDU and reinstall the drivers. 

Followed the guide on the DDU site, and reinstalled the latest drivers.  Is there anything else I should do?

[Dukesilver27-]

I assume you're on the latest GPU drivers? I'd also try to drop down a few versions to the latest WHQL driver, I experienced quite similar issues, using the WHQL driver actually solved it.

Granted that my GPU is RX 6800 XT, but you never know.

[PatronPauper]

16 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

I assume you're on the latest GPU drivers? I'd also try to drop down a few versions to the latest WHQL driver, I experienced quite similar issues, using the WHQL driver actually solved it.

Granted that my GPU is RX 6800 XT, but you never know.

That's correct, I updated to the latest WHQL drivers for Nvidia, even after going through DDU to make sure I have a fresh and clean install of the driver package.

[191x7]

1 hour ago, PatronPauper said:

I checked the firmware update tool for my GPU, and it says everything is up to date there.  However, my Motherboard is running version 2401, but when I try to update to 2602, it keeps telling me "Not a proper BIOS" despite checking several times that I have the correct model of motherboard.  I'm certain I have the Wifi version and not just the Z490 Plus.

What does CPU-Z show about your motherboard?

[MLConian]

1 hour ago, PatronPauper said:

I checked the firmware update tool for my GPU, and it says everything is up to date there.  However, my Motherboard is running version 2401, but when I try to update to 2602, it keeps telling me "Not a proper BIOS" despite checking several times that I have the correct model of motherboard.  I'm certain I have the Wifi version and not just the Z490 Plus.

You may not be able to directly flash the BIOS to the latest version. I've seen some motherboards with issues that were resolved by updating the BIOS in increments. You could try that approach.

[PatronPauper]

5 hours ago, MLConian said:

You may not be able to directly flash the BIOS to the latest version. I've seen some motherboards with issues that were resolved by updating the BIOS in increments. You could try that approach.

That seems to have done the trick, updating one at a time got me to the latest BIOS for now

 

[CommanderAlex]

9 hours ago, PatronPauper said:

Unfortunately even with XMP off, that didn't solve the issue.

I've had issues like this before. You can check my specs in my signature below and I've made a forum post asking for help with mine. I tried my graphics card out in another system and it did the same thing there. Had to RMA the card and Asus found it was defective and sent a replacement. I hope this may help as its very frustrating. 

[PatronPauper]

So far it seems like updating the BIOS has helped.  Time before reset was around 7 minutes before the update, and now I had a session going for 39 minutes before I needed to tend to life matters.  I'll keep trying this weekend and update you all later.  Thanks again for all of the input so far though!  Wish me luck!