Computer Freezes Randomly

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imail724

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Every now and then my computer will completely freeze on me, leaving me no choice but to hold in the power button and restart it.
When the issue first arrised, I did not have a dedicated graphics card, and the computer would black out and be unresponsive. Upon installing a graphics card I continued to have the issue, but instead of turning black it would just freeze on whatever screen I was currently on.
After trying many different suggestions (such as updating drivers, deleting things, etc.) I updated the BIOS of my GA-880GMA-USB3, but after a few minutes running it blue-screened. I then was suggested that taking out 2 sticks of RAM could help (I have 4 installed, 2 when I built the computer, 2 added later). I did this and the blue-screens stopped and I thought the problem was fixed. After a little over a week, I had another freeze up, so that's not the issue.
I have ran both memtest86 and hdtest which both passed. I have also checked cpu temp and that was normal too.
RAM timings and voltages are set manually in the BIOS based on manufacturers recommended settings.

· OS - Windows 7 x64
· Age of system - ~ 2 - 2.5 years
· CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
· Video Card - MSI R7770-PMD1GD5 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready
· MotherBoard - GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3 AM3+ AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD
· Power Supply - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 550W
· RAM - G. Skill Ripjaws Series DDR3-1600 8gb (4x2gb)
 
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imail724

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Yes. I was talking to a friend of mine and he suggested removing 2 sticks of RAM to see if that helps, so far I haven't had an issue so I think I may have solved the issue. Fingers crossed.
 
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imail724

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Possibly, but I should add some additional info to my issue. I decided to try updating the BIOS because I have been having an issue for a while where my computer would completely freeze up and the monitor would go black, but the computer would still be running, leaving me with no option but to hold in the power button. Back in august I bought a graphics card and started having a similar issue except the screen wouldn't go black it would just remain on whatever screen I was on, completely unresponsive. Yesterday I took the graphics card out and went back to on-board graphics and low and behold, screen blacks-out again. What I didn't think to try (which was dumb on my part) was to remove the 2 additional RAM sticks I installed almost immediately before I started having issues. So I think I may have just been sent defective sticks and will be sending them back to G. Skill this week if I don't experience any more issues.

Basically, it seems to me the bluescreens were simply in lieu of the freeze ups, but I am reluctant to get my hopes up too soon since this has been an issue for over a year now.
 
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imail724

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I had the proper settings set up in the bios that are listed on newegg and when I ran memtest over night a while back it passed every time. I'm going to just rma the additional sticks and see if issues arise again when I put in the new ones.
 
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imail724

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but I am reluctant to get my hopes up too soon since this has been an issue for over a year now.
Click to expand...
Guess I was right to not get overly excited since I had a couple more freeze ups since removing the RAM. I am now thinking I just have a defective motherboard, could this likely be the case?
 
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GhislainG

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I've witnessed that issue before and the fans and lights won't go out as they barely are affected by voltage drops, unlike the motherboard and CPU. I'm not implying that it definitely is the PSU, but I'd certainly start by replacing it with a spare one. It doesn't have to be very powerful if the system freezes when running office applications or browsing the net.
 
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TenPc

TenPc

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You should have tried to resolve the issues before updating the bios, it might be just an under-powered PSu, a hard drive too full of data, an older game issue, just about anything except a bios issue.

You might want to (need to) try back dating the bios to the one previously and then post a new thread about your real issues ...

Edit 2 - If you can boot to desktop then the bios is good, it's the programs you are running or the games being played or does it BSoD just at desktop?
What is your PSU?

 
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imail724

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Well updating the BIOS didn't really do anything, I'm pretty much at the same spot I was prior to updating the BIOS. I started this thread because of BSODs but those went away so now I'm back at square one.
It freezes pretty randomly but I don't think it has ever done it just at the desktop (I could be wrong though), usually watching a video, playing a game (even on facebook), one time I was just opening spotify.
PSU is CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 550W.
 
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TenPc

TenPc

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You had the SATa set at (?) AHCI and then you set it to IDE. You have to do a re-install to make that change otherwise you do a registry change of the ide /ahci prior to the change in the bios. The registry, now, is still referring to the original setting and no longer sees your hd drive as what you had it. Just change the BIOS setting back to the original setting for the hard drive and you will be able to boot.

A BSOD has various issues mostly about games, older programs, drivers, updates, etc and very rarely about bios settings unless it refers to your LAN or netwoork and sometimes some issues about the mouse/keyboard etc but usually a few minor adjustments can fix it without the update. I never do a bios update but do admit to ne about 12 years ago, it didn't go well :(

Spotify is well known for causing BSoDs.
The main problem with just watching a video is that you also have countless other apps open as well including internet, a game on pause mode, rather than just watching the movie.

Once youhave changed the bios back to the iriginal setting for the hdd, Save Exuit then go directly to Safe Mode. Wait for sdektop and all has settled then do a clean shutdown, not restart.. Wait about 3 minutes then boot to desktop as normal.

What do you do when you get to desktop, normally..

Also are you using onboard video out or a graphics card? What brand/model video card?
Any external devices?
You should add all your hardware specs in the opening details to get better and quick replies otherwise it could take ages to drag it out of you.
 
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imail724

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Ok I updated the first post with more information. BSOD is not the problem, it is random freezes that make the computer completely unresponsive. It hasn't happend since May 8, but it could happen again at any moment. Spotify did not cause a BSOD, it just froze. Normally I go to Chrome when I get to the desktop. I am currently using a graphics card (MSI R7770), but before installing that I was using on-board and was experiencing the same issue, except the screen would go black, rather than just freeze on the current screen. I have an external WD hd always plugged in and an HP printer that is always off.
 
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TenPc

TenPc

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The 550 watt PSu is inadequate, the CPU is 125 watts, the graphics card could top load as much as 225 watts (i"d have to check), plus everything else @ 100 watts, that gives you about 450 watts on the 12v rail., A 550 watt PSU is as much as about 480 watts, not leaving a heck of a lot for peak power.

Get a 650 watt PSU, remove any molex adapters, only use internal fans that actually connect to the motherboard, and don't have so many apps open that are not being used. Hopefully your 550 watt PSU has the 8-pin 12v connector and you are not just using a 4 pin connector.

The MSI R7770 comes with a utility disk including Norton Internet Security™ 2008 60 days Trial, if you installed it then uninstal it.

The video card is MSI but it is AMD chipset meaning that they (MSI) may have modified it to suit their own needs (added MSI information table) meaning that you have to use their drivers for it and not AMD.
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7770-2PMD1GD5-OC.html#?div=Specification

The cpu is either 125 watt or 140 watt, your one is the 125 watt so if you update the bios, you have to use the 125 watt one. We all assume that the bios update is the same for all of the bioses with the same update number but that have never been confirmed.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3817#s
Support for DDR3 1866(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules, there is no mention of DDR3 1600, that could be an issue.
THe motherboard supports up to PCIe2.0, your video card is PCI Express x16 3.0, that is another issue.

Basically, you have to get a video card that is actually PCIe 2.0 and the ram is 1333mhz otherwise the system and hardware can't communicate with each other properly and you will get lag, pauses, screen freezes, in my opinion.
 
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GhislainG

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If the system also freezes when using onboard video, then the PSU may be defective, but it definitely is powerful enough for that system.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3817#memory%20support%20list includes a comprehensive list of compatible DDR3-1600 memory kits.

PCIe 3.0 video cards are backward compatible with 2.0; otherwise a lot of people who bought newer video cards would have similar issues.
 
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imail724

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My specific RAM actually isn't listed there, but this one is, and the specs seem almost identical. Do you see that making a difference?

And I'm going to rule out anything to do with the graphics card since the issues began before I even installed one.
 
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