Need help troubleshooting/ confirming my crashing pc

thegame983 · 23-01-2026 09:58PM #1

So this is a bit of a long story, but I'll keep it brief - AM5 platform, 7800x3d, 4070 ti super

Sound cutting out and frequent crashes. Upon inspection it was discovered that several of the pins on the motherboard were bent.

Bought a new motherboard, reinstalled windows with a clean install. All going well, but then I watched a youtube video…sound drops came back and then so did the crashing. No BSOD, just shut downs and pc freezes. The sound drop always seems to be phase 1 of the crash.

I have done the following:

tried a different psu - same
Tried both sticks of RAM separately - same
ran memtest86 - halfway through second pass - no issues as of yet
Removed GPU and used on board graphics/ sound via HDMI. Still sound errors except this time it drops and then comes back and crackles. Same with headphones. I assume this is the same sound issue, but just manifesting slightly differently way due to the output.

My assumption is that the cpu is damaged (but not visibly) from its time sitting on bent pins (for a few months). Unfortunately I don't know anyway to test for a damaged CPU

I didn't mind buying a new motherboard as the pins on the old were bent and it clearly needed replacing, but if I buy a new CPU and the same happens I might lose it. Albeit, I am having the exact same issues as I did on the old motherboard.

I've messed around with drivers etc enough that I don't think its software related.

Any thoughts would be appreciated or just some confirmation that I should replace my CPU

Thanks.

Spear · 23-01-2026 10:07PM

What pins were bent initially? Are there any obvious scorch marks or discolouration on the CPU pads?

What's the CPU being cooled with? Are temps okay?

And what PSUs were being used?

A poorly seated CPU could account for this. A poor PCIe bus connection out from it would explain the poor audio if the device is losing connection, as well as the random lockups.

thegame983 · 23-01-2026 10:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174497#Comment_124174497

There was a fair few bent pins. Like a few clusters. When I inspected the CPU there was a tiny faint discoloration to a tiny segment of it, but you can barely, if at all see it.

The PSUs are good, a Corsair RM850X and a NXMT from my last build. Both Gold standard.

You have given me an idea. I did buy one of those AMD 'contact frames' to flank the CPU and keep paste off the motherboard. I might remove it and replace it with the standard one and see if that makes a difference.

Spear · 23-01-2026 10:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174531#Comment_124174531

My suggestions from the CPU seating come from me doing the same mistake to myself. It's a Xeon in a socket 4677, with that ridiculous carrier frame, add heatsink, then attach to the board monstrosities. When I first installed it, it worked fine, except two of the m.2 slots didn't detect anything, and the sound chip would cut out randomly. After a lot of trial and error, I found the CPU/heatsink assembly wasn't down as tight as it could be, and while all cores would process fine, some of the PCIe bus connections were absent (the m.2 slots) or flaky (the sound chip) as it wasn't making any contact or just intermittent contact.

thegame983 · 23-01-2026 11:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174549#Comment_124174549

So I removed the contact frame and replaced it with the standard one that came with the motherboard and it seemed to fix the issue. No sound drops for around 30 mins (it was every minute before). Then the pc froze. I rebooted and the sound issues are back to regular and it has crashed again. Crashing involves either a black screen or a slow down followed by a freeze.

It's really annoying. Anytime I do something new, it seems to work for a while, but then the issues come back.

Spear · 23-01-2026 11:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174747#Comment_124174747

What's being used to cool the CPU? It worked fine when cold, and then once it was warmer, the issues returned. Are you monitoring the temps during the crashes?

thegame983 · 23-01-2026 11:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174762#Comment_124174762

AIO cooler. The temps are pretty low. It crashes on a whim, not because I'm particularly doing anything. Could be in a game, watching YouTube or just on my desktop.

Spear · 24-01-2026 12:14AM

If it stayed good for half an hour, then became unstable it still suggests something time based. My normal first though would be heat, but if that's not an issue, the next candidate would be something capacitance related, possible a build of charge stemming from contact with the case. Some kind of small discharges would give the very random behaviour you're seeing, though it's not a common scenario.

Can you try running it with the bare minimum outside the case and see if anything changes?

Otherwise after that you'd need to individually test each component by swapping them with another, and with no other CPU that's not too convenient.

thegame983 · 24-01-2026 11:48AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124174860#Comment_124174860

So, I don't want to jinx myself, but I've had no issues since I turned the PC on just over an hour ago.

I usually sit on a 'couch chair' with my keyboard/mouse in front of me, but after reading your comment I moved the couch to the side and I'm now sitting on a small wooden kitchen chair and this has led to no issues.

Could it actually have been that the thing I was sitting on was conducting some kind of charge that made its way from me - my mouse - to my PC? Because I've had no issue this morning. If so, thanks for the inspiration.

Spear · 24-01-2026 11:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124175354#Comment_124175354

Wood is non-conductive, but the fibres from the couch could have led to small static discharges. It'd be random enough and could explain all sorts of issues, including the shutdowns if the PSU thought there was a short.

But it seemed okay for a while before, so give it a good bit more time before drawing any conclusion.

Spear · 24-01-2026 07:26PM

It's been 8 hours, has it remained stable?

thegame983 · 24-01-2026 09:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124176491#Comment_124176491

Yep. Now there was one random crash, but that's it. And there hasn't been a single audio drop (and I was getting them every 30 seconds or so). I was so close to buying a new CPU or sending the PC off to a repair man (who wouldn't have found an issue anyway)

If you hadn't mentioned 'small discharges' I would never have even considered it. I mean who would think that it was the chair they were sitting on was causing their PC to crash?

Thanks for all your help.

Spear · 24-01-2026 09:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124177006#Comment_124177006

It's a very weird and rare scenario, and certainly wouldn't be my first instinct. It only occurred to me due the time lapse element that showed up in your testing.

I'd suggest a run of sfc on your Windows install in case any files were damaged in the various lockups/crashes.

thegame983 · 25-01-2026 12:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124177024#Comment_124177024

mmm. slowly, but surly the issues seem to be returning. I've had 2 crashes and a few audio drops in the last few hours.

After nothing bad happening for the whole day.

Spear · 25-01-2026 12:43AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124177617#Comment_124177617

There's still a time element to it then, and it would still be consistent with a discharge, even if the seat isn't the source. My initial suspicion for the source of that would be the case, so I guess it's back to trying it outside the case to rule that out.

thegame983 · 26-01-2026 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124177660#Comment_124177660

So after a weekend of thinking that I had solved the problem with various solutions providing 8 + hours of no issues, I'm now back to consistent audio drops. And I'm still siting on my wooden kitchen chair, so the static build-up may have been a red herring.

Regarding testing outside of the case, do I plug the GPU in? Or just use on board graphics? The GPU is quite large and I'd be worried about stressing the components if it is just sitting there.

When you say the case might be the issue. Is it the actual case? Or my installation?

I also have 2 m2 ssd in the PC. (one with windows, one for storage) Might it be worth my while to install windows on the other one and just put that in?

Thanks for your help.

Spear · 26-01-2026 12:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124181301#Comment_124181301

For testing outside, start out without the GPU, it can be added later as a test, it'll help rule out some possibilities.

In terms of a discharge or poor earthing, my earlier suspicion was the case, possibly due to standoffs out of place, or something trapped between them, or just a poor fit somewhere. A slow but tiny build up of charge over time before a small discharge would explain what you're seeing.

In terms of the m.2's, if one was failing it'd just be lockups when the OS loses connection to it. It wouldn't account for the shutdowns you've mentioned, unless something really weird is happening.

thegame983 · 26-01-2026 04:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124181324#Comment_124181324

Ok, so I have yet to test outside the case, however…

I removed the GPU and fully initialised the integrated graphics (drivers & in bios). Took a while to figure out that I needed to go down to 60hz to stop screen flicker & audio static, but I've been watching youtube (with no audio drops) and playing Stelaris on low settings (PC loved freezing when playing this before) and I've had no crashes.

Now this could be one of those solutions that seems like its working, but isn't. Won't know for a while yet.

So either the GPU is actual faulty, or it is drawing too much power from PSU? I've an Gold standard RM850x Corsair PSU which I would assume is enough for a 7800x3d & 4070ti Super. I guess I could try undervolting.

Spear · 26-01-2026 04:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182249#Comment_124182249

What power cable are you using between the GPU and PSU? I wonder if it could be either loose/incompletely plugged in (12VHPWR connectors being infamously bad), or even a broken cable inside. It might explain why moving it seemed to fix it briefly, and random movements/vibrations causing crashes.

thegame983 · 26-01-2026 05:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182255#Comment_124182255

So weirdly enough the 12v connector didn't seem to work when I first got the psu, so I used the gpu cable x 2 daisy chain thing. Out of curiosity I tried the 12v again today and it worked (I must have done something silly previously), but it didn't solve the issue.

I might have found another solution. Won't know until I test for a while. I think the backplate thing on the case (where the gpu is screwed into the case) was preventing the gpu from touching the motherboard correctly. I have slightly loosened it so that the GPU can get slightly closer to the motherboard. I'll see if this works.

thegame983 · 26-01-2026 05:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182255#Comment_124182255

20260126_162908.jpg

might have found the culprit. broken connector on GPU. At least I assume it shouldn't look like this.

Spear · 26-01-2026 07:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182411#Comment_124182411

That's normal and common, though it can vary a bit. Not all PCIe pin connections need to be the same length.

thegame983 · 29-01-2026 01:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182714#Comment_124182714

Yeah. i don't think the GPU is the issue anymore. I took it out and used the digital out & line out from the motherboard. still got audio issues.

eventually took the PC out of the case. Audio drop almost immediately. I've tested pretty much every eventuality at this stage.

Think I'll just have to bring it to a technician.

K.O.Kiki · 29-01-2026 04:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124182411#Comment_124182411

https://superuser.com/questions/1030382/broken-connectors-pins-on-graphics-card

Doesn't seem to be the issue.

Spear · 24-02-2026 09:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124189824#Comment_124189824

Did you get any where with this? I'm still very curious as to what cause was.

thegame983 · 24-02-2026 09:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124263013#Comment_124263013

Yeah, sorry I completely forgot.

It was the CPU. PC repair shop tested every component. He had to get a friend to bring a spare AM5 cpu into the shop and it worked perfectly. I grabbed a 9600x and have had no issues since.

Thanks for all your help before. All the mad stuff I was trying like sitting on a wooden stool to prevent static build up (which did work for 6 or so hours to be fair) is pretty funny to look back on in hindsight.

Spear · 24-02-2026 10:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124263048#Comment_124263048

I'm a little surprised it was the CPU. A failing CPU is genuinely rare compared to everything else, plus I'd expect it to be more dead completely rather than flaky. It's even weirder that it seemed to recover for long-ish periods like that.

Need help troubleshooting/ confirming my crashing pc

Comments