Solved New computer crashing

[Sakinho]

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this.

------The story------

I have recently bought new parts and put together a spanking new computer less than a week ago. It all went fine, except perhaps for the CPU running a little hot according to the temperature indicator in BIOS. After installing a few programs and getting my PC in working condition, I decided to run some tests to see just how hot the CPU was when idle and under load, so I ran Hyperpi and Prime95 to force the CPU and kept track of the temperatures using RealTemp. When idle, my CPU is around 40ºC (CPU-z shows it running at 1.6 GHz). When stressing all 8 threads to 100% at the stock frequency of 3.4 GHz, the temperature quickly rises to ~70ºC and stays stable. However, after two minutes or so, the computer suddenly crashes/reboots (no BSOD). Since I wasn't sure whether the CPU was causing the reboot or the RAM, I ran Memtest86+ for two passes, and got no errors. The computer is somewhat stable otherwise, though it has crashed twice in approximately 10 hours playing relatively demanding games (Just Cause 2 and Sanctum).

With my considerably limited computer knowledge, I imagine the problem is overheating, even though 70ºC, while hot, should still be in the safety range. Also, the CPU doesn't seem to go beyond 60ºC while playing, which makes overheating a stranger suggestion. I should have gotten a better cooler off the bat, but I had heard many stories of people overclocking their SB CPUs with extreme ease, so I figured it might not be necessary. I had a computer for a long time with similar rebooting troubles before, and it seems that its problem was indeed overheating. However, exactly because I do not know much, I would very much appreciate some more educated opinions.

------The computer------

Motherboard: MSI Z68MA-ED55B3 (overclocked to support 1600 MHz memory) - brand new
PSU: Corsair VX550W - 1 year old
CPU: Intel i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz (No overclock, yet) - brand new
Cooler: Intel stock fan - brand new
RAM: 2 x 4 GB Kingston 1600 MHz DDR3 - brand new
GPU: Radeon HD5750 - 1 year old
OS drive: Intel Series 510 SSD - brand new
OS: Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit (OEM), updated to SP1

I have uploaded the Seven Forums dir obtained from using http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/92394-sf-diagnostic-tool-using-troubleshooting.html and the system health report.

Thank you for your attention.

 

[MvdB]

Hello Sakinho, welcome to SF!

Somethings gone wrong in your upload, there is none...
If you do get BSOD's please follow these instructions:
http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[Sakinho]

Oh sorry about that, my session timed out while making the post, so I had to click on the new thread button again, pasted the text, but forgot about reuploading the files. My bad! I edited the first post accordingly.

And no BSOD, btw, so I didn't run that program.

 

[Maguscreed]

Okay I see you choked on about 30 updates on the 6th when none of them applied.
This has likely created an unstable environment.

If there is anything in the c:\windows\minidumps folder please zip and upload those contents as well.

For now let's start simple, just run this and post back results.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[Sakinho]

I ran sfc /scannow, and got "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations." Also, I have no minidump folder. Neither the SF diagnostic tool fetched it, nor could I find one in the Windows folder myself.

 

[Maguscreed]

To ensure minidumps are enabled:

Go to Start, in the Search Box type: sysdm.cpl, press Enter.
Under the Advanced tab, click on the Startup and Recovery Settings... button.
Ensure that Automatically restart is unchecked.
Under the Write Debugging Information header
Select Small memory dump (256 kB) in the dropdown box (the 256kb varies).
Ensure that the Small Dump Directory is listed as %systemroot%\Minidump.
OK your way out.
Reboot if changes have been made.

If you follow those steps it should make a minidump the next time you crash.

 

[Sakinho]

Okay, it wasn't enabled. Will force a crash now and edit this post with the minidump in a bit.

Edit: Well, I crashed my computer twice, but still no minidump folder. I doublechecked that the sysdm.cpl settings were right, and I shut down when changes were made. The computer still suddenly blacks out under stress, then restarts on its own.

 

[Maguscreed]

What you are describing is starting to sound more like a dying power supply.

 

[Sakinho]

Oh I forgot to put my PSU in the computer section, so I added it now. It's only a year old, and is from a good manufacturer, so it'd be strange. I also don't think that I'm currently using more than it is rated for, but is there some way I could be certain?

Edit: Okay, here's an idea. Tomorrow I'm going to test if the computer still reboots if I underclock the CPU to maybe 2.6 GHz (if either excessive temperature or lack of power is the problem, it shouldn't restart anymore), and if it still reboots when I take my RAM down from its default 1600 MHz to the motherboard's default 1333 MHz (maybe I OC'd the motherboard wrong). Would this help any?

 

[Maguscreed]

I should have been paying more attention. If you're crashing and have a overclock, a large portion of the time the overclock is the problem.
Return the values to default.

 

[Sakinho]

Yeah the mobo overclock to accept the RAM at 1600 MHz was definitely the problem. I've had all my cores stressed for over an hour and the computer works fine. Thank you for the help!

 

[Maguscreed]

Glad to know, you may go to the first post and mark the thread solved for now.