Pc shutting down, Cant find the reason

CoolguyCain

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Hey tech people!

So for the past 9 months i've had a pc that shuts down randomly when i'm playing any harder to run games (Ark survival evolved, PUBG).
Its a complete shutdown, no restart. As if i flip the switch.
Some days i crash 7 times, other days i do the exact same thing and don't crash even once.
The issues started back in december when i switched my Motherboard/MEM/CPU.
During a attempt to try and fix this with people on this forum back then we "found" the issue to be the PSU, which i replaced and upgraded.
Unfortunately this didnt fix the issue, the pc is still crashing.

Things ive already tried:

I have updated all drivers and the bios.
The replaced parts are sent back to the seller to test for any issues, but none were found. These were the Motherboard/mem/cpu.
The current psu is 850w Gold so shouldnt have any issues suplying enough power.
Ran a memtest for around 24 hours without getting a single error. https://gyazo.com/7ac437769b984c774786bd0fd1009a31
Used my old parts and getting no crashes at all (indicating its not my disks)
re-assembled the parts countless times.
Bought a new case since the old one's airflow was utter shit
Put a fan against the side of the pc which made the pc not crash at all, but this could be purely chance.

Buying a new case seemed to lower the times it crashed, pointing towards a thermal shut down, but even though my temperatures are way higher than they should be, it shouldnt be high enough to crash my computer.

My specs are :

Motherboard: Asus viii ranger
Memory: Corsair vengeance 3200 2x 8gb
CPU: Intel i7 6700k
GPU: Evga gtx 970
PSU:corsair Rm850x
CPU cooler: cooler master hyper 212 evo

HDD: 2x Samsung hd204ui
SSD: 1x Crucial Bx200 480gb (current start up disk)

Case: NZXT noctis 450

When i crash it shows an error that the pc suddenly shut down 30 minutes earlier, i've added two screenshots to show what i mean.
https://gyazo.com/ac0c457bc3aa59bf94c580c65ee1816e The error at the time of crash
https://gyazo.com/42207bb51e1e2678f5ee838276f0669e The time the "error" should have occurred
https://gyazo.com/bd458bc070eff200ae93c176d31dc92c Temps just before a crash happens
 

Causes for such shutdowns are only 2:
  • overheating,
    psu protection kicking in.
What temperatures are you getting during gaming session?
Is anything overclocked?

Edit. Those errors don't tell anything. And temperatures seem fine.
 

CoolguyCain

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My GPU is factory overclocked by EVGA, and my cpu is stock overclocked (which i disabled)
I use CAM from nzxt to keep me up to date when my cpu/gpu pass 80 degrees, and while both do that atleast once a week, they never go higher than 85 (mostly they just peek 81 once)
 

CoolguyCain

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When using it together with my old parts my GPU never gave issues though so i'm not sure if this'll help much
 

DSzymborski

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We're trying to isolate things.
 

CoolguyCain

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Just to be somewhat blunt, do you think my motherboard could be at fault here? (I can't underclock the gpu currently but will do as soon as i can)
 
1. I know I don't have to tell you that problems like the ones you've been experiencing are some of the hardest to diagnose, let alone resolve. There are myriad issues that can be causing what you're experiencing.

2. The only significant clue is that the genesis of the problem(s) began when you installed a new motherboard, memory, and CPU.

3. Set aside the seller's "report" that tests revealed no problems with those replacement parts. (At least I'm assuming those were the "parts tested"). Maybe yes, maybe no.

4. Just for starters...have you checked the health of the CPU with the IntelProcessorDiagnostic Tool? If not, do so. You've indicated you already checked out the memory and that's apparently OK.

5. Obviously that leaves the motherboard. In situations like yours. And it's practically impossible to determine if the MB is the culprit. Only a replacement can be definitive for diagnostic purposes and for obvious reasons that's usually not practical for most PC users.

6. You've checked out the health of ALL the drives involved, right? (We're talking about Win 10 here, yes? I don't recall if you mentioned the OS.

7. What we do in situations like yours is to simply "start over" as it were. (I realize some of the following are very basic techniques that I'm sure you already know, but bear with me.)

The basic approach would be along the following lines...
A. Get inside your desktop computer case (after disconnecting the A/C plug from your wall socket) and determine that the CPU, heat sink, memory modules & graphics card are all properly seated and all connections appear secure. Remove (disconnect) ALL peripheral devices including ALL HDD & SSD drive(s), optical drive(s), sound card, etc. Disconnect ALL storage devices, printers, and any other devices connected to the machine.

(As an aside, if it's not too onerous, it would be even better if your would remove the motherboard + components from the case and work with it outside of the case - perhaps on the cardboard case the MB was packaged in if you still have it or some other non-electric conducting surface, e.g., cardboard, wood, etc.)

B. In any event, all you'll be working with is your motherboard, processor, heat sink, RAM, graphics card, power supply, keyboard & mouse. Better yet, should your motherboard have onboard graphics capability, disconnect your graphics/video card from the system. Just ensure that following access of the BIOS/UEFI interface, if there is a BIOS setting for onboard graphics display that BIOS setting is enabled since that setting is frequently disabled as the default setting.

C. Reconnect your A/C cord and power on the system. What happens? Do you get a "normal" screen display? No error messages or strange notations from the system?

D. Can you access your BIOS/UEFI without any difficulty at this point and review the CMOS-BIOS settings? In particular, ensure that the SATA controller mode is set to AHCI (which should be the default setting). Check the hardware monitor/PC Health in the BIOS to determine that all temps are within normal range?

E. Assuming all is well at this point leave the system powered on for the next hour or so, checking to see if anything untoward shows up. Using your reset button, try powering down & up a few times to determine if there are any problems there.

F. Now you can install your graphics card in case it hasn't as yet been installed.

G. Along the way of the above steps if there's any indication of a faulty PSU, test that component with a PSU power tester (assuming you have one) or better yet, substitute a known non-defective PSU should one be available. (Actually you can forgo this step since you are certain you're working with a non-defective PSU.)

H. Should all appear well at this point this is an indication that there's nothing wrong with the basic components of your system. While not absolutely definitive this is so, it's a very strong indication that something else is amiss.

All this, of course, is to rule out at least to some degree) that the problem is not hardware-related insofar as the basic components currently installed in the PC.

Finally, install any BIOS update.

8. At this point install the SSD boot drive in your system and boot to the OS. Hopefully the system will boot & function problem-free. Work with the boot drive as the ONLY drive installed for some time to determine no problems exist. And, of course, work with your games if any are installed on the SSD.

9. Install your secondary HDD and similarly work with the system to determine all is well.

10. Then the other secondary HDD.

I just don't see any other practical series of troubleshooting steps at this point but perhaps you have some other ideas. I realize all the above is pretty basic stuff but I don't see any other course of action at this point unless something jumps out at you during the above. Good luck.
 

CoolguyCain

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Thanks a lot for the lengthy walkthrough!
Unfortunately i can't do this at the moment, but tomorrow i should have more than enough time to do all this!
And i did already do a intel diagnostic test, and also checked all my disks for issues using Seatools from seagate.
All drives are up to date and the BIOS is on its latest version.


Also how would I know there is something wrong with the start up? (Besides an obvious error on the screen, anything i need to look out for specifically? )
 
It's nothing more than a preliminary step to determine if there's some basic malfunction in the system, either brought on by (possibly) faulty building of the basic components making up the PC, or some defective component that may be at the root of the problem. For example, more than once we've found the builder failed to connect the 4 (or 8) pin CPU power connector cable, or the RAM wasn't properly seated, or the motherboard was shorting out, or the graphics card was obviously defective because of a black screen, or an overheating problem. A host of things. Not that any of that might apply in your situation, but as I indicated it's preliminary & quite basic step. Merely a start. (And you might be surprised at what we find at times!). The process isn't particularly too lengthy or onerous but I've never found any other practical way for the average PC user to troubleshoot the kind of problem you've been experiencing.

Our final step where we just can't determine the cause of the problem from the steps I've indicated is to change the motherboard after removing the basic components and reinstall the apparent non-defective components and ensure all are properly connected & seated. Obviously that means the user must have available another motherboard to substitute and it goes without saying that can be an insurmountable problem for the average PC user.
 

CoolguyCain

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So today i was waiting for my dad (who has somewhat more experience than me with pc's) to have time to come over to pretty much oversee me making sure i didn't do anything wrong.

And i've noticed a LOT of heat coming off of the pc. To the point where i could smell it. (like you can smell a wall radiator when its on)
I'm 99% sure this isnt good. looking at my temps they were all around 70 while playing a game (incl motherboard and cpu)

I know the cpu fan is properly seated and if there is too much/little thermal paste its a minimal margin. Any way to further lower temps, since these temps are quite high.
https://gyazo.com/a34076ea9d7bea5da128b3ed7b0b446b (NOT MY PICTURE) This is the case i have and the lines drawn are where i have fans. (i do not have that cpu cooler)

Tomorrow i will be able to follow the instructions you guys gave me to narrow the issue down.
 

CoolguyCain

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Okay, so after running through the above mentioned steps i haven't found anything standing out. I have however found a few things that were odd outside of those steps, one being that my PSU was quite warm (warmer than my GPU and CPU) when i disconnected it and took everything out after playing a few games.

Besides that i've changed where my HDD's were in the hopes it increases airflow ( both my HDD's were hanging in front of the bottom fan, now they are between them)
I've also done a CMOS reset, in the hopes that helps too.
 

CoolguyCain

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I used the GPU in my last pc aswell and didnt have any issues, but assuming this is happening, how can i fix this?



I tried, but ASUS would only accept an RMA sent from the store itself, and the store isn't accepting it since they already tested it and found no issues.
 

CoolguyCain

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Unfortunately i don't have another PSU/GPU to use, how would i reduce the GPU overclock? in the BIOS?
Also isn't it possible to change the voltage of my GPU"?
 

CoolguyCain

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unfortunately still crashing, but i have SOME good news.
I have enough money to buy a new part if need be.

What part would you guys say i should replace?
If this doesnt help, i can always send the part back within 14 days.
 
If it were me, I'd choose the motherboard. I believe you've more-or-less tested all the other basic components that will make up your system.
If you go that route perform the build carefully, ensuring that you've properly/securely connected your components and carefully installed the OS.
 

CoolguyCain

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Actually i've crashed just now and noticed a few small things, not sure it it'll help but any info is welcome ofcourse.

When i start up, i need to logg into my account. My pc is VERY slow at this part. (the typing in the password, it types, but shows it really slow)

After i logg in sometimes my mouse flickers (it spams all buttons at once) i need to replug it once or sometimes more times to stop this. When this happens most of the time i'm also not able to use windows's buttons. With windows buttons i mean the shutdown buttons etc in windows itself.

Whenever i play a game and i use my media buttons ( play, stop, next, previous and volume) and i have an inventory open, it suddenly closes this. Meaning it associates it with another button somewhere.
 

So you initially replaced motherboard, ram, cpu;
then replaced psu;
then replaced motherboard, ram, cpu again.

Only thing left standing is gpu and drives.
As I said before - try with a different gpu.


Could be some kind of infection/malware/keyloger.
 

CoolguyCain

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I've had the mouse thing since the new parts were in, only noticed the keyboard thing a few days ago, and the log in screen since i reinstalled windows the last time.

Also i only replaced the parts 9 months ago, i sent them back to the place i bought them at because i thought they were faulty but i got the exact same parts back since they said there were no issues.
 

CoolguyCain

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Any motherboard you would recommend?
Last time i pretty much bought an "upgrade pack" so i wouldnt really know what to look at in a motherboard.
(budget would be up to 150 euros)
 
I think I would go with a Z270 board (not another Z170 board). Both types are equipped with the LGA 1151 socket and should be compatible with your CPU.

I've worked only with the ASRock Z170 Extreme 7+ and was generally pleased with its performance. I personally haven't worked with any Z270 board so can't give you any specific recommendation except that I'm aware the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON MB has garnered excellent user reviews. Take a look at it at https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130973 and check out other Newegg offerings as well.

I am always loathe to give recommendations on this or that PC component that I haven't personally worked with or personally reviewed or has been recommended by someone I'm personally acquainted with and trust his (or her) judgment.