System freezes

[galkim]

Hi all!

i've been having this problem for a while:

many times during gaming, the systems freezes for a second or two, and the sound getts fuzzy and repeats itself continuously really fast for a second, too.

after that, the system returns to normal, and this is repeated every couple of minutes.
if i don't exit the game and reboot the system, eventually the system freezes completely and i have to restart it.

this also happens sometimes (although less frequently) when I'm watching videos or even when the system is idle.

i checked my system temps in CPUid and they're fine. i have all the latest drivers. i flashed my BIOS about 4 months ago. my 12V is around 12.39, and doesn't change by more than 0.2V

what should i do?

specs:
AMD phenom II 920 2.8x4Ghz
Asus M4A78-E Mobo
Kingston Hyper-x 2x2Gb DDR2 CL5-kit
Sapphire 4870HD 1Gb Vapor-x
Aerocool S9 pro Chassis
Vista home premium 64bit

 

[vimal992]

does it happen for all the games you play or it happens only for a few??

 

[asteldian]

Have you tried using one stick of the RAM? If it is still a problem then try the other?

Usually when RAM has become faulty it causes freezing, admittedly it is usually a complete freeze which requires you to restart computer. But possibly one of your sticks is on its way out, so it is starting to cause freezes but with the other stick working it has prevented an out right freeze (though eventualy succumbs. Usually if one stick is faulty the system will freeze regardless of the other working well, but if the stick is only just starting to be a problem then what you are getting may be possible)
It's worth a try. Certainly freezing when doing nothing tends to be a RAM issue (I should know, I have had to RMA one of my sticks just the other week)

 

[galkim]

@viaml992: all games

@asteldian: it happened ever since i put the computer together, which is a year ago, so could it be the RAM?

 

[asteldian]

Ah, in that case one of your sticks may always have been funky.

I put my machine together and my system was freezing either at start up, or when browsing the internet, or when playing a game, or when shutting down, or when idle...so anytime basically. Sometimes I could get through a game for an hour or so before it happened, sometimes I couldn't even finish loading windows.

My First suggestion is to remove the second stick of RAM and use your computer as normal with one stick in. If the problem persists, turn off and swap the sticks so the other is being used.

You should hopefully find that one stick working fine as this means you know the other is the problem.

Hopefully this identifies the problem for you, otherwise it gets more complex.

The next test is to go into the Bios to confirm the RAM speed and voltage. You should know the optimum setting for your RAM (e.g 7-7-7-22, 1.65v). If the settings are correct and still causing problems, you can slow the RAM down. I had 1600mhz RAM but when I slowed it to 1066mhz the freezing stopped occuring.
Another way of solving it is to increase the voltage (but don't exceed the motherboards recommended settings - the number will be red if you do so just decrease it again).

Of course, to avoid the complicated Bios stuff, you can download Memtest86+ and then run it for about 7 phases and it will identify if the RAM is faulty

 

[galkim]

ok well after a couple of passes in memtest, no errors were found...

i didnt try to remove one RAM module, beacuse my cpu fan is kind of big, and i'll have to remove it and some other stuff in order to get to the ram modules....

any other suggestions??

 

[rajiv1990]

Try the dxdiag and see if any hardware problems are detected in graphics and audio sections.


Chances for memory related problem is large if you do not diagnose any problem in dxdiag.

Try removing each of the ram modules and insert them one by one and firmly.Try to run the pc and see whether it hangs.
If not try the same with the other one.If any of these turn to be causing freezes you can suppose the problem is with the module.
Again try with other slots.We can go for a trial and error method to solve whether it is some problem with memory.

My friend had a similar problem that system hangs few seconds to minutes and return to normal.
It was made alright only after the ram modules were rightly inserted.

(The funny thing was that no errors were detected by the memtest or other diagnosing softwares.The pc ran but had freezes frequently.
The pc became normal after reinserting the ram modules firmly and correctly.)

 

[ohsonoob]

Also another thing to look at would be the quality of the PSU you have. If the PSU quality is bad, it could cause the intermittent freezing. But for now, I suggest what other posters have said. Check the RAM and test each to see that none of them are faulty.

 

[vimal992]

hmmm......first off u hav to give the ram a try but have you tried playing ur games on XP service pack 2 and XP service pack 3...and have you tried updating your vista....

IF THEN DID YOU CHECK OUT THE 32 BIT VERSIONS(VISTA AND XP) if not u must definitelly try it on 32 bit platforms......

k then try this once.....remove your graphic card and uninstall its drivers completely using revo or similiar software...restart dowload the latest BIOS which is in exe..type and install...restart 2-3 times and now insert ur graphc card and install the drivers for it....well i had this typ of problem with 4650...and its fixed now..