Total System Freezes (No BSOD, Requires Manual Restart)

Hi everyone! Love to get some opinions on this!
I wasn't sure where to place this as it isn't exactly a BSOD issue, so point me to the right place if there's a better forum.

System:

• Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z77
• CPU: Intel i7-3770 3.40 GHz
• Memory: Kingston DDR3 16 GB (4 x 4GB)
• PSU: Seasonic Platinum 520 Fanless 520-Watt 80 PLUS
• GPU: ASUS GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB
• CPU Temps: ~38-40 C on idle.
• Motherboard Temps: ~36-38 C on idle.
• Win10 of course.
• Not overclocked. BIOS reset to factory default.

The situation:

• The entire system will randomly freeze. No BSOD. The only thing to do is do a manual reset.
• Can be during a game. Can be just sitting around with a few explorer windows open. Can't isolate when it will happen. (Yet.)
• Even froze during BIOS, though only once so far!

Extended Background (I include this for completeness sake):

• Apparently was running as expected until one day it froze. No new hardware or software installed.
• The problems first started occurring under Windows 7.
• Exact same situation as with Win 10. Total system freeze.
• By adjusting some settings I was able to get two BSODs. One indicated hardware failure, the other driver (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL).
• Still under the impression it was a software issue I zonked ssd drive that had Win7 and installed Win10 rather than deal with it.
• Next thought it was CPU overheating so installed new CPU cooler. Good results, -10 C on idle from before. Problems persist however.
• As a result of the CPU cooler, everything has been reconnected and cleaned up.
• Disk check of Windows SSD and other drives turn up ok.

Running memtest86 now, will update with results. I did a standard Windows Memory Diagnostic before, came out OK.

My current thoughts in order of likelihood:

• Memory? I'll know for sure when memtest86 results are done.
• PSU? It is a Seasonic but it's getting up there in age. (About 8 years!) I have heard of similar issues with a failing PSU but never experienced it myself.
• SSD failure? I've never had an SSD fail before, could this be a symptom? The windows system SSD is also getting up there in years. (~9 years!)
• Motherboard? Always a possibility. No red "help me" LED's are lighting up however.
• GPU. It's the newest component so I'm thinking this unlikely. I've had GPUs fail before and they usually do it in a spectacular manner with pretty messed up artifacts. (GPU's show off even in death! )
• CPU overheating. I initially thought this was the issue. Installed a new CPU cooler and had a dramatic effect of -10 C generally. The CPU is running in the 40 - 50 range now. Seems a bit high to me but this is an old machine and not using water cooling.

Things I haven't tried yet but will:

• Replace Windows SSD and see if problems persist.
• Run everything without the GPU to see if it still freezes up.

Ever experienced something similar? Anything I've overlooked?



EDIT 1: Whelp, memtest86 froze! That's got to be hardware!! I'll attempt another test tomorrow. Up until it froze, no errors found. Not that it helps much! (Didn't even get 1 pass out of the way! )

Hello Annoyed,

I had exactly the same symptoms in one of my systems a while ago and replacing the memory fixed it. A failing PSU tends to cause a complete power shutdown rather than a freeze so this is less likely. CPU temperatures of 40-50C are quite normal.

SSD failures usually give early warning signs in the logs which we can pick up.
Please post a set of logfiles as instructed in the BSOD Posting Instructions.

All my details and I forgot to post the BSOD logs!?

However, it may not be a necessity anyway. I started memtest86 this morning and miracle of miracles.... it managed to run 8 hours before finding an error.

I'll have the RAM replaced (it doesn't cost much as they're only DDR3). If that doesn't fix it then I'll generate a new set of logfiles and get them posted. Could be a couple a weeks given the shipping situation in my area but I will certainly return with an update when it comes.

Thanks again for the comment!

- - - Updated - - -

OK, maybe not a few weeks. Did process of elimination. The culprit turned out to be one faulty DDR3 stick! Swapped the "good" sticks around to make sure it wasn't the DIMM slot itself as well. Before I could get it to freeze up relatively quickly. It's not dying no matter what I have it do now!

Thanks again!

Great work on the diagnostic tests. The memory should be matched in pairs so you will probably have to replace both sticks of the pair with the faulty stick.

Right, I was thinking I'd replace them all just to be sure. Plus... who wants mismatched RAM? Ugly!