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Crashes and freezing, no BSOD, possible hardware issue?
Hello all. Found this site when trying to research my constant reboot issues for my W7 install. I will post some hardware and my software info and the situations regarding reboots and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. I am concerned I have a hardware issue.
Hardware:
Asus p5q3
Core 2 Quad 8200
Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3-1333 (QVL for this board); timings set manually
1x640 GB WD Caviar Black SATA (added with the rebuild)
1x250 GB Seagate SATA
2x250 GB WD SATA
1xeVGA 9800GT
PCP&C s61EPS 610W
Saitek Keyboard, Logitech Mouse
All added with a system rebuild:
1xSunbeam RHK-EX-BA Fan Controller
4x120mm Scythe fans
2x120mm DD fans for 2x120 Black Ice Rad
1xDD DDC-12V Pump
History:
I have been running this machine save for the 1x640 and water cooling since this time last year. I had frequent issues with the RAM and after discovering that the RAM I had purchased was removed from the QVL by Asus, I quickly found replacement RAM that I am still running. I had been running Windows XPx64 and XPx32 until the W7 Beta came out. From then on I ran the W7x64 Beta and later the W7x64 RC. I am still running the RC but have started having issues about 2 months ago. I would return home to find the computer had restarted at some point. I could not find if this was an update reboot or a fault reboot and this would not happen when I was using the machine. About 1 month ago I started getting random restarts, no BSOD when using the machine. It was infrequent.
I then started my planned rebuild, initially suspecting some issues with the OS. I incorporated the fan controller, water cooling, and the 6 fans. I replaced the 4 existing fans in the case and the 640 GB drive.
I initially tried installing RC off the DVD I had used previously, but it was scratched and wouldn't load all the way so I went back to XPx64. I got this installed and reburned the RC. I had a few crashes but as I had this problem when I initially built the system with XPx64 I wasn't concerned. I got the RC installed, had problems with the MBR and ended up wiping and reinstalling everything with only the 640 GB drive plugged in. I got everything installed and it seemed to be working well but then the computer started to randomly restart in W7x64 RC. It would reboot w/o warning, simply shutting off, restarting and then giving me the prompt to choose, safe mode, safe mode w/ networking and normal boot with the info that the computer did not shut down properly. Upon rebooting and inspecting the system logs I found only a Kernel-Power and another warning regarding the system shutting off improperly and rebooting after improperly shutting down due to a "power or hardware failure". I decided to test the memory using Memtest86+ and it ran through 2 full cycles w/o any errors.
I ran through the motions, disconnecting the non-essential hard drives and other hardware and still had the same issue. I then started getting system freezes where the USB mouse and keyboard would shut off and I would get some noise from the speakers. I suspected my front USB port might be an issue since the I couldn't get my USB key to work with it when I installed XPx64 and I disconnected that as well.
I continued to have some more freezes and random shut downs. With the continued failure of my USB keyboard and mouse I tried moving them to another pair of rear USB slots and all seemed well for about 2 days until last night I again started having random shutdowns and freezes with staticy/electrical sound from the speakers and no mouse/keyboard fucntionality. I eventually shut down the computer, turned off the PSU switch and let it sit for 30 minutes. I then turned everything back on, booted w/o the keyboard attached and had the same problems. An attempt to use W7's automatic repair feature turned up nothing as well. I finally rebooted and the system stayed running throughout the night and was still up and running when I left for work.
I will try to zip up the dump folder tonight when I get home for more info. Most reboots are happening when I am just browsing the web with firefox.
Does anyone have ideas? Anyone believe it may be hardware vs. software? I am venturing towards a motherboard issue at this point. Possibly PSU? Thoughts?
Thanks.
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