What might be causing your PC to behave strangely?
What might be causing your PC to behave strangely?
I assembled my own PC and it has operated perfectly for the past five years until last month.
Last month I encountered some problems, but I haven’t found any actual issues. I’m here seeking guidance to troubleshoot this matter.
My computer occasionally starts acting erratically. Most often, it’s keys being pressed down without a way to release them. This usually occurs while playing games. Keys such as Windows, Alt, 2 Shift, and W get pressed continuously, causing the PC to behave unpredictably. For example, when I have around 100 Chrome tabs open with MS Office running, my computer shuts down and restarts automatically. Reinstalling Windows didn’t resolve the problem. I also tried disconnecting and reconnecting my keyboard, but it didn’t help. I observed that the "RAM" LED lights up sometimes during these incidents, so I attempted to disable the XMP profile, which was set for my 2x16GB DDR4 4000MHz RAM module from Ripjaws.
Another recurring issue is that my PC shuts off unexpectedly and enters sleep mode.
What’s really puzzling me is that I can’t pinpoint the exact cause. Sometimes it lasts about 3 to 4 hours while playing games, and everything seems normal afterward. Then suddenly it starts happening again. It can happen after just a few rounds of my first game once I turn it on. The problem spans across various games, so it’s not necessarily a game-related issue.
I suspect the RAM is involved, but the LED doesn’t always illuminate during these events. I’m confused about why this started occurring randomly and how to fix it. For more information: I replaced the Ripjaws about 1.5 years ago and had to adjust the settings manually for my PC to run at full 4000MHz. However, they worked perfectly for over a year.
I’m struggling to find anyone else experiencing similar problems, and I’m feeling quite lost. How can I proceed with troubleshooting?
Here are the full specifications of my PC:
- MSI Trio RTX 2080
- Intel I9-9900K
- MSI Z390 Tomohawk
- 2x16GB 4000MHz Ripjaws DDR4
- Corsair 750W PSU
- Arctic Freeze II 360mm
- A few Kington 2TB hard drives
- Samsung 980 EVO 1TB SSD (main C drive)
Please let me know if you need any additional details. Thank you in advance.
Try a clean boot and observe if it alters the outcome — follow the guidelines carefully and ensure no Microsoft services are disabled or Windows fails to load.
This process doesn’t remove anything; it simply halts non-Microsoft applications during startup. It’s straightforward.
If the clean boot resolves the issue, it likely points to a startup program. Over several restarts, restart the programs you stopped to pinpoint the culprit. Be patient when re-adding items, as the process may not always complete successfully.
What keyboard are you using? Have you tried a different one?
If the problem persists after a reinstall, it probably indicates hardware issues.
It would be unusual for RAM to be the cause, since I notice RAM errors often trigger BSODs rather than keyboard faults.
I own a varmilo va88m, and I haven't tried another one. I'll follow your advice and return later. Although I believe this could be a repetitive task since the problem occurs frequently, after the fresh installation I installed just seven programs: Steam, GeForce Experience, Chrome, Discord, Riot games, Spotify, and Blitz.
i would try another keyboard and see if it keeps happening.
With so few things installed, its probably not a start up program,
Interesting, my AV isn't allowing access to their site... is there any software involved? Water damage could be tough to fix. What's the replacement limit? On my system, I can replace nearly everything except the battery and electronics (Nuphy Halo96).
I experienced a similar issue with a six-year-old custom-built PC. I replaced the keyboard, speaker system (which was installed when it began malfunctioning), and then performed a new hard drive installation. Nothing worked. Eventually, I decided to replace the Nvidia GTX 1060 Ti from another computer—still no improvement. Finally, I upgraded the RAM by removing the old units and installing new ones. THAT WORKED! The RAM failed afterward...