Immediate restart w/ dump files but no BSOD

benbrockn · 05 Jun 2015

I called Corsair and explained the problem, they said there's always a possibility that it could be the power supply, but seeing as the voltages are within +/- 5% of intended voltage, then it might not be it. He said the random restarts sound more like a graphics card issue because if the mobo, CPU, or memory would go bad, generally it would show up in the minidump or BSOD. He said that graphics cards could overheat or glitch out causing them to shut down and then the computer would restart. He recommended taking the graphics card out and running the computer without it for awhile to see if it restarts and also monitor the voltages with HWMonitor.

The issue is that the BIOS reports the right voltages but HWMonitor reports the wrong ones.

============================================
HWMonitor reports as follows:

+3.3V -> 1.992V
+5V -> 3.125V
+12V -> 8.016V
-12V -> -8.880V
-5V -> -8.880V

But BIOS reports this:

+12V -> toggles between 11.952V or 12.024V
+3.3V -> 3.401V
============================================

I emailed ASUS (maker of my graphics card) asking about the average and max temps for that specific model as well as any insight to my computer issue. Below is what I found when testing my graphics card an hour ago, and part of what I sent ASUS tech support:

Right now watching TV shows it is at 116oF Max, and averaging 114oF.
I also decided to watch a TV show while playing a game on low settings @ 1920x1080 averaged 123oF, maxed out at 140oF.
I chose to play a different game on ultra settings @ 1920x1080. The GPU averaged 148oF, maxed out at 150oF. It didn't restart during this test.

It could take up to 2 business days to get a reply back, hopefully they know of something with this model or these random restarts.

GokAy · 06 Jun 2015

Try with HWInfo as well, I get the correct values.

GPU temp under load is normal.

Boozad · 06 Jun 2015

As explained much earlier in the thread, some people experience strange readings with monitoring software. If the BIOS is reading correctly (albeit not under load) then you generally should go with that. The OP has already tried two monitoring programs and both read differently, adding another into the mix is probably not going to help.

If Corsair recommend running the system without the GPU then give it a go, at worst it will prove to be the issue, at best it will prove them wrong and give you a bit of ammo to call them back. He obviously doesn't realise that hardware virtually never shows up in a 0x124.

benbrockn · 07 Jun 2015

Hey, could it be harddrive failure on my second harddrive? My main drive (windows 7) felt cool to the touch and I didn't feel anything wrong with it. My second hardrive (has the application software like games, movie player, etc..) was very warm to the touch and you could feel it have a pulsing vibration from inside. If the harddrive with my games and movie player is dying or failing out (even though the SMART data says old age but okay), could that cause the random restarts?

EDIT: Say You're in the middle of a movie or game and the second harddrive shuts off or gets stuck. Wouldn't Windows just say there was an error with the media playing or game playing rather than it restarting? I've never had an issue with transferring or accessing files on there though.

Wishmaster · 07 Jun 2015

I've only had the experience of a secondary drive failing once. In my case the drive only had music, video and pictures.

Windows just gave a message that a drive was disconnected and it disappeared.

Before it completely died though, I would have many small issues pop up.

For example, message that the drive or a file was corrupted. Can not find file, it may have been moved messages etc. And some video showed obvious corruption and would only partially play or not at all.

But never had Windows crash because of it or force a reboot.

Is it possible? Sure, I suppose so. Anythings possible. But I've never experienced it myself. Perhaps others may have something more to share.
But yes, it should just stop playing, throw an error, or may even freeze the program playing the video possibly resulting in the "..xxx.. has stopped responding" message. That should be the extent of it though.

benbrockn · 07 Jun 2015

Yeah the reason I brought it up at all was because I was playing a game that I play a lot (on low-medium settings), and just today the game froze and unfroze several times (video & audio would stop and then restart), as if the processor was overloaded, but I was monitoring the CPU and it seemed normal. Maybe it's a failing GPU after all. Right now I'll be testing it without the GPU, but the problem is that how will I know if that's the issue? It only randomly and rarely restarts, and this audio/video lag just started.

EDIT: Steam won't start up without the graphics card in, neither will Kodi (movies/TV). So... Not sure how to test this idea... The first time I started it up I got a BSOD from atihdw76.sys, which I believe is the AMD driver for the graphics card. I restarted the computer and now Windows loads but Steam and Kodi don't load.

EDIT2: So now Kodi loads...very, very slowly. The menu is slow, just like the game I was playing earlier, freeze then unfreeze. But the movie is smooth. No audio, probably due to me using the HDMI port and not having external speakers.

Boozad · 07 Jun 2015

benbrockn said:

The first time I started it up I got a BSOD from atihdw76.sys, which I believe is the AMD driver for the graphics card.

That's the ATI function driver for the HD audio service, did you uninstall the card via Device Manager before removing it? Have you got the dump file the BSOD created?

benbrockn · 07 Jun 2015

Boozad said:

That's the ATI function driver for the HD audio service, did you uninstall the card via Device Manager before removing it? Have you got the dump file the BSOD created?

Um.... no I did not uninstall the card via device manager, I turned off the system and pulled it out, and restarted. Yes, I have the BSOD dump file.

Without the graphics card, my computer was as slow as a government computer (that's really slow btw). I reinstalled the graphics driver, download the "latest" AMD drivers from Asus, uninstalled the old drivers (which were more up to date, I found out afterwards), and installed the "latest" drivers, then restarted.

So far so good, playing a movie, seems normal for now. I'll check the game again later.

benbrockn · 07 Jun 2015

Asus replied to me and said:

I understand that your computer restarts randomly, crashed and has no display. I request you to update the vbios of your graphic card by following this link :

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download R7260X-OC-2GD5

So I updated the vBIOS of the graphics card, it was pretty uneventful with just a command line window, but it did update it.

I'll keep you all updated if it restarts again, or has video/audio stutter.