Struggling to troubleshoot my PC

[BadgerSD]

Hey folks, been watching LTT since something like 2010, but have only just signed up to the forum as I'm struggling to map out how to troubleshoot my PC.

 

My PC rarely crashes, but I bought Supraland 6 inches under a couple days ago and had a couple crashes, more than normal. Not a huge deal, I assumed it was the game. I then started messing with CheatEngine to get infinite jumps and this is where I saw many crashes. Both monitors would switch off, GPU fans would ramp up, and a press of the desktop's power button would allow me to switch off and start back up, without any Windows OS issues.

 

After a number of these types of crashes, my PC crashed one more time. and upon restarting, I heard the steam sale popup/jingle but no input detected on my two Dell monitors. I thought the monitors were toast - I've owned one from new, bought it from Dell in 2017 and then I bought a matching monitor about 6 months ago from eBay. They are Dell S2417DG's. 24 inch 1440p 144hz, they're an awesome sweet spot. The HDMI in one doesn't pick up signal at all but I use them on DP on main PC.

 

After getting a backup monitor to rule some things out (that worked fine via HDMI both with onboard graphics and the GPU) I was able to us a 'reboot' option that popped up on both of my monitors which also meant the monitor overclock was switched off (overclocked to 165hz, using the built in Dell monitor menu, they are otherwise capable of 144hz out of the box). Monitors were back, I'm happy, I don't mind losing 165hz. That's until I crash again during that game, and now the monitors aren't working again.

 

What I've tried so far:

- I've just learned that they will come back to life if I switch them off for an extended period of time, but why would my PC be crashing?

- I did a Windows memory diagnostic for my RAM, all good no errors.

- Used Furmark on my GPU and noticed 105/106 degrees C in the hotspot (seems too high I think?) so am currently testing a slight undervolt. Just an easy 95% power limit reduction in MSI Afterburner.

 

Q: What else would you recommend I try? I'm not averse to backing everything up and doing a clean Windows and drivers install, but that would be a chore so ideally want to hear other ideas first . I have some older hardware lying around I can test with but it will be old-gen stuff, like an i5 2500k and some ddr3 ram.

 

My PC:

Windows 10 Pro 64 bit 22H2 19045.5608

ASUS PRIME Z390-A

Intel Core i7-8700k @3.7GHZ 

Corsair 32gb RAM (4x8gb, 2 sticks of Vengeance RGB and 2 sticks of Vengeance LPX)

Gigabyte RTX 3080Ti Vision OC

I have Corsair AIO cooling, a Corsair PCI extender for the GPU, WD nvme SSD for boot drive and a few additional storage drives in there, sound card, network card.

 

Many thanks in advance, my brain is frazzled!

Edited March 18 by BadgerSD
1440p res

[strange13930]

8 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Corsair 32gb RAM (4x8gb, 2 sticks of Vengeance RGB and 2 sticks of Vengeance LPX)

you don't want to mix different ram kits, try with only one kit at a time and see if your pc crashes.

[podkall]

32 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

- Used Furmark on my GPU and noticed 105/106 degrees C in the hotspot (seems too high I think?) so am currently testing a slight undervolt. Just an easy 95% power limit reduction in MSI Afterburner.

105C is quite critical, could explain crashes, undervolts won't help,

 

needs a re-paste.

 

How old is that GPU?

 

33 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Corsair 32gb RAM (4x8gb, 2 sticks of Vengeance RGB and 2 sticks of Vengeance LPX)

Did the PC used to work fine with 4 sticks no crashes?

[OddOod]

Welcome to the forums!
If it IS the RAM, I'd recommend grabbing something like this.
Definitely check temps. If you've had that build for a while it probably needs new CPU paste. Also could try new cables as they can just randomly die for ~0 reason. 

[kitnoman]

105/106c( Celsius right and not Fahrenheit) is dangerously high. That literally degrades silicon and reduce its' lifepan. You might need to check your gpu fans, if their working and/or repaste and reapply thermal pads.

[BadgerSD]

32 minutes ago, strange13930 said:

you don't want to mix different ram kits, try with only one kit at a time and see if your pc crashes.

Yeah that's a fair point, I recall matching speeds but think I just didn't want to not use half of it if it was compatible. I'll test with just one set. thx!

 

8 minutes ago, podkall said:

105C is quite critical, could explain crashes, undervolts won't help,

 

needs a re-paste.

 

How old is that GPU?

 

Did the PC used to work fine with 4 sticks no crashes?

I haven't taken the GPU apart since I bought it maybe near the end of 2021? So this is worth a shot too - I have some Arctic Mx6?

 

The PC wasn't crashing 1/2 years ago but I don't game much anymore. From memory, I managed to play  games like Cyberpunk maxed out, with the DLC, without any issues.

 

7 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Welcome to the forums!
If it IS the RAM, I'd recommend grabbing something like this.
Definitely check temps. If you've had that build for a while it probably needs new CPU paste. Also could try new cables as they can just randomly die for ~0 reason. 

Thanks! I'll give it a test with matching ram only, and in the correct slots for a 2 stick setup.

Else I agree it's worth checking CPU as well as GPU for thermal paste.

 

 

 

Any ideas regarding the monitors not working til I leave them alone for a while?

[strange13930]

3 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Any ideas regarding the monitors not working til I leave them alone for a while?

test them with your pc after we solve it crashing and see if they still black screen.

[OddOod]

56 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Any ideas regarding the monitors not working til I leave them alone for a while

Sounds like a dying component. Monitors are wear items and though this is a bit early for them to die, it's still in the expected window.

[podkall]

1 hour ago, BadgerSD said:

I haven't taken the GPU apart since I bought it maybe near the end of 2021? So this is worth a shot too - I have some Arctic Mx6?

Ye Arctic works, I repasted mine with MX4

 

1 hour ago, BadgerSD said:

The PC wasn't crashing 1/2 years ago but I don't game much anymore. From memory, I managed to play  games like Cyberpunk maxed out, with the DLC, without any issues.

likely dried out TP perhaps,

 

also need something to remove the old paste with.

 

29 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Sounds like a dying component. Monitors are wear items and though this is a bit early for them to die, it's still in the expected window.

you think it's monitor? I suppose it could be,

 

depends how old it is, monitors can last long though some of them.

[BadgerSD]

I'm quite impatient so I've done the gpu thermal paste, not pads as I'll need to order replacements - already seeing a huge difference in temps even in furmark... 

 

With the case door detached I'm getting a max hotspot of around 82 but as soon as I put the door back on, it understandably crept up to 90 - my vanity of seeing the GPU might not be doing it any favours temperature wise. I just worry about the sag, it's a big card.

 

Thinking of what else I should try in terms of placement or fan setup, I do still need to do those pads.

Haven't tested the RAM in pairs yet.

 

I think the story ain't over yet - and do agree with @OddOod the monitors might be on their way out.

 

Appreciate all the help so far!

 

 

[Sawa Takahashi]

3 hours ago, BadgerSD said:

Corsair 32gb RAM (4x8gb, 2 sticks of Vengeance RGB and 2 sticks of Vengeance LPX)

Corsair Vengeance and vengeance LPX are basically the same ram sticks. LPX is low profile.

[OddOod]

Beautiful build, but yeah, there's a HUGE problem: The card can't breathe. 

Also, it looks like you have front and rear intake which is gonna be less than ideal. I'd absolutely put flip that rear to exhaust and if you don't already, I'd also to top exhaust

15 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

I do still need to do those pads.

You can skip the pads and do K5 Pro. It's way cheaper than buying all the different correct sized pads

[BadgerSD]

28 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Beautiful build, but yeah, there's a HUGE problem: The card can't breathe. 

Also, it looks like you have front and rear intake which is gonna be less than ideal. I'd absolutely put flip that rear to exhaust and if you don't already, I'd also to top exhaust

You can skip the pads and do K5 Pro. It's way cheaper than buying all the different correct sized pads

Oh I will swap that rear one around, derp.. I do have top exhaust with the two fans on my AIO cooler, arrow pointing up.

 

I'm going to invest in some sag brackets, they're only like £5.

 

Appreciate the suggestion for K5 pro, it looks pretty nifty but sounds messier than pads? 

[OddOod]

4 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Oh I will swap that rear one around, derp.. I do have top exhaust with the two fans on my AIO cooler, arrow pointing up.

Good. And never forget: we all make mistakes
 

4 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

I'm going to invest in some sag brackets, they're only like £5.

Good idea. My sag bracket cost about 40cents given that it's a stack of pennies wrapped in tape :L
 

4 minutes ago, BadgerSD said:

Appreciate the suggestion for K5 pro, it looks pretty nifty but sounds messier than pads? 

Oh it's SUPER messy. You can see how messy in the LTT vid. But that mess is all under the shroud so once you reassemble, you don't see it.

[BadgerSD]

I did it (got gelid pads because I kinda looked forward to the measuring and slicing to the correct size lol)

My dumb ass only got these photos but no issues since I've changed the 2 and 3mm pads

 

Also got the stand for the GPU and changed orientation, and removed a bunch of old corsair LED's, and their controllers from the PC just to simplify and reduce power consumption.

 

Not a huge change in temps with new pads but they were very oily and the VRAM ones were very dry as seen in previous post so I'm glad i changed it. I'm guessing the chip overheating was causing the VRAM to warm up?

 

*** Oh and I flipped the rear fan around so now i've got 3 intakes at the front, 1 exhaust at the rear and 2 exhausts attached to the AIO cooler at the top.***

 

Thanks for the help folks