Is the system freezing or showing a black screen while fans run at full speed? Could the power supply be the problem?
Is the system freezing or showing a black screen while fans run at full speed? Could the power supply be the problem?
At this point, I’m thinking it might be a voltage issue with my PSU. It’s a solid 750W unit, yet I keep seeing error messages in the Event log about 'Kernel-Power.' I haven’t noticed any temperature spikes during these crashes. My clock also keeps showing incorrect times, even after adjusting the timezone in Windows settings.
I’ve tried reseating the GPU/CPU and RAM, reinstalling everything on a new motherboard (some ASRock X570), uninstalled and reinstalled drivers with DDU, and even fresh installations of Windows 10 and 11 without any overclocking. All hardware is within specs except for XMP being enabled on my RAM. This whole problem is really frustrating—it’s made my PC nearly unusable over the past few months.
Anyone have ideas or solutions? I’m at a loss and would really appreciate any advice!
CadeheLion
08-28-2019, 02:32 PM #1Hey there everyone. I've been dealing with a persistent issue for quite some time. I've spent hundreds of dollars trying to resolve it, from swapping out my motherboard (from B450 to X570). My computer suddenly shuts down without warning—especially during intense gaming sessions. The screen goes dark, yet system sounds still play faintly. I can't recover beyond a hard reset of the power button. When this happens, the case fans crank up to full speed, but I don’t feel any heat from the CPU or GPU.
At this point, I’m thinking it might be a voltage issue with my PSU. It’s a solid 750W unit, yet I keep seeing error messages in the Event log about 'Kernel-Power.' I haven’t noticed any temperature spikes during these crashes. My clock also keeps showing incorrect times, even after adjusting the timezone in Windows settings.
I’ve tried reseating the GPU/CPU and RAM, reinstalling everything on a new motherboard (some ASRock X570), uninstalled and reinstalled drivers with DDU, and even fresh installations of Windows 10 and 11 without any overclocking. All hardware is within specs except for XMP being enabled on my RAM. This whole problem is really frustrating—it’s made my PC nearly unusable over the past few months.
Anyone have ideas or solutions? I’m at a loss and would really appreciate any advice!
Try using just two sticks with XMP and skip the others. Four sticks can be overwhelming and 32GB is more than sufficient for most users. Occasionally verify your RAM with Memtest86 or at least TestMem5. Unfortunately, you didn't provide your PSU details which appear in my suspect list. It seems your GPU might not receive enough power, causing a black display even though the system runs. I'd suggest checking the RAM first. Two sticks in A2 and B2, starting without XMP, to see if that happens. Updated November 18, 2023 by leclod
hrug: I’m working on building a USB stick for Memtest86 now.
Whoops, I missed the PSU details! It's an EVGA 750w B5, 80 Plus Bronze—definitely not ideal, but that’s the case. The large RAM capacity mainly comes from one game I play, which is a huge memory consumer and poorly optimized (Star Citizen). I’m planning to run Memtest86 on it now. The basic Windows memory test came back clean. Still, it mentioned running without admin rights, even though I did that when I tested... hrug: I’m working on building a USB stick for Memtest86 now.
Star Citizen may exceed the 32GB consumption limit. It looks like your PSU is likely Tier E on that chart: https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/. Or possibly Tier B. Are you connecting the PCIe power cables directly to the GPU? Edited November 18, 2023 by leclod
Yep, the PSU is...not great. Which is kind of surprising, for something from EVGA? But, up until this crashing started, it had never caused any issues in the past. So, dunno. The 80 Bronze is lame though. I'm not even sure you can really FIND a 'bronze' rated one hardly anymore...seems like they all just about start at at least Gold? No daisy chaining going on, PC is plugged straight into the wall. Fairly clean power around here, but I've been wanting to get a UPS for a while now. Star Citizen is brutal. Because it's not a technically 'released' game, the optimization is godawful. Memory leaks etc happen on the regular. It's a *big* game (if you can call it that?). About to run MemTest86 right now! I just got my stick formatted.
xMaciek310
09-04-2019, 06:54 AM #6Did you review the list? It looks like the PSU is in Tier B, which is considered solid. They believe it's also a decent unit: https://hexus.net/tech/reviews/psu/14490...0w/?page=8 Bronze isn't meant to indicate quality. Did you connect two 4+4-pin CPU headers and two 6+2-pin headers from separate cables? You didn't mention if Star Citizen exceeds the 32GB usage limit. MSI Afterburner could help verify that. It provides smooth curves over extended periods. Edited November 18, 2023 by leclod