Help with boot looping/ freezing PC

[sir doris]

Hi,

Sorry for the loooonnnng post.
Hi I'm looking for some ideas, as of last week my PC keeps rebooting or freezing on boot-up.
I've had my PC for nearly 5 and a half years, and it's been overclocked since day 1 and been perfectly stable.
PC Specs:
ASUS P8-Z77-V
i7 3770K @4.6GHz
Custom loop CPU only (EK Supreme water block, EK pump/ res, XSPC RX360 rad, 6x Corsair SP120 fans in push/ pull).
2xSSD
Gigabyte RX 480 G1 Gaming 4GB (non-reference with 8 pin PCI-E connector)
XFX 850W Black Edition
Fractal Design R5 (4 chassis fans + custom loop = lots of airflow)
Windows 10

Last Saturday after a long gaming session, while in the game menus the PC rebooted, reloaded Windows fine, but only lasted about 20 minutes before rebooting again. Back into windows and it lasted about 10 minutes. I kept checking temps throughout and all were fine and the later reboots were went it was just idle in Windows.

I tried turning it off, removing the power and left it for a few minutes, when I tried it again it lasted about 10 minutes before rebooting. The reboot cycles got shorter and shorter until it just hung at post.

That evening I removed the videocard and OC and it worked, I ran Cinebench a few times and temps were still good. I put the videocard back in, and all was fine. I again ran Cinebench, and the AotS benchmarks and it seemed fixed.

The next day while starting a LAN game it rebooted, only this time for it to hang on bootup after POST with a blank screen. I turned it off, left it and tried again a little later, but experienced the same result.

Later that night I tried again but it wouldn't boot to windows, I tried without the videocard but Windows was damaged. At this point I thought it might have been the SSD, so I removed the boot drive and tried to installed windows on second SSD with varying degrees of success. I could get it past most of the install but it would hang on the final "Getting things Ready" screen. I tried to run MemTest86+ but the USB wouldn't boot, despite showing up as UEFI device in the BIOS.

I left it a few days while I researched PSU's and when I came back to it last night, it booted up and went to the Repair Your Windows screen, I tried to reinstall Windows and it worked first time.

I downloaded Open Hardware Monitor and the temps were good. I left it on for about an hour and it was fine with the usual good temps. I clocked it back to 4.5GHz and ran Prime95 for about an hour and it was fine.

Tonight it was still fine, so I re-installed the RX480, and instantly it hung on the Windows load screen (spinning dots). I turned it off left it for a few minutes and tried again, same thing. I read something on the net about UEFI legacy mode, so turned off the compatibility mode stuff, but it mad no difference. I Tried again without the RX480 and it worked fine, even checked temps with Prime95 and they were fine.
I then tried an HD7750 and it hung on Windows boot as did the RX 480. Turned on UEFI compatibility but it made no difference.

I then removed the HD 7750 and went back to the iGPU, and the system booted fine with good temps. Then after about 30 minutes it rebooted, and then again after about 10 more minutes. At which point I turned it off.

Any ideas what's wrong, my initial thoughts were the PSU, then the RX 480, then the motherboard, but now I'm thinking it's the PSU again? I haven't got a spare PSU to test and don't really want to buy one if it turns out to be the motherboard or something else.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Don't have much time, so can't go into various permutations of what might be causing this, but it's obviously a hardware issue.

My first thought is that power delivery is insufficient. It could be that the caps on the MB are no longer operating within acceptable limits. It could also be that the PSU is not operating within acceptable limits as well.

During boot, a large amount of stress is put on the power delivery systems as power spikes up to ensure that all connected devices are powered on simultaneously. As you add in more devices, more stress in put on the power delivery systems.

If it was me, I'd look at the MB and PSU as the most likely culprits.

A short in exposed wiring (where the insulating sleeve is damaged and the exposed metal wire is coming into contact with other metal bits) could also cause similar issues.

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

Any ideas what's wrong, my initial thoughts were the PSU, then the RX 480, then the motherboard, but now I'm thinking it's the PSU again? I haven't got a spare PSU to test and don't really want to buy one if it turns out to be the motherboard or something else.

yeah i think so. It looks like PSU problem. Btw have you tried resetting the BIOS/UEFI by resetting the battery/jumper?

 

[sir doris]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I've reset the BIOS many times.

Still not sure if it's the PSU or motherboard. Was going to check with another PSU but none of the spares I have, have the 8 pin 12v connection, only 4 pin.

I don't mind spending decent money on a PSU with a 7 or 10 year warranty, more the problem is the ridiculous prices even entry level z77 boards are going for. Damn Intel with there constantly changing platforms.

 

[pharma]

Look to see if there are any messages in the Windows Event log. Might help you determine if any software is causing the issue.

 

[orangpelupa]

Can you go to repair shop? They would be happy to test your pc wit their psu

 

[sir doris]

I just thought I would update this thread, as I hate reading help threads that don't conclude.



So I removed the OC and plugged in a spare PSU, using only the 4-pin EPS 12v connector. With the iGPU the system was fine, adding in the HD 7750 caused it to hang with the VGA LED lit during POST, so I'm now confident it's the mobo which is goosed.



What to do now? A cursory glance at sold Z77 prices on eBay, have entry level ASUS P8-Z77-v LX's as the most abundant but selling at a shocking £85-150! Z77 Sabertooths are near £200! Maybe keep an eye out on the local classified...



Or maybe wait for some fast 32GB (2x16) DDR4 kits and jump to a R7 1700?

 

[digitalwanderer]

I just thought I would update this thread, as I hate reading help threads that don't conclude

As someone who really hates that, I thank you. I like hearing how the story ends, good or bad.

Or maybe wait for some fast 32GB (2x16) DDR4 kits and jump to a R7 1700?

Welcome to my hell, I keep asking myself that every day. Do I just update my dying DDR3 mobo and get an FX CPU for cheap? Or do I hope that DDR4 and the mobo prices of Ry mobos goes down and the quirks get worked out?

Good thing I'm too broke to do either option right now or I'd really be in a pickle.

 

[entity279]

what do you mean by "using only the 4-pin EPS 12v connector" ?

 

[sir doris]

what do you mean by "using only the 4-pin EPS 12v connector" ?

My only spare PSU is an old 500W (from and old Core2Duo system) which only has a 4-pin 12V motherboard connector, not the 8-pin that modern PSU's and motherboard have. I just stuck the 4-pin connector into half the 8-pin socket, Google suggested it should be fine as long as the board isn't pulling too much power. It's currently only a 3770K at stock, 4 dimms and a couple of SSD's, so should be fine for testing.

 

[sir doris]

Hello again,

I have another question this time regarding Windows 10 activation. I've got myself an MSI z77a-G45 which seems to work fine, and I've reinstalled Windows 10 with it. When I built Windows I logged in with my Windows account and Windows was automatically activated.

I wasn't sure at first if it would reactivate, as there is a lot of stuff on the net about the 10 upgrade (in my case from 7 Home Premium, via 8 Pro upgrade and 8.1 upgrade) being linked to the motherboard. Anyway all seems fine now, but I just had a thought that maybe it had activated the previous owners copy of Windows? And that if he had the retail version he could reassign it to his new motherboard and I would loose Windows? Anyone like to hazard a guess as to the situation?