PC locking up at times

[jj9987]

My desktop is locking up at random times, regardless of activity. Sometimes it is just frozen when I come home in the evening (lock screen time is behind), sometimes it locks up while watching a movie. The only way to recover from it is by hard shutdown by holding down the power button for 5 seconds. Reset button does not work at all.

Windows was clean installed about 2.5 months ago. Event Viewer does not give any errors of the crash, only indicating that last shutdown was unexpected. No trace of BSOD either. Last night I also ran Memtest86 and 4 tests were completed successfully. I did checkhealth and sfc /scannow on the PC, both return good health and no issues. I have updated the BIOS to latest (2202), however issues continued.

What else should I check? Or how can I fix that? I am planning to reinstall Windows and maybe even move back to Windows 8.1 if issues continue.

Windows 10 Pro, Version 1607, Build 14393.321
i7-6700K, running at stock clocks and normal temps (under NH-D15)
32 GB DDR4
Asus Maximus VIII Hero
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Classified
Corsair AX860

[iBabySlapper]

Had the same issue, replaced my boot SSD, fixed it.

[jj9987]

2 minutes ago, ibabyslapper said:

Had the same issue, replaced my boot SSD, fixed it.

Hmm, haven't had any issues with my 850 PRO so far. I could see if it could be the culprit.

[iBabySlapper]

Just now, jj9987 said:

Hmm, haven't had any issues with my 850 PRO so far. I could see if it could be the culprit.

The issue was either my SATA power or data not reaching my SSD because it had nackered ports. It kept disconnecting, seizing the system after a couple minutes. I could sometimes move my mouse, but everything else would be frozen.

 

[iBabySlapper]

4 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

Hmm, haven't had any issues with my 850 PRO so far. I could see if it could be the culprit.

Although if your reset doesn't work, it might be the Mobo. Check if it works normally.

[jj9987]

30 minutes ago, ibabyslapper said:

Although if your reset doesn't work, it might be the Mobo. Check if it works normally.

Button does work during normal usage, however during the lockup it does not do anything.

[iBabySlapper]

5 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

Button does work during normal usage, however during the lockup it does not do anything.

The only difference from my case to yours is the reset button not working then, hmm.

[jj9987]

Some update.

 

Different SSD did not help. Issue also occurred on Linux operating system. Tried to run without dedicated GPU (using the integrated on 6700k), still same.

I am currently on Windows 10 Pro, version 1511. Different power supply did not help.

 

This pretty much brings it down to CPU or motherboard, unless I am overlooking something. Any other recommendations what I could try or understand what is exactly causing it? I still have the parts under warranty, though since it will mean approximately 2 weeks (or more) offline, I want to be sure.

[Shingouki]

Have you disconnected the SSD? Remember that you have to disconnect it from power supply and motherboard when you want to make some tests.

 

Anyway, if you want to test the CPU, you can download UBCD and hiren's, there are some tests for cpu (and other peripherals)

[jj9987]

1 hour ago, Shingouki said:

Have you disconnected the SSD? Remember that you have to disconnect it from power supply and motherboard when you want to make some tests.

 

Anyway, if you want to test the CPU, you can download UBCD and hiren's, there are some tests for cpu (and other peripherals)

Yup, I disconnected other storage devices.

[Ryujin2003]

It could be a hardware problem in MB. Could be a faulty controller in the South Bridge if it's the same across OS's and with new SSD not fixing the issue. Are you having any issues with other IP devices or PCIE devices?

 

Lockups and freezes generally point to lost communication with the hard drive. If the HDD is working fine, it is probably a controller issue. Any BIOS updates recently? Or Chipset updates?

[jj9987]

23 minutes ago, Ryujin2003 said:

It could be a hardware problem in MB. Could be a faulty controller in the South Bridge if it's the same across OS's and with new SSD not fixing the issue. Are you having any issues with other IP devices or PCIE devices?

 

Lockups and freezes generally point to lost communication with the hard drive. If the HDD is working fine, it is probably a controller issue. Any BIOS updates recently? Or Chipset updates?

Been on BIOS 2202 for some time. I might try downgrading and see if it helps.

I have used newest chipset drivers from Asus website.

 

Today it gave me overclocking failed when I returned home, even though I have been running at stock clocks for weeks. Also froze while navigating in the BIOS, which is new and hasn't happened yet.

[Ryujin2003]

23 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

Been on BIOS 2202 for some time. I might try downgrading and see if it helps.

I have used newest chipset drivers from Asus website.

 

Today it gave me overclocking failed when I returned home, even though I have been running at stock clocks for weeks. Also froze while navigating in the BIOS, which is new and hasn't happened yet.

Yeah, you may have some bad circuits on the board. I might suggest switching boards before a GPU or CPU is damaged.

[NeoFrux]

Do you have XMP enabled in your BIOS? Try disabling that if enabled, or better yet, clear your CMOS entirely and see if that makes a difference for you.

[jj9987]

15 hours ago, Runefox said:

Do you have XMP enabled in your BIOS? Try disabling that if enabled, or better yet, clear your CMOS entirely and see if that makes a difference for you.

I reverted to older BIOS, it cleared it anyway. Tested with and without XMP, no difference.