Random restarts without BSOD, Event Viewer Kernel Power 41 Task 63

[plasmarifle]

Hi guys,

I have been having trouble with random restarts - they seem to happen more when I am playing video games (even ones that are very easy to run and don't place much stress on the GPU/CPU) however it also happens when I am watching stuff, just browsing the web, when the PC is idling and so on.

It never shows me a bluescreen and it never leaves minidumps or any error logs that I am aware of, the only thing it shows is Kernel Power 41 Task Category 63 error in the "Event Viewer" program.

My specs are -

i7 4790k
ASUS Gene VII z97 Motherboard
16gb Corsair RAM (4x4gb)
Nvidia 780
Seasonic Platinum 1000w power supply
250gb Samsung SSD

I have a bit of time to really focus on this lately and try to finally fix the issue, so last night I was running memtest while I was asleep and found that my memory had lots (thousands) of errors on the Test 13 (Hammer Test) part of memtest.

Today I individually tested each 4gb stick by itself in both the first slot AND the second slot of the motherboard, just running test 13 on memtest and every single test had errors.

This RAM worked perfectly fine in my old computer for 3 years so I find it incredibly unlikely that all 4 sticks have decided to go bad at the same time, so I was thinking it must be the motherboard? But even then, that means that 2 memory slots are faulty at the same time.. this once again, seems very unlikely, does it not?

I was then reading about Test 13 of memtest and a few people advised that it would be very unlikely for my test 13 memory errors to even be responsible for my random restarts - apparently test 13 picks up stuff that RAM would almost never come across in day to day normal use?

So there's the story, if any of you can give me some advice which leads to me finding a solution I will be forever in your debt because at this point I am just at a complete loss at what to do - Is it likely to be my memory? Or is it my motherboard? Or does my memory failing test 13 have no relevance whatsoever to the random restarts I have been having and am I wasting my time, is it likely to be another issue like my GPU?

I have swapped out my PSU with a spare one (One is gold one is platinum, both very highly rated) and the issue still occurred.

Thanks for any guidance you can offer

 

[GokAy]

Are you monitoring the temps?
Are the RAM getting the correct timings? Check in BIOS. It is possible your RAMs are incompatible with the new board but I am not experienced with these stuff.

Try a clean startup http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
Drivers up-to-date?

 

[plasmarifle]

Are you monitoring the temps?
Are the RAM getting the correct timings? Check in BIOS. It is possible your RAMs are incompatible with the new board but I am not experienced with these stuff.

Try a clean startup http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
Drivers up-to-date?

Yep I have monitored temps both when gaming and when running stress testing programs, my temps are very good, GPU very rarely goes over 65c and CPU is just about the same, 63c max I think it was.

My ram timings are correctly set, so is the voltage, I've tried manually setting them as well as using the XMP Profile.

The ram is definitely compatible as well, it's just Dual channel DDR3, I checked when building it.

I've also tried a clean startup, it had no effect.

All the drivers and BIOS are up to date.

 

[GokAy]

(these seem irrelevant but) You can try:
- loading defaults in BIOS.
- disable C1E
- disable Intel SpeedStep (IEST)
- set a high performance power plan in Power Options (Control Panel).

 

[plasmarifle]

(these seem irrelevant but) You can try:
- loading defaults in BIOS.
- disable C1E
- disable Intel SpeedStep (IEST)
- set a high performance power plan in Power Options (Control Panel).

I will give those a go and report back.

 

[plasmarifle]

Sadly it is still occurring even after those changes, just got a crash while playing Pillars of Eternity.

One thing I was wondering - I recently read that driver verifier can sometimes point you in the right direction with these problems so I read a guide on how to enable that and did so, just about an hour ago my PC's screen froze, the audio started breaking up and then it gave me a blue error screen with a sad smiley face that I have never seen before, it told me there was an error and it had to shutdown.

I should point out I have never ever had a bluescreen before so I am guessing that is only because I have driver verifier on? I'm assuming it turned my random restarts into bluescreens because it is detecting it somehow before it happens or something, I really have no idea.

This gave me a minidump file unlike any of the other times I have had straight-to-black-screen restarts, at the bottom of the minidump it says "Probably caused by ntoskrnl.exe (nt +150ca0 )"

Does that point towards anything? If not, what should I do now?

Thanks for your help so far

 

[Boozad]

I have a bit of time to really focus on this lately and try to finally fix the issue, so last night I was running memtest while I was asleep and found that my memory had lots (thousands) of errors on the Test 13 (Hammer Test) part of memtest.

Today I individually tested each 4gb stick by itself in both the first slot AND the second slot of the motherboard, just running test 13 on memtest and every single test had errors.

OK, first off MemTest86 is notorious for RAM failing on 'Hammer Test' when there is actually nothing wrong with the RAM, that's why we recommend MemTest86+ instead as it's far more reliable. Get your RAM tested properly before going any further.

Download and run MemTest86+ to test your RAM. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

   Note

Run MemTest86+ for at least 8 passes. Ideally set it off before you go to bed and leave it overnight, we're looking for zero errors here. A single error will show something's going bad with your RAM.

Post back with the results.

One thing I was wondering - I recently read that driver verifier can sometimes point you in the right direction with these problems so I read a guide on how to enable that and did so, just about an hour ago my PC's screen froze, the audio started breaking up and then it gave me a blue error screen with a sad smiley face that I have never seen before, it told me there was an error and it had to shutdown.

Driver Verifier is recommended when we suspect drivers to be the cause of a BSOD that aren't showing, it would not help in this case if you're not experiencing BSODs. Disable Driver Verifier now.

You say you had a sad smiley face on the BSOD? Are you running Windows 7 or 8?

 

[plasmarifle]

Wow, there is two memtests? I had no idea, that is so bizarre, no idea at all I was using the wrong one.

I will use the correct one when I go to bed tonight for 8 passes, thanks man.

 

[Boozad]

No problem, check the edit I made to my last post.

 

[plasmarifle]

Yeah I am using 7 again now, sorry there's a few things I haven't included in my messages because I've been trying so much stuff, when I originally made this post I was on 7 as I normally am, then today I changed up to 8.1 to see if it would have any difference, fresh install, that is when I had driver verifier on. Then it happened again with the smiley face thing so I reverted back to 7 as I hate 8.1 and was just seeing if it would perhaps stop the problem, so now I'm on a fresh install of 7 with no driver verifier.

 

[Boozad]

OK. Finally one last request before we get the MemTest86+ results.

Please fill out your System Specs.

   Information

At 7F we rely heavily on knowing what hardware you have in your system, by filling out your system specs in the manner outlined below your specs will follow you round in every single post so we can see your hardware configuration at the click of a button without having to trawl through threads to find them.

Follow http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html to fill in your System Specs with as much info as possible. We're looking for something like the example below.

​

 

[plasmarifle]

OK. Finally one last request before we get the MemTest86+ results.

Please fill out your System Specs.

   Information

At 7F we rely heavily on knowing what hardware you have in your system, by filling out your system specs in the manner outlined below your specs will follow you round in every single post so we can see your hardware configuration at the click of a button without having to trawl through threads to find them.

Follow http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html to fill in your System Specs with as much info as possible. We're looking for something like the example below.

​

All done man, I'll be going to bed momentarily and I'll start up memtest86+

Thanks again

 

[Boozad]

No problem, keep us posted.

 

[plasmarifle]

Okay I just woke up and memtest86+ had finished 5 passes and was almost about to start a 6th and it had 0 errors

So I guess that rules out memory or my motherboard having memory issues I assume?

Any pointers on what to do now?

Thanks guys

 

[Boozad]

Let it run for eight passes, five is inconclusive.

 

[plasmarifle]

Ah okay my bad, I will have to start it up again tonight as I have a bit of work to do at the moment, I will post here probably this time tomorrow with the results.

Thanks

 

[Boozad]

No worries, as and when you can.

 

[Boozad]

Could you also follow the instructions in the link provided and upload the resulting .zip file in your next post please? This will let me look at your Event Viewer and other system information.

http://www.sevenforums.com/bsod-help-support/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html