Intel 2600k reboot issues

[Flasm1]

Hi everyone,
Finally decided to get some help from the experts here. Basically, i'm having problems with my PC from last 6 months or so, it just randomly restarts. Before i go into further details, here is my hardware, which i replaced over time to solve this problem, but to no effect.
This was my original setup:

I7 2600k retail
Asus P8h67-M evo
Collermaster 650w psu
1TB seagate
4GB corsair Xms3 classic
Win7 64 ultimate

After putting it togeter, it rebooted while installing windows. Then it would run ok for few hours then reboot again. So i decided to return few things, one by one, including MB and RAM.
The replacements were:

Asus p8p67 pro
4gb Kingston hyperx ddr3 1600c9
Xfx Hd5770
But it didnt solve the problem. So i changed the psu, to:

Ocz 600w modxstream
This did fix the problem, but, only for little while. After couple of months later, it started rebooting again. Meanwhile, i changed RAM and MB again, to:

asus maximus iv gene-z/gen3
4GB Gskill ripjaws 1600.

Still having the same issue. It reboots every few minutes. Temps are around 28c/30c for both MB and processor. Its running on stock cooler. Not thinking of overclocking just yet. Its connected to 50" plasma through hdmi, for gaming and stuff. But the damn thing wouldn't stay on for long its even reseting on POST now! Heating issue crossed my mind, but case has two fans, front and top to keep it cool, and re applied the thermel paste few days earlier. So don't reaaly see any problem there.
Now i'm thinking of getting new psu, 750w, either antec or corsiar. Also changing ram to 8gb vengeance. What do experts here think?

Any help/suggestion will be greatly appriciated. Thanks, and happy new year to everyone.

 

[Kenmitch]

Give another power supply a shot. Not the best place to cut costs on a build. A good power supply is the heart of your rig!

 

[Puppies04]

Give another power supply a shot. Not the best place to cut costs on a build. A good power supply is the heart of your rig!

+1 you replaced it before and the fault stopped. It would be the first culprit I would look at.

 

[Idontcare]

Welcome to the forums Flasm1 :thumbsup:

...it just randomly restarts.

This was my original setup:

I7 2600k retail
Collermaster 650w psu
1TB seagate

But it didnt solve the problem. So i changed the psu, to:

Ocz 600w modxstream
This did fix the problem, but, only for little while. After couple of months later, it started rebooting again.

Heating issue crossed my mind, but case has two fans, front and top to keep it cool, and re applied the thermel paste few days earlier. So don't reaaly see any problem there.
Now i'm thinking of getting new psu, 750w, either antec or corsiar. Also changing ram to 8gb vengeance.

I snipped your OP down to the stuff that seems most relevant to me for this issue.

You could just have a bum CPU, rare but not rare enough to rule it out. (I had a QX6700 die on me)

The PSU is still a suspect, and you haven't swapped out the drive yet...which I doubt is going to be the cause of a hard reboot but it is one thing you haven't checked so it still bears mentioning.

Not sure why you'd change the ram yet again? Given the changes so far it seems like you could safely rule out the mobo and the ram as being the culprit.

One thing - your power supply (as in the house, electrical socket, etc), are you convinced its good and stable? Don't have a refrigerator or something silly like that also sharing the same circuit, do you?

I once had a house, brand new build home, which the computer in the study would sometimes shutdown on it own. After months of that BS I finally convinced the home builder to bring an electrician out and look at the circuit.

Turned out the carpenter who built the bookcases in the study drove a single nail through the power line in the wall and was causing the wire to heat up under use just enough to basically create a brown-out when my computer started pulling the amps.

(think Vdroop, only for the house wiring)

Under regular testing with a voltmeter jammed into the outlet it read 115V, but as soon as you put a serious load on the circuit (we used a hair dryer as a test load) then the voltage would plummet to 90V, and then eventually get as low as 70-80V. This was what was causing my computer to reboot.

So they pulled the nail and then fixed the electrical line (this was Texas and I seriously wonder if anything they did was actually to code...) and everything was right as rain again.

Not saying you have the same issue afoot, just saying sometimes you literally have to think outside the box (your computer box) to solve the problem

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Are your outlets grounded properly?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Make sure your RAM voltages are to spec in bios. Check all your voltages while you're in there. Make sure all your connectors are securely seated. Make sure your CPU HS&F is also seated properly.

Test your RAM. I use Memtest HCI

 

[Flasm1]

Thank you for the reply everyone.
This pc has given me trouble for too long. Not sure if i want to spend any more money on it but i guess if changing psu will sort this problem for good, then i better get it done.
Thanks kenmitch and puppies04 for advise. Is antec or corsiar 750w a decent choice?
and, idontcare, the thought of bad cpu did cross my mind. I do hope changing psu will sort it out though. And i did change the drive, i've got it running on a ssd now. And i'm sure power suply from wall is good. But having read ur experience, i'll double check it just incase. Thanks for all the help
Btry B 529th fabn, voltage are to spec in bios and all the connectors are seated properly. And ram is definenately ok.
What else can be done guys, please keep the suggestions coming.
Thanks

 

[Binky]

Have you reinstalled win7?? Does it have this problem with a fresh (and minimal) reinstall of win7?

 

[tweakboy]

Try 1 stick of ram and see if problem presists.... gl

 

[Idontcare]

And i'm sure power suply from wall is good. But having read ur experience, i'll double check it just incase. Thanks for all the help

Easy way to rule out wiring is to temporarily move your rig to another circuit, preferably a friends house, and run it as you would otherwise to see if it still reboots.

 

[Flasm1]

Yep, tried it with one stick. Reinstalled win few times, although, Reinstalling win won't really help as it reboots in post . Checked the wiring, its all good. Time to fork out some more money i guess
Can't understand why the 2nd psu would go faulty like that. Both psu's were from good makers. Does connecting PC to large Tv's makes any difference? Anyway, I'll get a new psu 2mrow and let you guys know.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Let us know what it ends up being.

:hmm:

 

[ehume]

Try pulling you mb from the current case and run it naked. Before you do, set in BIOS to boot on power-on. That way simply turning on the psu will start your rig. I do this with my testbed so I don't need a case or clutter wiring.

Why do this? you might have a short in your case.

You have already changed the psu. Your chances of having two bad psu's is fairly remote, but I didn't see the graphics card specified. Sometimes a heavy load from the graphics card will overload your psu, cause a reboot. But I doubt this is the issue.

So, what we have is a problem that has spanned two cpu's, two psu's, two mb's, and two sets of RAM. You can see why I'm wondering about your case and the wires associated with it.

 

[fastamdman]

I am thinking a bad ground or you have the case wired up wrong on the mobo etc. Either way, try it outta the case as suggested. It could be a psu issue, bad ground, bad socket aka from the wall.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Be sure to use those little grommets between the riser screws and the motherboard.

 

[SpeedTester]

Be sure to use those little grommets between the riser screws and the motherboard.

Hmmm I haven't used those in any of my last couple hundred builds.
I really don't think they are nessessary unless something is way out of whack.

 

[Idontcare]

Be sure to use those little grommets between the riser screws and the motherboard.

Hmmm I haven't used those in any of my last couple hundred builds.
I really don't think they are nessessary unless something is way out of whack.

If you look closely at your mobo, modern mobo's intentionally have exposed metal at the standoff points for one seriously important reason - floating grounds and EMF resonance/interference.

You want your case to be electrically grounded to the PSU through the mobo as well as through the PSU mounting screws. If you don't, then your mobo is not operating in the electrically grounded environment that the mobo engineers simulated/tested/designed/certified your mobo to be operating within.

A floating ground between your case and your mobo is bad juju from a parasitic capacitor standpoint, and it makes the emf feedback situation all the less favorable for your highly tuned and sophisticated peice of electronics called your motherboard.

Do not defeat this by electrically isolating your mobo standoff screws from the mobo by way of non-conductive grommets and so on. That was the way to do it 10+ yrs ago, but the mobo's are now designed to have a common ground with the case, making it a floating ground is working against you, not working for you.

Its not that using the grommets is no longer necessary, using them is actually deleterious.

 

[Flasm1]

Right! Got a new PSU today. It stayed on for 10 minutes or so and then to my displeasure, it restarted it stayed on again for 5 minz before restarting. Then restarted in post,continuesly for 10 minutes, before i kicked it off it wont even let me stay in bios now! Now, i'm thinking, it might be heat issue. But i'm running at stock speed. Shouldn't have any heat issues, should i? In bios, it shows temp at around 32c. Which is decent i believe. Processor is the only thing left to be replaced. So i guess, i might as well
I have tried it out of the case aswell, it still bloody restarts
So its either a heating issue, processor, ram, psu or MB. PSU and MB is brand new. Wiring is fine. The chances of bad processor are very low. Leaves me to believe RAM or heating issue. What do you guys think?
GPU is HD 5770, i'v tried another gpu before, and built-in gpu in my new z68 board. Doesn't make a difference, not one bit!
SOS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

So you've replaced everything except what? List them out. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this!

 

[fastamdman]

First question.

When the computer "restarts" is it shutting down 100% and then turning back on, or is the screen turning off. Does it continue to restart after the initial restart.

Aka if you are in bios and it shuts down, do you power it back up or does it power itself back on?

Stop replacing random parts until I figure out what the issue is here.

Have you tried a different wall outlet yet?


Edit: As far as the heat issue, put your hand on the processor. If it feels stupidly hot then there you have it, it's over heating. Also when it does boot up into bios, go straight to your cpu health status and watch the temps. They should no be going much above ambient, aka over 30-40c tops.

It very well could be a thermal restart/shutdown aka to high of temps. This can happen at stock if the heatsink is not on properly. You pushed the push pins down all the way correct?

Edit2: Try one stick of ram and in each slot. You could have a bad stick of ram causing the issue, or you could have a bad memory slot on the motherboard. Either way the FIRST thing you need to do is get into your bios and load failsafe defaults. not optimized defaults, failsafe defaults.

 

[Flasm1]

Yes, everything is replaced except cpu.
And yes, i did try different wall outlet, same result.
It carrys on restarting, doesn't shutdown, just restarts, continuesly. And it powers itself back on. Checked the processor for heat, it seems fine, not heated at all. Also, i'v checked one stick at a time, same results with all slots and all sticks. Heatsink is seated correctly, definetly. Temps are at around 32c in bios, when it actually does let me stay in bios.
The MB has a LED numerical digits, to indicate any problems with hardware. Nothing there either, it posts ok, until it reboots again and again. I'v taken the cpu out to have a look and see if any capacitors are damaged or any signs of burns, but nothing there to indicate its damaged/burnt. I would like to run intels processor diagnostic tool on it, but the bloody thing won't stay on for that long! I'll try loading failsafe once i've seated the cpu back in again. Can't be bothered to be honest, its annoying me so much!

 

[fastamdman]

It's annoying me too. I am leaning towards a ground issue with your case personally. I vote you try it out of the case on a different wall outlet right now with 1 stick of ram in any slot you want, preferably the ones you are not using now obviously and load fail safe defaults.

I have never heard of a processor doing this before. Power supplies yes, bad grounds yes, bad case wiring yes, bad outlets yes. But not a processor.

Take her all out of the case, start it with a screw driver, and see if it happens again.

 

[Markfw]

I also think its power related.

 

[fastamdman]

Ya I am thinking it's either the power supply or the power from the wall. It would suck though if he had 2 bad power supplies back to back lol.

 

[Markfw]

With "marginal" wall voltage, even a decent PSU could be a problem. I would like to see what happens with a Corsair Gold series (>90% efficient)