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

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.

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!

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.

bobafetthotmail said:

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

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