Question PC works for a while, then gets stuck in a reboot loop.

[Nikolaa12314]

So uh listen guys. I'll try to explain as best as I can. I'm not a native English speaker, so sorry in advance. A month and a half ago I was playing watch dogs 2, and everything went well. Was playing about an hour and a half, and then my PC shut down and started a reboot loop. I forced a shutdown completely via the button on the case, and it stopped. Since then up until now it ran for 5 minutes and then rebooted. However, today it ran for a full hour and rebooted once. When it rebooted, it works fine, but I still think it'll shut down once again. I've tried everything. Removing all parts until only the mandatory ones were there. I've kept it in mint condition. Cleaned it every month, replaced the thermal paste, all of that stuff. The PC has been in my possession for about 5 years now. It hasn't done anything like this. No, I don't have any replacements to replace the parts and see if the issue persists. I really would like to get you guys' opinions and tweaks before I take it to an expert. If there are any more questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

 

[Oussebon]

What is the full spec of the system?

 

[Nikolaa12314]

What is the full spec of the system?

300W PSU, CPU: Intel i3-4170 3.70 GHz, GPU: Zotac GTX 1050 2GB VRAM, RAM: 1 stick Haswell 8GB DDR3(I think it's DDR3), MOBO: ASUS H81M-R and HDD: should be a Toshiba 500GB, not sure.

 

[Brian Boru]

i3-4170

That could be your problem. Steam MINIMUM requirements for Watchdogs 2 say:
"Processor: Intel Core i5 2400s @ 2.5 GHz, AMD FX 6120 @ 3.5 GHz or better"

I'm not clear—does the problem exist for all uses of your PC now, or is it still only when trying to play Watchdogs?

Do you have a good bit of free space on your HDD, say 10gb or more?

 

[Oussebon]

You can play Watch Dogs 2 on a 2C / 4T i3 - the experience might be great performance wise but causing a shut down and a boot loop wouldn't be a result. Minimum requirements for games are often not a helpful source

 

[Nikolaa12314]

That could be your problem. Steam MINIMUM requirements for Watchdogs 2 say:
"Processor: Intel Core i5 2400s @ 2.5 GHz, AMD FX 6120 @ 3.5 GHz or better"

I'm not clear—does the problem exist for all uses of your PC now, or is it still only when trying to play Watchdogs?

Do you have a good bit of free space on your HDD, say 10gb or more?

The issue still persists even after reformatting my whole HDD. I did not pump up any of the settings, I left them on the lowest setting, and reduced the resolution from 1920x1080 to 1280x720 not to overstress my GPU and CPU. I do not know the issue at all. It might be a system issue, since that's the only thing left to try. I'll see to borrow a USB from someone and hopefully manage to make a boot USB without the PC shutting down. Could it be a MOBO problem? A short circuit perhaps?

You can play Watch Dogs 2 on a 2C / 4T i3 - the experience might be great performance wise but causing a shut down and a boot loop wouldn't be a result. Minimum requirements for games are often not a helpful source

 

[Nikolaa12314]

The issue still persists by doing anything. I've tried doing a factory reset through the control panel. I did not pump up any of the settings, I left them on the lowest setting, and reduced the resolution from 1920x1080 to 1280x720 not to overstress my GPU and CPU. I do not know the issue at all. It might be a system issue, since that's the only thing left to try. I'll see to borrow a USB from someone and hopefully manage to make a boot USB without the PC shutting down. Could it be a MOBO problem? A short circuit perhaps?

 

[Oussebon]

As was asked above, does it happen with anything other than Watch Dogs 2?

Are you saying it reboots every time you use it, and then after it has rebooted once it behaves?

Or are you saying it has only rebooted a couple of times like you mentioned in the first post?

When you say "issue still persists even after reformatting my whole HDD " what process did you use for formatting the HDD? Did you boot from a USB stick and delete all partitions during the Windows installation process? Or did you do some kind of "format" from within Windows?

Have you checked CPU and GPU temperatures under load, especially when the restarts happen?

 

[Nikolaa12314]

As was asked above, does it happen with anything other than Watch Dogs 2?

Are you saying it reboots every time you use it, and then after it has rebooted once it behaves?

Or are you saying it has only rebooted a couple of times like you mentioned in the first post?

When you say "issue still persists even after reformatting my whole HDD " what process did you use for formatting the HDD? Did you boot from a USB stick and delete all partitions during the Windows installation process? Or did you do some kind of "format" from within Windows?

Have you checked CPU and GPU temperatures under load, especially when the restarts happen?

I've clearly said what and how I did it. It persists by doing anything. I formatted it from within windows via control panel. It reboots every time I use it. GPU is at a constant 31°C and CPU stays 39°C to 45°C while browsing the internet. Yes I've applied the thermal paste the right way, I've set up the CPU fan the right way, and it still persists. Could it be a HDD problem? I've noticed that whenever I boot up my PC, the first minute or so the HDD usage is 100%. Then it settles down to 5%. Is that normal?

 

[Oussebon]

I've clearly said what and how I did it.

If it was clear to me I would not have spent my time asking I get you're frustrated but sometimes you have to help people to help you.

I formatted it from within windows via control panel.

This isn't actually formatting. I would try a clean install

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which does involve formatting.

I've noticed that whenever I boot up my PC, the first minute or so the HDD usage is 100%. Then it settles down to 5%. Is that normal?

Check task manager to see what processes are causing the disk usage,

It's quite likely normal, as programs or functions of Windows that run at the start of the OS can take a while to finish all their initial stuff. Especially if you are only using a mechanical HDD

 

[FreezerBurn]

Any chance it would be the power supply not having enough juice?

 

[Oussebon]

PSU should easily have enough juice for the system especially if it was working before - though that doesn't mean the PSU isn't faulty ofc

 

[Nikolaa12314]

Forgot to update the situation. A friend lended me a 500w PSU today. Same thing happens.

 

[Nikolaa12314]

The HDD usage is pumped up to the max at start up by a process that doesn't have an icon named "System". So I assume it's Windows itself booting up fully?

 

[Oussebon]

Well beyond my area of knowledge but it does sound like Windows doing Windows things. And it taking a while at startup would be par for the course with an HDD-based system. A clean install might affect that, and would be worth trying to rule out any potential software issues.

 

[Nikolaa12314]

Well could a software issue be the cause of this problem?

 

[Nikolaa12314]

I don't know what to do. If you guys don't have any suggestions, I'll close the thread and bring it to an expert.

 

[Oussebon]

I've made some suggestions above which you seem to be unwilling to engage with, so I've nothing to add right now.

It's generally more sensible to do one thing, rule out whether that has fixed the issue, then move onto another rather than go "Oh, well, this might work, but I don't want to do that, so I'll maybe do something else, if I feel like it, if I can be bothered, if there's an R in the month..."

 

[Isti]

The problem can be anything, but definitely HW issue. I had the same loop for 3 months, almost made my crazy. I changed the motherboard and the freeze is over. Also bought a power cord unit against overcurrent.