Computer Randomly Hard Resets (No Blue Screen)

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
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4,510
Hi,

Computer has been randomly resetting. No blue screen, no restart message, the machine suddenly shuts off and all fans go dark. The machine is idle for a fraction of a second, then the fans all start back up, bios posts, and the OS boots like nothing happened.

I can't say this always happens during peak performace, the last time it happened, I was watching temps and CPU activity, and everything was under minimum load.

I run windows 10, and nothing appears in the system log, the last log prior to the reset appears to be regular stuff (no log indicating an error), followed by nothing, followed by the kernel power entry for the after-reset boot.

Components:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128707
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181060
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01639694M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231616
 

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
11
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4,510


Thanks for the reply!

I have it plugged into a power strip. I think the power strip is fine because I have another machine hooked to it and that one doesn't have this issue.

I can try bringing the functioning UPS from work home and plugging into that. (Step 1 I when I get home today)
 

BmoneyGames

Honorable
Jul 7, 2015
42
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10,540
I've had this issue before, It usually is because the power stip can't supply enough power when the PC is at peak performance or at anytime for that matter, so it force shuts it down so you don't surge your power supply. I would reccomend you unplug the other machine from the supply and see if that fixes it. Otherwise, just plug your PC into another source
 

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
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I will try using a different power strip and/or the UPS from work tonight. It would be cool if that was the problem (easy to fix =D)

If this doesn't work, what's next?
 

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
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4,510


I tried using my UPS dedicated for just this machine to ensure stable power, the machine experienced the same crash again
none of the other machines here are experiencing power issues, I don't think that's it.
 

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
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So I have tried a UPS (stable power source) and I have just changed the whole Power Supply unit inside the machine. The issue persists.

What this means to me is that it is not a power supply issue.

What's left?

In order of probability, I think the following:

1. Thermal, both Processor and Video card have temperature shutdown overrides that could present behavior like this.
2. Mobo could have an issue that is causing a shutdown override.
3. Memory or HDD could have a fault that is doing something strange. I didn't initially think this could be the cause because I don't know of any override options that can come out of these, but this seems worth testing.

I would love feedback about what people think is going on.
 

professorbell

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Jul 22, 2014
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What is most interesting is that the system doesn't seem to recognize that there has been a fatal crash, and nothing is freezing, showing graphical glitches, or otherwise indicating that software ever saw the issue. This is literally like I was sitting here and pressed the "reset" button on my machine.

I haven't done that, and I find it hard to believe that there is some short in the case that emulates such behavior.

Finally, the reset almost always seems to happen when chrome is open. I am not sure what to say about this, except that Chrome is a pretty memory and processor intensive program, so maybe that has something to do with it.
 

professorbell

Reputable
Jul 22, 2014
11
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4,510
I have now tried swapping out the memory and re-applying thermal grease to the CPU cooler.

Neither of these approaches changed the problem.

I have also localized the issue significantly by using the PassMark PerformanceTest. Th result? My machine always quits in the middle of the CPU Physics test. I have also looked through CoreTemp's log around the time the machine crashes, and it appears to be accompanied by a very large temperature spike in the CPU.

This leads to the following list of possible causes:

1. CPU Cooling, I am using a corsair 2-fan water-cooling CPU cooler. Perhaps it has not aged gracefully and it ought to be replaced.
2. CPU failure?
3. Mobo northbridge/CPU traffic chipset failure.

Unfortunately MOBO and CPU are a huge pain in the ass to change out, not to mention expensive, so I am not sure how testing these is going to go.

I will probably start by changing the CPU cooler and unplugging every possible internal peripheral that I can to make sure that none of them could be the cause. I am not sure if there is any reason to disconnect the case wires, but certainly I should try a different hard drive.
 

BmoneyGames

Honorable
Jul 7, 2015
42
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10,540
Sorry If I haven't spoken in a while, but have you tried updating your bios? I recently had some issues with my PC freezing randomly. And after months of searching I found that I just needed to update my BIOS to be compatible with my CPU. I would have never thought that would be the issue but it ended up working! Here is a link to gigabyte's support page:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-UD5H-rev-10#support-dl

Hope this helps!