I built a system to use as an HTPC the end of last year (not my first) using new parts. Installed Windows and used it for a few months. Sometimes when it would start up (either from cold or a restart) it would power down and hang. The keyboard (connected via USB) lights would glow, but not come on strong like usual and the Num Lock light wouldn't be bright like usual. It was like the keyboard was getting power, but not actually communicating with the computer. Additionally, the TV connected via HDMI wouldn't detect a signal and the hard drive light would never blink. It wouldn't even post.
If I turned it off and on a few times it would work great, sometimes for a few weeks of restarts/shut-downs, without any problems. Then it would do it again. Once the system was up, it was stable.
Then one day I came home and the SSD wouldn't even show up in BIOS. I sent it in for RMA. In the interim I plugged in a regular (platter) HDD and loaded Windows. I don't remember if it happened right away, but soon after it would boot up and within 5-15 minutes it would restart without any warning. I would be in the middle of using it, the screen would go black (no BSOD or anything) and it would go right into POST.
I assumed that the problem was related to the HDD, so I tried to tolerate it, but soon just stopped using the system.
The replacement SSD came earlier this week. Installed Windows and got the same issue with the restarting and about half the time not even going into POST (as experienced previously). I loaded MemTest86 on a flash drive and tried to see if there was a problem with the RAM. Most of the time it gets through 20% of the first pass before freezing. I've tried switching between both of the RAM sticks individually and in both slots as well as utilizing just 1 core and all cores using MemTest86's configuration. I got it to do a number of passes at one point, but without changing anything I've had the same configuration also freeze after 4 minutes. What's different is that in Windows the system restarts while in MemTest86 it freezes. Sometimes the screen gets a little distorted but usually it's clear. What's odd is that the little red thing next to the MemTest title in the upper left still flashes (I can't quite make out what it is as the edges of the screen aren't visible in MemTest on the TV. The keyboard is non-responsive and everything else is frozen, but the red icon is still flashing.
Anyways, I don't know how I can determine if the problem is the RAM, processor or motherboard. Anywhere I should start? I don't believe that it's a driver issue as I've installed Windows 4 different times...not to mention the there's a similar issue using MemTest86 which is a bootable program.
The System:
Antec ISK 300-150 w/150w power supply
AMD A10-5700 65W APU
ASROCK FM2A85X-ITX
Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600 DDR3 16GB Kit (2x8GB)
Corsair Force GS 128GB SSD
If I turned it off and on a few times it would work great, sometimes for a few weeks of restarts/shut-downs, without any problems. Then it would do it again. Once the system was up, it was stable.
Then one day I came home and the SSD wouldn't even show up in BIOS. I sent it in for RMA. In the interim I plugged in a regular (platter) HDD and loaded Windows. I don't remember if it happened right away, but soon after it would boot up and within 5-15 minutes it would restart without any warning. I would be in the middle of using it, the screen would go black (no BSOD or anything) and it would go right into POST.
I assumed that the problem was related to the HDD, so I tried to tolerate it, but soon just stopped using the system.
The replacement SSD came earlier this week. Installed Windows and got the same issue with the restarting and about half the time not even going into POST (as experienced previously). I loaded MemTest86 on a flash drive and tried to see if there was a problem with the RAM. Most of the time it gets through 20% of the first pass before freezing. I've tried switching between both of the RAM sticks individually and in both slots as well as utilizing just 1 core and all cores using MemTest86's configuration. I got it to do a number of passes at one point, but without changing anything I've had the same configuration also freeze after 4 minutes. What's different is that in Windows the system restarts while in MemTest86 it freezes. Sometimes the screen gets a little distorted but usually it's clear. What's odd is that the little red thing next to the MemTest title in the upper left still flashes (I can't quite make out what it is as the edges of the screen aren't visible in MemTest on the TV. The keyboard is non-responsive and everything else is frozen, but the red icon is still flashing.
Anyways, I don't know how I can determine if the problem is the RAM, processor or motherboard. Anywhere I should start? I don't believe that it's a driver issue as I've installed Windows 4 different times...not to mention the there's a similar issue using MemTest86 which is a bootable program.
The System:
Antec ISK 300-150 w/150w power supply
AMD A10-5700 65W APU
ASROCK FM2A85X-ITX
Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600 DDR3 16GB Kit (2x8GB)
Corsair Force GS 128GB SSD