PC gets hung suddenly and wont boot up

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Hi Guys,

I have one problem. When using PC , sometimes ( mostly after playing MaxPayne3 or using google chrome) , the PC just freezes. When I press reset, it doesnt comeup. The LEDs of the Fans light up, the hard disks spin, the fans spin. But nothing appears on the monitor. After some time, say about after 30 minutes or so, the PC tries to boot, i get display , but freezes during windows start-up. Then again , after 30 minutes, it does boot up, and I have to reset the BIOS to factory settings . I m clueless about this behavoiur. The Temps are just fine. After playing maxpayne3 for 1 hour or so, GPU-Z showed a max temp of 58degrees and a min of 34 deg( I keep GPUZ running in background sonetimes) . I have CM Hyper N620 CPU cooler, and a cabinet with good airflow. I do not suspect that temps are the cause . I mostly suspect a faulty mobo. (not sure).
Same thing happens if I connect some USB device to the usb port near the keyboard socket. I connected some USB device ( dont remember if it was my G400 mouse or driving force GT wheel) to that same port , and the PC froze. It never came up. So I did a BIOS reset by removing the mobo battery and again putting it in place after 20 mins. The BIOS got reset and the system came up, and I didnt face any issues (I never connect any USB device to that port now).
The motherboard is still in warranty . Around 6-7 months warranty is left , as ASUS offers 3year warrany. What should I do Should I send the mobo for RMA?
 

d6bmg

BMG ftw!!
Reason behind your problem could only be one the following two.
1. Either motherboard have gone bad.
2. Or PSU can't provide enough power to run all the components. (but as the PSU is VX550.. no.... scratch this possibility)
IMO, at first, send the motherboard for RMA. If the problem continues even after that, send the PSU for RMA.
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Reason behind your problem could only be one the following two.
1. Either motherboard have gone bad.
2. Or PSU can't provide enough power to run all the components. (but as the PSU is VX550.. no.... scratch this possibility)
IMO, at first, send the motherboard for RMA. If the problem continues even after that, send the PSU for RMA.

hmm.. Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will have to send the motherboard for RMA. But this issue doesnt happen everytime. I m just back from playing MaxPyne3 for an hour, and PC is working just fine .
 

topgear

Super Moderator
Staff member
may be a ram or HDD issue as well - mount those ram modules on the unused slots of the mobo ( test them with mem test app ) - connect the HDD to another port of the mobo and PSU ( power cable ) and change the sata data cable - check HDD for bad sectors.
 

d6bmg

BMG ftw!!
^^ Yeah, forgot to mention, Run Memtest86+ before sending anything to RMA. It could well, be a RAM problem/
 
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OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
^^ Yeah, forgot to mention, Run Memtest86+ before sending anything to RMA. It could well, be a RAM problem/

Hi d6bmg, I already ran MemTest86 when the issue occurred for the first time(when i had connected some usb device) It didnot report any errors
 

Mario

Ambassador of Buzz
Also try this -->
Check in BIOS, if your MOBO has some fan speed control settings (like max/optimum/performance/silent etc) or over-voltage, under-voltage protection settings (ovp/uvp etc).
If yes,
first disable the fan speed control settings (either disable or if there is no disable, set to whatever is max).
Shutdown - wait for sometime (10 mins) - boot up - do your usual routine and check if the problem recurs.
If it doesn't, well and good...if it does, disable the uvp/ovp stuff from bios. Again shutdown, wait 10 mins, startup and check.
If the issue is still not resolved, RMA.
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
I have not faced the issue since last 1 day. I have noticed, it also happens if I use MSI after Burner to bump up clock speed of gtx460, or use ASUS turbo V or AMD overdrive to overclock(automatic settings).
I am coming to the conclusion that PC gets hung when some cpu/gpu intensive work is done i.e where more voltage is required, (MaxPayne3 where GPU/CPU is almost at 100%), and so the motherboard( or SMPS :cry: ) is not able to provide power .
Also When the PC is hung , or fails to boot the LEDs of the rear CM 90CFM fan which is connected to motherboard via 3pin connector, somehow begins to blink/ flicker( becomes dim and again bright), which again indicates that there is some issue in power distribution, not sure if its motherboard or SMPS .
 

Mario

Ambassador of Buzz
I have not faced the issue since last 1 day. I have noticed, it also happens if I use MSI after Burner to bump up clock speed of gtx460, or use ASUS turbo V or AMD overdrive to overclock(automatic settings).
I am coming to the conclusion that PC gets hung when some cpu/gpu intensive work is done i.e where more voltage is required, (MaxPayne3 where GPU/CPU is almost at 100%), and so the motherboard( or SMPS :cry: ) is not able to provide power .
Also When the PC is hung , or fails to boot the LEDs of the rear CM 90CFM fan which is connected to motherboard via 3pin connector, somehow begins to blink/ flicker( becomes dim and again bright), which again indicates that there is some issue in power distribution, not sure if its motherboard or SMPS .
Exactly, I have been seeing this for almost 1.5 years now, and 90% of it on Asus mobos (irrespective of price range) - they have this uvp/ovp stuff on their mobos and if oc is done with these disabled, there are no issues whatsoever, but with these enabled, even with no oc, the mobos seem to crash at random.
The more annoying thing is if you take it to service center for RMA, most of the time, it wont crash in front of them and you will have hard time convincing them of the problem.

I seem to recollect, ithehappy suffering from a similar issue with his sabretooth - @ithehappy - just in case you come across this thread, care to comment?
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Exactly, I have been seeing this for almost 1.5 years now, and 90% of it on Asus mobos (irrespective of price range) - they have this uvp/ovp stuff on their mobos and if oc is done with these disabled, there are no issues whatsoever, but with these enabled, even with no oc, the mobos seem to crash at random.
The more annoying thing is if you take it to service center for RMA, most of the time, it wont crash in front of them and you will have hard time convincing them of the problem.

I seem to recollect, ithehappy suffering from a similar issue with his sabretooth - @ithehappy - just in case you come across this thread, care to comment?

Thanks a lot Mario . Yes, the PC crashes even when the Overclock is removed. But i seriously don't understand the reason behind the flickering of LED in my rear fan which is connected to motherboard. ( The LEDs flicker when the system is not able to boot up, but the LEDs work fine when the system is running fine).The LEDs of my side panel fan(same CM90CFM) which is connected directly to PSU dont flicker when the rear fan is flickering, which again indicates that the mobo is not able to provide power / or is intermittently providing power to components, because of which the PC doesnt boot, and i hve to remove the battery of BIOS to reset mobo ( I dont understand this connection).. Everything is confusing in this issue.
The mobo is around 2.5 years old . And you are right, mario, how do i reproduce this problem in front of ASUS service centre guys ?
 
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Mario

Ambassador of Buzz
Thanks a lot Mario . Yes, the PC crashes even when the Overclock is removed. But i seriously don't understand the reason behind the flickering of LED in my rear fan which is connected to motherboard. ( The LEDs flicker when the system is not able to boot up, but the LEDs work fine when the system is running fine).The LEDs of my side panel fan(same CM90CFM) which is connected directly to PSU dont flicker when the rear fan is flickering, which again indicates that the mobo is not able to provide power / or is intermittently providing power to components, because of which the PC doesnt boot, and i hve to remove the battery of BIOS to reset mobo ( I dont understand this connection).. Everything is confusing in this issue.
The mobo is around 2.5 years old . And you are right, mario, how do i reproduce this problem in front of ASUS service centre guys ?

I dont know if you are from Kolkata, but to top it, Rashi handles the RMA for Asus here and they are unsympathetic morons! Their main tendency is to find out how they may avoid the RMA. :x
Anyway. are you absolutely sure there is no Q-Fan thingy in your BIOS? I just checked the Asus site for your mobo and it says Q-Fan support and all.. Just disable that from your BIOS and see if the crash issue is resolved.

10 to 1 its the mobo not the PSU. VX was one sturdy mother of a PSU.

Edit: Just checking out the Asus page of your mobo, saw that there are quite a few stability improvement BIOS updates - have you flashed your BIOS? I am not a big fan of flashing the BIOS (firmly believe in, if it ain't broke, don't fix it for BIOS at least :D) but since your situation can't get worse.....what the heck, check if it resolves anything.
 
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quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
I dont know if you are from Kolkata, but to top it, Rashi handles the RMA for Asus here and they are unsympathetic morons! Their main tendency is to find out how they may avoid the RMA. :x
Anyway. are you absolutely sure there is no Q-Fan thingy in your BIOS? I just checked the Asus site for your mobo and it says Q-Fan support and all.. Just disable that from your BIOS and see if the crash issue is resolved.

10 to 1 its the mobo not the PSU. VX was one sturdy mother of a PSU.

Edit: Just checking out the Asus page of your mobo, saw that there are quite a few stability improvement BIOS updates - have you flashed your BIOS? I am not a big fan of flashing the BIOS (firmly believe in, if it ain't broke, don't fix it for BIOS at least :D) but since your situation can't get worse.....what the heck, check if it resolves anything.

Hi Mario.. Yes, i have the latest bios release . How will disabling Q-fan help? It makes the fan run at full speed. (2-2.2K RPM for my CM N620 cooler).
 

Mario

Ambassador of Buzz
Well, I dont know "how" it helps. But here's what I did for a couple of colleagues who had Asus mobo - one Clarkdale, one AMD - disabled Anti Surge and QFan on the mobo and bingo - no more stability issues even with reasonable OC on.
It seems Anti Surge is the main culprit, (Q-Fan being the other) but your mobo does not seem to have the AntiSurge option, so I am not very sure if it will help much.

Have you tried disabling CoolNQuiet and check if that helps? (I am not very hopeful it will).

Have you tried setting SidePort to 1.5V and check if it still crashes?

Well, to be honest, its really hit-n-miss, with these type of issues, I don't think, other than Asus engineers, one can really pinpoint which component is to blame.
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Well, I dont know "how" it helps. But here's what I did for a couple of colleagues who had Asus mobo - one Clarkdale, one AMD - disabled Anti Surge and QFan on the mobo and bingo - no more stability issues even with reasonable OC on.
It seems Anti Surge is the main culprit, (Q-Fan being the other) but your mobo does not seem to have the AntiSurge option, so I am not very sure if it will help much.

Have you tried disabling CoolNQuiet and check if that helps? (I am not very hopeful it will).

Have you tried setting SidePort to 1.5V and check if it still crashes?

Well, to be honest, its really hit-n-miss, with these type of issues, I don't think, other than Asus engineers, one can really pinpoint which component is to blame.

I didnt see any AntiSurge option. I have coolNQuiet enabled on my mobo. I will now also try out other things as suggested, like changing RAM slots and all. But i still believe its motherboard issue with power distribution , and its very difficult to reproduce it in front of service center engineers, and they wouldnt believe me. So, if nothing happens even after changing ram slots / doing the above things, I might have to go in for a new motherboard. What do you guys think ?
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Yes, you might need to RMA. Pretty sure its your Mobo.

hmm. Thanks for all the help. Yesterday also, when I was playing MaxPayne3, PC just got hung .Now, its nothing new though, as we have identified the issue . AAh.. I will have to dismantle the whole system, take out the CM n620 cooler(and fix again ), manage those long cables of VX550 again... it will be a pain in A$$ .
 

sumonpathak

knocking on heavens door
Are you sure 550 is handling everything perfectly? when overclocked?coz GTX 460 east a lot of power when oc ed...also with coolnquite enabled voltages are supposed to jump..so that can create problems...try disabling it from bios and use EPU.and upgrade bios if u didn't already..
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
Are you sure 550 is handling everything perfectly? when overclocked?coz GTX 460 east a lot of power when oc ed...also with coolnquite enabled voltages are supposed to jump..so that can create problems...try disabling it from bios and use EPU.and upgrade bios if u didn't already..

I do not overclock GTX460 all the time. I did that just once to see if i get any gains in MaxPayne3 :| . PC hangs/reboots even without OC. Yea, BIOS is the latest version which ASUS had released in 2010 . CoolNQuiet is enabled. I will disable it today after going home.
 
OP
quad_core

quad_core

CyberdyneSystems Model101
hmm....what about the cpu? what clocks and what volts?

Its all stock. Everything is running on stock. no changes. When i mentioned it happened on OC, i had done that just for some time using ASUS turbo V s/w, and MSI afterburner, and I had reverted back immediately.
 
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