Installed new cpu cooler, now computer freezes occasionally

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spdbump08

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Feb 5, 2013
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I recently installed a new cpu cooler to replace the stock one in my computer. About an hour after it was done the computer locked up. I turned it off and back on and it seemed to be ok. I was able to play games, watch movies, and run prime95 with no issue. The next night while I was asleep sometime it locked up again. I turned it off and back on and again everything seemed to be normal. I had no problems doing anything with it all day. However, the same thing happened again last night. I have never had problems with this machine since I built it so I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the way I installed the cooler.

It's not overheating. I've run prime95 small fft's for 20 minutes and the temps were mid 50's, with one core peaking at 62c but generally staying at 60. Before the cooler the temps were in the mid 80's and up to 90c at load, so I know the cooler is doing a good job.

It only seems to happen when the computer is left alone and at idle for long periods of time.

Any thoughts?

My specs:

i5 3470
Thermalright true spirit 120m bw cooler
asrock h77 mvp pro4
evga gtx 780 sc acx
corsair vengeance 8gb 1600
seagate barracuda 500gb
xfx pro 550w 80+ bronze
win 7 64

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
goodguy713
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
you must have downloaded the wrong version there are a couple older versions that are out there that have that locked this version should be unlocked.

checking it in the bio's isnt really effective there is no load on the system try it while gaming and leave hardware monitor running. you will get an idea if at any time that 12v goes below 12v you have a power requirement issue. it maybe that the system and any extra parts / fans drives might be drawing to much power.
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goodguy713

goodguy713

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if you applied thermal paste your self you should take it back off and re-apply it . sounds like you either dont have enough on it or you did not tighten the screws down enough for the cooler when you reinstalled it.
 
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spdbump08

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I'll try reapplying thermal paste and re-installing the cooler. It just seems weird to me that it can handle full load no problem but it locks up when not in use. That makes me think it's some kind of power issue like you suggested with the psu. Is there any way I could test the power supply to see if that's the culprit?
 
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FloppyNacho

FloppyNacho

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Feb 14, 2013
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Sure, I can do that for you using a supply calculator. How old is the power supply?
 
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goodguy713

goodguy713

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well you could try adjusting the sleep settings and just have the monitor go to sleep instead of the computer its not actually drawing 550 watts at all times I have hooked up different computers to watt misers ... basically gives you a reading on how much power your actually drawing from the socket. the only sure fire way would be to either replace it with a different power supply. leave it in over night and check is the problem persists.

or down load and run hardware monitor and post the voltage readings.
 
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FloppyNacho

FloppyNacho

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Because capacitors in the power supply age, the amount of power the component can pump to your PC actually degrades with time. I filled in your system in this calculator http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine and it concluded that your power supply would only last for 2 years of heavy use or 3 years of moderate use.

Does this sound right?

EDIT: A high performance fan can make the wattage on a computer jump as much as 20 Watts. This could have pushed you over the edge on your power use.
 
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spdbump08

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Thanks for doing this. The power supply is exactly one year old. How would you define moderate and heavy use? I always leave my computer running and I actively use it every day for anywhere from 2 to 12 hours for gaming, watching tv/movies, and the internet, depending on how long I'm home and whether or not I have anything to do that day.

I also recently ordered 3 of these fans (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835494008) because I only have one intake fan and one exhaust fan in my system right now. Should I not have done that? I realize I'm cutting it pretty close with the 780 in there and only a 550w psu but I was thinking I had enough overhead still.

 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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how is the resource utilization looking up? when you find it frozen, what is the memory utilization looking like. Since your prime95 run comes out decent, it seems that this could be an issue with display freezing up due to a problem with the graphic card or it's drivers.

try a furmark run and see if the issue is gpu related specifically.

-Satyam
 
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spdbump08

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I have it set to high performance and the computer and monitor set to never sleep. Is that bad?

This is what open hardware monitor says:

Voltages / Value / Min / Max
Vcore /1.000 / .976 /1.152
AVCC / 3.360 / 3.344 / 3.376
3VCC / 3.360 / 3.328 / 3.360
3VSB / 3.440 / 3.440 / 3.356
 
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spdbump08

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I don't know what the memory utilization is like because I've just been powering it off. I'll try and see if it happens again. I've already re-installed the cooler so hopefully that was the issue and it doesn't happen again but we'll see. I'm also wondering if it could be memory related and I think I will try memtest. Everything in the computer is exactly one year old except for the video card, which I got a couple weeks ago. When I installed the card it was being recognized properly but was seriously under performing. I had to flash my mobo bios to solve that issue and it seems like the card is running properly now. The first time the computer froze, it wasn't a complete lock up. I was able to bring up task manager and try alt-tabbing. When I tried to tab over to a program nothing changed on the display other than the alt-tab bar showing what program I should be switching to. After that the computer locked up pretty hard and I got the spinning blue windows circle and couldn't do anything else. Every other time it has frozen has been a complete lock up. I was unable to do anything but turn it off.


I've done furmark's 1080p bench as well as the burn in. Everything seemed to be working fine. One thing I noticed is that during the burn in my gpu power utilization dropped to 90%. Is that something to look in to?
 
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goodguy713

goodguy713

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well i am more interested in your +5 Volt and your +12V those are the readings that are most important. so if you can post those it would be helpful.
 
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spdbump08

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For some reason, hardware monitor doesn't show my +12 or +5V readings. I've even set it to show hidden sensors and they don't show up.

Anyway, I went in to my bios to check it out and the +12V goes back and forth between 12.249 and 12.302. The +5V goes between 5.064 and 5.088.
 
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goodguy713

goodguy713

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http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
you must have downloaded the wrong version there are a couple older versions that are out there that have that locked this version should be unlocked.

checking it in the bio's isnt really effective there is no load on the system try it while gaming and leave hardware monitor running. you will get an idea if at any time that 12v goes below 12v you have a power requirement issue. it maybe that the system and any extra parts / fans drives might be drawing to much power.
 
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spdbump08

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I still don't see the 12V or the 5V reading...

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