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PC freezing - no solution in sight :(

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R

Resilient

Member
I'm at my wits end. I built a PC last Nov 2015, and have experienced one single error, over and over. No matter what game it is. The game will just crash. It might be 4 hours into a session or it could be 1. But the game just crashes, screen freezes on the game, and sometimes the audio goes weird, the PC loses functionality (can't open Task Manager, can't alt+tab), and I need to hold the power down for 5seconds and turn it back on again. The audio distortion has not happened recently.

Specs:

Intel Core i5 6600K
ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming Motherboard
EVGA 1070 SC
Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Black
Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5in SSD (now replaced by a Samsung 850 PRO)
Western Digital WD Blue 1TB WD10EZEX
CoolerMaster G750M 750W Modular Bronze Power Supply
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X CPU Cooler
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Chassis Black
TP-Link TL-WDN3800 Wireless Dual Band PCIE Adapter

Games this has happened in (what I've played mostly):
Doom
BF1
FF14
Rocket League
Gears 4

Steps I've taken:
1. First occurrence - update all drivers. This lead to a W10 boot failure/BSOD. Reformatted. Updated all drivers. Updated MOBO BIOS.
2. Second attempt to fix (when it reappeared) - test RAM using memtest86. Tested each stick individually until it achieved 8 "Pass" marks - each stick achieved with 0 errors. Replaced the SSD (now using a Samsung 850 PRO 256GB). Fresh W10 install. Updated all drivers. Didn't update BIOS (BIOS version was too recent (Jan2017) so didn't want to risk it just yet). The error occurred again just now.

Notes:
1. The crash occurs whether I'm on OC or not. Right now I'm on a 4.4GHz OC, idle temps are 28-40 (Summer here), usage temps while gaming 50-70. It never crashes through normal use (web browsing, doc editing).
2. It has never BSOD or just completely shut down to a black screen/off.
3. Event viewer never shows anything other than "the system was unexpectedly shut down" which happens after I hold the power button down for 5s.
4. The freezing issue still appeared when I was on my old GPU, a 7850 OC Radeon card (2gb, Gigabyte).

Thoughts:
1. Is the OC too high? I ran stress tests for the OC for 8-10 hours and it didn't crash/overheat. It just sat at around 70-78c.
2. Is the motherboard broken? I don't know how to diagnose that without trying a new motherboard. Surely it's not this?
3. Is the PSU faulty? From what I've searched, this is what I think it is - it just randomly loses power for a split second and everything dies.

If anybody has any insight, please let me know. I'm so desperate to fix this - the solution surely can't be to throw money at it (replace PSU) until it's fixed.

Thanks.

UPDATE 1 20170114

I've just completed a 7.5 hour CPU test in prime95 28.10 - blend, 4 threads.
No OC. Default BIOS settings. XMP off. RAM XMP off.
No tests were failed. No freezing. Temps ran from 48 - 68 on average with a few peaks at 73.

I think this safely rules out the CPU as being the problem. CPU = OK.

Next step is to test the GPU using Unigine Heaven. I'll be doing this tomorrow.

UPDATE 2 20170115

New PSU is installed. The journey so far...

Tried:
Turning off CPU OC - crashed when gaming.
Swapping SATA ports around with SSD/HDD - crashed when gaming.
8 hour prime95 28.10 stress test; no errors found
1 hour Unigine Heaven stress test; crashed, took the PC with it
4 hour Unigine Heaven stress test; crashed, didn't crash the PC
Turning off Geforce Experience - crashed when gaming

Haven't tried:
Testing DRAM
LatencyMon (should have done this sooner, sorry LilJokka)

Let's see what happens with the new PSU..
 
S

SlickShoes

Member
What GPU do you have?

EDIT:I see you have added it now

Try removing the GPU and using the computer with just the motherboard graphics and see if you still get the same problem.
 
P

phaonaut

Member
The system just turns off? I had a power strip I'd been using for 10 years and when I was playing games with heavy power usage the power strip with heat up and turn itself off. I didnt realize what it was until it happened a few times.

This may not be your problem, just throwing it out there.
 
S

SlickShoes

Member
Resilient said:
Sorry - forgot. EVGA 1070 SC.

Note that the freezing issue still appeared when I was on my old GPU, a 7850 OC Radeon card (2gb, Gigabyte).
Click to expand...

Are all the games installed on the SSD or the HDD? and it's just the games that freeze? the computer doesn't crash? you just have to kill the games process?
 
U

UpDownLeftRight

Banned
Did you upgrade to W10 or clean install? I've still not gotten around to doing a clean install on mine and while I can't confirm it's the issue my PC crashes, cache locks, refuses to post, drops drives, doesn't boot USB devices randomly at will whereas it was fine on 7. Try another OS if you can is my suggestion.
 
R

Resilient

Member
SlickShoes said:
What GPU do you have?

EDIT:I see you have added it now

Try removing the GPU and using the computer with just the motherboard graphics and see if you still get the same problem.
Click to expand...

Did you see that note I added about it happening with the old GPU? Sorry, I should have been clearer. What exactly will this diagnose - a faulty GPU or a faulty Motherboard PCI-E slot?

phaonaut said:
The system just turns off? I had a power strip I'd been using for 10 years and when I was playing games with heavy power usage the power strip with heat up and turn itself off. I didnt realize what it was until it happened a few times.

This may not be your problem, just throwing it out there.
Click to expand...

Connected directly into a power outlet, and the freeze leaves the PC running, with the game displayed, just frozen.

BlazinSkatinAxel said:
Sounds like a thermal paste problem.

Or PSU problem. What PSU do you have?
Click to expand...

The CPU passes 8hour stress tests and made it through Prime95 for an hour before I stopped it. Wouldn't it have failed there first if it was a thermal paste issue?

CoolerMaster G750M 750W Modular Bronze Power Supply
 
P

PuppetSlave

Member
PSU problems sounds like the cheapest problem since you tested your ram, so switching that one out would be my desperation move.

No, like other poster posted, thermal paste should be your first move.
 
R

Resilient

Member
SlickShoes said:
Are all the games installed on the SSD or the HDD? and it's just the games that freeze? the computer doesn't crash? you just have to kill the games process?
Click to expand...

Some on SSD and some on HDD.

The computer crashes, I can't do anything at all (no alt tab etc). My Mumble chat obviously stops too. I have to turn the power off and turn it on again. 5 seconds. The fans and everything are still running.

UpDownLeftRight said:
Did you upgrade to W10 or clean install? I've still not gotten around to doing a clean install on mine and while I can't confirm it's the issue my PC crashes, cache locks, refuses to post, drops drives, doesn't boot USB devices randomly at will whereas it was fine on 7. Try another OS if you can is my suggestion.
Click to expand...

Clean W10 install twice.
 
MultiCore

MultiCore

Member
It could be an ESD problem.

I used to see people's machine crash when they touched their mouse due to ESD.

Maybe your electrifying personally is finally coming around to bite you in the butt, OP.


It could also be badly written software. You running any exotic AV or firewalls?
 
A

Apt101

Member
Have you checked the event logs? See if there is a dump or partial dump in C:\Windows\ to debug (or attempt to debug)?

I agree with others that the cheapest option hardware wise would be to test another CPU, and/or reapply the thermal paste.
 
C

chuckddd

Fear of a GAF Planet
Bad power supplies tend to end up doing the weirdest shit to your pc. I always keep an old one around for testing.
 
R

Redders

Member
UpDownLeftRight said:
Did you upgrade to W10 or clean install? I've still not gotten around to doing a clean install on mine and while I can't confirm it's the issue my PC crashes, cache locks, refuses to post, drops drives, doesn't boot USB devices randomly at will whereas it was fine on 7. Try another OS if you can is my suggestion.
Click to expand...

I had similar issues as yours with my Alienware 15 even after doing multiple clean installs. Main issue was with it freezing on pretty much every W10 update that was put out, no issues with W8.1 which it came with. I haven't touched it for a few months as I was fed up with it.
 
R

Resilient

Member
PuppetSlave said:
PSU problems sounds like the cheapest problem since you tested your ram, so switching that one out would be my desperation move.

No, like other poster posted, thermal paste should be your first move.
Click to expand...

I should change the thermal paste? But are those temps not good (and under stress testing too)?

Apt101 said:
Have you checked the event logs? See if there is a dump or partial dump in C:Windows to debug (or attempt to debug)?

I agree with others that the cheapest option hardware wise would be to test another CPU, and/or reapply the thermal paste.
Click to expand...

I don't have a spare CPU around so I'd have to buy one - not the cheapest option around here for 1151 socket either :( see above - why is the CPU most likely the culprit ? It's confusing because it works fine for extended periods or short periods in the same games and then just dies.

If a CPU overheats doesn't the system shut down?
 
E

Evolution of Metal

Member
Check different SATA ports. While it doesn't seem to be 100% the same issue that I had, it is worth trying since you can check different ports and other measures at the same time.

I had the permanent freeze. If there was audio present during the freeze, it would just loop those few milliseconds. In my case it was an issue with the SATA port, using a different one and have no problems. No crash logs or anything, the PC would treat this issue as a mechanical failure of the HDD/Connection.
 
A

aceface

Member
chuckddd said:
Bad power supplies tend to end up doing the weirdest shit to your pc. I always keep an old one around for testing.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was going to suggest power supply. A faulty power supply gave me issues very similar to the ones you are describing here. I replaced it and it's been fine ever since.
 
P

PandaShake

Member
If CPU overheats, it should shut down. I would try a new psu. Somewhere with good return policy if it's not the problem. Maybe both your GPUs are busted.
 
R

Resilient

Member
Evolution of Metal said:
Check different SATA ports. While it doesn't seem to be 100% the same issue that I had, it is worth trying since you can check different ports and other measures at the same time.

I had the permanent freeze. If there was audio present during the freeze, it would just loop those few milliseconds. In my case it was an issue with the SATA port, using a different one and have no problems. No crash logs or anything, the PC would treat this issue as a mechanical failure of the HDD/Connection.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Did it happen in games only? Or while browsing?
 
T

TheChewyWaffles

Member
I had the same issues and it was a bad motherboard. Replaced the PSU initially and it didn't help. New motherboard solved the problem.

Edit: my issue was sudden shutdown. Not freezing
 
s_mirage

s_mirage

Member
Transistor said:
Only with games and not normal browsing? Sounds like a GPU issue
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Games put a lot more stress on the system in many ways than just browsing does. RAM usage, CPU usage, and power draw will all be far higher than is typical when browsing. When one of the two CPU power connectors wasn't inserted properly into my board I could browse just fine, but gaming would cause a blue screen (and cause the CPU core voltage to dip sharply, which is how I realised what the problem was).
 
Skyr

Skyr

Member
I used to have a similar issue with my old machine where I had random crahes when running games.
After I got a new PSU everything was fine.
In terms of power it should have been alright for sure but it seemed to be some other issue..
 
N

Neo_Geo

Banned
Are you using XMP settings for your RAM? Maybe try the other two alternating slots to rule that out. Not sure how Skylake controls memory, but my 5820k has a less than stellar IMC and I can't use the XMP profile on my 3200Mhz RAM, PC would freeze or just shut down unexpectedly so I slowed the speed down and tightened timings to compensate.
 
T

Talents

Banned
PSU seems most likely. I had the exact same problem a few months back. PC would work fine until I started playing games which required more power and then the computer would just restart, replaced my PSU with a new one and the problem was fixed.
 
I

Inkwell

Banned
I've fixed 2 or 3 computers where the issue was bad ram and memtest hadn't found anything. I have a feeling that it probably isn't the ram, but I would try using your pc normally and playing games for a bit with each stick of ram on their own. I know you ran memtest like this. Maybe you did this too, but I feel it's worth a shot before you spend any money.
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
Monitoring this thread. I've had the same problem for years, but I only ever crash on the desktop, never had it in a game, weirdly enough. Sometimes within an hour, sometimes a day. It also persisted for me from multiple vid cards and OS reinstalls (on Win7). I'm trying to think if it happened on my original power supply, I now have a Seasonic, but I can't remember. I think it happened on my stock heatsink too and persisted after I replaced it with a 212.

The only thing that helped was I no longer run my PC all day, I turn it off when I'm not using it. I used to have it crash when I slept or was out for the day, and I'd sit down to use it and see it was crashed, do a reset then-and-there and immediately start using it. That seemed to exacerbate the problem.

I also think it happened less after I moved away from Razer brand mouse products.

But yes op, very frustrating.

So,

#1, check your peripherals.
#2, check your power supply.
#3, don't idle your PC when not in use.

None of those fixed my issues 100%, but I now only get an unexpected lockup maybe once a month or two.

Edit: it's prolly the mobo or psu, the two most annoying things to change of course. I want to try testing the PSU, but I dropped over a hundred on my current one, and I don't want to buy another one because the issue is so sporadic. It's easy to pop out a stick of RAM, or toss in an old vid card, or run linux off a DVD for a couple days, but the psu and mobo require buying and fussing with everything.

I also remember that I could never get it to freeze in linux...
 
J

jaxpunk

Member
Go to the bare minimum that you need to run the pc.

First thing, stop with the overclock shit if you've got problems with your pc.

Update your bios. I don't see a January update for your bios here.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/HelpDesk_Download/

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...0318.pdf?_ga=1.239210820.631535397.1479846624
Your power supply isn't listed as supported. Usually isn't a problem but something to look into.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...0316.pdf?_ga=1.211423314.631535397.1479846624
Your ram isn't listed as supported either. Try running it at 2133 instead of 2400?

Beyond that...

Wifi card, 1TB drive, printer, whatever, all out. Run something that you know makes the pc fuck up. Does it still do it with the bare minimum? Then it's got to be something in there.

It's a matter of elimination. Just start pulling things one by one till your down to the absolute minimum.
 
G

Gigglepop

Banned
Push everything in firmly. I've seen so many issues where people didn't fully seat cables.

Make sure the 8 pin power cable is plugged into the mobo as well.
 
M

Mupod

Member
Instead of tearing stuff out of your system there's still some basic tests you can do. Fire up OCCT and do the PSU test, it basically runs Linpack and Furmark to stress both the CPU and GPU.
 
E

Engell

Member
Resilient said:
Sorry - forgot. EVGA 1070 SC.

Note that the freezing issue still appeared when I was on my old GPU, a 7850 OC Radeon card (2gb, Gigabyte).
Click to expand...

did you check if your card is one of the affected in the EVGA recall/mod.., not saying that it is the culprit .. but better get it fixed before your card burns.
http://www.evga.com/thermalmod/

also run memtest86(or similar), the crashes could be a faulty bit in a RAM module, that you only get data in at random and probably wouldn't be hit with a normal stress test
 
One Eyed Willy

One Eyed Willy

Member
Undo any and every overclock you have on CPU, GPU or memory. Change nothing else for days and test.

If the problem goes away, re-enable one of the above overclocks and test until you find the culprit. If the issue continues after disabling overclocks, almost certainly this is either a PSU issue or a heat problem with your CPU. Run utilities to check core temps on GPU and CPUs. Look into a new PSU.

My guess is if you OC'd your CPU in the BIOS/UEFI you had to obviously adjust the core clock values. I would gather this isn't playing well with the set CPU core voltage levels. Most modern overclockable CPUs will actually stretch and OC well on Auto set core cpu voltage settings. Keep voltage settings stock and Auto and play with just CPU core values until you find the right balance. But only do this after testing with your OC turned off and the CPU running at stock speeds.
 
J

Javier23

Banned
I'd put serious money on it being the PSU given very similar past issues that I've experienced. Try and borrow one if you can.
 
B

Baron Aloha

A Shining Example
I just built a system with the same cpu and gpu. I experienced the exact same issue as you OP. It went on for weeks while I looked for a solution and drove me crazy. It happened at completely random times - not necessarily just playing games.

The solution?

Uninstall GeForce Experience

Once I did that I've had no problems whatsoever and I tried a ton of things before that (including replacing components) and none of them worked. This absolutely did the trick for me.
 
A

Arkanius

Member
I usually associate those kind of freezes due incorrect voltage on the CPU.
Is it on Auto when OC'd?

If the motherboard decides to be shitty, sometimes they can overvolt/undervolt which might lead to freezing.
 
Z

Zackat

Member
Mine did this when I put it in sleep mode for a while then tried to play again. I gave up looking for an answer and just don't put it in sleep mode anymore. No more crashes.
 
Iorv3th

Iorv3th

Member
I would suggest running something like MSI Afterburner and monitoring the temps and cpu/gpu usage while playing. See what happens when it crashes. Although if it was from temps the PC should shut down completely and not freeze.


Someone mentioned having similar problems with their SATA port. I know on my ASUS motherboard there are marvel and intel Sata controllers. The marvel ones are shit and although they say they are rated for 6gb/s they are not getting near that and are very sporadic in speed. I had a problem with a super slow SSD until I realized it was the marvel sata ports being shit and when I switched to the intel ports they worked flawlessly.


Sounds like a motherboard or power issue.
 
One Eyed Willy

One Eyed Willy

Member
Baron Aloha said:
I just built a system with the same cpu and gpu. I experienced the exact same issue as you OP. It went on for weeks while I looked for a solution and drove me crazy. It happened at completely random times - not necessarily just playing games.

The solution?

Uninstall GeForce Experience

Once I did that I've had no problems whatsoever and I tried a ton of things before that (including replacing components) and none of them worked. This absolutely did the trick for me.
Click to expand...

Try what this guy said.
 
Patrick S.

Patrick S.

Banned
If it were the RAM you'd get the freezes doing stuff other than gaming, too. My PC used to exhibit this behavior after I had overclocked it with unstable settings (using Intel Extreme Tuning or however the tool is called), and the problems went away when I took the OC down 100-200 mhz. I suggest trying without OC for a while. And this isn't a temperature issue, it's a power issue.
 
D

dh4niel

Member
I had a similar issue that was a GFX card driver issue.

Make sure all your cables are plugged in securely to the PSU.
 
Patrick S.

Patrick S.

Banned
dh4niel said:
I had a similar issue that was a GFX card driver issue.

Make sure all your cables are plugged in securely to the PSU.
Click to expand...

If it were a driver issue, the PC wouldn't sometimes work an hour and sometimes four. This PC freezes because it either has some component physically failing or because he's overclocking too high with inadequate power settings/supply, or perhaps even a combination of both.
 
Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess

Member
When it freezes, is the hd led on? It could be bad sata ports( you can swap your drives around to check), or just a bad mobo, or the psu. If you have a spare psu, swap it in to check.
 
H

HelloMeow

Member
Since you have two sticks of ram, you could test them one at a time. If the issue persists with both, it's probably not ram. Just use one of the sticks until you get a freeze. Then try the other.

Oh, never mind, you already did that.
 
X

Xelios092

Member
Dunno if you fixed it yet, but here's my thought. I have a completely different system from you BUT I had the same issue. Random freezes. It would literally just power down immediately out of nowhere. 1 hour after turning it on, 5 hours after turning it on, or hell, even 40 hours after turning it on (I don't turn it off). My issue came down to my PSU. Apparently it was on it's way out and would randomly drop voltage I'm assuming, or maybe boost it. Who knows. I could never monitor it as it would crash randomly. Replacing my PSU alleviated ever issue though. But also, your temps seem kinda high. I hit 70C but I'm on an FX8320 that's heavily overclocked. Check that too if you havent yet.
 
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