Random System Freezes

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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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10,510
I'm having a really irritating freezing issue with my build, which is over a year old now. This problem has persisted all of that time, as well as in my previous build. I'm not a tech genius, I've just been building my own PC's for about 15 years and have a basic understanding of them.

I randomly have complete system freezes that require a forced restart. There's no BSOD or black screen. The screen just freezes and the last instant of sound is stuck in an infinite loop. This happens when I'm gaming, watching YouTube/streaming, Netflix, etc, but I don't recall finding it frozen after leaving it idle. It's keeping be from gaming the way I want to (hardcore/permanent death modes) because I have no control once the freeze occurs. It is completely random, and impossible to duplicate. Right now it's occurring once every two weeks or so. I didn't have the problem all winter, but as it's heating up again outside, the problem is back, even though my temperatures appear fine. Nothing is overclocked and the machine runs flawlessly otherwise. Stress tests, memtests, etc, have all come back perfectly clean.

Like I mentioned, it has spanned more than one build now, and the only constant between my last two build is SSD's (in general). My last build had an Intel 120GB SSD containing the operating system. It had this problem intermittently, then died after ~8 months. They replaced it, and the issue continued. I bought the Corsair Force SSD and put my OS on that. Identical freezes, same frequency. I bought the Kingston SSD and put my OS on that. Same freezes, same frequency.

All drivers are up to date, and continuously get updated as needed. The problem has persisted through everything as long as I've been using SSDs. I'm hoping someone knows something about this problem and can point me in a helpful direction, other than "don't use SSD's then". Other friends use SSD's without this issue, so it has to be possible, and since it has happened across two machines and four SSD's, I can't image I've just gotten this many bad drives.

I played a game earlier and screenshotted my AIDA64 monitor about an hour in, following another freeze this morning. The freezes will occur at both hotter and colder temperatures than this; it's completely random. I can run media for 15 hours one day with no issues, and then freeze three times the following day, then nothing for weeks. These were the current temperatures and voltages.

temps.png


MY PC specs are in my signature.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
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Internittent problems are the hardest to solve. I don't have any solutions but a few things to consider.

Is your wall outlet power stable and power system well grounded?

You said you kept the drivers updated. How about BIOS updates?

Try underclocking to see if it gives any relief. Not that that is a long term solution but may give some indication of what to look at.

The note where you said you can have the problems multiple times in the same day but not at all on other days kind of indicates an environment issue. Strong radio or other transmitters nearby, high static electricity or humidity on some days, etc. Think, literally "outside the box" - what is going on around you, around that room, around your house, apartment, etc. Does it have anything to do with air conditioning, heaters, refrigerators, etc cycling on/off?

I had a neighbor one time that was prototyping some WiFi equipment and he didn't have it shielded properly and had it somewhat overpowered (out of regulations) that drove me crazy for a few months until we were chatting one day. Oops.
 
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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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10,510
I've moved recently, and the problem has persisted in both houses, so I can't imagine it being an issue with something else nearby causing interference. I live in Arizona. It's hot, but manageable inside, and my temps always stay well within safe ranges. The weather is always constant, as well. Hot and clear all day every day. The AC/heat unit has been off since October. There's really nothing electrical I have in this house other than the appliances and this computer/modem/router. I don't use a TV, no satellite, cable box, etc. The way this issue has remained constant through all the device changes around me and in two different towns has me convinced there's something wrong in there, and the fact that this never once happened with HDD's, but has been a constant since I started using SSD's has me looking at them.

I've never overclocked or underclocked anything, so I'm not even familiar with the process. Always been too scared to try since I don't really understand it.

This is going to get aggravating if it starts up again happening every couple of days or so.

EDIT: The BIOS have been updated, but this has been occurring through two different builds, so it has persisted through two different motherboards, two CPU's two sets of RAM, two PSU's, two cases, etc. The only constants have been the SSD's, HDD's, and the optical drives. And as I mentioned, has only ever happened since putting my OS on SSD's.
 
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thx1138v2

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Jun 18, 2011
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"...this has been occurring through two different builds, so it has persisted through two different motherboards, two CPU's two sets of RAM, two PSU's, two cases, etc. The only constants have been the SSD's, HDD's, and the optical drives."

This may sound wierd but one display monitor? I saw a problem solved on another site where the screen was "freezing" and it turned out to be the monitor was going bad. That doesn't sound like your problem since it has been happening for so long but at this point, who knows?

My guess is what you are describing as "freezing" is that you have no display updates nor mouse cursor movement nor display response from [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del]. But if you think about it, all of those responses are dependent on the display monitor.

If the front panel reset and/or power down button still works then the monitor could be the problem.

Other than that, the only thing I can think of is your aura is interfering with the machine and you may need to meditate your way out of it :>))

I was going to say you might be living over an indian burial ground but since you moved and still have the same problem that's probably not it unless you took some chindi with you when you moved.
 
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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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I used to have one 27" monitor, and the problem was present. The backlight died sometime later and I replaced it with another 27", and when I moved to my new place, I added a second 27" for a dual monitor setup. The freezes have been consistent through it all.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete has no effect. Nothing is responsive during the freeze. The screen is just frozen on the last frame and the last instant of sound is caught in a very loud loop. Sounds like a grinder. It will stay this way indefinitely, no matter how long it is left. The only solution is a hard restart.

I have somehow angered the computer gods, and this is my punishment. The only possible solutions seem to be that all four of the SSD's I've had have all had the same problem, or that the outside temperature has some effect on the components, even though the internal temperatures all remain well below critical levels. There is no humidity here, and that only changes during the rare storms.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
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Do you also have high static electricity with the ultra low humidity? I'm not sure but that might be an issue with more than just the SSD's and that leads back to my electrical system grounding. Was ti possible that you had a high static electricity build up on your body when you installed the first SSD? If so you may have had a shock at that time that damaged something else and that's why you relate it to teh SSD's.

Another consideration is your altitude if you are in the mountains. I know some components are altitude rated but I'm not sure how that would affect you. My brother in law lives at 7000' in Colorado and he had some inexplicable problems when he bought a fairly cheap laptop. I think we resolved it to the capacitors but I just am not sure now. That's been many years ago. There are also higher solar radiation levels at higher altitudes. Have you noticed any pattern to the problem in regard to day/night?

The only thing I can think of right now is some kind of extra shielding (if at altitude) or better case and electrical system grounding.
 
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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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I'm not aware of any elevated static from any source. I Installed the SSD's with the same care as all the other components (all four times), so I'm not aware of any extra static from that either. I live in the central/desert area of Arizona, and my town clocks in at about 1,400 ft above sea level.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
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OK. Time to back up and experiment. Go back to a HDD system and see if you still have the same problem or the problem goes away. If you have the same problem with the HDD only system then something else is wrong and it was just coincidence that it reared its ugly head at the same time. If the problem goes away in the HDD only system then there is, indeed, something wrong with this setup specific to SSD's and that will give you a starting point for further investigation.
 
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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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10,510
I'm not really able to test installing the OS back on a HDD at the moment. Maybe soon I'll give it a shot in case it's another component. I rechecked and found a new BIOS update distributed just a few weeks ago and did that. New video card drivers as well, though all they like to do right now is cause a lag spike randomly sometimes when I move my mouse from one monitor to the other. No freezes in the two days since, but that doesn't mean much yet, the gaps between freezes can be weeks sometimes. It's agonizing being pretty sure it's going to happen again like always and waiting for it to happen any time. It's like a really evil jack-in-the-box.

As far as peripherals go, I hate wireless anything and never use it (other than the router for wifi on my ipad). Keyboard, mouse, etc are all wired.
 
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Falcula

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Apr 10, 2012
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With as intermittent as it is, I can't really call it solved yet. It hasn't happened for nine days now, which is, unfortunately, pretty normal. I'm still waiting and hoping.
 
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