27 in Intel iMac Frequently Crashing.

[WrightBrain]

We have an 27in Intel iMac 2019, running Mac OS 12 (Monterey) that is frequently crashing. The fan ramps up, even when the room is cold, and then it just freezes. It happens a lot during Zoom calls. BUT it also happens while using InDesign or Parallels.

What is a good diagnostic program to use? Is TechTool Pro still good for this issue or is there something else I can use?

We've run Disk Utility, zapped the PRAM and we use CleanMyMac. It keeps happening.

 

[rpmurray]

Something that could maybe help you narrow things down would be EtreCheckPro.

You could have a runaway application so you may want to bring up the Activity Monitor app and keep an eye on the apps that are using the most CPU.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

We have an 27in Intel iMac 2019, running Mac OS 12 (Monterey) that is frequently crashing. The fan ramps up, even when the room is cold, and then it just freezes. It happens a lot during Zoom calls. BUT it also happens while using InDesign or Parallels.

What is a good diagnostic program to use? Is TechTool Pro still good for this issue or is there something else I can use?

We've run Disk Utility, zapped the PRAM and we use CleanMyMac. It keeps happening.

I would suggest at least 60minutes of stress testing the GPU using Unigine or CineBench.
Looks a lot like over-heated GPU to me.

 

[Fishrrman]

Question:
Have you added or changed the RAM from the factory configuration?

 

[ignatius345]

One of my go-to troubleshooting steps is to go into Users & Groups, create a new user account, reboot and log into just that account. Don't bother tying it to your Apple ID or anything, just set up a vanilla account and try to launch a few apps and do whatever you think might trigger that crash. If you can't get it to crash, possibly it's something related to your specific user account.

 

[rpmurray]

One of my go-to troubleshooting steps ...

Another tried and true is to boot into Safe Mode and see if it happens there.

 

[WrightBrain]

Question:
Have you added or changed the RAM from the factory configuration?

Yes we have 64 GB installed with one 16 GB module per slot.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Yes we have 64 GB installed with one 16 GB module per slot."

Then... take the 3rd-party RAM OUT, and re-install the factory RAM.
Run like that 2-3 days, to see if the crashes persist.
If they suddenly "disappear"... well... you know what that means...