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Is this a sign of HD (SDD) failure?

fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,564
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

For the past week my PC has been randomly shutting down (powering off not blue screen) sometimes in DS and sometimes not. It crashed twice when I copy and pasted a texture/shader in DS. If I wait 5 minutes and restart it will fail to load 3 times and then go to the Nvidia setup screen. Choosing to save Nvidia changes or not doesn't seem to make any difference but usually it will start up OK. I noticed when using Adobe AfterEffects the timeline gets unresponsive to commands, eg. won't go to zero frame when told to do so. Today at start-up it attempted to load and it shut down 3 times (as above) before eventually starting.

The PC is about 6 years old and the GPU (2080) and PSU are about 2 years old. I've cleaned and re-set my mem sticks and run the Windows memory test which came out fine. The rig has been solid as a rock up until now and I do give it a bashing with DS. Maybe a faulty PSU, maybe failing HD or CPU (a dead stick?), but I hope it's not the GPU as it's not that old and they're expensive to replace ATM. Any suggestions as to what the problem might be would be appreciated, before I put it in to the computer shop. As the problem has only been intermittent I've been I've been putting that off.

Comments

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255

    First thing I would do is go to the Windows search bar and type in "reliability" and click on "View Reliability History". It's a wonderful Windows 10 feature that gives you a daily summary of what happened on your computer hardware and software-wise in the last days and weeks.

    As to what it could be: it could be anything. IMO, the best way to troubleshoot something like this is 1. Check the facts, don't assume 2. Simplify and isolate; remove possible failure points and get the machine to a bare bones working state, then build it up and see what causes the problem. 

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    Two things come to mind to start with, 1) a virus infection 2) failing PSU (how big is it?)

  • Seven193Seven193 Posts: 1,078
    edited April 2021

    I wouldn't even begin to know what's wrong with your computer unless you share its full part list and specs.  Bad PSU, bad wires, overheated graphics card, who knows.

    Hard drives should be easiest to check.  Usually you can download a free diagnostic tool from your HDD manufacturer's website.

    Post edited by Seven193 on
  • fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,564

    Thanks everyone. I'm not too tech-savvy so I'm taking it in to have it checked by someone who knows what he's/she's doing. Thanks for your replies.

  • golem841golem841 Posts: 129

    I use CrystalDiskInfo since my last Hard drive failure : it gives a warning when it's time to replace a HDD

    My recent crashes were temperature dependent (my PC box is too small for a good cooling)

  • fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,564

    Well it turned out to be a failing CPU. The GPU (thank heavens), sys mem & PSU were OK. So I had to buy a new MB and I7. The new MB means going from DDR3 to DDR4 and buying 24 GB of it. The guy did say my 750W PSU was a low spec one so now I'm wondering if it has something to do with the CPU failure? Should I'll get him to replace that too with a better one?

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255

    Wow, not often you hear about a failed CPU. Though if the PC is 6 years old then yeah, it's getting to the point where failure rates start to climb. Just hope he wasn't trying to sell you a new machine laugh

    As far as replacing a 2 year old power supply...depends on what he meant by a "low spec" one. Heck, 750 watts is enough for the vast majority of users out there, especially if all you have is one RTX card. And power supplies tend to be the unknown "black box" that everyone points to as being suspect. But in fact if it's a decent, name brand ATX supply they are required to have a lot of internal protective functions that make sure they don't damage the other computer components (MB, CPU, etc.). 

    Now if by "low spec" he meant a junk, no name power supply that is dodging the ATX requirements, then yeah you could make a case for replacing it. But if it's like a Dell or other quality brand then it may be just a waste of money replacing it. 

  • fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,564

    I got the PC back and it's running fast, as would be expected with a re-formatted main drive. They threw in a new and better PSU for free as I'm a long-term customer.

    I'm in the process of installing my programs, and learning Gimp because I lost the CD for my old photo program. Gimp is unnecesserily complex for my needs. DS installed OK and my extrenal libraries work fine. I remembered this time to rename the USB drive letters back to what they were so DS looked in the right places for stuff. Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

     

     

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