Computer randomly shuts down

[Newman1702]

Hi all,

I'm having a problem with my home-built system. The specifications are as follows:

- Intel Core i7 920, non-overclocked
- Asus P6T SE motherboard
- 12 GB RAM (6x2 GB DDR3)
- nvidia GTX 480 with 1.5 GB video memory
- system drive: Corsair Force 3 240GB SSD
- other drives: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB and a Seagate Barracuda 320GB (both at 7200 rpm)
- Corsair AX 850W PSU
- Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1

The problems started about two or three weeks after buying the Corsair Force 3 SSD. At first everything seemed stable, but after a few weeks I started experiencing random shutdowns. I would use the computer, and it would just shut off - usually during gaming, but I swear I heard it reboot by itself right after power up at least twice. After the shutdown the computer would just come on again by itself. The intervals between the shutdowns were seemingly random - usually around 3-4 days, sometimes a week would go by without anything. I've scoured the net for advice, I've set up Windows and BIOS for optimal SSD usage, I've checked that the SSD has the latest firmware (it does), I've cleaned the whole computer of dust (the CPU uses a Zalman air cooler which keeps it much cooler than the stock one did, and it appears to be working ok now, never exceeding 70C under load and idling just below 40C during these very hot summer days - it operates about 6-7 degrees cooler if it's not summer.
Graphics card temperatures range between 60-80C, which is apparently normal for a GTX 480.

Unable to narrow down the problem exactly (as after the reboot the system would "behave" as if nothing happened), I disabled the option to automatically shut down on fatal errors in BIOS, and waited for the problem to manifest again. This time it took about 8 days - was starting to think it went away. No such luck, during a gaming session my system froze (became totally unresponsive), and about half a minute later I was greeted by this screen - apologies for the bad photo, snapped it quickly with my phone, seemed ok on the small screen:

Then I rebooted. Windows logged on normally and I was greeted by a small dialog box saying the following:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1050

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 9c
BCP1: 0000000000000000
BCP2: FFFFF880023B8C70
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\070712-7987-01.dmp
C:\Users\Tvrtko\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-9687-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Here is the .dmp file; I would appreciate if someone could take a look at it. I suspect the SSD is the culprit, but since it's a system drive I want to be sure before replacing it and having to reinstall everything again.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6sicxl7fnvd58em

One reason I suspect the SSD is that I tried to run a "Check drive for errors" thing; it reported that it can't do it while it's in use, since it's a system drive, and it offered me to schedule the disk check on reboot. I did that, and the system wouldn't boot; it appears to have hung on attempting to run the drive check. After the power up self test, when windows would start to load, I just had a black screen as the system froze. I had to go into the F8 boot menu and select the option to use the same settings as on the last successful boot to even get back into Windows. As luck would have it, that worked. Now, maybe the Windows drive checker isn't meant for SSDs, but so far this all makes the SSD my prime suspect - even though shutdowns during gaming would be more consistent with an overheating graphics card or a problem with the PSU (which is more than good enough for my system and can't be more than a year old - so I doubt it's the culprit).

Many thanks in advance to anyone willing to take a look at that .dmp!

 

[paul878]

Well if it start after the Corsair Force 3 SSD, remove it and see if you still have the same problem.

 

[Newman1702]

That's not that easy, since it's the system drive and it can sometimes take 7-8 days for the problem to manifest itself, and the problem didn't start happening for several weeks after installing the SSD, so it's possible something else is failing. That's why I wanted to see if someone might find out something concrete from that minidump file. If not, then I'll have to do what you propose, but since that involves the pain of setting everything up again I kind of want to explore all other avenues first.

 

[Harvey]

Did you check your CPU temp? Next time it happens, reboot immediately, and go into the CMOS and check it under System Health to see if you had a temp spike above your readings.

If it's high, look for a build up of dust in the CPU's HS/fan and/or your vid card cooler. If your temps are high, but there's no dust build up, make sure you have good circulation around your system.

If your temps are high, and you didn't install the HS/fan with a good thermal compound like Arctic Siver 5, or if you didn't use a very thin coating of compound, you may want to try re-installing it.

Another problem may be that one or more sticks of your RAM is failing. You could try removing most of the RAM to test it. If it crashes, change RAM sticks around to test them independently. You may also want to download MemTest86+ to test it.

Good luck.

 

[Newman1702]

I keep the CPU temp monitored, it's fine, there were no temp spikes. Despite that, I did perform a thorough cleaning of the system recently, but according the reported temps of both the CPU and GPU, overheating doesn't appear to be the problem here.

 

[paul878]

In that case run some stress test see if you can force the problem to appear.
memtest, 3dmark, linx.

 

[Newman1702]

Will do, thanks.

 

[Puppies04]

OP which SATA port is the SSD plugged into? Looking at a picture of the board I assume only 4 of the 6 are native, this may be your problem as third party controllers have been knows to be a bit tempremental especially with OS drives.

 

[Newman1702]

OP which SATA port is the SSD plugged into? Looking at a picture of the board I assume only 4 of the 6 are native, this may be your problem as third party controllers have been knows to be a bit tempremental especially with OS drives.

The SSD is plugged into SATA1. I always connect my system drives to SATA1, and I've read somewhere that SSDs don't like being plugged into anything else (as system drives) anyway. This gave me an idea, however. My case has that rack system that has the disks oriented towards the side. The lid that closes the case comes close to the SATA cables, bending them a bit. I suppose it's possible the SATA cable started losing contact under the strain, as the MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION error I got could be explained by losing contact with the system disk. I bought a new SATA cable, one of those that has the connector at 90 degrees so it's not squashed by the lid - will see if maybe it was the cable. Thanks everyone to the replies so far, though.

 

[JamesV]

Have you checked the logs in Windows? That is always my first stop when something isn't working right.

Right click on Computer, and select manage. In the window that pops up, look on the left for logs, and search through them for errors that occur at the time your system freezes/shuts down.

 

[pollard1988]

i guess it happening because of your problem, remove your ram, and clean that, and reboot your windows. That might work, thanks.

 

[Newman1702]

RAM is clean, and I have checked the logs before - all they logged was an unexpected shutdown, not stating a purpose. When I turned off auto shutdown (and got a bluescreen instead) that event wasn't even logged. I'm going to see if it happens again with the new SATA cable. Fingers crossed..