Narrowing down issue... Computer freezing randomly

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

rcouchh

Commendable
Aug 1, 2016
3
0
1,510
Hey all, first post here and having an issue lately.

My computer is freezing at random times, can occur within an hour of turning on the pc or not for a long time. Its a complete freeze, can't move mouse or ctrl+alt+del. Audio will either cut out or start buzzing in a fast loop. This forces me to hard restart the computer. I monitor temps and it is NOT overheating.

I've heard it could be CPU or mobo most likely, or PSU, or RAM. Meaning I'm tempted to just replace all of those and do a new build minus the GPU.

Something I should note is the insulation tape (green) on the back of my coolermaster evo 212 started peeling off. I actually forgot what that tape was and ended up peeling it completely off. I have heard this could short the mobo/cpu and now i'm very skeptical about using the computer. The problem started after I noticed it was peeling, it is the same after its now completely off.
However, when I took the tape off and started the computer, it restarted after power on and said "Overclocking failed" on the monitor. I went into BIOS and turned off my overclock and it was fine, I was even able to go back to my clocks from before and now it is totally fine (minus the random freeze)

Would getting a new cpu cooler possibly be a fix?


Setup:
Windows 10
ASUS P8Z77-V LK Motherboard
Intel i5 3570K (OC to 4.2GHz) - gets to low 60*C
Zotac 980Ti AMP! Edition - gets to high 60s
GSkill 16Gb DDR3 (4x4Gb)
Corsair CX750M PSU
Samsung Evo850 500Tb (game drive)
Crucial 64Gb boot drive for Windows 10 (pretty old)
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Woohoopy

Woohoopy

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
258
2
10,960
Can you post a picture of the tape on the CM 212 EVO?

I own one and am curious as to what part contains insulation tape.

From what it sounds like, the cable of your cooler may be short circuiting, but I believe that would only cause your CPU to heat up to the 80c and then freeze your screen, but not at the 60c you're describing.

Check to see what the temp is right before a freeze, and wiggle around your cable (with protective insulated gloves) while the computer is on perhaps to see if you can force a freeze to know if its causing the problem. This is slightly dangerous so don't do it if you don't feel comfortable doing so.

At this point, try to recreate the freeze as much as possible rather than avoiding it to scientifically find the source of the problem.

EDIT: On second thought, take off your overclock and see if the problem persists. If it no longer persists, your overclock may be unstable, and you need to re-do it with a stability software application like Prime95 or Aida64.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
atomicWAR

atomicWAR

Glorious
Ambassador
Sep 4, 2007
6,590
795
44,490
overclock being unstable would be my first guess followed by a bad PSU....so stock clock your CPU and see if that makes a difference. If it does it may still yet be a power supply issue showing itself early because of the overclock. It may be worth upgrading your PSU regardless. Certainly if stock clocked CPU still crashes at low temps I would replace the PSU immediatly.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rcouchh

Commendable
Aug 1, 2016
3
0
1,510
Woohoopy, im talking about the X bracket on the underside of the mobo. It has green/greyish tape on it. Its rather thick and does not come off easy. I thought this was just because it was on there so long after being heated up and down.

Will go back to stock clocks and see. My CX750M is really old, I got it for free from a friend over 2 yrs ago, he had it for a couple years before that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Woohoopy

Woohoopy

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
258
2
10,960


Oh I see, ok. Maybe replacing the green tape with some painters tape (nonconductive) could be a good way to make up for that mistake, which might not even be a mistake in the first place.

Good luck and let us know if bringing down the overclock does the job. I currently have a cx power supply and have been told by various people that it's not the most reliable, but hey, you've gotten quite a few years out of it so it did its job in my book.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rcouchh

Commendable
Aug 1, 2016
3
0
1,510
Oh it's definitely a mistake... It says right on the coolermaster instructions DO NOT REMOVE INSULATING TAPE. It can cause a short if anything metal touches that while on. I'll put some painters tape on today because I don't want to blow my rig.

I'm extremely tempted to just do a full refresh... Was looking at an MSI Z170A, i5 6600K, DDR4 etc. Im going to prime same-day my PSU and see if that fixes it. If not, I'm going to replace CPU/Mobo/Memory. Thanks for the help guys, will keep you posted.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom