Computer has been crashing (for years now) with a buzzing noise

[stephengirty]

Computer:
GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3 MB
16 GB Ram
i7- 6700k @ 4.00
GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB SC EVGA
Sound Blaster ZX
I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING!!!! I have reinstalled windows more times then I will admit.

No it is not what I am playing because this computer will crash just using chrome. (this is being written in a Google docs so that I won't loss this post)

Yes, all drivers are up to date, and yes all windows updates have been installed.

Has anyone run in to this! please help. This is driving me crazy!

 

[maruniverse7]

Computer:
GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3 MB
16 GB Ram
i7- 6700k @ 4.00
GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB SC EVEA
Sound Blaster ZX
I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING!!!! I have reinstalled windows more times then I will admit.

No it is not what I am playing because this computer will crash just using chrome. (this is being written in a Google docs so that I won't loss this post)

Yes, all drivers are up to date, and yes all windows updates have been installed.

Has anyone run in to this! please help. This is driving me crazy!

Have you ever checked your CPU Thermal compound paste? Even small temps will toggle computer shutdown. Remove heatsink, remove old Thermal paste and apply new layer. Videos can be found on youtube

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, you listed everything except what was important. What is the model number, exactly, of your power supply?

If you are unsure, find it on the power supply. There will be a specifications decal somewhere on the unit. If it is not visible, which it usually is, you may have to remove the four screws holding it to the case (With the power unplugged from the wall) and turn it to find the side it is on but usually it is on one of the visible sides.

Also, but "reinstalled" windows, do you mean you did full clean installs, deleting ALL the existing partitions including the boot partition, or just installed over the top of the old installation or did some kind of refresh/restore?

 

[stephengirty]

Power supply Thermaltake TR2 600w.

 

[stephengirty]

Yes clean installs. I wiped the HD, Even pulled the one that still had some windows on it that I cant get rid of.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Get a new power supply. Funny thing, that EXACT power supply is what brought me to Tom's hardware MANY years ago, way before I became a moderator here. Since then, I have seen exactly 67 examples, myself, of that power supply being the culprit in very similar situations as yours.

Here is my FIRST post on Tom's hardware, for effect.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2194316/likelihood-psu-failure.html


And what's funnier is just two minutes before I came and read your reply, I posted THIS in the power supply tier list thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list/page-131.html#20567806


And here are some further examples.

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&safe=strict&source=hp&ei=tepRWvXWIouT0gKWmabQDg&q=site%3Atomshardware.com+Thermaltake+TR2&oq=site%3Atomshardware.com+Thermaltake+TR2&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1880.12611.0.13914.38.37.0.0.0.0.170.2850.35j2.37.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.5.421.0..0j46j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i3k1j0i10k1.0.0tillYx9PMA


You will likely find that about 75% of those threads result in the TR2 unit being at fault. I would highly recommend replacing it and that's before I even bother having you go through the process of installing Hwinfo, running a stress test and looking at the system voltages in HWinfo to show you that it is incapable of holding up to it's rated capacity AND that those units have a seriously bad habit of creating problems that look like almost any other hardware related thing you can think of because when there is not a good functional power supply there is not good functional hardware.


If you had not said you've been having this same problem for YEARS, I would have said let's test the unit, but since the newer version of the TR2's has only been around for about a year and a half, then you have the older version which is much, much worse than the newer version, which is still not good at all.

 

[stephengirty]

After reading this I feel so relieved!!! I was about to buy a new MOBO and start from scratch! I will keep you guys posted on the new PSU install. I will buy a new one tomorrow, what would you suggest Dark?!

If this fixes it I will be a toms hardware lifer, like I assume you are!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, keep some reservations in mind. Bottom line is, you NEED to replace that unit and it is PROBABLY the problem, but there will always, in any problem, be some amount of possibility that it is something else. Figuring out WHAT it is though, without having a power supply installed that you know is good and is trustworthy is almost impossible.

Do that first, and then if you still have an issue we can figure out what it is but without that we might as well be chasing ghosts around the cornfield.

So, your GPU card and the rest of your system REALLY only need a very good 450w unit. Unfortunately there's not a LOT of those out there, but there are some. There are many good 550-650w units though.

Do you think there is any chance you will be upgrading that graphics card at some point or do you think you will be likely to be using that for a long time to come?

My recommendation would be to go with a good 550w unit because then you have plenty of capacity for this or any of the bigger cards from this generation of Nvidia process, so just buy one once, that is VERY good, and probably not need to buy another one for the next 8-10 years.

What kind of budget do you think you could afford, maximum, for a new PSU?

 

[stephengirty]

I plan on purchasing and installing this https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1285911-REG/evga_110_bq_0750_v1_nex_750bq_bronze_power.html tomorrow. I would like to at some point purchase two 1070's and SLI them so I figured what the hell.

Agree?

I am open to suggestions.

Best

 

[Darkbreeze]

NO. You don't want that unit.

JonnyGuru scored the 750bq with a miserable 8.1 out of 10, which is not good by todays standards.

Aris, the PSU reviewer for Tom's Hardware AND TechPowerUp, had this to say about the 850w model, which uses the same HEC platform as the 750w unit.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=490

Although it registers a fairly high performance per dollar score thanks to its affordable price, the unit's absolute performance isn't up to the levels we want to see. Load regulation is very loose, ripple suppression on the minor rails is mediocre, and the 3.3V rail's transient response is weak. To make matters worse, the efficiency levels are quite low, the inrush current under both voltage inputs (115V and 230V) is high, and the cooling fan is loud, even though it uses a reliable bearing. In order to keep the Teapo SC capacitors on the secondary side cool (along with the SBRs responsible for rectifying the +12V rail), HEC went with an aggressive fan profile that sets the minimum rotational speed at 1120 RPM! So, if you hate noisy PSUs, stay away from this one.

Also, SLI and Crossfire are DEAD configurations. Almost all games have moved away from providing profiles for dual card configurations. If you need more performance than a 1070 can provide, get a bigger card. Unless you are gaming at 4k a GTX 1070 can pretty well max out any 1080 and most 1440p settings on nearly every title. With a 1080 or 1080 ti you will max out settings on EVERY game at anything less than 4k, almost entirely across the board. There are a number of benchmarks/reviews showing SLI configurations performing WORSE than single card configurations using the SAME card with the 1070, 1070ti, 1080 and 1080ti.

If you plan to game at 4k, get a 1080ti. Period. If you plan to game at 1080 or 1440p, then a 1070 or 1070ti should be sufficient for just about any setting.


For a 750w unit, this would be a FAR better option.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $74.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-12 00:29 EST-0500

 

[stephengirty]

Well I got the power supply, Installed it and everything seemed to be going great I then exited Call of Duty and it crashed again. I am at my wits end. any other suggestions?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so this is the next thing I would suggest and it's rather important that you follow the directions pretty much word for word.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/perform-clean-install-video-card-drivers.html

I would also temporarily remove the Soundblaster ZX before doing that. I've seen a lot of issues on systems running that particular gen of sound cards. Particularly with driver conflicts.

Might not even be a bad time to simply start from scratch since you have a new PSU. A faulty PSU can cause all sorts of hard drive data corruptions so it's possible that all your previous OS installations were problematic from the start. If so I'd recommend removing the sound card and using the onboard sound from your motherboard, at least temporarily, then do the clean install as follows, followed by immediately installing the latest Nvidia drivers for your card model and operating system version.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3567655/clean-installation-windows.html
I would also remove the Soundblaster card o

 

[Chicano]

Computer:
GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3 MB
16 GB Ram
i7- 6700k @ 4.00
GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB SC EVGA
Sound Blaster ZX
I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING!!!! I have reinstalled windows more times then I will admit.

No it is not what I am playing because this computer will crash just using chrome. (this is being written in a Google docs so that I won't loss this post)

Yes, all drivers are up to date, and yes all windows updates have been installed.

Has anyone run in to this! please help. This is driving me crazy!

It may be the BIOS CPU Temperature warning alarm, if the BIOS has this setting set manually to low or the CPU is overheating. When the CPU reaches this temperature setting the alarm sounds and the CPU throttles down, and next comes the automatic protection shutdown.

See in the PDF user manual, page 24 > CPU Thermal Monitor.... Enables or disables Intel Thermal Monitor function, a CPU overheating protection function. When enabled, the CPU core frequency and voltage will be reduced when the CPU is overheated. Auto lets the BIOS automatically configure this setting (Default: Auto).

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170-HD3-rev-10#support-manual

More detailed information on the CPU thermal alarm buzzer here:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f15/motherboard-sounding-the-buzzer-how-do-i-determine-what-it-means-imminent-danger-582857.html

If the CPU thermal monitor is configured correctly, install BlueScreenView and see if it finds a dump file that should register the error code that should help google search for the cause. If the dump file is not found, it means the system shutdown without warning or time to create a dump file or register the error code... In such case it would be a power issue.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

 

[stephengirty]

I went in to the BIOS and checked for that setting, I don't have the setting on the current BIOS. I did as instructed and did a safe mode uninstall of the graphics drivers and installed to 390.xx. Started gaming and everything was going fine. I exit battlefield 1 and it crashed when I got back to windows. (Same thing that happened before with COD: WWII) I have been monitoring the temps and both processor's were within safe limits. (CPU did not even break 55C. GPU 74 while OC'ed 150M)

Any other info I am all ears.

Side note I ran a 5 hour memory test suggested in another post earlier today. No errors.

Thanks guys.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you tried removing the soundcard? Do that. Take the soundcard OUT, uninstall the soundcard drivers, restart, use the motherboard sound temporarily (Might require installing drivers, might not, probably not, usually Windows has sufficient driver coverage for most onboard sound these days). See if the issue persists.

It is amazing to me how often Soundcard hardware AND/OR drivers can conflict with other hardware. Also, if you do not have the onboard sound disabled in the bios and you are running an add in sound card, THAT can cause issues as well, in some cases.


Also, do you have any Norton, Avast or McCaffey antivirus or security software installed?

Also, by "crashed" do you mean black screen, blue screen, frozen, completely restarted system, shut down, what?

Might also want to double check your Windows display settings and make sure that only the correct number of screens is showing. Seems there's been some issues with Windows adding non-existent monitors, so shows as 2 when there is only one, shows as 3 when there is only 2, and for whatever reason causes crashes when exiting games.

What version of Windows are you running?

 

[Chicano]

I went in to the BIOS and checked for that setting, I don't have the setting on the current BIOS. I did as instructed and did a safe mode uninstall of the graphics drivers and installed to 390.xx. Started gaming and everything was going fine. I exit battlefield 1 and it crashed when I got back to windows. (Same thing that happened before with COD: WWII) I have been monitoring the temps and both processor's were within safe limits. (CPU did not even break 55C. GPU 74 while OC'ed 150M)

Any other info I am all ears.

Side note I ran a 5 hour memory test suggested in another post earlier today. No errors.

Thanks guys.

1) I have noticed that from Windows 7 some device drivers don't always install correctly on clean installs. Other times Windows keeps crashing due to default Windows driver issues... so you may have to install all the motherboard drivers that are available at the motherboard product page downloads.

2) Have you checked the CPU and GPU are running with the suggested voltage?

3) Check the solution for same problem here (GPU BIOS flash):
PC SOMETIMES Crashes after exiting a game
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1965518/crashes-exiting-game.html

 

[Darkbreeze]

Probably a good idea to make sure you have this bios version (F22c) for your motherboard installed as well.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170-HD3-rev-10#support-dl


I AM concerned about the "buzzing" you mentioned though. This COULD be something like coil whine from the graphics card, but there are other indicators as well. Any idea whether the buzzing is coming from the soundcard, motherboard, graphics card, etc?

Is the buzzing still there, or did that part of the problem disappear when you replaced the power supply?

 

[stephengirty]

Hey,
Well it is definitely not the Soundblaster. The buzzing is coming from the speaker (If i lower the volume the buzzing goes away, raise it comes back), regardless of on-board sound or sound card.

I have also rolled back the Realtek drivers for the on-board sound and it still persists.

Next crash I will record a video to show you what the I mean. I am running monitors for temp on both CPU and GPU and they don't get that hot.

Bios was updated to F22c when I installed the new power supply and unfortunately, the buzzing is still there.

I also updated to a Samsung EVO 850 500gb and unplugged my Toshiba 2TB to see if that made a difference and nope.

This problem has been happening since before I changed graphics cards. (Zotec gtx 970 4GB) That's why i got the 1060.

Thank you for all the help, and any other suggestions are very welcome.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so did you REMOVE the soundcard, and not just switch your outputs and settings to the integrated sound? If there is a problem with a PCI device then the problem tends to remain a problem, even when that device is not used. If you did not fully remove the soundcard from the system, then you need to do so before going any further.

If you did remove it, then this is where we are.

Two different graphics cards, same problem.

Removed the soundcard and switched to integrated sound, same problem.

Changed to reliable power supply, same problem.

Reinstalled Windows multiple times, same problem.

DDU and clean install of GPU card drivers, same problem.

Memtest shows no memory problems.

New SSD, same problems.

Practically nothing is left that could possibly be causing the issues you are seeing except for the motherboard and memory. I'd bet big dollars that it is one of those two. Passing Memtest is no guarantee that the problem is not the memory. Memtest is great for determining if memory IS bad, but not much use at all in determining that it ISN'T, because we see memory all the time that is bad but passes one or more Memtest passes.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2268884/hourly-freeze-looping-sound.html

 

[stephengirty]

I'm currently at reinstalling windows again. (I would say 15 times in the last 3 years. 16's the charm!!!!!!!!!)

Yes, I tried both with the sound card/on-board. I disabled, Switched to the different inputs, and then reverse, and now uninstalled completely. SAME ISSUE.

This will be the first reinstall of windows since the new HD and PSU. lol i guess at the least im building a new PC.

 

[Chicano]

Is the buzzing: loud, constant or intermittent, if intermittent how long are the buzzing periods, how long are the silent periods, does it make it cold, warm, etc. describe it as best you can.

Some speakers when old just get noisy so I'd imagine that's not the case or you've tried a different speaker set?.

 

[teslacoilftw]

Buzzing noise coming from the speakers... Could be anything however.. I've seen this a few times in my life where there is a grounding issue with the case and the motherboard.

I'm assuming that since it's been years that you have swapped out equipment

IE: CPU/Motherboard/RAM
If you have had the same equipment for years... Then it could be RAM not timed correctly that would cause it it to crash..
What are the Constants?

Most people don't replace a power supply.. a dedicated sound card or video cards or Hard drives...
Those are what I would be looking at...

Under "Administrative Tools" on your computer
should be a few options to test your RAM.

More importantly there is "Computer Management"
Opening this will reveal a few good tools>
Specifically "event Viewer".
You should look here to determine "Critical" crashes...
Once you find this Screen shot your Critical crashes and post them and we can figure it out

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so, you ARE NOT LISTENING AT ALL.

Three times now I've asked you if you REMOVED THE CARD from the system, and three times now you've said "yes, I disabled it and tried both the soundcard and the integrated sound". I don't care WHAT kind of sound you use, I just want to know if you actually, physically, pulled the damn card OUT of the DAMN machine or not? I don't understand why it's so hard to just say YES or NO. You either removed the card or you did not remove the card.

If you removed the card, completely, totally, OUT of the motherboard and sitting two feet away from the system, and the problem still exists, THEN you can conclude the soundcard isn't the problem.

IF however you just keep switching the connections from the card to the motherboard outputs, and changing the settings from PCI sound to onboard sound, whether in the bios or in windows, that does not cut it if there is an actual physical problem with the card itself. It does not matter if it is disabled. It does not matter WHERE the outputs are plugged into. It matters if the physical card itself is removed from the equation.

Once you answer that, if you ever actually do, then maybe we can move forward to seeing if there are crash dumps that might help narrow down the issue.

Sorry to seem snarky but you keep dancing around the specific question I keep asking, and I'm not sure why.


And for the record, it's possible we are simply not speaking the same language here. To me, and most people, "uninstall" is the removal of a software application or drivers that support a piece of hardware, while "remove" means physically take the hardware out of the machine so that it is no longer part of the system.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Most people don't replace a power supply..

Yes, yes they do. This statement alone makes it perfectly clear that you almost certainly don't know a whole lot about what you're talking about. At all. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I just don't see any way to do that.


Either that, or I am simply completely not understanding WHAT exactly it is you were trying to say here.

 

[stephengirty]

Darkbreeze,

Sorry, yes the card was removed yesterday before the post, that's why i said "it is definitely not the sound blaster. " I should have said it is currently sitting in a static bag in my drawer.

Sorry for the confusion.

Oh and It is still crashing after the reinstall of windows. (and the sound blaster is still in the drawer and not in the computer.)