HELP! Troubleshooting random shutdowns win7x64

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ioneindividual

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Oct 26, 2014
22
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4,510
The rig:
AMD FX8320 B.E. cpu
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/AMD-FD8320FRHKBOX-FX-8320-FX-Series-8-Core-Black-Edition-Processor-/351630149330?hash=item51deca46d2:g:qLMAAOSwnipWZUKQ

m5a97 le r2.0 mobo
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjxv8fOuuPKAhUDeT4KHdwwArcQFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asus.com%2Fca-en%2FMotherboards%2FM5A97_LE_R20%2F&usg=AFQjCNFnN3n3Lf5yXvxox4cBEx8BZA9SeA&sig2=MG7EQTO79IW7uf2ZS9Igpw

32 gb Gskill ramkit in dual channel mode, using ram's built in timing profile
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/G-SKILL-Ripjaws-X-Series-32GB-4-x-8GB-240-Pin-DDR3-SDRAM-DDR3-2133-PC3-17000-/171393125010?hash=item27e7d38a92:g:K40AAOxy-WxTBllk

2 Raid 0 Sata 6 SSD Samsung drives:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SAMSUNG-SSD-850-PRO-256GB-256G-SATA-III-540MB-S-SOLID-STATE-HARD-DRIVE-NEW-/371271296956?hash=item56717e67bc:g:T6AAAOSwPYZU8phX

AMD-Radeon-HD-6770 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ASUS-AMD-Radeon-HD-6770-EAH6770-DC-2DI-1GD5-1-GB-GDDR5-SDRAM-PCI-Express-/141891491298?hash=item21096455e2

Some other minor components:
mini pci-x wlan / bluetooth 2 in 1 expansion card
atapi serial port connector
atapi digital audio (toslink / coax) connector
usb webcam (just to be thorough)
liquid cooler for cpu
5 case fans all 10cm
bluray writer (internal)

Just replaced a power supply, 575w which died with a 600w that has a lifetime warranty, thinking the PS was to blame, though doubtful due to the lack of high powered components.
The issue remains though.

The issue:
Intermittant random resets while running a presumably stable environment under win7x64 (legal and unmodified from factory install, performed 18 hours ago)

Existing troubleshooting
-Factory installed OS (several times, before the first PS died) OEM windows without additional software.
-No updates yet done
-Drivers installed: video, audio, bluetooth / wlan, usb3.0, chipset
-No conflicts, no errors in dev manager
-No other noticable issues, when running everything goes great until a random reboot happens.

Problem has been ongoing, have resorted to swapping hardware components out to hopefully eliminate any RMAs
Swapped hardware without any changes even after another fresh install:
-Motherboard / CPU (intel core2 duo initially)
-Power supply (twice, this is the second time it's killed one)
-Ram (was 4gb in this and previous mobo, also a gskill set pair)
-Hard disk: upgraded from sata ide 2.0 tb to the ssd raid

I'm at a dead end. The only thing left to replace is my video card, and I somehow doubt (but won't dismiss the possibility) that an otherwise functional anomaly free video card is to blame, simply due to the nature of the shutdown.

The windows system logs didn't even record the reboot happening, as if its a loss of power somewhere.
Logs only indicate 'the last shutdown was unexpected' after rebooting
I might be assuming but I would expect a video card failure related shutdown / reboot to be registered in the logs since video isn't required to run the operating system... maybe I'm too cheap to update my video card though.

Open to any and all suggestions, except of course using windows 10 and it's terrible advertising-for-halo ai... the last thing I need.
Windows 8 isn't really suited for this machine because there is no touch interface, and I rather dislike the way they set up the gui to more or less require one in order to be efficient.
Windows 8 is also a resource hog that I'd rather didn't remind me how old my video card is...
Naturally its last to be replaced because they're so expensive, but for troubleshooting I could use a different card I have that I know works.
Problem is I don't know what triggers the reboot, its totally random, sometimes it happens frequently but today it only happened once; I'm concerned because today I replaced the PS and reinstalled the OS and thought (naively) I was problem free for at least the first 24 hours.

Rambling and ignorance aside, anyone have ideas?
 
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ioneindividual

Reputable
Oct 26, 2014
22
0
4,510

I'm really glad you brought that up. When I had the old ram (also a gskill kit, 4gb 2x2gb) it's fsb was correct but it, in fact, was not in my motherboard's compatible list. And sure enough, neither is the new one.

When I learned about the old one, that 4gb (while not much) was brand new ram. I got it from newegg (DONT SHOP AT NEWEGG) and even asked the associate if it would be compatible with my rig, who without taking responsibility for their answer assured me it would be. Clever salesfolk promote without any actual ownership statements quite well, and usually without being noticed; so do politicians who often win elections for the record. That aside, I bought the pitch and sadly the initial ram and thats when the problem began, only it was much worse with that ramkit. My stomach dropped when I thought to actually check the manual for compatibility and didn't see it but saw very similar gskill kits with near identical resources. I tried to return it and they told me to politely gtfo.
I should have blamed gskill... but their ram is so shiny with those huge heatsyncs that I guess they need for running unstable--hence my issue.

So I buy another ramkit, this time off ebay--wanting to give gskill another shot figuring it'll be more stable from better cooling (not then having the experience with their hardware I do now)
32 gb, why not only 300 bucks. THIS time I asked asus techs if it was compatible, because I checked the list before paying money. It is not listed, but an asus tech assured me it was compatible.

Guess I'm the idiot for believing the bullshit. Maybe not if I realized it and learn from this experience.
Thanks for your perspective, I'm leaning towards ram now, as it would explain everything, even frying a psu--and the type of performance issues I've started noticing on it already while gaming, regardless if they're gpu heavy or cpu heavy games... garbage fps no matter how low I set the details till I finally try a lowd resolution... which I'll boldly assume I shouldn't have to do on this sort of rig... not that I've ever got it to run well 3 grand 3 yearsand 3 inches of my hairline later.
What kind gets me is it turned out the second ramkit off ebay--was actually sold online by who else? newegg. /facepalm and they don't take returns for compatibility problems, they ask for more money for their junk they lie about to sell.

Thanks, I'll take a look at what it has to say. Kernal dumps were enabled at the time of the first restart, should I take the pages advice and set that to low?
 
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I

ioneindividual

Reputable
Oct 26, 2014
22
0
4,510
On the plus side the reboot hasn't happened again since my OP. I don't think I'm out of the woods yet though, I still seem to have issues with HD video and gaming on applications / content I used use seemlessly with a less powerful cpu and ram using the exact same video card.... but just as well am still ready to get a new one.
 
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