First New PC Build, System Keeps Freezing

TheSeventhChaos · Apr 20, 2013

I built my very first computer about 3 days ago, and the past day and a half it's been freezing constantly (about every 10-20 mins). Sometimes, I can still move my mouse, sometimes my music continues to play, and sometimes the entire thing locks up. I can't Ctrl+Alt+Del, I can't wait it out, it simply locks up every time. I'd like to mention that this usually only happens when I'm either downloading something, or browsing the internet (I had to switch to my laptop just to post this). I can play games on Steam with no issue of it freezing for over an hour at times, as long as I'm not downloading or browsing on Chrome/Firefox. I'll post my system specs first, and then I'll list some things I've already tried to fix this.

Specs:

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Motherboard: Asus F2A85-M

APU: AMD A10 5800k Trinity Quad Core 3.8GHz

RAM: G. SKILL Ripjaws X Series 2x4GB 1600 DDR3

HDD: WDC WD5000AAKx-00ERMA0 ATA Device (500GB)

Wireless Card: StarTech.com PEX300WN2X2 802.11n

Optical Drive: LITE-ON COMBO SHC-48S7K

Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion Series DR500-2DB 500W ATX12V

Please let me know if you need any additional specs to help me out.

What I've tried:

- Restarting (duh)
- Updating BIOS
- Defragmenting HDD
- Cleaning Registry with CCleaner
- Uninstalling/Reinstalling Video/Chipset Drivers
- Switching RAM from slots 2&4 to 1&3 (A2&B2 to A1&B1)
- Switching which SATA connector my HDD is connected to on the Motherboard
- Quintuple checking that each wire is connected properly on the Motherboard
- Possibly other small things that I've missed but probably wouldn't have affected it anyway

The only thing that I can think of that I haven't tried is memtest to ensure that it isn't my RAM, as I'm fairly certain it isn't, but I'm a semi-noob with hardware so who knows.

Please help me fix this, this PC is my first build ever and it's brand new, I love it to death so far (minus the freezing) and I plan to use it for quite a long time. Thank you in advance!

ihsaan96 · Apr 20, 2013

Hi mate , yeah what graphics card do you have? Also have you tried re-seating your graphics card? Take out your wireless adapter and any extra external components you don't need and take out one stick of ram. Run the PC for a while and if it crashes , swap the sticks of ram and run one by one to rule out if it's the ram. If you have a spare GPU but the spare one in and run the PC until it crashes. I had same problem as you and it seemed that it was my GPU even though it was brand new.

Hope I helped !

TheSeventhChaos · Apr 20, 2013

ihsaan96 :

Hi, thank you for your reply!

My GPU is built in with the CPU as it's an APU. The actual graphics are Radeon HD 7660D. Since I believe it has something to do with me downloading something (that's normally the only time it crashes), a friend suggested that I go an entire day without downloading anything to see if it still crashes, which is what I'm going to try. I'll also try using only the essential hardware and testing the RAM like you suggested. Thanks again, I'll write back after I've tested!

ihsaan96 · Apr 20, 2013

Yeah just use the PC without downloading and Hmmm...I'd recommend IF you can try a clean install of Windows with no extra software etc on it and run it for a while

TheSeventhChaos · Apr 20, 2013

I just had another crash, this time without downloading anything, however I was playing a game this time which is a first. It was Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which has uses no internet to play, so I think I can rule out the Wireless Card. Which parts do I need to run it, CPU, Graphics, One stick of RAM, and Power Supply? I'm not sure if I'm missing something or including something I don't need.

As far as running a new installation of Windows to test, I should say that this is actually my 2nd installation, my first installation never had these crashing problems. What I might do is run a Live CD of Ubuntu 12.10 and see if the crashing persists on there, if not then I'll be almost certain that it's time for another re-installation. I think I'll test the hardware after I test Ubuntu. Once again, I appreciate your quick replies

ihsaan96 · Apr 20, 2013

Yeah try the system with just one stick of ram, if it crashes again then run the system with the other stick of ram on it's own. If it crashes then we know it's not to do with the RAM. If you want to be thorough then download Memtest and run that overnight and see if you get any fails.

And it's alright mate I understand the frustration with a crashing system!

TheSeventhChaos · Apr 20, 2013

So far Ubuntu has been running perfectly fine for a little more than half an hour, and again I keep thinking about how my original installation didn't freeze and crash the way this one does, I think I'm going to just go ahead and re-install windows. I'll be sure to come back and post later with results! If the issues still persist, I'll definitely look at my hardware, because I couldn't begin to guess what else the issue could be. Let's hope that re-installing will fix this

ihsaan96 · Apr 20, 2013

Make sure that when you install Windows 7 you're installing a original copy , no modded " super fast " copies. And disable your internet to prevent any updates so that your system is running on it's original raw drivers.

TheSeventhChaos · Apr 20, 2013

Hi, updating on my situation. I re-installed about 2 hours ago, and so far everything is running very smoothly - no crashes, yet

I'm currently populating my hard drive with my usual games, and not a single problem yet! I think a re-installation was all I needed. Thank you very much for your advice!

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