I'm obviously a noob, but I'm not sure how a clean install is needed again when I did it not that long ago.  I've not updated any drivers since.
 
BTW, I've had no issues today.

RAVENEVGA
I'm obviously a noob, but I'm not sure how a clean install is needed again when I did it not that long ago.  I've not updated any drivers since.
 
BTW, I've had no issues today.

Hi Raven,
 
Not to answer for Bee really as I'm not sure on their theory, but for example: sometimes Windows updates can cause some weird driver stability issues. I've had Windows update install an old or bad intel graphics driver and had that cause some odd corruption before. I had to go find the correct intel driver for the integrated GPU (that's in the CPU) and run that fresh, then do a clean install of the Nvidia driver (making sure PX1/Afterburner/HWiNFO/any other monitoring software were closed) just to clean things up and get it all back to normal. It is usually good to keep your Windows up to date, but every once in a while updates cause more harm than good (which is why some people decide to just turn off Windows updates or intentionally run an old version they know was good and just risk any security issues or compatibility problems with new games, etc.). It is those times where you sometimes need to either wait for a new driver or update to fix an issue or you try to clean install things to see if that helps.
 
I would have no idea if that's what your issue is though. We can try to get a clue through the event viewer again, but you'd have to know when it froze so you can look at the Windows System logs during that time to see if it was, for example, the Nvidia driver that locked up at the time. If you freeze again, take a look in there to see if anything sticks out before the power-loss ("unexpected power failure" or whatever it calls it which is when you hold the power button to shut the system down because it's frozen). I remember last time we were looking for this code, you had all the WHEA errors and the beta BIOS had fixed that for you.
 
Also, I didn't see anybody answer your question about 9C code on the screen. I'm assuming you're talking about your monitor screen because you said right after the z690 splash screen. I've seen that too. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D are USB initialization, reset, detect, and enable and they're one of the last parts of the POST before it boots windows or goes into setup (which would be A9). Sometimes USB detect takes a second or two, which is why you actually see that code. I think the others go by pretty fast and we just only notice the ones that take longer. I regularly see codes 69, 55, and 75 on my POST readout during boot, but it isn't stuck on them, it just takes longer on those steps than some others. I think 55 pauses because there's no memory installed in 2 of the 4 slots for example. It generally just means something is wrong if it stops there and does not continue to post, or if it beeps (the angry beeps) while showing you a code. It sounds like you have an issue with the keyboard for example where sometimes it does the angry beeps at you unless you unplug the keyboard and plug it back in. I don't have a solution for you for that one, other than to try and put in a support ticket about it to see if they can help with any suggestions.
 
Going back to your freezing issue, if it isn't driver related, it may not be easy to track down. Without some sort of code or specific time it happens, those can be really tricky, even for experts so no need to beat yourself up. Can you tell us more about exactly what you were doing when it froze? Do you have any on screen monitors/OSD/overlays running while playing games? What I'm wondering is: if you're playing a game, is your CPU or GPU running really hot, is your GPU running at 5000FPS (or some crazy high number for some reason), or anything else that seems out of the ordinary when it happens? Do your fans ramp up when it freezes? Does the screen completely freeze or turn black or look fuzzy or anything? If playing a game, does the audio continue to sort of work normally? Those are the kind of clues you can look for.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary when it freezes.  It seems fine...then freezes.  Whatever sound is happening at the time "strobes" [for lack of a better word] on whatever was playing through the speakers.
 
One time I was just clicking in the internet.  Another time, I was in a Fortnite game.
 
If I continue to have issues, I may have to resort to the clean install.
 
And I'll consider what you said in PM as well.
 
Thank you!

RAVENEVGA
Nothing seems out of the ordinary when it freezes.  It seems fine...then freezes.  Whatever sound is happening at the time "strobes" [for lack of a better word] on whatever was playing through the speakers.
 
One time I was just clicking in the internet.  Another time, I was in a Fortnite game.
 
If I continue to have issues, I may have to resort to the clean install.
 
And I'll consider what you said in PM as well.
 
Thank you!

 
"[One time I was just clicking in the internet.  Another time, I was in a Fortnite game.]"
^^ sounds like a driver stability issues with ur Video Card's drivers. And if u don't attempt a clean driver install now, while u can, u might later on wish u had when u had the chance to.
 
NOW'S THE TIME! and not later... better done before things get worse... and not after they do.
 
GL
 
 
 
 

So,...I did the clean install, yesterday.  
 
A few moments ago, while in a game, my computer decided to randomly restart.  When it started, the NUM LOCK, once again, was no longer on.
 
Update.  It came back up.  I was getting back into posting here again, when it rebooted on it's own again.
 

RAVENEVGA
So,...I did the clean install, yesterday.  
 
A few moments ago, while in a game, my computer decided to randomly restart.  When it started, the NUM LOCK, once again, was no longer on.
 
Update.  It came back up.  I was getting back into posting here again, when it rebooted on it's own again.
 

k it's time to consider reinstalling the OS.
 
And i guess the question of why, should be answered.
 
i'd guess that the many times u pulled the power cord out when ur Desktop froze, may be one possible reason as to why u need to reinstall ur OS; but it's just one of them. Too many others to list. Just say congratz! u made it this far on ur 1st build without re-installing the OS. After all, u configured everything too. And that wasn't easy.
 
and maybe 1st, something called SFC (System File Checker) and CHKDSK (CheckDisk), should be mentioned. Feel free to try them.
 
And before a complete reinstall of the OS; maybe attempting a Repair of ur OS is also possible.
 
There's many things to consider -- but backing up stuff comes 1st.
 
So a backup scheme is wat u would need. u'd start by considering if u'd like to have something like all the contents of ur "My Documents Folder", things on ur Desktop, Internet Browser Settings and Bookmarks, etc. (But there's always things that u wish u had also backed up but u missed out on doing so.)
 
And a little more confidence-wise is... that ur PC was fine in Safe-Mode doing the clean vid driver installation? Meaning it never froze or randomly rebooted in safe-mode? if yes, then that's a good sign ur Hardware is AOK.
 
Bottem line:
After backing-up stuff, reinstall ur OS from scratch.
 
 
GL
 
 
 

Bee_Dee_3_Dee
 
i'd guess that the many times u pulled the power cord out when ur Desktop froze, may be one possible reason as to why u need to reinstall ur OS; but it's just one of them. Too many others to list. Just say congratz! u made it this far on ur 1st build without re-installing the OS. After all, u configured everything too. And that wasn't easy.
 

Raven...can you confirm if you were unplugging the power cord or the keyboard? Your first post makes me think it was the keyboard.
 

RAVENEVGA
So,...I did the clean install, yesterday.  
 
A few moments ago, while in a game, my computer decided to randomly restart.  When it started, the NUM LOCK, once again, was no longer on.
 
Update.  It came back up.  I was getting back into posting here again, when it rebooted on it's own again.

 
I think we need to understand more about this rebooting. So before it was freezing, but now the system just reboots? like it full shuts down and starts booting again all by itself? That sounds more like the power supply tripped. If Windows crashed and rebooted, there generally would have been a blue screen that popped up and gave some kind of error message, then rebooted.
 
I really want to know what your event viewer says because the information may be in there. If it's a Windows corruption, there should be an error message. If the power supply just tripped, it might have fully turned off the system and then let it boot back up again. Then everything would look normal until the power failure.
 
Between the freeze you experienced earlier and the sudden reboots, I think it is possible that you have a PSU that can't keep up with fluctuating power demands from the GPU. I'm not positive, and I'm not saying it is impossible that your operating system is corrupt, but I really don't think the evidence points in that direction from my perspective. Just out of curiosity, how do you have your GPU plugged in? Does it have 3 separate cables going back to the power supply? That can help a little bit with current sharing and prevent some of the voltage dip, compared to when you have two cables and one is a "daisy chained" cable with two 6+2-pin plugs going to the graphics card and a single 8-pin going to the power supply.

So, I got home from work, and came in here to reply.  Got a few lines down.....then the system froze.    I was about to push and hold the power button, then the system started to restart on its own [probably better than holding the power button, I suppose].  During the restart, Windows updated something, restarted again, and now here we are.  
 
Anyway, to answer a few questions, whenever anything stopped working, I definitely never pulled the power cord.  Just the keyboard chord from the USB slot, then back in.  
 
Not sure why the unexpected restarting.  And not sure if that has anything to do with the PSU.  
 
The GPU is using three separate power cables to the PSU. 
 
I really hope it doesn't have anything to do with needing the OS reinstalled.  I've downloaded quite a few things, including my DAW music software.  Ugh...this is a pain in the butt.

Have you looked at the event viewer messages? Do you ever get a blue screen with an error code when it reboots?

Do you have hwinfo set to open at startup? I was having random lockups then reboots with later bioses and having hwinfo open while another app (3dmark, cpuz) checks memory settings seems to have been the cause. Removing hwinfo from opening at startup has solved so many issues I've had with my z690 kp.