Windows 7: Random Restarts - No BSOD - Overheating/PSU?

Ok, so I built my PC some time back and for a good while everything was fine. This is probably my fourth homebuild but I'm in no way an expert, just lucky not to have had any problems I guess. Well, recently I was having problems with BSOD's. The symptoms pointed to HDD failure. After running CrystalDiskInfo, it reported that my main HDD was on the way out. I backed up my data, bought a new HDD, did a fresh install of Windows 7 64bit Ultimate and everything appeared normal again. Then I started receiving more BSOD's. The culprit this time was something to do with ntoskrnl.exe and a different driver every time. As I understand it, this isn't too much help in diagnosing the problem.

I tried various things software related including ComboFix, sfc /scannow, chkdsk /f /r. Then I stumbled across DriverScanner in another forum. A free 12 months registration was on offer so I gave that a go and updated all my old drivers. Everything seemed fine after this and I was happy that I had beat the problem! Only I hadn't. Now I'm getting random resets with no BSOD. Event Viewer comes back with Critical Kernel-Power problems., and lots of them.

I've got CPUID running and the only thing that looks suspicious (to me) is CPUTIN running at 80-90deg, AUXTIN showing a max of 127deg, TMPIN3 showing a max of 126deg and TMPIN4 124deg. These last 3 are only max's and are currently at normal sub 40 temps. SpeedFan is showing a CPU temp of 89deg. This may be the cause or just a symptom.

Having read various related threads I see people posting various scan results and reports to aid in diagnosing problems. I'll be perfectly honest here, I have no idea where to start. If I could find somebody with a little patience to walk me through I would be most grateful. Any information you need, please just ask.


ASUS P8P67 LE
Intel i7-2600 @ 3.40GHz
2x2GB Corsair RAM 1600MHz
Radeon HD 6870
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Kindest regards
Boycie

Hello Boycie, Welcome to SF

I think you have problems mate, those temps your reporting are way high most mobos i got have default max temps of 120-130 deg at which point it would shut itself down to preserve hardware
89 for a cpu is to high unless your thrashing the arse out of it but even then i would not like it, my advise would be to open machine check all fans, clear all dust, generally give it a good clean especially the cpu heatsink. Next would be to check bios settings for temps and max`s and you should also be able to see fan speeds and modes eg pwm (unless you have software for this)

See what you can find and keep monitoring those temps, aftermarket cooling is also an option if your running stock cooler

Edit
I just looked at your specs and noticed the K series chip i am guessing your OCing which could be the cause of your problem, remember a stable OC is not one that doesnt crash its one that doesnt overheat too. Turn off your OC if you are and check temps then go at it again after you established good temps, again it maybe that you need to look at better cooling

Hi Pauly , thanks for the helpfully reply.

I've not OC'd this PC. When I first built it I did play about with the Asus BIOS facilities but ended up keeping it on the Economy settings as fan noise was quieter and it didn't affect any applications/games I used.

I had cleaned all of the fan grills but didn't look at the CPU fan/heat sink. Having now looked, it is pretty dusty. You're correct, I'm using the stock cooler. I've now removed this and given it a good clean. Only problem now is I don't have thermal compound to re-seat it so I'm taking a trip out to the shops to pick something up.

Hopefully this will lower the temps and get things stable again. Messing about with chips has always scared the life out of me so I'm being extra careful not to knacker anything! I'll report back with how things went.

Thanks again.

You dont need to remove cpu so theres nothing you could really damage, just make sure you give chip and cooler a clean to get all the old off then on with the new, if your not sure check youtube theres plenty of vids showing application of goo, remember not to over do it you only need a little bit

Post back let us know how you get on

Ok, so after a good clean of chasis fans, I've removed the CPU fan and heatsink. Things were quite dusted up so they were cleaned and dried. Old thermal paste removed with cleaner and new paste applied. Everything put back together, fire her up, and still CPU temps are in the 80's. What could be causing this high temp, and what can I do to resolve it?

Edit: Quick update - Both SpeedFan and CPUID programmes showed CPU temp as over 80deg. I tried RealTemp which gave 4 readings of 28/30deg.

Does this mean that both SpeedFan and CPUID are incorrect? Or is RealTemp incorrect? Now I'm very confused!

If in doubt i always trust bios
Your board has uefi bios so you should have a utility on your mobo disc that lets you access bios from desktop, if not have a look at ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P8P67 LE bios doesnt lie
Also in bios check what speed the cpu fan is spinning at and see if you can change fan mode, if it will let you put it on full (auto mode will speed up and slow down fan according to temperature) and see if it makes any difference

Thanks Pauly, I'e got the ASUS suite installed but it never occured to me to try! Asus suite says CPU temp is a steady 30deg so I'm guessing both those programmes I used were incorrect. Even setting fan speed to full didn't alter their readings. So that brings me to this question, if temperature isn't/wasn't a problem, how do I work out what is causing the unexpected restarts?

Your patience and help is greatly appreciated.

The next one under fire will be the PSU. Can you please say name and brand of it?

What about gpu and system temps ?

Let us know what event viewer is reporting as well, with some event codes they may lead somewhere

PSU is OCZ ZE Series 650W: OCZ-ZS650W-EU/UK