New
#1
Occasional BSODs and Lock-Ups on new computer build
Hello, I'm posting here as a last resort after being unable to get my new build to work cleanly. I first put together this computer 1-2 months ago and within a week started experiencing freezing issues, categorized into one of these 3:
1) rare BSODs
2) the most common, simple computer freezing (monitor frozen, can't use mouse or keyboard, audio buzzes or buzzes and turns off) forcing me to hard reboot after 15+ minutes
3) computer stuttering (similar to 2 except it recovers, lasting from a few seconds to a minute)
This would *usually* happen when I was either playing a game (Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive) or more commonly, watching any random youtube video or stream (like twitch.tv). Although to be honest if I'm using my computer then I'm usually doing one of those anyhow so... The episodes would vary in frequency from anywhere from 1-2 times a day to once a week. At first it seemed like a RAM issue and memtest86+ confirmed because although my memory had passed an initial scan; when I tested more intensively a bunch of errors cropped up and I RMA'd it. Two weeks later I received a brand new RAM kit which passed 12+ hours of memtest86+ perfectly.
Unfortunately, the freezing problems continued even with the new RAM installed (trying the sticks individually and together). Suspecting a gpu issue I tried disabling hardware acceleration from youtube videos yet I would experience freezes even without my video card being used. I also considered overheating issues but there is no dust and two working case fans alongside the existing cpu/gpu/psu fans and running CPUID HWMonitor gave perfectly standard temperature readings. I also ran prime95 for 10+ hours and ran several cpu+gpu intensive benchmark tests without crashing.
Some of the BSOD dump files and events from eventviewer (they don't appear during the non-BSOD freezes though) pointed to a driver issue so I attempted updating some drivers. A couple of my drivers were actually embarrassingly out of date (I swear I had downloaded the newest ones when I first built the computer...) so I updated them... only one seemed to have any effect. When I went to the website for the network card in my wireless adapter (Drivers for Atheros AR9285 and Windows 7) I saw a newer driver than the one on my manufacturer's website (Rosewill.com - Computer Case, Power Supply, Computer Accessories, Networking, Peripherals. Price, Quality, and Services.) although my specific adapter wasn't actually listed on the network card's website. Nonetheless I tried installing it anyhow and coincidentally or not my computer freezes disappeared. Up until I randomly BSOD'd again after a week without issues.
Frustrated, my friend suggested I reformat entirely, which I did reluctantly this past weekend. It hasn't fixed my problems and I've seen possibly even more freezes than the couple of weeks before I reformatted but after I received my new RAM and updated all my drivers (where I "only" bsod'd twice and didn't suffer any other freezes). I had 1 random freeze within half an hour after reformatting where all I was doing was configuring my firefox settings (I then went into safemode and uninstalled/reinstalled to my manufacturer's wireless driver), had 1 BSOD last night right after playing a CS:GO game (uninstalled/reinstalled back to the atheros wireless driver), and 1 freeze this afternoon watching a youtube video.
I tried using driver verifier testing all drivers a couple nights ago (using this guide Windows BSOD analysis - A thorough usage guide) and my computer started BSODing on boot. The BIOS would load but it wouldn't even let me get into safe mode. Thankfully I was able to use system restore and load an earlier restore point. I also tried using the utility WhoCrashed on the dump files which pointed to my wireless or usb drivers. After my crash today I loaded verifier using this guide Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Drivers and was able to reboot fine. I should be still running it; though my machine hasn't BSOD'd yet.
I plan on running SeaTools overnight (SeaTools | Seagate) to test my HDD because a friend noticed I had a couple events that showed HDD controller errors (something like that) after my hard reboots and am also considering lowering the voltage/speed on my RAM (I am currently running at default settings and NOT overclocking or undervolting or anything) because another friend told me that he stopped having crashes after lowering the voltage on his RAM. My last step would be to RMA my video card or god-help-me my mother board (I desperately don't want to do either).
I've attached my SF Diagnostic tool folder to this post. Thank you for your time.