Does a test card exist for a randomly rebooting PC
Would buy a diagnostic card if we know of one that can tell me why a PC randomly reboots itself.
Swapped hard drive to new SATA port and w/ fresh install of Win7, so not corrupt Windows. Drivers all install OK too.
Not RAM, TuffTestPro (memtest) runs successfully over and over. (Unless PC reboots!)
Expensive PC or I'd trash it.
i7 CPU on an expensive MoBo w/ expensive video card.
PC may run fine for several hours or a day but eventually will just start to reboot itself.
Am I really going to have to start swapping P.S., CPU, video card and hope it's one of those things?
If none of the above it's "probably" the MoBo OR maybe not!
So, is there a PCI diagnostic card (I suppose with a battery and a log) that can report what is happening?
My leading theory is power supply... Maybe a P.S. problem. Is there a P.S. tester that logs events?
Open to ideas!
Thanks
Swapped hard drive to new SATA port and w/ fresh install of Win7, so not corrupt Windows. Drivers all install OK too.
Not RAM, TuffTestPro (memtest) runs successfully over and over. (Unless PC reboots!)
Expensive PC or I'd trash it.
i7 CPU on an expensive MoBo w/ expensive video card.
PC may run fine for several hours or a day but eventually will just start to reboot itself.
Am I really going to have to start swapping P.S., CPU, video card and hope it's one of those things?
If none of the above it's "probably" the MoBo OR maybe not!
So, is there a PCI diagnostic card (I suppose with a battery and a log) that can report what is happening?
My leading theory is power supply... Maybe a P.S. problem. Is there a P.S. tester that logs events?
Open to ideas!
Thanks
The POST card is useful for diagnosing boot problems while the BIOS is starting up the system, but it's of no use once Windows has started.
I lean toward dbrunton's view. Intermittent shutdowns are often heat issues, so investigate that first. Power supply issues you can check simply enough by swapping the power supply. Look in the system event logs to see if anything is being logged just prior to the shutdown. That'll deal with the most common issues.
I lean toward dbrunton's view. Intermittent shutdowns are often heat issues, so investigate that first. Power supply issues you can check simply enough by swapping the power supply. Look in the system event logs to see if anything is being logged just prior to the shutdown. That'll deal with the most common issues.
can you post the spec of the PSU and system? # of ram sticks, disks, video card?
If the PC is rebooting itself then it is getting BlueScreenOfDeath. You don't see it.
To see the BSOD and error message which explains what caused the crash you need to reconfigure the settings. Then it will write and dump file.
Right click on My Computer - Properties - Advanced System Settings - Startup & Recovery. Uncheck there - Automatically Restart. And select - write minidump file. See my screenshot.
Startup-and-Recovery.png
To see the BSOD and error message which explains what caused the crash you need to reconfigure the settings. Then it will write and dump file.
Right click on My Computer - Properties - Advanced System Settings - Startup & Recovery. Uncheck there - Automatically Restart. And select - write minidump file. See my screenshot.
Startup-and-Recovery.png
yes -and ost the dmp file here for analysis
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NOT solved! I tested the power supply and when it failed I'd assumed that was that but not so lucky. New PS and new video card (cause that was easy) and the blue screen is attached. I cannot get to the dump file 'cause windows isn't running long enough! (Also, the BIOS is set to "fail-safe" defaults.)
I shopuld also say I have run MEMTEST for an extended period and memory seems OK. Also, re: heat... It happens right away so not so sure on that one either. I hope the blue screen helps!
20170128_082023.jpg
I shopuld also say I have run MEMTEST for an extended period and memory seems OK. Also, re: heat... It happens right away so not so sure on that one either. I hope the blue screen helps!
20170128_082023.jpg
The BSOD says that problem is in Marvell Storage Controller. The driver listed on your screenshot is exactly the drive for this controller. Have you tested your HDD with its vendor made tool?
If the drive passes all tests then try to uninstalling the driver from Marvell and let Windows use its generic driver.
If the drive passes all tests then try to uninstalling the driver from Marvell and let Windows use its generic driver.
A couple of questions that may help isolate this ...
(a) Will it boot to Safe Mode?
(b) What specific model of i7 do you have?
(a) Will it boot to Safe Mode?
(b) What specific model of i7 do you have?
ASKER
The HDD is an SSD and the i7 is an Intel i7 980x 3.33 GHz (Gulftown).
So, removed the SSD and installed Win7 to a real HDD (600G VelociRaptor 10000rpm SATA 3 (6G)) to see what happens.
The MoBo is a Gigabyte GA-x58a-ud5
So far running for an hour or so. But it's done that before. Sometimes it'll reboot after hours or days so I'll leave it on now and see what happens!
So, removed the SSD and installed Win7 to a real HDD (600G VelociRaptor 10000rpm SATA 3 (6G)) to see what happens.
The MoBo is a Gigabyte GA-x58a-ud5
So far running for an hour or so. But it's done that before. Sometimes it'll reboot after hours or days so I'll leave it on now and see what happens!
Have you checked the Marvell driver?
Look VERY closely at the motherboard (use a flashlight) to see if there are any signs of leakage on any of the capacitors. This can be a frequent cause of motherboard failure -- which may be the root cause of this issue.
did you find any dmp files?
did you check the event viewer for errors?
did you check the event viewer for errors?
Have you monitored the motherboard temperatures? A util like http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
Try running the computer with the cover off and a big desktop fan blowing into it's guts. If it holds up like that you know you've got a heat or air circulation problem occurring.