Help with my failing computer

MakeItTickle

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i've been dealing with a rather annoying issue with the pc i custom built, no matter what im doing after a few hours of running it seems to crash (i usually am playing runescape, but common, you can practically play that game on a calculator for god sakes!) it will freeze the game, then i hit ctrl+alt+delete and then every time my whole system locks up. even the sound will continuously play 1 note. im always forced to restart my computer but its not making sence to me because it acts like a process happens outta the blue and uses all my resources (which is unlikely) but its exactly how it acts.

i started with windows 8.1pro and thought going back to win7 would fix it and... NOPE.

here are my specs:
Processor: AMD A8-5600k APU with Radeon(tm)HD Graphics 3.60GHZ (4 core)
ram:32.0 GB DDR3
harddrive: 500gb Velociraptor (WDC WD5000HHTZ-04N21V0 ATA Device)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630


please someone help becuase i spent a pretty penny on this setup ($1300 a year ago) and it worked great for about 7 months and now all i get is this crash problem. im willing to try anything at this point, otherwise this box is going to the curb >.>

(think i included all specs, tell me if i left something out, this is my first time posting on a forum)
 
Solution


Just curious, is all the 32GB of RAM in 4 sticks of the same type?
If it is, look up motherboards that support Quad Channel RAM as you might as well buy that since you have 4 sticks.

Quad channel is basically running 4 sticks in parallel, vs. 2 sticks in parallel and another 2 sticks in parallel. It speeds up performance so it's worth noting.

And for a CPU cooler, instead of that CM...

Shadowblade2652

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WELL THEN.
There's your problem :p
Get a new heatsink. The stock AMD heatsink is absolute ass and never actually cools anything down. I speak from experience. Mine did the same thing and it only stopped when I got a new heatsink.
 

MakeItTickle

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forgive me, but what exactly do you mean by heatsink? and those measurments were in *F not *C i have 5 fans in my case it SHOULDNT overheat but if it is, what exactly do i need to replace? like are you talking about the CPU's little fan over the processor?
 

Shadowblade2652

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oh wait.
Those were in F?
then your computer is running:
CPU: 42C
MB: 37C.

Hm. It's not temperatures then.

And yes, the heatsink fan is the little block you put on top of your CPU in order to keep it from overheating. You don't need to change yours though. 42C is a good number for CPU temperature.
Try running speccy and playing games at the same time. See what you get for your temperatures.
 

Shadowblade2652

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Before you get to the question at hand, answer this:
Why do you have 32GB of RAM, but a crummy AMD APU (There are better options for $120)? And above all of that: Why do you have a GT 630 if you spent $1300 on your computer? Your allocation of funds is completely confusing me.
 

DSzymborski

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While I share that extreme confusion, I think the barn door is already closed on a year-old computer!

Are you having this trouble with any other games? That kind of thing helps us nail it down a bit.

My first inclination is that the hard drive may be showing early signs of failing as that can cause freezing behaviors (when trying to access a file on a corrupt or damaged sector).
 

MakeItTickle

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i ran runescape, entered world and everything and i watched that temperature go from 59*C to 81*C and then it elevated back to 68*C and once i closed the program it dropped to 48*C

i understand what your talking about now, and i've had a real eye opener today. i have a good feeling if i try to start 2 games at once it'll hit that 100*C+

scary scary. what heatsink would you recommend replacing mine with? i dont wanna accidentally get one like i already have.... and i thank you a BUNCH. i was literally about to start replacing my pc's componites piece by piece because i was getting desperate.

YOUR GOOD.
 

Shadowblade2652

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haha no problem

For a good heatsink what's your budget? If you can go into the $50 range I would recommend the Corsair H55/H60/Any of the Corsair H series that you can afford. If you can only go around $30 - $40, The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the most recommended heatsink fan you can buy. Be sure to look up tutorials if you don't fully understand what you're doing.
 

MakeItTickle

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i just tried a game called transformers universe and it didnt go over 74*C and i opened runescape agian and it only dashed to 85*C but im sure with something like youtube or facebook running in the background it WAY overheats me.
 

MakeItTickle

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haha no problem

For a good heatsink what's your budget? If you can go into the $50 range I would recommend the Corsair H55/H60/Any of the Corsair H series that you can afford. If you can only go around $30 - $40, The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the most recommended heatsink fan you can buy. Be sure to look up tutorials if you don't fully understand what you're doing.[/quotemsg]

lol ill spend what ever it takes and imma get a Corsair ASAP.

 

Shadowblade2652

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I'm still stumped as to why you have so much RAM but such little processing and gpu power. It really confuses me as to why you picked such odd components for a $1300 build. I honestly think you spent WAY too much for that stuff, even if you have 32GB of RAM. You need 8 for a solid PC, 16 if you do heavy work. 32 is if you're making a RAMDISK and 64 is if you're insane. What motherboard do you have?
 

MakeItTickle

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lol yea i kinda did the ram like that on purpose. my graphics is only 1.5G DDR3 but i kinda rely on the ram to up that.

motherboard specs are:
model: F2A85-M(FM2 )
AMD chipset- Model A55/A60M/A88 FCH


when i built my pc i kinda did it backwards. i started with a medium bored and ended up getting a large case xD

and another reason for the RAM is becuase the last computer i had was an E-Machine and after putting like 5 games on there and 500 songs.. ect it ran slow as hell.. so i figured more RAM would also help there? lol at least im not running 8 core CPU and 64G DDR3 lol

basicly after i built it and realised all my mistakes.. i have a glorified office computer that (should) multitask like crazy.

whatcha running in your PC?
 

MakeItTickle

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oh and my CPU is kinda weak BUT i chose it for the Dump rate. its super high according to this program its:
L1 data cache size: 4 x 16 Kbytes
L2 instructions cashe size: 2 x 64 KBytes
L2 unified cache size:2 x 2048
 

Shadowblade2652

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I have an AMD A8 5600k, a GTX 660TI, 6GB of RAM, MSI FM2-A75MA-E35, Corsair CX500M, and a Fractal Design Define R4.
 

MakeItTickle

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@shadow
lol yea you have an 8 core. does it make that much difference between a 4 and a 8 core? i built my pc as a newbie and i was under the impression that RAM= speed, i admit that i was wrong BUT it really does help. my cpu never runs over 2% on average, would it be worth upgrading? i already know my graphics is WAY weak but i didnt know of the GTX and other huge graphics cards existence. Bottom line i spent $1300 because i was just guessing on what was good and not.


btw, a valacirator is suppost to have a high transfer rate but mine only scores 6.1 on system rank, im confused on that.


and in your professional opinion should i upgrade my motherboard as well?
 

Shadowblade2652

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1. My CPU is a 4 core. A8 is just the model of processor (it's the second highest tier in the lineup behind the A10).
2. More RAM = more speed up to a certain point. Above 8GB is overkill, and above 16GB is insanity. 4 - 8GB is all you need for a good system.
3. It's worth upgrading your GPU because a 630 is a P.O.S. that shouldn't be used with your current hardware.
4. You spend $1300 on a pile o crap with a cherry on top. Not going to sugar coat it, but that's what you did. If you'd like, I can help you make a new system if you tell me what budget you have (and RAM and HDD will stay the same - because you spent like $300 on that together so you should keep it).
5. A WD Velociraptor is a good drive up to a certain point. I believe they are 10000RPM, which means they will be faster than the standard HDD which is 7200 RPM, but will be much much slower than an SSD. The ADATA SP600 is a good SSD which is only $100 for 256GB.
6. I'm not a professional by any definition of the word :) I appreciate the compliment but I'm not a pro sadly :(


and yes, if you want your system to be competent you've got to upgrade that motherboard as well (or you could stay with the A8, which is okay enough for a mid level gaming rig).
 

MakeItTickle

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well if you point me in the right direction on a bad ass board an cpu pair (not the best of the best but something close, i have about a $500 budget but i can spend more if need be.
 

DSzymborski

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What's your power supply?

If you want a solid MB/CPU pair:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $373.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

If you need to update your PSU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $438.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Or, if your PSU is up-to-snuff and you want a gaming GPU (I don't know what your other gaming desires are:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $593.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

In the future, I would highly recommend you consult here or somewhere else reputable, like anandtech before making such major purchases if you're not completely comfortable with what to value and what not to when building or upgrading a PC. We're tough on your build because it makes us quite sad to see someone spend so much money and not get bang for the buck!

Almost forgot, given your post, you may not have a good cooler.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $29.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 

MakeItTickle

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the CPU, motherboard, and video card sounds like the winner to me. ( im running 750W power supply).

all these chip sets work well together right? (im very aware now-a-days that that's vital.

and if i go with this set would it be recommended to get 2 GPUs so i can crossfire them, or would it be unnoticeable in performance?

and also im contemplating Radoning (not sure if thats right term) 2 hard drives, but rapor harddrives seem a little slow on transfer rate to me, any recommendations? (or would it even be worth it).

i do alot of live streaming and host servers from my PC (private gaming servers).

and last but not least... ANTI VIRUS.... i tried handfuls of them and i never had much luck. what do you guys use? (ALOT of ppl try to keylog me and shit an basicly im asking if there is virus protection with anti spyware and malware built in)

 

DSzymborski

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The parts definitely work together (you can get a second opinion from someone in this thread if you're unsure).

One GPU solutions are usually the best options.

I assume you're talking about a RAID array? One thing at a time, unless you have a pressing need, I'd recommend getting used to how all the parts work together and then decide if you need such a thing.

I personally use avast for antivirus with malwarebytes looking out for malware. I've never had issues, personally.
 

MakeItTickle

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alrighty. appreciate the help shadow and DSzym, if not for you guys i would have taken a sledgehammer to my tower by now xD this has been an eye opener and i cant think you guys enough for the assistance. ill start ordering parts and let you guys know how it goes... at least this time ill be ordering the RIGHT parts ;p

i owe you guys big time.
 

Shadowblade2652

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Just curious, is all the 32GB of RAM in 4 sticks of the same type?
If it is, look up motherboards that support Quad Channel RAM as you might as well buy that since you have 4 sticks.

Quad channel is basically running 4 sticks in parallel, vs. 2 sticks in parallel and another 2 sticks in parallel. It speeds up performance so it's worth noting.

And for a CPU cooler, instead of that CM Hyper 212 Evo (Which is one of the best coolers you can get), you may want to invest in one of the corsair/cooler master AiO (all in one) water cooling systems which run around $50 - $60. They are quieter and have somewhat better performance. I use the Corsair H55 which ran me about $55 and it's a good all around cooler.

Before you order parts you may want to look around. There are some good deals on part sites like NewEgg and the likes. Plus, you can actually ditch the i5, go with a pentium G3258, overclock it (there are tutorials on the web if you're new), and get the performance of an i3 for close to half the price. It's $75 vs. $230. If you do go with the pentium though, beware that the best GPU that you'll want to buy is the GTX 760 (which runs $250 I believe). That is the best GPU you can have with the CPU, and it won't require a new PSU.


TL;DR
DSzymborski gave great recommendations and if you didn't understand at ALL what I said just now, go with what his parts say :)
 
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