Clock stops, PC freezes entirely

[cwilliamsws6]

HP Prebuilt gaming PC. Clock stops, PC freezes entirely, including losing power to USB ports for some reason. Only way to get running again is holding down the power button and doing a hard restart. Which after that it's usually fine again for a few days.

Hard drive was failing back in January so local computer shop replaced it with an SSD and a new install of Windows. This issue began about 3 months ago so doubt it's related.

Initially thought it was a video card issue because this happened:

...but after replacing the video card (upgraded from an RX550 to an RX6400 also) it is still happening (although...not nearly as often. But it still happens.)

Probably going to buy a new RAM kit and throw that at it since so far I've changed every part on this computer except that and the entire motherboard. Despite the original RAM passing memtest86...

Would anybody have any idea what is going on? At my wits end.

 

[PimTac]

Would this computer have an internal battery for the clock and other functions while off? I had a similar problem but it has been many years now. It was a battery and easily replaced.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Would this computer have an internal battery for the clock and other functions while off? I had a similar problem but it has been many years now. It was a battery and easily replaced.

Well crap... I completely forgot cmos batteries were a thing. I'll have to check it...thanks

 

[vavavroom]

Yup, sounds like the PRAM/CMOS battery is toast. Usually, it's a CR 2032.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Yup, sounds like the PRAM/CMOS battery is toast. Usually, it's a CR 2032.

I knew dying cmos batteries caused clock issues back in the windows 95 era I didn't think it would cause any issues in a newer computer, like I said I totally forgot they existed

Definitely going to check it when I get off work

 

[vavavroom]

I recently replaced the CMOS battery on my Dell desktop. Laptops may not have PRAM/CMOS batteries.

 

[PimTac]

Well crap... I completely forgot cmos batteries were a thing. I'll have to check it...thanks

I wasn’t sure either. I switched from desktop to laptop around 2004-2005 and never dealt with it since. I thought they may have come up with a better idea.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Hopefully it's the cmos battery but if it isn't, luckily I can build a new PC for cheap because i still have old cases and power supplies kicking around and I can reuse all the months-old replacement parts I've thrown at my current PC.

Really all Id need to buy is a new motherboard, processor and cooler lol

 

[Escape08]

Do not buy RAM, if you have 2 or more sticks, install one at a time. Power up if nothing happens, power down & install the next stick, powerup and so on, until you found the stick that is fried.

I think 4 things might the be cause.
1) RAM
2) Power Supply
3) Motherboard. (Look for a bulge or more on the capacitors)
4) CPU fan not spining normal which makes CPU overheat

 

[irad]

I think it is a heat problem. Vacuum the vents. If that doesn't help you might want to repaste the cpu heatsink.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

I think it is a heat problem. Vacuum the vents. If that doesn't help you might want to repaste the cpu heatsink.

Not heat. I have never seen this PC go over 35C even under loads. No dust it gets blown out regularly. It tends to do this freezing up thing overnight because I'll wake up in the morning and go to check my work email and the clock will be frozen at like 11PM the day before or 4AM or something.

 

[Lubener]

Well crap... I completely forgot cmos batteries were a thing. I'll have to check it...thanks

Did your bios lose its settings? I have had those batteries go bad before and never had the symptoms you are experiencing. My PC just would not boot because the settings went to default and it didn't know what drive to boot from. I think you have bigger issues than the c-mos battery.

 

[Pew]

If it is indeed the cmos battery wouldnt a dead battery warning come up during the POST before boot? My old desktop did that.

Usually yes but I've had a few user PCs that have failed cmos batteries without the boot startup warning. You can usually find out about this if Windows Time is setup to get the time from the cmos instead of "automatically" from time.windows.com and your time is off (probably from some weird date from 1966 or something else decades ago.)

However, I've never seen or heard of a failed cmos battery causing that, could be a first for me though. That screen screams driver issue for me if the issue persists after the battery replacement. You can try a reimage afterwards if you're comfortable doing it yourself.

 

[jhMalibu]

Since you mentioned USB ports losing power, my vote is the Power Supply. You said it was a prebuilt, and the RX550 was probably powered by PCIE slot alone. With the upgrade to the 6400, even though PCIE powered as well, there may be something funny going on with requested power through the slot.

I am a big fan of used HP on the business side (Elitedesks) as the older gens were built like tanks. HP on the consumer side has been a race to the bottom in terms of value engineering. So I wouldn't put it past them that something is flaky with regard to the power distribution/capabilites on the motherboard and power supply.

Just a theory.

 

[JustinH]

I would run it with one stick of memory and keep troubleshooting that way. May be a bad stick. You will want to troubleshoot with known good memory and troubleshoot each slot as well. Reseat everything.

 

[tmorris1]

Pretty sure the bad battery would only make the PC lose its clock setting when powered up. I'm not sure it does anything once the PC is up and running.

I would be checking the power supply from what you are saying.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Since you mentioned USB ports losing power, my vote is the Power Supply. You said it was a prebuilt, and the RX550 was probably powered by PCIE slot alone. With the upgrade to the 6400, even though PCIE powered as well, there may be something funny going on with requested power through the slot.

I am a big fan of used HP on the business side (Elitedesks) as the older gens were built like tanks. HP on the consumer side has been a race to the bottom in terms of value engineering. So I wouldn't put it past them that something is flaky with regard to the power distribution/capabilites on the motherboard and power supply.

Just a theory.

The RX550 was powered by the slot alone as is the RX6400. Pretty sure both have similar power demands as well.

Also I too am a big fan of HP business stuff, I have an Elitedesk I thrifted and use as a plex server and an Elitebook laptop that I bought refurbished and actually use as a gaming laptop because it has pretty decent specs for a laptop. Quad core, 16gb ram, even has an optical drive.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Replacing the CMOS battery can't hurt but it won't fix your problem. It's power related for sure. Either the PSU is putting out wonky voltage and/or the motherboard has power issues. As mentioned earlier, look for bulging or leaking capacitors.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Replacing the CMOS battery can't hurt but it won't fix your problem. It's power related for sure. Either the PSU is putting out wonky voltage and/or the motherboard has power issues. As mentioned earlier, look for bulging or leaking capacitors.

Ill check it over for sure in a little bit.

What baffles me, is despite losing power to all USB ports, there's still video output to both monitors, although the entire screen is frozen including the clock being stopped at whatever time it froze up.

 

[Marcozi]

You can use HWInfo64 to record the voltages. That should tell you if the ps is going wonky.