New
#1
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! )