Random freeze (occurs while browsing, gaming, and using Maya).

[HeavyC]

Hi,

I posted about this issue last night, but there seems to have been a problem with the forum and my thread got deleted some how. Britton30 was giving me a hand, but I thought I'd repost my issue.

My computer has been randomly freezing about every 2 or 3 days (no BSOD). When it freezes there is no activity on the HDD light, and everything just locks up. It has happened while browsing (both Firefox and Chrome), while gaming, and while working in Maya 2011. I recently wiped my hard drive (using Derik's Boot n' Nuke) and reloaded Windows. I ran into an issue validating it because I forgot I had changed my video card. I called Microsoft and they got it all figured out for me. I reloaded all everything onto my computer without any problems.

I thought the freeze might have been caused for some reason by Steam, so I reloaded that. When my computer continued to freeze I updated my GPU drivers (wiping the old ones with Driver Sweeper). My computer is set up to run a weekly sweep with AVG free and Malwarebytes, and I regularly scan with Spybot.

Britton30 had me check my HDD with the Western Digital Data Lifeguard program, and after a full scan everything checked out. Over night I ran a memory test with memtest86+ (8 full passes), and that returned no errors.

My system specs:
OS: Windows 7 Professional
CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1050
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-690FXA-UD5
GPU: HD 6050 (shaders are unlocked, but I did that way before reloading everything without any issues).
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB
RAM: Corsair Dominator 8GB

Previously my GPU was overclocked slightly with Sapphire Trixx. I was able to run with that before the wipe without any issues. I have since restored it back to the stock clock.

Thanks for all the help from you gurus in advance!

 

[HeavyC]

I thought I would go ahead and give an update on this issue. I just hit this same issue again while watching a flash video in Firefox. I'm still unsure of the cause.

 

[Epokhe]

Did all those freezes happen while using applications which uses GPU? Maya 2010, gaming, Chrome and Firefox. And you added that it freezed while watching a video. I don't like talking surely but it is obvious that it stems from your graphic card or driver if previous one didn't cause this problem. If they did not, when did the freezes begin? Just after installing Steam? To be completely sure, you can stop using the GPU, remove its driver or remove from the case in order to see if freezes stop or not. I can't give you the solution now, but with them you can at least be sure about what causes this problem.

And it seems that you haven't changed your system specs since you bought the new graphic card. It still reads "hd5770".

 

[HeavyC]

Thanks for the reply. The issue only started to occur after I wiped my HDD and reloaded Windows. I can't really remove the GPU and run my PC without it. The MoBo doesn't have an on board GPU.

 

[Epokhe]

If you uninstall driver of your ati graphic card, windows 7 will use its native drivers, if freezes stop we can understand that it stems from ati driver.

 

[HeavyC]

Would I be able to just revert back to an older set of drivers that I know are stable? I updated to the newest drivers when I wiped my hard drive. The older drivers had worked flawlessly.

 

[Epokhe]

Yes, if you uninstall the one you use now and download from amd's archives. To find old drivers, enter this site, AMD Graphics Drivers & Software , select your graphic card and operating system. On the right of the next page, you will see the "Previous Drivers and Software" link. Click it, you can download all old drivers from there.