PC freezes randomly while gaming (NO BSOD)

[Svend]

I've just build a new PC with the following specs:

Moba: MSI z270 gaming pro carbon
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700K
CPU fan: Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX Black DDR4 3000MHz 2x8GB
SSD 250GB SAmsung 860 Evo (+ another SSD and a HDD but they are not connected to isolate the problem)
GPU: MSI GeForce 1070 ti 8 gb
PSU: Seasoni Focus PLus 750 Gold
Case: Nzxt s340
Mouse: Logitech G420 Hyperion Fury
Keyboard: Logitech G510s
Headset: HyperX
OS: Windows 10 Home
The only 3rd party software (beside some temperature monitor software) is Chrome, Logitech Gaming Software and Steam.

The problem I have is that whenever I'm gaming on one monitor while watching e.g. Youtube on a second monitor the PC randomly freezes. I hear a small "Click" sound and then both monitors shows the last frame, both mouse and keybord become unresponsive and the small display on the keyboard (usually showing a clock) freezes. Even after leaving it in that state for around 15 min. nothing happens. The only way is to hold down the power button. After that, the PC starts up as normal. I get no BSOD, no event log (other than event 41 caused by the shotdown). The freeze seem to happen at random, sometimes after 1 hour of gaming and sometimes after 5+ hours of gaming. At the time of writing the PC have been running for about 20 hours without freezing but I have not been gaming either.

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. After the very first start up Windows Update "failed" to install a nVida driver correctly resulting in the nVida control panel being impossible to start and leaving me unable to install a new driver from nVida, giving me the error "This nVida graphics driver is not compatible with this version of Windows". Furthermore the failed install from WIndows Update resulted in the windows update database being corrupted. I, of course, expected this to be the root of the problem. I finally manage to fix this problem with a clean install of windows with no internet connection so windows update could not install the nVidia driver. I then installed the drivers from the MSI page and the nVidia driver from a USB, starting with the chipset driver. nVidia control panal was now accessible and windows update no longer gave the error concerning a corrupted database.
This however did not fix the problem.

2. I have run MEMTESTx86 for about 10 hours, 5 passes without any errors. However, when first setting up the PC I foolishly set the RAM to 3000 MHz in bois without checking whether or not the MOBA actually supported this type of RAM. I now know they do not. That resulted in windows starting up as normal, after a while freezing (I guess because of the RAM?) and after a power shut-off it went into a loop of starting for 1 second and the shutting off, then starting for 1 second and so on. The only way to stop this was turning the power off on the PSU and then disconnecting the RAM and then reconnecting the RAM. After this the PC started up as normal however it reset the RAM settings and it is now not possible to even set the RAM at a higher MHz because the pc does not "make it" to windows but give the RAM setting error and goes back to default settings. Can that be the root of the problem or should the fact that the RAM passes MEMTESTx86 rule them out?

3. I have run Prime95 for about 12 hours without any errors, where max temp on the CPU was 69 degrees celcius but for the most time around 55 degrees celcius.

4. I have run chkdsk to check the SSD and no errors were shown.

5. I am not able to recreate the problem so that it happens at a exact time - as stated it happens at random. I have however tried to put a high load on the GPU using 3Dmark firestrike continuously while monitoring the GPU temp and it does not exceed 70 degrees celcius.

I am really lost and frustrated and I would really appreciate any help you guys could provide.

I have attached a DxDiag file - some of it is in Danish but I hope you can still use it.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Really strange problem. Wondering if is a subtle mistiming issue. Just noticed a few ideas which you may want to investigate.

Your CPU is not on QVL: Intel Core i7 8700K (though 7700k is).

Also check QVL for your memory... https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-GAMING-PRO-CARBON#support-mem-4

Most recent BIOS might help, but I would check & resolve any QVL issues first.
Newest BIOS 7A63v19 Release Date 2018-07-16

Windows Error Report (at end of DxDiag.txt) had issue with Xcom2

 

[delrey]

Cycloid found one of the issues. Your 8700k should not be working on that MB. Unless you have a typo, that could be one (or the exact) of your problems.
Edit: Never mind, typo on the MB. DXdiag shows Z370.

The 'click' sound concerns me. Could be the power supply acting up. Do you hear a faint squeal/high pitch noise?

Do you have your integrated graphics disabled?

I assume your temperatures are ok?

 

[Svend]

Really strange problem. Wondering if is a subtle mistiming issue. Just noticed a few ideas which you may want to investigate.

Your CPU is not on QVL: Intel Core i7 8700K (though 7700k is).

Also check QVL for your memory... https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-GAMING-PRO-CARBON#support-mem-4

Most recent BIOS might help, but I would check & resolve any QVL issues first.
Newest BIOS 7A63v19 Release Date 2018-07-16

Windows Error Report (at end of DxDiag.txt) had issue with Xcom2

Thanks a lot for your reply - I really appriciate you taking the time to answer me!

I typed the wrong Moba! It is the Z370 not the Z270 - my bad!
The CPU should therefore be supported, but the RAM is not - as I wrote I f**ked up and did not check if the RAM was supported by the Moba, as shown here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370-GAMING-PRO-CARBON#support-mem-5

Do you think that the fact that the RAM is not supported can be the cause of the problem?

I forgot to mention in the original post that I have flashed the BIOS to the newest version and the problem still persist.

I guess the reason why XCOM 2 is listed is because the freeze happend in that game (however several different games have caused the freeze).

I don't know if this information matters but I have noticed that the BIOS screen shown when the PC boots up stays on the monitor for a some time, while a small black square shows a windows loading "circle" and after a second or two it shows the windows log in screen. I don't know if that matters but I find it odd.

Furthermore I have noticed a significant lag on the video running on the second monitor everytime a game is in a loading screen.

 

[Svend]

Cycloid found one of the issues. Your 8700k should not be working on that MB. Unless you have a typo, that could be one (or the exact) of your problems.
Edit: Never mind, typo on the MB. DXdiag shows Z370.

The 'click' sound concerns me. Could be the power supply acting up. Do you hear a faint squeal/high pitch noise?

Do you have your integrated graphics disabled?

I assume your temperatures are ok?

Thanks for your reply - it means alot to me, that you take the time to post

I mistyped as you noted - thanks for the heads up!

The PSU is the only "not" new thing, but is no more than 4-5 months old and on the previous build there was no problems. And no, I do not hear any faint squeal/high pitch noise. Just to make sure I was not misunderstood - the "click" sound came from the headset and not "IRL" - if that makes any sense.

Would you reccommend that I check if every cable is secured? I have not yet due to the fact that the freeze happens at random so I would not think it is caused by a lack of power - but I am no expert!

No the integrated graphics is not disabled due to the fact that in my search for problem solving I had to enable it to update the driver. However the freeze have happen both while the integrated graphics is enabled and disabled.

I have looked alot at the temperatures, and I have not seen anything out of the ordinary - max temp for GPU I have seen is around 70 degrees celcius.

I don't know if this information matters but I have noticed that the BIOS screen shown when the PC boots up stays on the monitor for a some time, while a small black square shows a windows loading "circle" and after a second or two it shows the windows log in screen. I don't know if that matters but I find it odd.

Furthermore I have noticed a significant lag on the video running on the second monitor everytime a game is in a loading screen.

 

[delrey]

This may seem odd, but try using your computer with the second monitor disconnected from the video card. Then use the computer normally for a few days and see what it does.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

"Do you think that the fact that the RAM is not supported can be the cause of the problem?" Sometimes, yes. Check specifications - clocks, frequency, voltage, etc - if your sticks match ALL DETAIL of a tested / OKed stick, it probably will work (>95%)

Integrated Graphics should usually be disabled when using a video card. Check assembly manual.

WER repport at end of DxDiag - 3 or 4 errors in Xcom2 - do search on that and include stop code in search.