New build freezes randomly

[zujwa]

Hi,
I've seen problems of this sort posted, but I haven't found a solution yet that fixes the problem for me.

I just built my first computer. Windows 7 installation went fine, but the computer will completely freeze randomly. I can't move the mouse cursor or use the keyboard. The computer is still on however and the fans will keep going. I need to press reset on the tower.

It has happened when the computer is sitting idle, when just browsing the internet, and when playing a game, so it doesn't show any pattern that I can discern. There are times where it last for over 3 hours in windows without freezing, and other times it lasts only 5 minutes before it freezes. From speedfan, temps of the cpu and graphics card seem fine.

This is my system:

Windows 7 Enterprise
Gigabyte p67 UD3 B3 mobo
ATI Radeon HD 6950 2gb video card
2x 2GB 1333 RAM (Microcenter brand)
True Power New 650w ATX Power Supply PSU
i5 2500k
Hitachi 500 gb hard drive

From other threads, it seems this is usually due to bad ram. I've already exchanged the ram for another two sticks at microcenter, and it still freezes. The one issue with the ram though, is that there is no recommended voltage listed(on the package or on the website), so I've left that at the default 1.5v. I guess microcenter repackages ram from other distributers, and so they can't give a value for that. I've tried lowering the frequency to 1066 instead of 1333 and that didn't help.

Would it be worth trying to up the ram voltage to 1.56?

I believe I have the updated drivers for the motherboard and video card to the most recent available. I'm at a loss for what could be wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if any more info is needed. Thanks!

 

[lowjack989]

It does sound like bad RAM...voltages are fine leave em alone....try some RAM that isn't rebranded 2nds....QC probably isn't all that good at MC

 

[bvereb]

I had this problem and spent hours searching the internet for solutions. It seems to happen with all brands of motherboards, ram and video cards etc etc...you name it. I changed the power settings in windows to performance and the problems seems to be gone...at least for now. There is something not right with Windows power management conflicting with the motherboards I think.
First time posting here

 

[zujwa]

lowjack989: Do you think it could still be the ram, even though I already exchanged it for new (albeit still microcenter brand) ram? I guess it's possible I got a bad batch twice.

bvereb: I will give that a shot once I get home.

Thanks for your replies!

I've seen other posts attribute this to the power supply also. I thought 650 should be enough, but is it possible I should have gotten a higher powered PSU?

 

[lowjack989]

Maybe PSU but seems to me with your symptoms more like malfunctioning RAM....Hey run memtest and see what it comes up with

 

[zujwa]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for the late response, I unexpectedly had to go out of town for a few days. I've noticed lately that I haven't had a freeze up in a while. That is coincident with my system finally finishing all of the Windows Update updates (and me setting power settings to high performance). I'm not sure if that actually fixed the problem, or I've just been lucky lately. If it crashes again, I will begin to re-investigate the RAM and run memtest. Thanks so much for the suggestions.