PC randomly restarting when idle

Posted by Awac1991@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 32 comments

Hi everyone!

Thanks beforehand for helping me to solve this weird problem.

I built my current PC some months ago and the problem has been happening since day 1. Since it was never too much of a hassle, I didn't give it much importance. Lately, however, it's actually becoming quite annoying...

The screen freezes for a fraction of a second (you almost cannot see it), and then the whole PC restarts: back to the motherboard logo and windows startup. This is quite quick since my OS is installed in an M.2 SSD. The weird stuff is that it only happens when the PC is almost completely idle: I have Chrome open, some folders, or stuff like that, but I'm almost never at the computer when it happens (I kinda just see the monitor go black and restart it in the background). It never happens when I'm using the PC: recording (Cubase), gaming (even with the GPU on 100% full-on gaming), or watching a youtube video.

I think that this rules out any heating problems, and it is probably related o ULPS or some other low-power state? I remember changing some things in the BIOS back in the day with no success. The problem is ALMOST identical to a video Linus made a couple of months ago. I tried some solutions they proposed in there, but still no luck. It could be Hardware also... not sure at this point.

Please feel free to ask for any info, logs, or any data you might need to diagnose!

These are my specs:

CPU: Ryzen™ 5 3600X
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS
CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz CL16
Main drive (OS): WD Blue SN550 1 TB Gen3 nvme PCIe, M.2
Power Supply: Corsair RM750W
Other (maybe relevant?) plugged peripherals:
Corsair Harpoon Wireless mouse (2.4ghz USB Dongle)
Bluetooth USB Dongle
USB Audio interface (Focusrite 2i2 3rd gen)
Monitors (1x 1440p 140hz HDR LED, 1x 1080p 60hz LED)

Thanks a lot!

[-]

Lazy-Age-1280@reddit

Been having this(or similar) issue on my laptop, sometimes the whole thing just randomly crashes and restarts. I can't tell if it's something to do with the charger or if it's some windows issue. It only ever happens while the laptop is plugged in and not using much system resources (completely idle, or just browsing or typing), never happened yet while playing games or any heavy program is running. Does anyone know why?

cacman440@reddit

have you checked if hybrid sleep is enabled in your power settings? Your pc may also be set to hibernate after a certain amount of time.

McCool672@reddit

Dumbass

Worldly_Table_5092@reddit

Damn, I got the same issue. Only reboots when idle. Fine when doing stuff. Did anyone find a fix?

Here's the fix everyone. Reboot into bios. Search "C-states" and disable it. Save and leave.

diego_rgx@reddit

I have the same issue, I Disabled C-State and Power supply in "Typical current Idle" and still have the problem.

I have a USB Hub connected in my USB-C port, but now I disconnected it to try.

DeRpMuNsTa@reddit

Did you ever fix it? I as well disabled c states and changed typical current idle. And a couple other things and am still crashing and restarting

Nasser_Sessin@reddit

Worked. Thanks!

stelmariax@reddit

This worked for me, thank you!

blah2k03@reddit

This is happening to me too. Have you found a fix?

kaowu@reddit

Happened to me as well. Replaced psu, motherboard, bought an extension with a surge protector, upgraded from wins 10 to 11. None of that fix the issue. I'm doing the disable c state now. Will see if my pc will restart again tonight.

silajim@reddit

what psu did you buy?

Ry 5 5600. But I fixed the issue. Disabling C state did it. Lmao...

did the same a few hours ago I hope it stops

InfluxWaver@reddit

Disabling C-states didn't work for me unfortunately

Mine worked with no more restart. I feel like windows is the main issue here 😕

_Nanomachines-son_@reddit

Pretty much the same is happening to me did you ever fix this

MidranKidran@reddit

Started happening to me as well since a week or so, did you find a fix by any chance?

Nope

:/ might have to "upgrade" to windows 11 then as the end of 10 support is nigh, hopefully that fixes it...

Upgrading to Windows 11 didn't fix it for me unfortunately. The problem first occured after I activated secure boot.

For me the issue ended up being my GPU cable being loose. The clip that holds it tightly in the PSU wasn't clipping so I assume that overtime it became loose. Using a different cable fixed the issue.

AmericanRusty@reddit

Hey, did you ever fix this? This sounds super similar to an issue I'm having right now, but mine will restart sometimes when I'm watching YouTube or scrolling the web. Never when I'm gaming or when the CPU is at high usage. It happens really often though so it's pretty frustrating for me. If you go into Event Viewer (just search that in your Windows taskbar), what is the "Error" or "Critical" message that shows up at the time of the crash/restart? Mine says something about a fatal hardware error with a processor core, so I think this might be a CPU problem for me, but I really don't know ):

Assassin10700@reddit

Same problem now for me. Did you get any solutions ?

Replaced my CPU and it stopped crashing. Sorry that's probably not really the answer you're looking for lmao

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

Did you switch from AMD to Intel by chance? I swapped motherboards and upgraded my ryzen cpu to a newer model and still randomly have this problem. Almost seems like an AMD issue.

I went from 3700X to 5800X and it fixed it. I think the CPU was fried from overheating. I have a 7800x3D now, i've never owned intel

PainterOk7711@reddit

ohhhhhhhhh. u think my pc restarts cus the cpu is old and its gone thru a lotta heat? yk this might be my culprit. cus occasionally when i play a game my pc will restart BECAUSE my cpu overheats. but then other times it restarts when im not even using my pc

SubstanceTop730@reddit

I have an HP Victus 15 and it started having the same issue, randomly restarting when idle, I couldn’t figure out what the problem was, changed power settings many times but nothing seemed to work. Then I realised, I overclocked my GPU a while back and reverted back to factory settings, never had the same issue again! PS: Your welcome if this helps someone.

PlasticWarBeast@reddit

I have this exact same problem. It only happens when my system is left idle or almost idle state like I put something on download and leave the pc and later I come back and find it on the windows login screen. I checked the Event viewer and found this
Event 566 - Kernel-Power
The system session has transitioned from 0 to 1.

Reason SessionUnlock

BootId: 265

Well I am not sure how to fix this but I guess it's hardware issue at this point.

DrGameStation@reddit

I know this is years later but-- Yeah, I had THIS exact idle problem like you did. Seemed like after I updated my Nvidia drivers and it started doing this. I updated my BIOS after a diagnostic test. Hasn't restarted since! Just letting others know\~

Comfortable-Rope-478@reddit

Had the same Issue , fixed by lowering AMD SOC VOLTAGE was on 1.29 /1.30v.
Set to 1.25 now and lowered LLC ( Load line calibration ) from auto to Low