Total lockup/freezing issue on new build

[tomw92]

Hi all,

About two months ago I bought myself an upgrade for my battered old pc. All was working well until about 2 weeks ago when suddenly I started experiencing random freezing, I'm not just talking about no mouse, I mean, full on lockup, sound on loop and unable to turn num lock on and off, bad times. It can freeze anywhere from while windows is loading to when browsing Overclockers to playing a game. Its very perculiar.

I have tried all sorts, from re-seating the RAM and CPU to updating all drivers and am thinking about clean install of windows.

I have been reading somewhere that a shabby PSU could be the problem, I have been wondering about this as mine came 'free' with my case, so it can't be owt clever.

By the way I have enough cooling, side fan blowing onto CPU then a rear case fan sucking air out.

Also Event Thing in windows shows nothing expect for when I have done a hard reset.

Anyway I'm just after some ideas as to what it could be because its driving me mad!

My specs are below:

- AMD Phenom II x4 955
- Asus M4A785TD-V EVO Mobo
- 4GB Micron DDR3 RAM
- ATI Radeon 4670
- 1x LG DVD RW
- 1x 500GB Seagate Drive (SATA)
- 1x 250GB WD Drive (SATA)
- Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

The power supply is: EZCool 500W Socket 775 ATX500 JSP??

If you need any more info please ask, I'm totally stuck.



ALSO I can run XBMC for hours watching films but if I go to play a game it simply just freezes after a few minutes of gameplay.

 

[IggyAZ]

Hi all,

About two months ago I bought myself an upgrade for my battered old pc. All was working well until about 2 weeks ago when suddenly I started experiencing random freezing, I'm not just talking about no mouse, I mean, full on lockup, sound on loop and unable to turn num lock on and off, bad times. It can freeze anywhere from while windows is loading to when browsing Overclockers to playing a game. Its very perculiar.

I have tried all sorts, from re-seating the RAM and CPU to updating all drivers and am thinking about clean install of windows.

I have been reading somewhere that a shabby PSU could be the problem, I have been wondering about this as mine came 'free' with my case, so it can't be owt clever.

By the way I have enough cooling, side fan blowing onto CPU then a rear case fan sucking air out.

Also Event Thing in windows shows nothing expect for when I have done a hard reset.

Anyway I'm just after some ideas as to what it could be because its driving me mad!

My specs are below:

- AMD Phenom II x4 955
- Asus M4A785TD-V EVO Mobo
- 4GB Micron DDR3 RAM
- ATI Radeon 4670
- 1x LG DVD RW
- 1x 500GB Seagate Drive (SATA)
- 1x 250GB WD Drive (SATA)
- Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

The power supply is: EZCool 500W Socket 775 ATX500 JSP??

If you need any more info please ask, I'm totally stuck.



ALSO I can run XBMC for hours watching films but if I go to play a game it simply just freezes after a few minutes of gameplay.

This may not be a solution yet but some other things to check.
1. Do you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard?
2. I would look into the memory setting within the BIOS. To freeze up solid like that sometimes mean that the memory may not be clearing. You could try a RAM program just to see.

Hope this helps a little .
Til next time.

 

[tomw92]

Haha there is another problem! I updated the bios with ASUS EZFlash and all went well until it rebooted and the screen didn't come back on. I got it replaced last week under RMA and the problem still persists with the freezing.

Therefore I don't fancy doing that again!

I did a memtest for the RAM and it seems to be fine.

All settings for RAM are on auto in bios.

RAM not clearing? How would i solve that?


Thanks for your help

 

[TimStitt]

Hi tomw92,

Is there anything written in the windows event logs that may add more information?

You can quickly find these by typing eventvwr.msc into RUN and pressing enter.

 

[tomw92]

the only thing that I can find is from when I have to do a hard reset. Nothing else shows. I'm currently away for the weekend but home later so any suggestions I'll try when I get in


Thanks

 

[zigzag3143]

Haha there is another problem! I updated the bios with ASUS EZFlash and all went well until it rebooted and the screen didn't come back on. I got it replaced last week under RMA and the problem still persists with the freezing.

Therefore I don't fancy doing that again!

I did a memtest for the RAM and it seems to be fine.

All settings for RAM are on auto in bios.

RAM not clearing? How would i solve that?


Thanks for your help

What app did you use for the mem testing and how many passes did you run?

Ken

 

[tomw92]

I just used the built in windows one, ran it twice.


Thanks for the help

 

[tomw92]

Ok, I'm back home and have some info that you might be able to make something of.

I downloaded Prime95 x64 and ran it with default settings. It froze my pc after around 1minute of use.

I then went into the bios and increased the voltage of the ram to 1.135 or something, the first increment that the motherboard is set too and my system wouldn't boot, it would simply freeze on the loading screen for windows. Set it back to auto and it booted fine.

My bets are on the ram, could anyone confirm this?

 

[zigzag3143]

Ok, I'm back home and have some info that you might be able to make something of.

I downloaded Prime95 x64 and ran it with default settings. It froze my pc after around 1minute of use.

I then went into the bios and increased the voltage of the ram to 1.135 or something, the first increment that the motherboard is set too and my system wouldn't boot, it would simply freeze on the loading screen for windows. Set it back to auto and it booted fine.

My bets are on the ram, could anyone confirm this?

Ram or mobo slot. My bets ram.

 

[tomw92]

Shouldn't be the mobo slots, I got it RMA'd a fortnight ago and it was happening before then.

So you reckon I should send back the ram?

Just ran the windows memory tool again with no errors found.

 

[TimStitt]

Yeah my bet is Ram Mobo or CPU. .. but I lean towards Ram. Try with just one stick and see if you can isolate the issue.

 

[tomw92]

Okay, I have now RMA'd the RAM back to Dabs.com

I have asked for a refund.

Now I just need to buy some more to replace it.

My motherboard is a M4a785TD-EVO by Asus
My CPU is AMD Phenom II x4 955

Any recommendations as to suitable stuff?

I will be getting around £88 back from Dabs so something around that price mark for 4gb DDR3 would be good

I have looked at this:

F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C8 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit 1333Hz RAM Speed, CAS 8-8-8-24 Timings, 1.5 -1.65v VDIMM, Supports Intel i5 processors, Lifetime Warranty with G.Skill. : novatech.co.uk

 

[TimStitt]

I've personally been very happy with my Kingston Ram (also DDR3). It's the only brand I buy now.

 

[PavelChehoff]

hi mate. i got same motherboard and same problem. was reading posts here found whats wrong with, could something similar with your system. carefully check that model and speed of your ram is supported by motherboard. i got slightly different model and as a result freeze problem. ( i hope its only ram )

 

[zigzag3143]

Shouldn't be the mobo slots, I got it RMA'd a fortnight ago and it was happening before then.

So you reckon I should send back the ram?

Just ran the windows memory tool again with no errors found.

The windows memory tool really doenst stress the memory enough.

 

[tomw92]

well I just thought that i would post saying that the issue is now fixed. It turns out the RAM was dodgy, don't know how or why but I replaced it for some nice G.Skill and it works like a charm, blazing fast!

Thanks for all of your replies!