Hey I have an increasingly frustrating problem I'm hoping someone here might have some insight on. I built a desktop just over seven years ago that began restarting itself randomly about three months ago. It would do so once a day for a week and then nothing for a little while. It then went three weeks totally fine but in the past two weeks it's started to bug out multiple times a day and had trouble posting. I ran windows memory diagnostic and that showed clean so I bought a new psu last week. That didn't solve it so I ran memtest86. This test did show an error so I purchased new ram, but even still it's restarting. The temperatures of all the components are consistent and low. Nothing is overclocked. CPUID HWMonitor shows the cpu vcore voltage at max 1.2v but it shows VIN 1,2,3 at max 2.04v and VIN 5,6,7 above 1.5v. The OS is on a ssd. Kind of running out of culprits here. I'd really like to wait for the fall to do a total rebuild but it's looking grim. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
GPU/CPU more than likely. pull vid card and run off integrated graphics and see if you get similar issues. If persists then CPU in which case 7 years? just rebuild. 300 bucks will get you twice the power.
Yeah, rule out the GPU if you can (assuming it has integrated graphics). The good thing about it shitting itself multiple times a day is you can narrow it down quicker than once a week type shit. Also, even if you had to rebuild now (but wanted to wait because graphics cards are ridiculous right now), building a new box and re-using your old GPU could tide you over pretty good. It's not like some major generational improvement in cpu is going to happen by Fall.
Interesting stuff, thanks! Didn't think the GPU could be it. I put in a new one (770 evga -> 1060 zotac) maybe three years ago, so not thrilled if that's the cause. If I tried out integrated graphics would I physically have to remove the video card, or is switching the cable sufficient? Also I just ran the Heaven benchmark one cycle on 1440p at the full tessellation or whatever and it made it through. Should multiple cycles be run to stress it further or would once be enough to crash the card? Big thanks, this is such an annoying situation
I would physically remove the card if you really want to rule it out. This is assuming your motherboard and CPU combo supports integrated graphics (most do, but not necessarily). I'm not familiar with Heaven benchmark but given what you are describing, would you say the reboots are while playing vidya games? Or are they just completely random (even while idle?). If it's the latter then I doubt stress testing is necessary at all. The few times I've seen GPUs causing probs, they usually were during heat/stress times, but I think once I had a glitchy card that just shit itself randomly even while doing nothing. Pretty rare but you already ruled out the obvious stuff so it's time to look at weirder shit heh.
Yeah there's an intel integrated mobo option that should work. The thing just reboots completely at random. I'll leave it be for an hour and come back and see it's rebooted. That's what's so weird about it, is that there's no real use/stress factor to identify. What's more perplexing is that it went about three weeks of perfect operations before it started wigging out again.
You sound unsure. Try upgrading your desk and see if the problem goes away. If that fails to fix it, unplug your video card.
fuck it, return everything, buy a build a brand new rona box. if you can't find a next-gen vidya card ebay one for an unreasonable amount of money. put it together and yell MURCA
The Canadian equivalent of the primal, patriotic America shout of "MURCA!" is to cautiously suggest "canada?"
Unfortunately, random reboots could be almost anything. Your power supply could be going wanking. Your cooling system might be failing and causing overheating. Almost any component could be having some type of problem. I agree with the others that GPU might be the most likely, but I've had the same sort of thing happen and it was a power supply. And there's nothing to say its not actually a software issue. At 7 years, you are due for a new computer. I wouldn't put any real money into it. Definitely worth a reformat and reinstall if all else fails. Or if you don't use it for any specific heavy lifting, load it in safe mode and use it that way to see if it still reboots.
Thanks for pitching in! I've been monitoring the temps with CPUID HWMonitor at all times and nothings shown weird. I tried removing the gpu and running it off of integrated graphics but apparently my monitor (QNIX 2710) doesn't play that way. Just after reading your comment though I realized I still have my old 770 here, and so will try swaping that out. Definitely agree I need a new build but covid cash flows make the fall a more preferable time. A followup question if anyone's interested: Can I swap out all new parts like mobo and cpu and still use the same windows install? I've read that it can get weird with the licensing. Just curious on that one at this stage. I'll probably get a new ssd when the time comes anyways, I just don't want anymore surprises haha
i would always opt for a new windows build if you are debugging anyway. may as well rule out a screwy config. windows often will tolerate a cpu swapout (and i've heard of ppl succeding even w/a mobo swapout with some fiddling) but imo not worth it. i'm also biased because i'm increasingly trying to set up my compy life to be as generic (or at least automated) as possible. meaning wherever i can, i keep storage in the cloud or on a separate network storage device. i try to buy all my shit through things like steam which makes re-download really easy. i keep notes or configs of how things are set up in evernote or other cloud services. basically i try to make it so that if my box blows up, it can be replaced/rebuilt with little pain.
you may want to contact @Octavionn sounds like he's in the market for a new desk and may have some bigly tips you could use
I don't know diddly about computers and always relied on my computer tech friends for tech support that cost me buying them Carne Asada Fries or a bottle of booze. lol. I'm still on a 11 yr old rig that I acquisitioned when a friend of mine committed suicide. Everyone was vultures... I had to grab his computer and yell at everyone that he would have wanted me to have it... And ya'll are vultures.... They were all frantically looking around for any prescription drugs he might have had laying around. lol.
