Computer resets during the physics CPU test

[professorbell]

Trying to figure out what this tells me is wrong with the machine.

The machine gets though all benchmarks until the CPU physics one, and then promptly resets (no blue screen, it simply goes dark and quiet with a single mobo beep).

I was wondering what would be different about the physics benchmark compared with the other CPU benchmarks preceding it. Does this tell me the CPU is hosed? Mobo chipset?

Any information would be appreciated.

[professorbell]

My best guess at present is that the Physics test is using integrated graphics (as in Intel® HD Graphics 4600) and either the CPU graphics support broke or the Mobo chipset that handles this is hosed.

i7 4790k,
32gb 1866hz memory,
GA-Z97X-UD5H mobo,
Radeon HD 6950,
other system information available on request.

[professorbell]

Looking into the lithography for devils canyon processors, it looks like all of the graphics support is on the processor die itself. The remaining question is: is this a cooling problem or a direct failure.

I am currently leaning toward cooling problem, because that's cheaper to fix. However, it seems quite likely that it is a direct issue with the CPU.

[professorbell]

Talked to Intel support and they think it is likely a CPU problem, good since the CPU is under warranty. I think I'll pursue that next.

[David (PassMark)]

We aren't aware of any issue like this. It should be impossible for application level software to crash the hardware. And even when a software bug does bring down the machine, eg. from a device driver, you should get a BSOD. So likely it is a hardware fault of some sort. Might be CPU, but you can't totally rule out PSU, RAM & MB.

The physics test uses more RAM than the other tests. The current version doesn't use the GPU however (we are looking at that for a future release).