Freezing system

[cyleo]

Hi,
I've recently build my own system, it wasn't my first, so I know how to do it. Everything runs great and fast, but when i start games (and i tried multiple: WoW, Crysis, NFS:Underground) the system completely freezes after a couple of minutes or even seconds. I experienced this problem later while running the vista rating test. With freezing i mean litarally freezing, the image stays on the screen, but the system doesn't respond, and i have to hard reset it (ctrl+alt+del doesn't work either). Anyway, this is the system i'm talking about:
MB: Asus P5Q SE/R
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz, 8 MB , Boxed
RAM: OCZ Memory Gold 4 GB, PC8500, 1066 MHz, 5, Kit Of 2
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F1 1 TB, 7200 Rpm, 32 MB, S-ATA II/300
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512 MB, PCI-e 16x
PSU: Arctic Silentium T4 ECO 80, 550 Watt (PSU came with desktop, 550 watt should do the job)
OS: Vista SP1 64-bit
All bios/graphics/chipset drivers are up-to-date.
At first, i thought the problem was the graphics card, so i stressed it with the video card stability test from the freestone group, found at this site: http://freestone-group.com/video-card-stability-test.htm I ran it for around 30 minutes, and no crashes/freezes what soever and the temprature didn't exceed 60 degrees Celsius. So i thought the problem wasn't the graphics card, and started stressing my processor with Hyperpi, again for 30 minutes, still no crashes or freezes, and a stable low temprature.
So i moved on to my RAM, and tested it with the memtest you can find on the Vista DVD, ran it twice, again no problems, only part left was my HDD, but the ESTool from the samsung website passed all tests. I tried to install XP 64 bit, making a partition of 100 gb with Windows Vista, but after a restart i get the Error Loading System Files error, which made me think the problem of these freezes is the hdd, but it could also be the mobo. My question is what do you think is the problem, or how can i determine what part causes the freezes?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ir_efrem]

Try changing the memory voltage to 2.0

 

[boulard83]

PSU related i think ... Lack of power on the 12v rail.

Make sure you didnt plugged everything on the same rail.

 

[zorro_84]

recently installed vista 64 i was having the same problem with games freezing tried power supply mem voltage old gfx card still freeze at random . Figured out that i didn't have the correct sound driver went to mobo manufactor web site downloaded driver no problems since. its worth a try

 

[droogle]

Hey

I have an Asus P5Q Deluxe, E8500 and Radeon 4850 and have EXACTLY the same problem.. it even hangs just as Vista starts up sometimes..

My gut feel is the soundMax drivers are crap, but the ASUS website does not have the latest ones.. how else could we test to make sure its the sound drivers?

on a side note, how would the voltages affect a system freezing like that?

any help is hugely appreciated..

and dont say buy a sound card to solve the problem!

 

[cyleo]

Ok, i changed the memory voltage to 2.00 V, didn't help, checked the psu lines, they're ok, nothing on the same strip. Sound driver is up to date (Mine is realtek btw), but i can try to disable sounds in the mobo menu, see if that fixes the problem.
@Droogle: You've got the same gfx card, and mb manufacture, so i think it's save to assume it's one of these two components causing the problem. I'll try some different bios settings.

 

[cyleo]

Disabled my sound from the bios now, still have the freezes. I have absolutly no idea anymore what can cause the problem.
EDIT: Tried some more settings, i noticed everythings was on auto in the bios setup, so i changed some values, thought adjusting speeds etc. while putting a load on your system could lead to crashes. Now i have to admit that i'm not really an expert with these biossettings things, but i know the basics. Anyway, here's what i did. I decided not to change things from what i don't know what it did, and from the things i do know, i used the factory settings:
Motherboard:
Freq: 266
Multiplier: 9
Memory:
Voltage: 2.1 V
Feq: 1066
GPU:
Freq: 100
+ I disabled ATI overdrive (never enabled it, so that still runs stock).
I still got the freezes, so i decided to underclock my system:
Motherboard:
Freq: 330
Multiplier: 7
Memory:
Voltage: 2.0 V
Feq: 800
GPU:
Freq: 100
And still crashes, which for me definitly ruled out problems with my memory and cpu, and probably gpu too, is that correct to assume?
Cheers.

 

[boulard83]

what about NB-SB volt ? CPU volt ? CPUvtt ?

 

[droogle]

@cyleo will try out some bios setting as well once i get back form work tomorrow if i get the time.. this is damn annoying..

 

[cyleo]

I've installed vista 32-bit now, to rule out the 32/64 bit OS. Since i got a crash after 5 minutes (playing NFS Undercover), 64 bit doesn't seem to be the problem (freeze occured during loading btw, as most of the time).

 

[cyleo]

I think i might have found the solution to my problem. I removed one of the RAM modules, and I found my system crashing almost instantly after starting NFS Undercover (which has become kind of my benchmark, since it gives me the fastest freezes, and therefore costs less time). When i switched the removed module with the module that was in there, i could play for 1 hour (after that, i stopped and started typing this ) so i think it's faulty memory. I will run some more tests (real benchmarks and stuff) cause i've tested the memory before and there wasn't a problem then, and memtest showed no problems. I'll keep you up-to-date.

 

[ir_efrem]

try very loose timings in the BIOS

Set ram divider to 1:1
6
6
6
18

at 1.9 Volts
Might be your RAM just isn't up to running at specs - if this works RMA the RAM of course.

 

[cyleo]

Ran some test, and i'm pretty sure it was the RAM, i'll contact OCZ and see what they can do. I hope other this topic is usefull for others with simular problems.
Thanks for the responses.