Frequent Restarts, Event ID 41 Task 63

[Nebor]

So I recently got my computer out of a shipping container and installed Windows 10 on it (fresh\clean install.) I've been having frequent restarts with no blue screen, and when I check event viewer I see Event ID 41 Task 64 "unexpected restart."

The computer specs are:
i7 2600k
MSI Z77A-GD65
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1333mhz
EVGA GTX 980
Crucial M4 128gb SSD
Seagate 4TB HD
Soundblaster Z sound card
Asus Swift monitor
Logitech G500 mouse
Logitech G110 keyboard

So right off the bat, the processor temperatures are fairly highly. It idles around 60C and under load (prime95 or 3dmark) all the cores hit 99C. This is because the guy who built the computer didn't know how to put the stock Intel heatsink on properly, but the computer has run fine for years this way.

I've changed the sleep mode to S1 in the bios, disabled all the Windows 8 & fastboot stuff. This processor\motherboard combo has been through 3 name brand, 750w+ power supplies in it's lifetime, so I'm thinking that may be the problem.

Any ideas on how I can narrow down the issue?

 

[Ketchup]

Has it run recently on an older OS? Or did it get an immediate update?
How frequent is frequent?
Doing anything special when the restart occur?

Some ideas:

If it made it through the Windows 10 update with no issues, I could see a not-so-great driver causing the sudden issues. Do you let WU send you driver updates?

If there is no blue screen/memory dump for any of these, I could see power being the culprit.

Is there an influx of drive activity before the reboot? Could point to a bad/loose SATA cable.

If the CPU is hitting 99, it is throttling. I personally don't like that, and some programs may not like that either. Take a couple minutes and put on some fresh paste.

 

[Nebor]

It was running fine with no restarts or problems on Windows 8.1 before being shipped from Texas to Hawaii. I checked all the power connections and they seem ok.

Frequency seems to vary. Sometimes 2 times a day, sometimes 15 times a day. I have noticed some "Errors" in the Event Viewer that seem to correspond closely with the "unexpected restart" events.

I have all the Windows 10 updates turned on, and I've installed all available updates through Windows Update. I got the newest Nvidia drivers (new ones came out last night.) There are no Windows 10 drivers available for any of my other hardware as far as I can tell, so I'm just running with what was included with the OS.

I'll check the SATA cables (I didn't consider that possibility.)

I took off the Intel heatsink yesterday and saw that the thermal paste was only on about 1/3rd of the processor & heatsink. I cleaned both off, added a new dot of thermal paste and tried to reattach the heatsink. Since I'm the guy that built the computer and couldn't install it properly in the first place, I had very little success. I attempted the two screwdriver method, as well as the screwdriver & hammer method. It appears (looking at the back of the motherboard) that all 4 sets of white plastic clips are through the holes and expanded, and the black pins are fully through the holes as well. However the temperatures didn't change at all, so I knew I had failed. I remove the heatsink again and found that the thermal paste didn't even seem to be touching the processor! I reinstalled it and left it, but ordered a new heatsink that uses nuts and bolts (Coolermaster 120 or something, the most popular heatsink on Amazon.) So I'll give that a shot when it gets here in a couple weeks (good thing I have Amazon Prime!)

 

[Ketchup]

Love Amazon Prime! Hope it helps.

 

[Nebor]

Love Amazon Prime! Hope it helps.

I was halfway joking. Prime free shipping is 7-10 days here. :\

 

[Ketchup]

I was halfway joking. Prime free shipping is 7-10 days here. :\

It's relative. Out of curiosity, how long do other carriers from the continental US take?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just make sure that your M4 SSD firmware is updated. If you didn't, after approx 5000 hours of power-on time, it will crash after an hour of usage, like clockwork.

 

[Nebor]

Just make sure that your M4 SSD firmware is updated. If you didn't, after approx 5000 hours of power-on time, it will crash after an hour of usage, like clockwork.

That seems like silly advice, given the age of the M4. Everyone who owns one either updated or hit 5,000 hours by now! Anyway, mine is already updated with the newest firmware from 2013.

Maybe I should replace it with one of those Samsung Evo 850 1TB drives?

 

[Ketchup]

... Maybe I should replace it with one of those Samsung Evo 850 1TB drives?

It'd be hard to say no to that idea, whether or not it is your main problem. Make sure you are upgrading for the size, not necessarily a speed increase from the Crucial.

 

[Nebor]

So I installed the coolermaster heatpipe CPU cooler last night with the 120mm fan. Installation was a breeze (because it uses actual bolts and nuts instead of stupid plastic clips.) Idle temps are at 38C now and under load it only gets up to 50C. What a difference! Also no more restarts.

I did have to relocate my memory to the 2 & 4 spots due to the size of the CPU Cooler. And at that point I noticed that the fancy heatsink had come unglued from my Corsair Vengeance memory. Doesn't that stuff have a lifetime warranty? Now that I see the construction of the heatsink and the adhesive used to hold it on, I strong doubt the heatsinks even do anything. I reinstalled one of the sticks without the heatsink (still set to XMP settings in BIOS) and haven't had any issues.

 

[Ketchup]

Good news!

Memory does have a lifetime warranty. Memory does not need the dorky heatspreaders. I would just take them off, it possible.

 

[Nebor]

Well I was playing Killing Floor 2 the other night and the whole machine turned off. No motherboards lights or anything. I replaced the powersupply (An Athena 900w that I purchased 2 years ago) with a Corsair 850w from Best Buy. Now the motherboard's onboard power button lights up, but it doesn't do anything. I can't get the fans to spin even momentarily, or anything to happen. I tried clearing the CMOS with no change.

 

[Ketchup]

Make sure there isn't a short.
Make sure you didn't miss a mobo power connector.
Check your power switch.

 

[Nebor]

Make sure there isn't a short.
Make sure you didn't miss a mobo power connector.
Check your power switch.

It won't spin even with just the mobo main connector and 8-pin connector hooked up with one stick of ram and the processor.

Power switch is on, like I said its lit up on the board.

I ordered an EVGA X99 board, an i7 5930k, 16gb of corsair ddr4, Samsung 850 1TB and an antec p50. Hopefully with these parts I can fix the problem.

 

[Ketchup]

It won't spin even with just the mobo main connector and 8-pin connector hooked up with one stick of ram and the processor.

Power switch is on, like I said its lit up on the board.

I ordered an EVGA X99 board, an i7 5930k, 16gb of corsair ddr4, Samsung 850 1TB and an antec p50. Hopefully with these parts I can fix the problem.

Nice. That is one way to do it! Do you think it was the board?

 

[Nebor]

Nice. That is one way to do it! Do you think it was the board?

I think so. I find it awfully suspicious that in the 3-4 years I've had this motherboard that I've had 3 name brand PSUs die. I think this last PSU just took out the mobo with it.

 

[Nebor]

I tried to get a replacement or upgrade here in Honolulu. What a joke. One placed tried to sell me an Asus socket 1150 board and an i5 4230 for $670.