Windows 10: Getting frequent hardware crashes

when playing certain games. They aren't always intensive ones, and it creates some kind of dump file but i have no idea how to read them. The screen goes black usually with some of the UI still visible but colouring is off.

:)

 

Repeated Crash-rebooting on Windows 10 - what hardware is at fault?

Brief overview
About a couple weeks ago, my custom-desktop (built 2015) started hard crashing and auto-rebooting. The computer has crashed so many times at this point that I can barely keep track (like 50 times in 2 weeks). When I start it up in the morning, it works fine for a few hours, then it will suddenly crash, reboot, and then wait 5-10 min before crashing again and starts to enter the death-spiral of repeated crashes that become increasingly more frequent. Last time this happened (yesterday), it couldn't even get past the BIOS splash screen before another crash. Seems like a short circuit? I have tried a lot of troubleshooting steps so-far, and will list that out in detail below - but for those TL;DR, I am 98% sure it is hardware related, the question is, how to isolate what piece of hardware is at fault? How to test? motherboard or power supply or something else?

Computer Specs:

PS: EVGA 750W GOLD Power Supply

MB: Asus Z170-A, running American Megatrends BIOS 3802 3/5/2018 (UEFI)

CPU: Intel i5-6600K Skylake CPU @ 3.50GHz, 3504 Mhz

GPU: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti

Troubleshooting steps taken thus far:

1. I dis-enabled auto-reboot (per suggestions online), and then when machine crashed again, it automatically rebooted, which clearly seems to indicate that the problem is not triggered by Windows.
   
2. I checked the Windows Event Viewer, and here is what it looked like:
   Kernel-Power Event log
   There is no detail available beyond this event ID, because the machine apparently doesn't have a chance to write a dump file prior to crashing, which strongly suggests that it is a hardware problem. The crashes happened several times with no software running, so that confirms that hardware is likely suspect
   
3. I opened up machine and thoroughly cleaned it and checked pin connections between power supply and the motherboard. I re-seated these connections, and it seemed to stop the crashes for 5-6 days, but then it started happening again.
   
4. I updated BIOS to most current build available
   
5. I installed a CPU temperature reading program to see if the i5-6600K is overheating. Here is a normal read-out (cold start)
   CPU Temp cold start
   followed by a read-out I was able to capture shortly after a crash. I don't know about you, but 57°C seems awfully hot for a processor. Makes me start to think that the processor is overheating? Which gets to the next thing
   CPU Temp after crash
   
6. I have tried tweaking the BIOS to disenable overclocking but I am thus far unsuccessful - I don't know why the ASUS Z170-A motherboard is so hard to throttle down, the 'EZ menu' doesn't provide an easy option to just shut it off, and in Advanced mode, even with most settings in the 'AI Tweaker' panel disenabled, it still overclocks. Still looking for a good guide out there that can show me how to do this.
   

Can you provide any insight? I am at my wits end

 

Frequent Crashes With windows 10

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your efforts in resolving this issue. We will assist you further.

Before we proceed, we require more information to assist you better.

• Are you getting any error message?
• Did you make changes to the computer?
• What are all the method you tried in resolving this issue?

I suggest you to follow the methods provided below and check if it helps.

Method 1: Hardware and Device troubleshooter.

• Press Windows Key + X key, Click on Control Panel.
• Type troubleshooting in the search bar, click on troubleshooting.
• Click on Hardware and Sound, click on Hardware and Devices.
• Follow the steps from the wizard to run the troubleshooter.

As you are getting Gray screen, this could be due to corrupt graphic drivers. I suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the display drivers and check.



Method 2: uninstall and reinstall the drivers.

Follow the steps provided, to uninstall and reinstall the display driver.

• Press Windows logo + X key.
• Click on device manager.
• Select the display adaptor.
• Right click on it and click on Uninstall.
• After the uninstalling the drivers restart the computer. This should automatically install proper drivers for it.

You may also download and install the latest graphic
drivers from the manufacturer’s website.



Hope it helps. Do let us know if the issue is resolved. For any further information, feel free to contact us.

Thank you.

 

Cheap Photo box that will get the job done

WEll i took on this project for PP hes a hardware reviewer and wants to get the professional looking pics for the Pc parts

Materials:

• Big cardboard box

• a razor

• white material 3 yards

• cone lights

• stapler

• medical tape

• pvc pipe about 6 inches longer than your box

• white paint any cheap finger paint would work

the project I'm guessing will cost me $30 if it works out properly
I will post pictures and step by step as i do it