Random crashes
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PTLyon Jan 9, 2017
I've got my PC back from the tech! yay!

A brand new PSU, a brand new water cooling to keep temperatures low, and a brand new case (for the watercooling and gpu - the other one was a bit too small). I've spent quite some money on this, just to...

HAVE A F*CKING CRASH AGAIN!

OMG HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!!!

Twice already in 1 hour. Only thing I did was browsing the web.

I have no words to describe how I feel right now...
Xpander Jan 10, 2017
did you ever manage to test your ram? or swap it out with a different ram to see if the issues remain
PTLyon Jan 10, 2017
Yes, I tested the RAM (2x 4GB) using only 1 of them at the time and got freezes with each one, and they also past that memory test available on grub.

The tech guy told me to change the PSU, because that was what was causing the problems. He also said that the temperatures were a bit high, but that was not what was causing the problem (it was still an "okaish" temperature level). But I've had my share of temperature related problems on previous PCs, some years ago, so I asked him about watercooling.
Those new All-in-one watercooling systems are not expensive and have good reviews
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cooler-master-seidon-120v-version-20-water-cooling-kit-quiet-with-compact-120mm-pwm-radiator-for-int
(mine is V.3 of this one)
The case was because it was difficult already to have the GTX 960 in there, and now the watercooling also needed more space.
I know that in the previous post I was "mourning" the money I spent not having solved the problem, but in truth the new case and watercooling were my decisions. The PSU was his diagnostic. I'll use the old case and the old PSU for a work PC (office), anyway, so I am not THAT piss*ed off about having change them. I'm just angry for still not knowing what the problem is.

I'm questioning again if it is hardware or software. He told me he only had one crash, on Linux, where he spent less time. On Windows, he made all the tests, 100% tests on RAM and CPU, and tested the computer for many hours. I believe him, I also had done a GPU benchmark test and a CPU test with success and played some games to the point where I thought the problem was solved. And then, crashes were back.
I'll spend more time on Windows (gosh, I hate Windows!) just to see if I'm still getting crashes in there. On Linux I got 3 or 4 in the first day with the computer.

Tomorrow I'll also take the computer to my work, and use it there. Just to rule out the possibility of having some electrical problem on my room electricity outlets. That's how mental I'm getting.
PTLyon Jan 10, 2017
The main suspect atm is my room's electrical outlet(s).

The computer has been working fine all day, at the office. But who really knows? It has worked fine at home before, for 1 or 2 days, and then it got back to the freezes...

But maybe it's just me with some kind of wishful thinking, like it happened before with the sound system (which had nothing to do with the freezes, after all).
riusma Jan 10, 2017
Quoting: PTLyonThe main suspect atm is my room's electrical outlet(s).

Perhaps try different outlets, maybe you have just one that is on fault...

I know that it's another investment, but perhaps you could buy a cheap power inverter (APC Back-UPS 500 CI costs about 70 €, and there is a daemon available for Linux for shutting down PC). Note that my electrical installation at home is very old but I never experienced such frequent PC crash on it (I've a APC Back-UPS BX 1400VA, but I don't use it at the moment)... I mean, a good PSU should handle properly small electrical instability, and your PC would probably not be the only one electrical gear that is encountering problems if you have such a bad electrical installation. :S:
PTLyon Jan 11, 2017
Yeah, there was another electric device that got some problems, so that's why I had the outlets in mind.

But it just had 3 crashes in the last 10 minutes.
All of them with a brand new energy cable.
One of them on a different outlet on the same room.
Another one on a outlet of a different room.
Unless all home outlets are broken, I think it's safe it's safe to scratch the electrical outlet theory. Maybe the fact that it didn't crash all day when I took it to work was just... random.

Back to zero :(
Humm, maybe a new pattern that I noticed: When it happens, it happens again 1 or 2 times. Is this lead helpful at all?
Btw, I checked the temperature before the second crash and it was 36ºC. I was using the computer just browse the web the whole time.

My next idea is go back to Windows for some days and see how it behaves.
riusma Jan 13, 2017
Quoting: PTLyonYeah, there was another electric device that got some problems, so that's why I had the outlets in mind.

Maybe try to borrow for a week a power inverter if you know someone who may lend you one... as you will be able to discard definitively your electrical installation as the source of the crashes. :S:
PTLyon Jan 19, 2017
Hi again, guys.

Welcome back to the longest tech-help thread on this forum's history :D

So, I've been with no crashes for 5 days or so. Maybe it's too soon to celebrate, but it's indeed the record for the last months, by far.

A friend of mine went deep in the AMDs forums, searching for references to this problem. I don't think he found examples or references to the same exact problem, but he read someone suggesting to turn off the AMD application power management, on the BIOS. We did that and, so far, the crashes/freezes have stopped.

Is too to bad to have it disabled?
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