GA-EP35-DS4 rev2.1, locks up now and then.

[top-dad]

Need some help regarding my PC, as stated I have the GA-EP35-DS4 rev 2.1 board, now what’s been happening is my PC freezers up now and then, alt+ctrl+del does nothing I have to press the reset button. I have updated all the drivers, bios, video card, sound card, chips etc etc.
It only happens now and then, that’s the frustrating thing I can play for 6 hours straight and it runs fine, or for a couple of days it runs fine also, just now and then it completely locks up.
My specs are:

GA-EP35-DS4 rev 2.1
2 x 2gig corsair ram sticks 4 gig total
2 x 160gb HDD in raid format = 320gb
8800GT XFX triple xxx edition card
Windows XP Pro, SP2
Audigy 2 ZS sound card
Antec 650w PSU

Apart from the upgrade I am still using windows XP pro, and my old machine also had 2 HDD in raid format, I only had 1 gig ram, same sound card, upgraded video card, CPU upgrade, so apart from the upgrade my machine is similar to my old one except it now freezers, only thing different I put on software wise, is Avast virus program, not sure maybe this is causing the intermittent crashes ??.


What I would really like to know, is there a software program that you can have running in the background that can capture the cause of the fault, and save a log file of it. That way I can pin point the problem, lets face it, if I take it to PC repair shop they will basically do the same thing, so any recommendations for a good program that can detect what might be causing the crashes ??.

 

[easymoney9]

Probably a too low voltage problem on ram,cpu,northbridge or southbridge. If you have a program or game that always make it freeze up run it and start adjusting voltages until you find the settings that let it run stable. Also download Prime 95 and Ati Tool to test stability.

 

[SpinachEater]

What CPU do you have? Do you ever get the BSOD or is it just a freeze? I wouldn't mess around with voltages other than the RAM. You will want to make sure that you are running your RAM at the specified voltage given by Corsair. What RAM voltage are you at? The north and south bridge voltages should be ok if you aren't overclocking your CPU.

Second I would pay attention to your temps to see if you are overheating anywhere.

Can you isolate the problem to just running graphic intensive programs? If so I would think your video card is the problem. Are you running the most recent drivers? If it seems linked to the video card, you might want to try the program (sorry I forget the name at the moment since I am at work) that cleans out the NVidia drivers and then do a fresh install and then go from there.

Edit: It also wouldn't hurt to run Memtest to check your RAM for errors.

 

[top-dad]

If you have a program or game that always make it freeze up run it and start adjusting voltages

Nope not one game specific, it is random, played Frontline fuel of war last night for 4 hours striaght no problem at all ran smooth.

What CPU do you have? Do you ever get the BSOD or is it just a freeze?

I have a Intel Quad CPU Q6600 2.4 Ghz, and no BSOD, just freezers, sometimes it freezers but i can move the mouse, just cant alt+ctrl+del to shut down the program that is causing the problem, or cant even press restart on the start button, like there is a application running that is using cpu 100% maybe, but you would think you should still be able to rebbot.

I wouldn't mess around with voltages other than the RAM. You will want to make sure that you are running your RAM at the specified voltage given by Corsair. What RAM voltage are you at? The north and south bridge voltages should be ok if you aren't overclocking your CPU.

I am not overclocking my CPU, as for voltages for the ram i have no idea, what should they be set at, and what program can i use to check it, mem test ?.

Can you isolate the problem to just running graphic intensive programs? If so I would think your video card is the problem. Are you running the most recent drivers? If it seems linked to the video card, you might want to try the program (sorry I forget the name at the moment since I am at work) that cleans out the NVidia drivers and then do a fresh install and then go from there.

Nope cant isolate the problem it is very random, usually happens upon startup, and what i have noticed once is rebooting doesnt fix it, i have to actually switch the power off at the wall for about 10 secs, then turn it back on and restart and it is ok, maybe power supply ??, hope not just brought a nice 650w antec PSU, but after i brought it someone did mention Antec have been having problems, hope not .
As for graphic intense programs nope it is not that, and i am using the latest drivers, and i use driver cleaner to unistall all the old NVidia drivers, then do a fresh install.

 

[Dre_93]

Did you ever figure out what the problem was?
I have the same motherboard with the same problem.
System freezes at random and a full power cycling is required for it to start up again.

 

[Russz]

I too have the same problem and its very recent, not existing before the install of SP3. However I think it is related to other issues of rebooting that are now appearing more and more frequently according to other forums. The motherboard I am using is not the "EP" version but GA-P35-DS4 rev2.1.
Particularly only 36 of 38 processes are going when it freezes on my homepage. I can not access the internet or any of the software programs I have installed since as soon as anything is clicked on, it freezes, like it is in an endless loop. If shut down, Windows logs off but then shuts down endlessly so after about 35 minutes I just reboot and reboot until...it is now averaging about 4 reboots/starts/cycling until I get all processes working at which time everything is back to "normal". The only other "oddness" I have noticed is that when it will not work the screen saver sort of staggers and pixelates.
I am very very new to all this but from what I can tell there is nothing wrong in that everything is as stock as can be, no mods at all and it worked fine (excepting EasyTune 5 and the usual Mark_Fun loader crap) for 4 months. Core Temp is up a couple of degrees as is GPU temp but ambient air temp is up from previous measurements as well, that same couple of degrees. I had planned to experiment with things like voltages and multipliers as the E2180 is known to overclock well and some information is that the memory, below, is also very sensitive to voltage and there are examples of Gigabyte's mobo stock voltage being too low. Should I try that? From what other forums have said, Corsair memory with roughly this combination is far worse though both are on Gigabyte's supported/approved list (why I bought what I did in the first place).

CM 690
PCPandC 750 watt psu
Crucial Ballistix ram, 1Gb
E2180
Palit 8600 GT Sonic
2x500Gb WD
2xLite-on DVD
and the questionable motherboard

 

[sfrattini]

I just bought my new GA-EP35-DS4 rev2.1 and I have the same problem

So, system boots ok, login screen, get into my desktop, open a couple of windows...DANG! everything freezes and in some cases PC resets and reboots.
bad bad bad... for such expensive toy

This is my configuration
GA-EP35-DS4
TT 550w PSU
2 x 2gb 800mhz Kingston
2x500Gb Seagate
Video Radeon 3870HD
SB Audigy 2

I did replace the RAM thinking that one of them could have been somehow corrupted ..nothing. So, I pointed my finger to SP3 and installed Vista....with big surprise I found the same issue.
Checked power, removed additional sound card to exclude hardware failures...so i made my math and now I suspect the problem is generated by some mobo drivers. Tonight I will try to install a fresh XP copy, no service pack, no system drivers and let it go for a while.
Hope to see more suggestions on this...I am going insane...
Stefano

 

[carlthulhu]

I had the same problem, here's what worked for me:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/ga-p35-ds4-crashes-usb-mybook-hdd-26693/#post252397

Carl