comp restarts before posting

[khusang]

Hello everyone,

I built my comp earlier this year in February. It runs great, but it will randomly restart 2-3 times every month. In terms of usage, I don't use it 24/7, but I use it every day. When it restarts, I can hear the fans run for about 6-8 secs, no POST, monitor doesn't turn on, the comp restarts, and then everything runs fine. I'm at a lost as to how to diagnose the problem, b/c it happens so rarely.

I overclock, and it passes memtest, linx and prim95, and the comp hasn't crashed while gaming. I'm overclocking at 4.7ghz with an offset of about -0.005(i think) and llc at 50%, so my comp idles at 0.984 volts and jumps to about 1.35 volts on load. I'm also ocing the video card.

Anyone have an idea of what the issue may be? I thought it may be ram (but i'm using xmp profile and haven't changed any timings) or psu, but don't really know what to do now.

 

[denis280]

I would look for a loose connection.

 

[Puppies04]

OP you admit that it could be a PSU problem but you then neglect to mention what PSU you are running. Can you give a full component list please.

 

[khusang]

So components are:
Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/gen3 motherboard
MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozr video card
SEASONIC|SS-560KM PSU
I5-2500k CPU
CRUCIAL CT128M4SSD2
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
h60 cpu cooler

I originally thought it may be ram or psu b/c I was thinking of what could cause the comp to not POST, but my components are all new and the computer runs fine 99% of the time, so I don't know how to start diagnosing the problem.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

It sounds power supply related, but seasonic are usually very good quality. What are your volts showing? Have you tried lowering or eliminating the overclock and see if the issue resolves?

Try running memtest86+ and see what it shows if anything.

 

[khusang]

my computer idles at about 0.984V in windows and ramps up to about 1.3v on full load. I was thinking maybe sometimes the 0.984V is too low for windows to boot? But then again, doesn't the cpu only clock down to 1600MHz after windows boots, so the voltage should be good when the I hit the power switch? I'm no expert, so my thinking could be totally wrong here.

I could remove the overclock, but as I mentioned b4 my computer as it is now only reboots a couple times a month, so I don't know of a good way to test it other than waiting a month and seeing if everything is ok.

passed memtest in the beginning, but i'll try running it again later.

 

[Puppies04]

For what it is worth both my 2500ks have idled at lower voltages than yours without issue. My first one which needed more volts was around 0.92v and my new one idles @ 0.856 so I wouldn't think that idle voltage was the issue here.

I know it might be a little hard to test but have you considered that your system might be rebooting when your house electricity supply dips or drops out momentarily? Is there another item which draws a large current on the same ring main that kicks in sporadically like a fridge or air con unit? Can you confirm the problem persists on a different plug socket or are you able to plug the system into a UPS?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

my computer idles at about 0.984V in windows and ramps up to about 1.3v on full load. I was thinking maybe sometimes the 0.984V is too low for windows to boot? But then again, doesn't the cpu only clock down to 1600MHz after windows boots, so the voltage should be good when the I hit the power switch? I'm no expert, so my thinking could be totally wrong here.

I could remove the overclock, but as I mentioned b4 my computer as it is now only reboots a couple times a month, so I don't know of a good way to test it other than waiting a month and seeing if everything is ok.

passed memtest in the beginning, but i'll try running it again later.

Still, when troubleshooting any problem, anything outside of spec should be eliminated to ensure that isnt the problem. If after some time the problem continues then at least you have ruled it out as a culprit.

 

[Dillmiester]

Sounds like either a voltage or power supply issue. What are you current voltages in the bios your gonna need to manually set everything.

 

[khusang]

My cpu voltage when i boot to bios is 1.112v. My computer's plugged into a standard power strip/surge protector, and it's the only thing on it. Starting to think i may need to try tweaking the overclock settings, even though everything in windows seems stable @4.7. Anyone know of any other easy way to test OC besides prime & linx? (fwiw, when I say I passed those tests, I mean it passed for 3-5 hours, and has never crashed gaming, etc... i didn't see any point in running prime for 12+ hours)