What’s this computer’s problem?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
NecroSkeith

NecroSkeith

Honorable
Apr 23, 2013
27
0
10,530
Hello,

I had this computer for about four years now, and I’ve been using it only for some pretty brief processes and tasks, it was working just fine.
I could play some considerable games recommended for that computer, watch 720p movies while having some background apps working such as Skype, Kasperski Internet Security, Steam, TweetDeck and some others without any troubles using Windows 7 Ultimate.

One month ago, I decided that it was time to re-format this computer, so I eventually did and installed pretty much the same applications, but when I started using it I noticed that it was running considerably faster than before. (I had a lot of viruses and threats before re-formatting on my system drive so I guess that’s the reason for my computer being faster) However, since I use this computer to watch a lot with it, I tried to play my Anime episodes. And when I start playing the video (which is 720p) after about 2-3 mins of playback, the computer freezes and nothing responds so I have to restart it. Same about video-games, after not of a long period the computer freezes. It happens when using the webcam for more than about 20 minutes too.
Also, when using Google Chrome browsing sites and looking at videos I once got this black screen on my monitor, and the screen shows a box saying “No Signal”.
After about five minutes, I get to see my desktop back but some distorted weird lines appearing on my monitor with a notification in the bottom saying “Nvidia has stopped working and has recovered.” Another ten minutes and the screen goes black again with the box saying “No Signal” again, just as soon as the box disappears I hear the sound of the computer’s fans going low, just like it went sleep mode.

I restart the computer and see my desktop with this:
http://i.imgur.com/pFrf7cB.jpg?1
When I “View problem details”, this is what I get:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 116
BCP1: 85538008
BCP2: 9343D6F0
BCP3: 00000000
BCP4: 0000000D
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\041913-22729-01.dmp
C:\Users\NecroSkeith\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-54740-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt



I thought about installing the latest and most recent drivers for Nvidia as well as the old ones, tried installing updates for Windows and even re-formatting again and again but still nothing.

Here are the computer's specs:
http://i.imgur.com/GCO8ry7.jpg?1?7581
http://i.imgur.com/jxyQacK.jpg?1

The computer still runs smoothly but I encounter only this one problem which is freezing. Is there a solution? Anything I can do to solve this?
I don’t know what to do, any advice or explanation is very appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

PS: On a side note, usually when I restart this computer, it doesn't, the monitor appears to show no signal while the computer doesn't start, I have to shut it down and manually restart it after about 5-10 seconds in order to turn it on. I wonder if all this is because of the RAM or something inside this computer might be broken.

That sound that the computer produce when starting has gone too for some weird reasons, I'm not sure if I unplugged some cables or something else.
 
Solution
G
First thing I would do is open the case to see how many fans are in it, if it needs to be cleaned and if the GPU has a fan on it or if it is passively cooled. You need to verify that the 0 RPM readings are due to the fact that your system doesn't monitor fan speeds and not because all your fans are off. Just looking at the temps, it looks like your GPU is running at an acceptable temp, but it is indicating on your pic that the GPU is under 0% load. The best way to see what happens when the GPU is under load is to click the "log to file" box. If the box is already checked, un-check it and click it again and it will ask you where you want to save the log.

If the temps are still within range (under ~70c under load) then you can rule out...
Sort by date Sort by votes
G

Guest

Guest
If it was me, the first thing I would do would be trying to find out how hot the GPU is getting when you are playing a game or watching a video. You could use GPU-z or MSI Afterburner (just for temp monitor) and if it is close to the card's temp limit, your next step would be opening the PC and checking if the fans are all working properly, particularly the GPU fans. Make sure they aren't blocked or have a lot of dust in the heat sinks.

If your temps are fine, it is possible that the GPU may be starting to fail. If you have an internal GPU, test the videos on that and see if it is still doing it. If, so it might be software related.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
NecroSkeith

NecroSkeith

Honorable
Apr 23, 2013
27
0
10,530
Hello,
thanks for reading.

Alright, I installed both GPU-z and MSI Afterburner, this is what GPU-z have shown:
http://i.imgur.com/ctXKaXq.jpg?1
In MSI Afterburner I set the fan speed to 100% and tried watching some 720p videos, it played them for about another extra 10 minutes and the usual freeze occurred. It's 65-67c During playback of videos, slightly the same about video-games.
I did more research and tried downloading SpeedFan to see if there's anything wrong with the fans, here's what it shows:
http://i.imgur.com/k2a7Cmn.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/Bmj8RSG.jpg?1
I can attempt to open the PC, but I wonder if these information I provided now are obvious enough for you to spot the problem.

Please, let me know if there's anything wrong about the temperatures or anything else you'd like to know about this computer to help you guess what's the problem.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

Guest

Guest
First thing I would do is open the case to see how many fans are in it, if it needs to be cleaned and if the GPU has a fan on it or if it is passively cooled. You need to verify that the 0 RPM readings are due to the fact that your system doesn't monitor fan speeds and not because all your fans are off. Just looking at the temps, it looks like your GPU is running at an acceptable temp, but it is indicating on your pic that the GPU is under 0% load. The best way to see what happens when the GPU is under load is to click the "log to file" box. If the box is already checked, un-check it and click it again and it will ask you where you want to save the log.

If the temps are still within range (under ~70c under load) then you can rule out heat.

Do you have another PC with the same type of PCI or AGP port compatible with this GPU? If so, while your case is open, swap the card out to the other PC and see if it is still doing it. If it works in another PC, you can pretty much rule out the GPU itself and focus on the power supply. If you swap the PSU out of the other PC into the main one and it works fine, your problem is most likely a dying power supply.

Also, if you do decide to open the case up, you should buy a tube of thermal compound such as Arctic Silver MX-5 or Prolimatech PK-1 and replace the old compound on both the CPU and GPU. After you clean all the dust out of course. Even if heat isn't the main issue, doing the dusting and thermal paste will bring your temps down and extend the life of your CPU and GPU.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
NecroSkeith

NecroSkeith

Honorable
Apr 23, 2013
27
0
10,530
Sorry for the late reply but I had to get a new HDD since the last one broke! I opened the case to clean it up and oh dude, it was like a sand storm had ravaged that case. (probably because I didn't clean it in a long while.) Anyway I started cleaning it and noticed that the fan which were connected to the motherboard was about to break, I removed it and went to buy a new one, replaced it and after all the intense cleaning I decided it was time to try it out, and then the most disagreeable of all things to ever happen did happen, my hard drive broke taking with it all of my files. It started doing a noise like ~Tic-Tic-Tic~ and no booting, tried getting help but it seems like it can't be helped, I got a new 1TB hard drive and it's great! No more freezing or whatever, my problems are fixed and it's all thanks to you for telling me to check my fans for any damage.

But what's the tube of thermal compound's purpose?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

Guest

Guest
Good to hear it is working properly again. The thermal compound goes in between the CPU and the heat sink. It basically transfers the heat from the chip to the heat sink. The compound is made out of silver or aluminum (sometimes copper) which are both very good conductors of heat. It also serves to create a better contact surface with the heat sink. Since the surfaces are not perfect the compound, being a paste like substance, fills in any areas that are not making contact. The more surface area the heat sink touches, the more heat it removes. It is usually a good idea to replace the compound every few years since over time it begins to become less effective. If your video card has a heat sink, it is a good idea to replace the compound on it as well. The stuff they put on it at the factory is usually cheap and inefficient compared to Arctic Silver. If you decide to do it, just be careful with certain kinds. There are non-conductive ones which don't conduct electricity and won't really matter if you spill a bit on the motherboard except for having goo all over it. The other kind can potentially ruin your PC if you put too much on or spill some in the wrong place. PK-1 is non-conductive and unlike AS does not take a few dozen hours to cure. The elements copper and silver, obviously, are great conductors of electricity, so any paste with them in it should be applied with caution even though the AS site says the conductivity of AS-5 is "negligible".

As for your old data: there are some people who have successfully retrieved data from a bad clicking hard drive by freezing it. I am not joking. The theory is that since metal shrinks or contracts when it gets cooler, the metal parts in the hard drive will make proper contact when frozen and allow it to work for a few minutes until it hits room temperature again. If you have a ton of data, it might take many freezes to get it all... if it works at all.

If you haven't already, first try disk check for errors: My Computer -> right click on hard drive -> tools tab -> click on "check now" under error checking -> check both boxes and click "start". Windows will schedule a full scan of your hard drive the next time your reboot. It takes a while and if there are any fixable errors, it will automatically fix them. This usually works when it is a soft clicking noise like it is reading or writing something over and over. The other click, the click of death is when the needle keeps slamming around in the drive. That is when you either toss it or try the freezing thing.

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Save_Your_Hard_Drive_by_Freezing_It
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom