Unpredictable failures occur randomly.
Unpredictable failures occur randomly.
My computer (details below) suddenly stops functioning. It doesn’t display a blue screen, just freezes on a single frame, audio disappears, and the only way to shut it down is by holding the power button for five seconds. I’ve done everything possible—restoring to factory settings, updating drivers, refreshing the BIOS, reinstalling Windows again, and cleaning out the hardware. All the steps above only delay the next crash by a few minutes, but it always recurs. The failures occur randomly, though they seem more frequent when the system is under heavy processing.
Specs: CPU – I7 7700K, RAM – CORSAIR VENGENCE LPX DDR4 2X8 at 3200MHZ, GPU – GIGABYTE GTX 1080 WINDFORCE OC, Storage – 1TB NVME SSD, WD Blue, 500 GB Kingston, 2TB Seagate BarAccuda HDD.
Looking for hints in the event viewer. Which USB peripherals are connected? Is your RAM at the default 2400 or boosted with XMP? Have you verified the SMART status of your storage drives? What type of power supply is connected and how recent is it? Are you using any operating system or tracking tools? Did the computer function properly before issues began?
Memory running stock is what I used to run with XMP, but I’m not taking any risks anymore. The event viewer for USB DEVICES includes the GSKILL keyboard, STEELSERIES mouse, HYPERX headset, webcam, and the monitor’s built-in USB splitter. The PSU is a solid 650W EVGA 80+ GOLD unit, around 5-6 years old. No monitoring software is installed—just recommendations are welcome.
What is a SMART value? The PC began BSODing two years ago, caused by an overheating SSD, but after replacing it with a new one everything worked for about 6 to 10 months.
Press the Windows key and type: EVENT VIEWER. Review events linked to crashes using timestamps. Be aware that most logs are irrelevant, but a small portion can be useful. WHEA errors tend to stand out if you encounter them. You might want to set up a filter to show only WHEA errors, though this requires some advanced steps (like watching a tutorial or reading an article). The HWINFO sensor panel can help monitor temperatures and other metrics. You can keep the monitoring running while using the PC. Downloading tools like CrystalDiskInfo will reveal SMART status, indicating potential issues such as bad blocks or significant errors. Hmm, after a while, the problem could seem unrelated or possibly tied to the same SSD issue.