The computer is malfunctioning and it's hard to determine the issue.
The computer is malfunctioning and it's hard to determine the issue.
The machine stops unexpectedly during gameplay, emitting a loud noise through the headphones until the shutdown is forced. It also crashes while watching a non-graphics-heavy movie. Actions taken: Performed a complete Windows update using SFC and DISM, removed and reinstalled graphics drivers, disabled the Intel IGPU, reinstalled only NVIDIA drivers, reattached the GPU, and adjusted its power settings. The GPU temperature dropped to around 60°C, and I set a maximum power limit of 60% and a temperature cap of 91°C. I also increased the fan profile for better cooling. Continuous monitoring via HWInfo64 is ongoing; it will analyze logs after the crash to identify any irregularities. Windows does not produce a crash report, so no further details are available. Reliability metrics indicate an issue, but the only notable event was improper shutdown. System specs include an i5-13500 processor, power limits of 65W and 60W respectively, an RTX 3090 with 60% power cap (about 200W), 750W PSU, 64GB DDR4 RAM at 3200MHz, and a CPU cooler paste applied. The system was last used for gaming a year ago, and the GPU paste was changed recently. The CPU temperature remained stable around 60°C, with all components operating below that threshold. No clear cause identified yet—possibly hardware failure or driver conflict.
It seems your guess is that the RAM could be the issue. I experienced similar problems after a computer bluescreen and crash, so swapping the RAM from G.Skill to Corsair resolved it. Both had the same specifications—two 16GB sticks at 3200Mhz. I recall some videos suggesting RAM might be the culprit, though it's hard to say for sure. It might be worth testing another set if possible, or trying to install RAM gradually to see if the crashes persist.
We're both talking about memory performance. Running a memory test on a 64GB RAM system will take some time, so I haven't started yet—good point. I'll keep it running. Thanks, I'll let you know in about 20 years once it's finished. EDIT: I'm also puzzled by why memory problems would appear after a year, since my PC built last year worked fine. I've also tried the extended Windows memory diagnostic tool; maybe I'll run memtest86 later if the results aren't clear.
I'm guessing it's from the material lottery. Some electronics are doing better than others. Just like with CPUs and GPUs. Variances in production, margin of error and what not. So maybe yours only started to fail after a year and you got unlucky. My PC only had issues after a few months of using it with the faulty RAM Electronics are eating themselves up. It might be super slow, but they do. There are great videos explaining it out there if you're interested or don't already know Memtest didn't find anything on my RAM. That however doesn't mean it'll be the same for you. Just know that even if Memtest tells you your RAM is fine, it might not be. Who knows, maybe your and my Mainboard are actually cooked and only work with certain RAM modules. It'll remain a mystery. And yes, Memtest took all night for me to complete with "just" 32GB. Remember that it'll create a log file somehow somewhere I believe. For the first time I thought I only get the result in the testing screen and ran it twice which was... fun. Here is my old post if you're interested. I don't think anything there will tell you anything new though.
instead of using memtest, you might also attempt to run a single stick at a time rather than two, or vice versa afterward. I’m curious... let’s stay optimistic.