Strange Problem, all out of ideas :(

Punkbuster

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Dec 26, 2010
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First off, sorry if this is in the wrong section. For the past few weeks Ive started having the weirdest problem with my recently built machine. It was working perfectly fine for a few months and then suddenly started randomly partially freezing when i'm playing games or watching videos. What i mean by partially is that some windows and applications will be totally frozen but my desktop and other applications are working fine. When this happens the computer takes forever to open new programs or even do a restart. Sometimes im forced to shutdown by holding the power button, but afterward my computer gets stuck at the loading windows screen and just sits there. I haven't made ANY hardware or software changes when this started happening.

Heres what Ive done to troubleshoot:
-Tested all ram modules (4x 2gb corsair dominators) both with software and by placing them in the computer one at a time and in different pairs. no change...
-Reinstalled the entire operating system, no success.
-Cant be the graphics cards because it started happening when i had 2 4850s and continues when i replaced them with 2 6870s.
-Ran the hard drive test and repair utilities.

The problem occurs randomly with different applications and situations. At this point i dont even know what else to test or do...

Here are the specs if it helps

CPU - AMD Phenom X4 965 black edition
RAM - 4x 2 gig Corasair Dominator 1600
Graphics - 2c XFX 6870s black edition
HDD - 300 GB 1000 RPM WD Velociraptor
MOBO = Asus 790FX-GD70
PSU - 850 WATT

 
Solution
You need to run for 24 hours straight.

Never run ram on "auto" or your just asking for problems.

Just because it was working fine for a few months and then started happening, doesn't mean a setting in your bios did not change, it happens.

Sounds like a Hardrive problem to me, have your run any diagnostic tools on it?

evilenglishman

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Jul 16, 2008
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In theory it *could* be the drivers, have you tried installing some older drivers?
 
That is not a graphic driver problem.

Are you overclocking anything? If so, revert back to stock settings and see if problem persists.

Have you manually set your ram voltage and timings to what the ram manufacturer recommends?

Have you run prime95 to see if you get any errors? What are you max cpu temps under load?

Usually when someone says "PSU-850watt", it's a generic psu. Could be a problem.
 

Punkbuster

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-I haven't overclocked anything because i didn't see a need to... My 2 6870s are overclocked because they are black edition, but that shouldn't be a problem because the same thing was happening with my un-overclocked 4850s.

-I have manually set the ram voltage as well as done auto. But like i said that shouldn't be a problem because everything was working fine for a few months and then it started happening. So in theory that rules out ram voltage/overclocking.

-I have not run prime95 but ill try it right now and let you know, however my idle temps are 23C-30C depending on room temperature and dont go much above 40 under load. (I have a the ultra chiltec aftermarket CPU cooler.

-The PSU is not generic i just thought it wasnt a big deal. To be specific it is a Thermal take TR2 Rx modular and what not.

-About the graphics cards drivers, like i said they were working fine with the same drivers before, on top of that i got a set of 2 new better graphics cards and it still happens.
 
You need to run for 24 hours straight.

Never run ram on "auto" or your just asking for problems.

Just because it was working fine for a few months and then started happening, doesn't mean a setting in your bios did not change, it happens.

Sounds like a Hardrive problem to me, have your run any diagnostic tools on it?
 
Solution

Punkbuster

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Dec 26, 2010
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Well im back to being all out of ideas. I ran the windows hard drive tester as well as western digital's hard drive tester all came back fine. Then ran Prime 95 again and everything came back fine once more. The only thing i can think to do is replace the parts one by one and see if it fixes the problem but i dont have the spares nor the budget to do this.
 

Punkbuster

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Dec 26, 2010
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Well i think i finally fixed it, I loaded north bridge filter drivers, updated graphics and tweaked my ram in the bios again. Not positive which one of the three fixed it but im pretty sure it was the ram timings.