I bought a new computer a few months ago. I installed Ubuntu 18.04 and it's working fine except when I compile c++ code: it freezes hard as soon as there is a spike of high CPU usage (10+ cores).

The only working workaround is to compile with -j8. Going -j10 or above will make the system crash most of the time. -j16 crashes 100% of the time with big projects (and no ccache).

Details about my setup:

• Asus gaming computer: Asus Strix GT15 - Best Buy link. You've guessed it, I bought it for the GPU... otherwise I would have built it myself with good quality components (especially PSU and heatsink).


• MB: Asus strix B460-G Gaming


• CPU: Intel Core i7-10700KF


• GPU: Nvidia 2070 Super


• Power supply: Unknown OEM 500W 80 PLUS


• The crash occurs when the GPU is idle (desktop).


• I can't install a more recent Ubuntu versions due to the required work environment.

What I tried, but did not resolve the issue (it's a little less frequent, but still happenning):

Bios:

• I reduced the Turbo to the minimum (1s instead of 60s), the CPU heatsink seems very inefficient for this furnace CPU.


• Reduced the number of Amps AND maximum Wattage the CPU /Motherboard is allowed to use, in case the PSU is too weak.


• Increased the fan speed sooner, when the CPU temps hits 50C (temps are not much better, but now it's very loud when compiling)


• Replaced the OEM "thermal paste" with a high quality paste (reduced temps by 2-3C)

Crash notes:

• journalctl -b -1 doesn't have any trace about a crash, so I think it's a HW CPU crash...


• Ctrl-Alt-F* keys do not work


• Can't connect via ssh after the crash


• Audio crashes too when it happens


• I don't think the PSU is the problem because I can use stress -c 16 and ./gpu_burn 300 at the same time and the system doesn't crash. Stress only uses sqrt()...

Thanks in advance!

Update #1

Temps:

• without these Bios settings mods, they would easily go up to 90C after sustained 100% CPU usage. With these temps, I did not let it run long enough.


• after the modifications, temps rarely go above 80C.


• The freeze seems to be related to sudden spike in CPU usage, not by high CPU temps.


• room temp is 20-22C


• idle CPU temp is 27-28C

Current kernel:

uname -a

Linux rog 5.4.0-87-generic #98~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 22 10:45:04 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Update #2

After many months, this problem was still occuring, even with the software throttle at 40C (thermald). Using more than 8 threads would cause the problem. Eventually, I've updated to Ubuntu 20.04 (april 2022) and it solved it. The right solution was to update Ubuntu to 20.04 to get the complete CPU support. It solved another problem: suspend was not working with 18.04.