Dear ROG users,
I would like to ask for your advice regarding troubleshooting my PC built on a ROG Maximus VI Hero motherboard.
Issue description:
In the last 1 year, my PC started to shut down randomly and when it is turned off but power is on (the switch on the PSU is on), then it boots up randomly. Because of the random boot ups, I suspect that this might even be motherboard related.
The random shutdowns might happen for quite many reasons, so I've tried to narrow them down, by trying everything I could think of that may fix it with no luck so far.
Troublshooting done:
- Checking for an issue caused by malware: formatted the hard drive and the SSD (the operating system is installed on the SSD)
- Checking for BIOS settings gone wrong: reset the CMOS memory, then later also updated to the latest BIOS version
- Checking for issues with the memory: ran memtest86 memory test which did not complete successfully until I turned off the XMP overclocking profile offered by ROG, which increased the clock on my DDR3 rams and now I am using the default frequencies (1328 MHz instead of 2133 MHz). I also removed one of the memory sticks, then the other to check if any is faulty
- Checking for issues caused by the old CMOS battery: replaced the CMOS battery
- Checking if the PC is overheating - based on the temperatures shown in AI Suite, the CPU and motherboard were both running around 28-30 °C after replacing the thermal paste on the CPU (before that CPU was closer to 40 °C).
- Checking for power surges and insufficient power supply: I bought a brand new power supply
- Checking for drives causing power issues: disconnected the drives which are not required to run the OS, the DVD drive and the HDD, only left the SSD which was required for booting. Since the issue persisted, I reconnected these
- Checking if the power socket has some issue: tried connecting the PC to a different power socket in the room
- Checked the motherboard for signs of damage including swollen capacitors, corrosion, melted components - found nothing.
- Checked for unhealthy drives: ran hard disk diagnostics but found nothing
- Tried to run a Unigine Heaven benchmark test on my GPU which always made it freeze / reset , though I could run games and play/stream videos successfully
My confiugration is the following:
- Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K
- CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cooler
- GPU: Gigabyte GTX780 3GB DDR5 GV-N780GHZ-3GD
- Memory: Kingston 2x8GB DDR3 2400MHz KHX24C11T3K2/16X
- HDD: Seagate 1TB SATA3 32MB ST1000DM003
- SSD (OS drive): Samsung 860 EVO 1TB
- Power supply: CORSAIR RM750e
- DVD drive: LG GH24NS95RBBB
Most parts (except the new PSU and the SSD) are 11 years old, but I would still like to avoid buying a new PC if possible, since I don't use this rig for gaming anymore, and for everything else it would be perfectly functional.
I would appreciate any help or hint on what other diagnostics could be done to find the cause of the issue.
