# [SOLVED] Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the



## Manatee9

To be clear, there is no discernible pattern for what makes the computer restart. Either I'm playing LoL, or BF3, or i'm just sitting around at desktop, or browsing the internet. There is no consistency.


Two weeks ago my computer decided it was going to start randomly restarting by itself for no apparent reason. I have the automatic restart turned off so if it was a blue screen i would see it. There is no blue screen, and BlueScreenView turns up no results after the restart.

When i check event viewer there are no problems except some random errors that occur independent of the restart related to Vmware (which i no longer have installed, i dont know how i'm getting errors related to it).


After the restart, if i look at event viewer the only thing that tells me anything about the problem is this error

"The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." Source: Kernel-Power.

I have done virus and malware scans, and i have removed old graphics drivers just in case. All of my drivers are up to date.

This all started after i installed new RAM and a new video card into my PC. A side note about the RAM is that 2/4 sticks i received from newegg were defective at first, and the machine would not boot if i did not take them out, so i RMA'd them. They sent me a 2nd set of sticks which allowed the machine to boot but after that, i was unable to keep from blue screening about a minute after windows started up. I have RMA'd those sticks as well, and am currently waiting for the replacements to return. I am still using 2 of the original 4 that came with my order.

I thought this could be a RAM problem but i dont see exactly how. Asus (the motherboard manufacturer) lists this specific ram module as being compatible, and i followed GSkill's instructions on which settings to use in BIOS to ensure the RAM runs as intended. None of that has changed how the computer is behaving. The windows memory diagnostic also does not come up with any problems with the RAM.

I searched for people having this similar issue and everyone claims it is either the power supply, the RAM, or overheating.

I have swapped out the power supply for one that is brand new, and 50 watts more powerful than my last, and it is still doing the exact same thing.

I have also been monitoring the temperatures and they are all within normal limits at the time of the restart. To see if perhaps the sensors were off, i have felt the heatsink for the CPU after it shut down and it is not even remotely warm, and neither are any of the other surfaces inside of the PC.



This makes me think perhaps something is messed up with my motherboard? but it seems extremely coincidental that the motherboard would randomly start acting up the night that i put a new video card and RAM into the computer.

My question is, is there any way the RAM is somehow causing this? or perhaps the video card even? neither are showing any signs of being defective, but i have no idea what to look for anymore. I'm about to just buy a new motherboard to see if that will help but i would hate to waste $100+ on a new motherboard only to find out my system is doing the same thing.


My computer specs are:

OS: windows 7 professional
Video card: EVGA gtx 560 ti superclocked 1GB
Processor: AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4Ghz
RAM: 8GB GSKILL ddr3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
PSU:*COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W ATX12V v2.3
*Motherboard: Asus m4a79xtd evo 

Any help would be greatly appreciated before i start throwing money in the wrong directions... thanks.

In another thread with a similar problem to mine someone suggested running HWinfo... so i did as well.


The first report is about 12 min of me just sitting at desktop or browsing the internet, and the second report is about 30 minutes of me playing LoL.


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## dai

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions - Windows 7 & Vista - Tech Support Forum


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

The computer does not BSOD. It is just a restart as if i accidentally pressed the restart button on the computer. No hangs, no freeze, no error message, no warning, just a quick reboot for no reason.


If it were a BSOD i would have been able to figure out the root of the problem by now.


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## greenbrucelee

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

post your 12v reading the 5v reading and the 3.3v reading from the bios aswell as the temps.

BTW just because you bought a psu thats 50w more than the one you had doesn't mean anything a good psu is about quality and coolermaster are not the best quality but they aren't the worst.

Are all the sticks of ram you have the same make and speed?


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

The voltage readings as well as temperatures for everything are in the zip file in my second post. They all appear to be normal as far as i can tell.

The computer ran fine on a cheaper PSU for a year and a half, and the computer i swapped the old PSU into hasn't had this problem, which makes me 99.9% certain it is not the power supply that is the issue.

All of the RAM i have attempted to use in the computer since this started have been the same brand and model, and set at the same speeds. The replacement for the 8g i RMA'd to newegg should be here tomorrow.


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## dai

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

post information in the thread not in zip format unless asked to do so


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## greenbrucelee

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

as above

some of us dont open files incase they are a security risk.


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

Ok, i figured thats what you would want because a person with the same problem was asked to do it that way.

When playing LoL for about 30 minutes this is the data it collected:

CPU temp: never went above 46*c
GPU temp: never went above 58*c


+5v reading is 5.053 v

+12v is about 12.484v

+3.3v is about 3.494v


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## greenbrucelee

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

download a program called OCCT and run the psu test for 1 hour. This will test the psu and create heat as intensive gaming would. If the test stops before one hour is up then you have a heat or psu issue.

The graphs at the end will show you what the problem is


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## Manatee9

OCCT will not run for more than 15 minutes without the computer restarting. Temperatures were all normal at the time.


I am not understanding how it is a PSU issue. This PSU ran perfectly fine for two weeks since i bought it and put it in another computer. It Didn't ever restart that computer even while playing the same games.

The PSU that i swapped out had been running perfectly fine in this computer for a year and a half before this started, and since i have swapped it into the other computer, it has not caused the problem in that computer, i have tested it in the games and everything.


If my computer has this problem regardless of which PSU is in it, and the other computer is fine with both of them, doesn't that mean it is not the PSU that is the problem?




For an update on the RAM situation: The 8g of ram arrived, so i swapped those in in place of the 8g i had, just to see if the restarting had something to do with the RAM. It still did it, which means it isn't the ram.

But here's the interesting thing. The computer will run fine with 8g of either set, but when i combine them it BSOD's on startup, usually with the "page fault in non-paged area".

GSKILL has mentioned in several places that the RAM is not PnP so i should adjust settings in BIOS, and i followed their instructions exactly, the computer still blue screens for no apparent reason with all 4 sticks in.



*This all makes me think that something is subtly wrong with my motherboard... *is this a correct assumption?


What's strange about that, however, is that i had all 4 RAM slots occupied before, and didnt have any BSOD.


So both of these problems started when i got a new video card, and new RAM, but the video card and RAM seem to be checking out as fine.

Ok now it has been running for 40 min, lets hope it makes it to an hour.

it ran the full hour this time.


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## greenbrucelee

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

you should never run a system with two different makes of ram

Some boards dont like having all four slots filled it is always wise if you want 8GB to run 2x4GB

Some motherboard will take certain speeds of ram but require you to manually set the speed in the BIOS

yes it does sound like a motherboard problem can you stop the auto restart on error in startup and recovery in windows please? when you get the bsod it will not restart, please take down what it says on the bsod and post it here.

This will require you to manually restart the pc by pressing the reset button after you have taken down the bsod info


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

I have the automatic restart disabled, and it is not a blue screen.

The computer simply restarts with ID 41 kernel-power as the only thing that shows up in the event viewer.

I dont have two different makes of RAM in the computer, it's all the same make and model by GSKILL.

I am going to call them tomorrow and see what they think about why the computer will not run with all 16GB in it and see what they say. (this is totally unrelated to the problem i have with the restart)


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## greenbrucelee

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

read this Description of Windows Kernel event ID 41 error in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first"


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

I have the memory issue solved now.

All 16GB running fine after i tweaked the BIOS according to some instructions i got from GSkill.

The main issue of the kernel-power restart could still exist, but i did not see it last night while i was playing some games (it has gone a day or so without happening in the past, so i'm not too sure it's resolved)

I changed the power cord i was using and plugged it into a different socket just because, why not? Maybe for some reason that worked, but i don't know for sure.

I'll be away from the computer for the next 3 days so i'll post an update when i get back


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## dai

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

we will wait and see how you get on


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## Manatee9

*Re: Computer restarts itself randomly (as if i pressed the restart button on the case*

Haven't had the restart as of today, so i can probably safely assume it's gone.

I guess switching the power cable, or the outlet is what fixed it, unless it had something to do with my RAM settings (this would usually produce a blue screen).

So I'd suggest to anyone who has this problem in the future, if swapping power supplies doesn't fix it, it may either be your cord or the outlet, for some reason.


Thanks for the advice and support. I appreciate it.

Can close the thread now, or whatever you guys do :smile:


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## dai

glad you have it sorted


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