Computer Freezing / hanging. Ram? GPU? PSU? Motherboard?

BStrickland5 · Jan 23, 2016

Hello all,
I'm new here on this forum but I've been scrolling through here for the past year and a half or so, trying to fix a problem that still persists with my PC but with no success. Let me first start with my specs:
MSI 970A-G46
G. Skill Ripjaws X 8GB 1866 RAM (Motherboard recognizes it as 1366)
Seagate 1TB ST1000 Harddrive
Fx-6300 w/CM Hyper 212 EVO cooler
CX-430 Builder PSU
Zotac GTX 960 (Previously Sapphire HD 7770)
Windows 8.1 PRO

My nightmare started about a year and a half ago, my friend helped me build this PC for mid-level gaming, general computer use. And it worked fine for about two months. Then this problem came up.
It used to just freeze up randomly when I would be gaming. (sound looping, stuttering) and I would have to shut it down manually by holding the power button down. It could go for awhile like this before having any major freezes and then suddenly, BAM! Frozen and would have to hard restart it. Also, when I would attempt to turn it back on, It would not post to monitor. Monitor would not recognize it was even on. If I reseated all the hardware within the case, it would eventually turn back on and I would be able to use it. Recently the problem became more frequent and I was reading up that it was most likely my graphics card that was causing this problem. Besides that, I was planning on upgrading to a GTX 960, so that's what I did.

Feeling as though all my troubles would be allayed, I went ahead and purchased the new card. Boy was that a mistake. Ever since then, my problems have only been exacerbated. I can't browse the internet without it taking abnormal load times or the computer freezing for 30 seconds-2 minutes at a time. This problem doesn't just happen with internet browsing but any applications. (Especially Hardware monitoring) And the hard restarts I mentioned previously haven't happened as frequently but they still do exist. Except this time my computers Case Speaker gives me one long beep followed by two short, which I understand to be a video card error. And I'm not sure why or how both video cards would start dying after only a month of use on each.

What I've done so far:
Ran Memtest86 for 24 hours+ with zero erros
Checked my Hard drive for Signs of failure through windows with no issues found.
Switched out RAM stick for a different Ram from another system i have and still problem persists.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

-Ben S

badboyrog2 · Jan 23, 2016

get a higher wattage psu ...like 600W and up
``Fx-6300 w/CM Hyper 212 EVO cooler``
the cpu and the cooler are well installed? thermal paste applied?

do you have the latest bios installed?
http://www.msi.com/product/motherboard/support/970A-G46.html#support_download

SuperSaiyanGamer · Jan 23, 2016

Erase AMD drivers Completely and install Nvidia ones properly. Also that sounds like a PSU issue since CXs arent so good and its wattage is low so get a 600 or more watts. Dont forget that PSU matters since it will power up your components so it needs to give them clean energy and can kill them if its a bad one.

badboyrog2 · Jan 23, 2016

``Erase AMD drivers Completely and install Nvidia ones properly``
+1

you can use ddu software to remove old driver
http://www.guru3d.com/files-get/display-driver-uninstaller-download,20.html

BStrickland5 · Jan 23, 2016

badboyrog2 :

Drivers up to date, CPU and cooler are properly installed and highest temperature i ever saw was about 28C so cooling is definitely not a problem.

I didn't think the PSU could be an issue. Is there a way I could test this theory? And to answer about the old AMD drivers, I did a wipe and reformat of the drive, so conflicting drivers can't be an issue.

badboyrog2 · Jan 23, 2016

``highest temperature i ever saw was about 28C so cooling is definitely not a problem.``
you can not read the real temps on fx cpu only margin

``I didn't think the PSU could be an issue``
WHY??
80% of pc problems come from bad psu on this forum..

BStrickland5 · Jan 23, 2016

badboyrog2 :

Okay, is there a possibility it could be the motherboard? It's worrying to hear the case speaker notify me of the video card error.

BStrickland5 · Jan 27, 2016

badboyrog2 :

I followed your advice and bought a brand new 600W EVGA PSU. Plugged it in, was running incredibly slow before freezing up. I reset it using the buttton, would boot up giving the same video card error (1 long 2 short beeps). shut it off, reseated everything and now when i try to start it up it won't post. No error beep, nothing. fans turn on and motherboard phase lights come on but that's it.

SuperSaiyanGamer · Jan 28, 2016

BStrickland5 :

badboyrog2 :

I followed your advice and bought a brand new 600W EVGA PSU. Plugged it in, was running incredibly slow before freezing up. I reset it using the buttton, would boot up giving the same video card error (1 long 2 short beeps). shut it off, reseated everything and now when i try to start it up it won't post. No error beep, nothing. fans turn on and motherboard phase lights come on but that's it.

There could be numberous parts that causes the issues such as ; mobo,ram,cpu
and for starters you can try to reset cmos.

badboyrog2 · Jan 28, 2016

cmos battery is good?
did you reset the cmos?
reseat the cpu?
how many ram stick you have?
can you try with only one stick of ram?
if all of this do not work...mobo or gpu should be defective
to know which one is faulty you need to try with an other gpu from a friend or???

cheapo gamer · Jan 28, 2016

sounds more like ram, or hdd in task manager check hdd usage , try placing ram into a different slot and plug your hdd into different sata ports

SuperSaiyanGamer · Jan 28, 2016

cheapo gamer :

He already said above that he changed it with a different ram so i dont think ram is the problem

BStrickland5 · Jan 28, 2016

badboyrog2 :

I reset the cmos, tried a different stick of ram, and tested with the old 7770. I have not tried reseating the cpu, but i may as well try before ruling something else out as the culprit. Thanks

cheapo gamer · Jan 29, 2016

not a different stick of ram , try the same ram in a different slot one of the channels could have gone bad or loose connection , no were did i say the same slot saiyan, pop into your bios and check your 12v readings also

BStrickland5 · Jan 29, 2016

cheapo gamer :

Believe me, I've tried this. It's not possible for me to give you RAM voltages right now because it will not post.

Andrei-Florin Gogan · Jan 29, 2016

Did you actually clear the CMOS by plugging the jumper in the next pin? or just took out the battery and put it back in?

BStrickland5 · Jan 29, 2016

Andrei-Florin Gogan :

The only method I was aware of was removing the cmos battery. I assume because it would be the simplest for people to understand.

Andrei-Florin Gogan · Jan 29, 2016

BStrickland5 :

By removing the battery you actually reset the BIOS to default. and it will not clear the CMOS. By clearing the CMOS you reset the BIOS to default as well. Have a look on the motherboard and you should see written on it CMOS. Next to it should be 3 pin with a 2 pin plastic jumper( 1 motherboard pin free+2 used by the jumper ) Remove the jumper and seat it the other way in order to clear the CMOS. After you've done that, take the jumper out again and put it the way it was before.

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