- May 5, 2012
- 13
- 0
- 10,510
Hey all,
I built a system a little over two years ago and it has worked flawlessly up until about two months ago when it started freezing every once in a while. The freezing has become more and more frequent to the point where I expect it to happen about once per day now. I've test many of my components and all seem to pass.
Symptoms:
Doesn't seem to be a Windows issue as it occasionally freezes immediately after the POST beep and has frozen a number of times while in the BIOS. Doesn't make a difference what the system is doing at the time either, has frozen during gaming (often), movies/Netflix, internet browsing, sitting idle, stress testing). Occasionally the system locks up for a few seconds (5-10) than BSoD appears as it performs a physical memory dump and reboots the computer. The memory dump is rare, much more often that it just flat locks up and hangs there until I hard reboot it.
I've been running OCCT with CUP-Z lately to check temps (been considering overclocking) CPU temps are in the 60-65C range at stock speeds in the first 20-30 minutes or so, when I leave it to run for 2 hours I'll come to check on it and the computer is powered off. (Also, those CPU temps seem really high for not being overclocked but that is another matter for another day).
Troubleshooting:
I originally thought my memory has gone bad, so I ran Memtest86 on it. It often froze during the tests but eventually I got it through 20 passes of all 10 tests and it came up with zero errors.
I thought maybe it was my CPU - I downloaded and ran Intel's Processor Diagnostic Tool and it passes every test every time.
Then I thought it might be my DIMM slots, so I've tried a single RAM stick in each of the four slots (one at a time) but the freezing still happens.
Here's where things get interesting:Then I thought I perhaps my power supply had degraded and wasn't supplying enough power. So I borrowed a friend's Corsair CX500. Pulled out my graphics card as I wasn't sure it would have enough power to run it as well. On first boot up after pulling the graphics card, the computer would boot to my Windows login screen, then within 1-2 minutes the screen would go to static/snow, (like a tv with no signal). If I put the card back in it boot fine until it freezes. So it appears there is something very wrong with the on-board video of the motherboard, leading me to believe that all these problems have been stemming from a faulty motherboard (not that I'm saying it is specifically the on-board video that is causing all the problems).
SO.....after that very long-winded story, before I tear apart my computer and RMA the board to Gigabyte, I'm hoping that someone wiser and/or more experienced that I can tell me if I've missed something that could help me resolve these problems without shipping my motherboard to California.
Thanks in advance!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H (rev 1.0 - have not updated the BIOS)
http://ca.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4140#ov
Processor: Intel i5 3570K (not overclocked yet)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (single push fan) - mounted using Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/hyper-212-evo/
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B)
http://www.corsair.com/en/vengeance-8gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9b
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling PPCMK3S600 Silencer Mk III 600W
http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_Mk_III_600W/
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4211#ov
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 (one 120mm intake fan on the front, one 120mm exhaust fan on the back)
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower-haf-series/haf-912-combat/
I built a system a little over two years ago and it has worked flawlessly up until about two months ago when it started freezing every once in a while. The freezing has become more and more frequent to the point where I expect it to happen about once per day now. I've test many of my components and all seem to pass.
Symptoms:
Doesn't seem to be a Windows issue as it occasionally freezes immediately after the POST beep and has frozen a number of times while in the BIOS. Doesn't make a difference what the system is doing at the time either, has frozen during gaming (often), movies/Netflix, internet browsing, sitting idle, stress testing). Occasionally the system locks up for a few seconds (5-10) than BSoD appears as it performs a physical memory dump and reboots the computer. The memory dump is rare, much more often that it just flat locks up and hangs there until I hard reboot it.
I've been running OCCT with CUP-Z lately to check temps (been considering overclocking) CPU temps are in the 60-65C range at stock speeds in the first 20-30 minutes or so, when I leave it to run for 2 hours I'll come to check on it and the computer is powered off. (Also, those CPU temps seem really high for not being overclocked but that is another matter for another day).
Troubleshooting:
I originally thought my memory has gone bad, so I ran Memtest86 on it. It often froze during the tests but eventually I got it through 20 passes of all 10 tests and it came up with zero errors.
I thought maybe it was my CPU - I downloaded and ran Intel's Processor Diagnostic Tool and it passes every test every time.
Then I thought it might be my DIMM slots, so I've tried a single RAM stick in each of the four slots (one at a time) but the freezing still happens.
Here's where things get interesting:Then I thought I perhaps my power supply had degraded and wasn't supplying enough power. So I borrowed a friend's Corsair CX500. Pulled out my graphics card as I wasn't sure it would have enough power to run it as well. On first boot up after pulling the graphics card, the computer would boot to my Windows login screen, then within 1-2 minutes the screen would go to static/snow, (like a tv with no signal). If I put the card back in it boot fine until it freezes. So it appears there is something very wrong with the on-board video of the motherboard, leading me to believe that all these problems have been stemming from a faulty motherboard (not that I'm saying it is specifically the on-board video that is causing all the problems).
SO.....after that very long-winded story, before I tear apart my computer and RMA the board to Gigabyte, I'm hoping that someone wiser and/or more experienced that I can tell me if I've missed something that could help me resolve these problems without shipping my motherboard to California.
Thanks in advance!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H (rev 1.0 - have not updated the BIOS)
http://ca.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4140#ov
Processor: Intel i5 3570K (not overclocked yet)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (single push fan) - mounted using Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/hyper-212-evo/
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B)
http://www.corsair.com/en/vengeance-8gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9b
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling PPCMK3S600 Silencer Mk III 600W
http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_Mk_III_600W/
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4211#ov
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 (one 120mm intake fan on the front, one 120mm exhaust fan on the back)
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower-haf-series/haf-912-combat/
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