Programs keep freezing on new "high-end" build!

[ivoryplum]

So I just upgraded to Windows 7 from Windows XP.
Love the new operating system, except for one major flaw.
Programs keep freezing on me! Even windows items, like when I'm browsing through my pictures.

There's a few programs that ALWAYS freeze though, including Adobe Bridge and iTunes.
Sometimes they'll unfreeze, other times I have to manually force close them through the task manager.

My specs:
Windows 7 Pro installed on a 60gb Vertex 2 SSD
i7 2600k clocked at 4.0ghz
5TB of WD storage
16gb of Gskill Memory
OCZ StealthXstream 600w PSU
Water-cooled, and CPU idles at 25-26c

So I don't think it's my system causing it (not enough memory, overheating, etc...).
Has to be something internal with Windows.

ANY help would be appreciated.
I've tried doing research on this, and most of the answers I find are pointing it towards the lack of memory, which is not my case.

 

[ryanlarson]

Very nice build by the way!

Anyways, the 2nd generation of the new Intel chips, which you have, were recalled a few weeks ago. They were released in late January and just a few days later, Intel recalled ALL of the CPUs and motherboards with the new socket type because there was a known issue with the SATA controller. Because the new Sandy Bridge CPUs have problem, this MAY be your problem, it might not be as well. When did you buy the CPU? Was it right when it came out?

Also, I would recommend putting the CPU clock back to stock and see if the freezing continues. Then run memory tests on the memory and run some tests on the hard drives to see if anything is corrupt. You can also try a clean install of Windows as well.

Anyways, the problems have been fixed now and the 2nd generation of the Intel chips are fixed and for sale now, but like I said, you may have gotten a "bad" chip.

 

[ivoryplum]

From my understanding of the recall, it's not the processors themselves, but the P67 and H67 chipsets that are implemented on the motherboards. And the motherboards are being recalled, not the processors.

I purchased mine a week after the release, so it was the first crop, most likely.

My mobo has four Sata3 inputs, and two Sata2 inputs (plus more, but these are the ones located inside the case). The "glitch" for the recall is with the Sata2 controller degrading over time. I have everything hooked up to the Sata3 ports EXCEPT for my dvd burner, which is on the Sata2.
That was a very valid suggestion though, cause if my hard drives were on the Sata2 ports, then it could have definitely been the culprit!

I'll try setting the core clock back down to stock, and see if the freezing persists!
I'm hoping that's not the cause, as it's such a mild overclock.

Thanks for your reply!
Any other suggestions?

 

[ryanlarson]

You can also try to disconnect all of your Western Digital hard drives and just leave your SSD installed (I'm guessing you have your OS installed on the SSD) and see if the problem persists. The basic rule of troubleshooting is trying to isolate the problem, then fix it. Do the same thing you did with the hard drives to each stick of RAM as well, and each piece of hardware until you find where the problem lies, then you will find it is a whole lot easier to fix if you know what you're looking for.

This takes a lot of time, I know, I've been there many of time, but if it's fixed, then it's all worth it.

Hope you fix this problem! If you do, post here what the problem was so it could help others as well

 

[ivoryplum]

Hmmmm....
I do have 4 sticks of 4gb RAM.
It could easily be possible one of these sticks is faulty.

I do have the OS loaded on the SSD.
And that's the only thing loaded on their really, except for things related to the OS (graphics drivers, etc) and programs that have to default to the "C" drive, like some iTunes files/backups.
All of my other programs are loaded onto one of the WD hard drives.
So I wouldn't be able to test out the programs freezing if I disconnected the hard drives, other than when browsing through photos, documents, etc in Windows. But that freezing rarely happens compared to the programs.
Which brings me back to thinking my RAM could be the culprit (like you suggested), as the other programs use a higher percentage of RAM.

Should I try running MemTest on it...? And then take each stick out individually, until I hopefully find the culprit.
I can't remember off the top of my head, but what's the other common stress test program used?

Thanks man!

 

[ryanlarson]

Yea, first you can try a burn-in test. This is the best one I have used, it's called PassMark BurnIn Test

http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm

Also, run that burn-in test with nothing else running. This will run everything at 100% load, but for the trial, it only lets you run for 15 minutes, and it will display PASSED or FAILED after the test completes. It also gives you a detailed log of how everything went during the tests.

For the memory test, you can use MemTest, which is a good one.

http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

I would, however, recommend running the burn-in test with all of the hardware installed, and run the MemTest with one stick of RAM in the slot, then if that passes, swap out that stick of RAM with the other one, and so-on.

 

[ivoryplum]

"I would, however, recommend running the burn-in test with all of the hardware installed, and run the MemTest with one stick of RAM in the slot, then if that passes, swap out that stick of RAM with the other one, and so-on." C

Clever!
That'll save a lot of time.

I've used PassMarks benchmark test before, but not their BurnIn test.
Will give it a shot.

Will report back shortly!
Thanks.

 

[ivoryplum]

Back to hopefully get this problem taken care of!
I ran a MemTest on each stick of ram I have individually. I kept each stick in the same slot that it's currently in, and removed the other 3. And then did the same for each one.
No problems came up.

But recently when I turn my computer on, Windows goes into it's "repair" mode, saying some start-up files are corrupt or something.
Here's the error code I received:
Error Code = 0x490

Some photos I took of my screen (since if I would have copied or screenshot it, it would have just erased once I reboot my computer).

So I tried doing a repaid install using my Windows 7 disc, but every time I have it "repair start-up items" it prompts me with an error saying I recently plugged in a device, and it needs to be removed. Even though there's no thumb drives, mp3 players, etc plugged in.
Only things hooked up via USB are my mouse/keyboard, printer, extrenal hard drive and wacom tablet.
Should I try unplugging all of the items except for my mouse/keyboard?

It's starting to look like I should just do a fresh install of Windows...
Any suggestions anyone?

Also, I tried setting my CPU clock back down to stock. Still no changes in terms of the freezing, and no program is subject to not freezing, albeit iTunes, and Adobe Bridge are the only ones that don't unfreeze. I have to force close them.

 

[ryanlarson]

Hmm. Try to unplug your printer, external hard drive, and wacom table. Also, get the system down the the bare minimum by unplugging the SATA cable and SATA power from the DVD drive inside the case, and only have one hard drive plugged into your system (the one with Windows 7).

If you have everything backed up, I would recommend a clean install. It might be a good thing to start fresh, so if you run into this problem again, you know for sure it is a hardware issue.

If you have on-board video on your motherboard, try that instead of your video card, and unplug the video card from the system. Just go through the parts one-by-one, but at this point, if I were you, I would just do a fresh install and go from there.

 

[dmroeder]

I'm kind of curious about your power supply. What brand and model is it? That seems like an awfully lot of stuff to be on a 600W supply, especially if it's of lower quality. If a particular rail is overloaded, it could be causing your machine to crash and the corrupt files.

I would leave your processor at stock speeds until you are certain you have it working correctly. I would also run it with minimal stuff (RAM, hard drives, etc. as others have mentioned). You should make sure that the RAM voltages and timing is set to what the manufacturers recommends. Voltage being off by a little bit can cause instability. I suppose you would catch that through Memtest though.

 

[ivoryplum]

I guess I should have stated what brand my PSU was.
It's a OCZ StealthXstream 600w PSU.
I haven't had my system completely crash on me. Just programs occasionally (especially if they've been sitting idle in the background) will freeze up.
But recently, when I boot my computer it tells me Windows failed to start, or something like that, and then goes into a mode to try and fix it.

I haven't touched anything, as far as timings/voltages.
So I'm assuming it is still at the factory default settings, no?

I finally got my RMA for my faulty P67 motherboard today. Will hopefully have a new board next week, and will be "re-building" my system then.
I'm thinking about purchasing a 120gb SSD to replace my current 60gb, as I ran out of room way too fast. I didn't load ANY programs onto that drive, unless it was a requirement (like iTunes likes to use the C:/ drive only for iPhone backups, etc).
Anyways, I have less than 10gb free, and if I'm going to be doing a fresh install of Windows, so it's as good of time as any to upgrade.

Could it be possible the my SSD is faulty? Since that's where my system is installed?

Ryan: I tried unplugging everything hooked up via USB, except for my keyboard/mouse. It changed nothing.
I haven't unplugged all of the stuff that's hooked up via SATA though (hard drives/dvd drives) because I'll need to pull my system out in order to know which cord goes to which. I'll try that this weekend though.

The i7 2600K has built in video, BUT my mobo doesn't have a monitor hook-up of any kind (was built to have a seperate GPU). So I can't try your 3rd suggestion unfortunately. But perhaps I can find another card, and try that.

I think I'll do the fresh install, with the new mobo, and go from there.
If the problems come back, I'll have to continue to try and find the culprit.

Any other suggestions would be helpful!
Thank you all for chiming in. I really appreciate it.

 

[ivoryplum]

I should note that the PSU was a refurb, BUT it's the same one I was using on my old system for almost a year, without any problems.
I've always heard 400w was plenty for most applications, and anything over 600w is really overkill.
Unless perhaps you're running 2 processors and 2 high-end GPUs.

 

[dmroeder]

The PSU may be overkill. Sometimes with cheaper ones, they don't always produce steady power when you start to approach their limits.

Yours is a pretty nice PSU, but you have to consider how many amps are available on each rail. Consider this: You buy yourself a 1000W PSU, then plug in 4 hard drives, dual graphics cards a burner and a blue-ray drive all on one rail, it will probably be overwhelmed. The PSU would probably be able to handle it, but not all on one rail. The stuff has to be spread out across each rail of the PSU.

But as you pointed out, it's applications crashing, not windows, then the PSU probably isn't your problem.

Now on to RAM. Motherboards don't always load the proper default settings. I would verify them.

 

[tank]

So from reading everything here, i would do a fresh install. You said you upgraded right. Was it from a 32 bit to 64 bit? If so, I never recommend an upgrade like that. To many changes happening in the architecture of the OS.

Do you know where your error log is. When it freezes note the time, and go look at your error log. Control Panel -> administrative tools -> Event viewer.

That should give you a better understanding of the problem.

 

[ivoryplum]

@dmroeder: I get what you're saying, and that makes complete sense. I made sure (and just double checked) that not too many items were on a single rail. Here's my set up in terms of power:

Main Hard Drive and my DVD Burner are on one Rail.
Secondary Hard Drive and SSD are on another.
Bluray Burner is on it's own Rail.

I just checked my timing and voltage, and the timing is set to the factory specifications, but my voltage was set on AUTO and was at 1.59v, when it's suppose to be at 1.5v. So I switched it to 1.5v, not sure if that was the cause, as it seems a lack of power would cause errors, more than being slightly overpowered.

Thanks for that!

@tank: What I meant by upgrade, was I upgraded my entire system. I used a brand new fresh SSD to install Windows 7 64-bit. I don't ever like to upgrade Windows on systems if I can get around doing so. And since this was a brand new build, the only thing I brought over from my old system was my Secondary Hard Drive, Video Card, and PSU. Everything else was new.

Didn't know about that error log!!
There's TOOONS of stuff in there.
487 events to be exact in the last 2 months.
5 of which are Critical, and all happened within the last few days.

Critical 4/1/2011 11:21:50 AM Kernel-Power 41 (63)

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date: 4/1/2011 11:21:50 AM
Event ID: 41
Task Category: (63)
Level: Critical
Keywords: (2)
User: SYSTEM
Computer: Eric-PC
Description:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
<EventID>41</EventID>
<Version>2</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>63</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-04-01T18:21:50.694809100Z" />
<EventRecordID>61091</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Eric-PC</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">244</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x3</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0xfffffa800e3fd9a0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0xfffffa800e3fdc80</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0xfffff80002f9bdb0</Data>
<Data Name="SleepInProgress">false</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

 

[dmroeder]

I think the only thing that higher voltages will cause is excess heat. But that amount that it was set at would do nothing.

 

[ivoryplum]

I took a picture of the BSOD that I get every time I boot up.

My replacement motherboard for my faulty P67 is on it's way to me, and I just purchased a Crucial C300 128gb SSD to replace my Vertex 2 60gb because I ran out of space waaaay too fast (even without installing any programs on it).

So that means I'll be doing a brand new, fresh install, on the new SSD this week.
If problems still occur after this, then it's quite obvious that it's hardware related.

Will keep you all updated!
Thanks for your help thus far.

 

[ivoryplum]

Just a quick update on this problem.
I received my new motherboard yesterday (since mine had been recalled), and also purchased a Crucial C300 128gb SSD to replace my Vertex 2 60gb.
Replaced my motherboard, SSD, and reinstalled Windows 7 64-bit yesterday.
So far everything is working great. But it also worked great initially before when I first put my build together.

I'll update this in a month or so (or if problems arise sooner than that).
Thanks again to everyone that chimed in to try and solve this problem!
If it is hardware related, I'll find out very soon. Hopefully it just had something to do with my OS being corrupted, and I won't have anymore problems.

 

[ivoryplum]

Annnnnnnnd the problem is still there.
Even with a brand new SSD and a fresh Windows Install. So it must be hardware related...

Could it be my PSU?
Even if my whole computer doesn't freeze? just single programs at a time?

 

[movieinc1]

It just might be your PSU,and if it is that get a popular brand name. so far what i learned in these forums and reviews and etc. is that you treat these rigs with with respect. Never go cheap on PSU if u want it to act right. I might be cheap with anything eles but when it comes to my a$$ personally I'm never cheap when it comes to wiping my a$$. So in other words get a SilverStone or an Corsair Brand. Anything eles would be uncivilized..

 

[ivoryplum]

It's make more sense to me if the entire system would freeze, not individual programs.
Unless that program is installed on an HDD that's off a particular power rail, and the PSU isn't supplying it enough power.

To me, the RAM seems like it'd be the main culprit.
Like those programs are being stored on a particular module, and that module is corrupt...causing it to freeze.
I'll continue running tests on my RAM.
This is becoming really frustrating though...

 

[ivoryplum]

Here's the error I got when Windows Explorer just crashed on me while I was browsing through my folders:

"Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7601.17514, time stamp: 0x4ce7a144
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000076f8004f
Faulting process id: 0xbe4
Faulting application start time: 0x01cbfc539c98935b
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: a7eae575-68a6-11e0-b010-002522a58b97"

Mean anything to anyone??
Really want to get this problem taking care of.

 

[ivoryplum]

Coming back to this thread, hoping for some more insight...
I'm still dealing with this issue, albeit it seems to have gotten better when I changed the frequency on the memory from 1333mhz, to 1066mhz.

As stated in my first post, I have 16gb of ram installed.
I purchased 2 kits, but suppose it could be possible both kits were defective.
I've tried using only 2 of the 4 sticks, same problem.

Can anyone chime in on this?
I'd really appreciate any help.

 

[nikorr]

Can u run the Memtest or Windows memory diagnostics?
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.htmlI

 

[ivoryplum]

Hey Nikorr!
Thanks for your reply.
In a post above I stated I had ran MemTest, without showing any errors whatsoever.
I even tested each stick individually as well, and used MemTests bootable version that runs at boot.

Any other ideas?
I'm fairly tech savvy, but this has me stomped.
Especially after several fresh installs of Windows (on 2 different SSDs), and a replacement motherboard.