Random Crashes

[Benjamin Idel]

My PC (specs listed below) randomly stops working.

It's not a blue screen or anything, just freezes on a frame, audio cuts out and the only way to turn it off is by forcing a shutdown (5 second hold on the power button).

I've tried everything - resetting to factory settings, updating drivers, updating bios, reinstalling windows again, cleaning out my PC.

 

all of the solutions listed above seem to postpone the next crash by 10-15 minutes, but it always comes back.

 

The crashes happen randomly but tend to happen more during heavy computational load.

 

SPECS:

CPU: I7 7700K

MB: ASUS Z270 PRIME-K

RAM: CORSAIR VENGENCE LPX DDR4 2X8 3200MHZ

GPU: GIGABYTE GTX 1080 WINDFORCE OC

STORAGE: * 1TB NVME SSD WD BLUE

* 500 GB KINGSTON something or other

* 2TB SEAGATE BARACCUDA HDD

 

 

[Tetras]

Anything in the event viewer that can give you clues?

 

What USB devices do you have?

 

Is your memory running at stock (2400) or with XMP enabled?

 

Have you checked the SMART values of your SSDs/HDDs?

 

What is the PSU and how old is it?

 

Are you running any motherboard or monitoring software?

 

Did the PC used to work fine? If so, when did it start crashing?

[Benjamin Idel]

2 hours ago, Tetras said:

Anything in the event viewer that can give you clues?

 

What USB devices do you have?

 

Is your memory running at stock (2400) or with XMP enabled?

 

Have you checked the SMART values of your SSDs/HDDs?

 

What is the PSU and how old is it?

 

Are you running any motherboard or monitoring software?

 

Did the PC used to work fine? If so, when did it start crashing?

Memory running stock (I used to run it with XMP but I don't take chances anymore)

I don't know what the event viewer even is

USB DEVICES: GSKILL keyboard, STEELSERIES mouse, HYPERX headset, a webcam, and the monitor's built in usb splitter

PSU is a solid 650W EVGA 80+ GOLD, 5-6 years old

No monitoring software, recommendations are welcome

What is a SMART value?

The PC started BSODing 2 years ago, but it was due to my old SSD overheating, so I got a new one and everything was fine for 6-10 months

[Tetras]

4 hours ago, Benjamin Idel said:

I don't know what the event viewer even is

Press the Windows key and type: EVENT VIEWER.

 

You want to check event with the timestamps of when or near the crashes.

 

Keep in mind that 99% of event logs are meaningless nonsense, but occasionally the 1% can be very helpful.

 

WHEA errors are often significant, if you have any of those. You can create a custom filter to display ONLY WHEA errors, which I would recommend, but this is advanced usage and will require a short tutorial (e.g. a video or reading an article or two).

 

4 hours ago, Benjamin Idel said:

No monitoring software, recommendations are welcome

The sensor tab of HWINFO can be helpful to check temps and such. You can leave this running to check the read outs while you use the PC.

 

4 hours ago, Benjamin Idel said:

What is a SMART value?

If you download a program like CrystalDiskInfo it will tell you the SMART values.

 

Most SMART values are not important, but many SSDs will tell you if there are significant errors, bad blocks, etc.

 

4 hours ago, Benjamin Idel said:

The PC started BSODing 2 years ago, but it was due to my old SSD overheating, so I got a new one and everything was fine for 6-10 months

Hmm, I see.

 

After such a long time, it could be a completely unrelated issue, or potentially the same issue (that there's a SSD causing the problem).