Gigabyte z68xp-ud4 rev1.0 FREEZING ISSUE

[sputnik27]

Hi guys sorry to be annoying you with a crappy question like this, and i know there are a lot of them out there but i couldn't find anyone with my exact issue. Now i built my own pc back in December last year (2011), i have been running windows 7 32-bit with no problems what so ever. It runs smooth and all that. When i started to play minecraft and other games i wanted to gain full access of my memory due to the fact windows 32bit has that 4GB limitation. Any how when i run windows 7 64 Bit, all will be fine and well until i attempt to close this site with Firefox. For some reason Firefox will just freeze up and then my computer becomes unresponsive requiring a reboot from the power button. Both the keyboard and mouse are unresponsive, cant cntrl alt del, and no light comes on when i push the caps lock button on the keyboard. I noticed however that when this occurs which is every single time i attempt to close Firefox on this page, the hard drive activity LED will stop completely with no flashing. Now my hard drive is new, i got it in july (2012)so im not sure if its that. I have attempted multiple solutions such as replacing my ram with a friends-nothing, changing slots-ntohing, enabling XMP-nothing, replacing graphics card with an older one nothing, i have noticed my cpu temps are fine running around 28-30 degrees Celsius. I also experience these freezes in safe mode with networking enabled so i can access the site. Im practically on the verge of picking up my computer and slamming it.

My specs are :
CASE- corsair 650D
PSU- corsair AX850
MOBO- Gigabyte z68xp-ud4 REV1.0 (bios F6)
RAM- gskill 1600 4GBX2 kit - 1.5v CL8-8-8-24
CPU- intel I7 2600k (not over clocked ever)
GPU- XFX 2gb 6970
HDRIVES- Seagate barracuda 1TB (32bit windows) and Seagate barracuda 2TB (64bit windows)- not in raid. and i disconnect the other hard drive when using the 64bit
DVDDRIVE- Pioneer
COOLER- Coolermaster hyper 212+

If i cant find a solution im going to replace the motherboard but im scared i will still get the same issues

ALL HELP IS WELCOME

 

[abekl]

"all will be fine and well until i attempt to close this site with Firefox"

Is this the only time your machine freezes up? Is the freezing site specific?

If so, I would first say that you have a software, not hardware, issue. Second, I would look at running firefox in it's own safe mode (not windows safe mode) to determine whether you have an add-on or extension problem.

 

[sputnik27]

It has frozen mainly with firefox and on Internet explorer sometimes, both on this exact site and i have had it freeze on Youtube and Facebook to, although they are more random when they happen. When i close toms hardware it is almost every single time that it will freeze.

 

[abekl]

Try to reproduce the freeze while running firefox in its safe mode. If it still happens, we can look at that. If it stops happening in safe mode, then we can narrow down the specific add-on or extension that's causing the problem.

 

[sputnik27]

Yeap froze in safe mode. Thanks for your help by the way

 

[abekl]

My pleasure to try and help.

Did this start happening all of a sudden? Did you install anything (including firefox updates or add-ons) after which this started happening?

What version of firefox are you running? If not the latest, try updating to the latest and see if the error persists. Also, go into your plugins menu in Firefox, and check to see that everything is up to date.

One possibility is that you have some bad memory, but that is a remote possibility. We'll check that after you look at the other stuff.

 

[sputnik27]

Ok so it started happening when i began using firefox i believe. If i dont browse the web its fine i think havent really tried. But it was the latest waterfox. With the idea of bad memory i attempted to use my friends ram who can run 64bit perfect no issues and it did the same thing.

 

[abekl]

Wait - does this happen with Firefox or Waterfox? Two completely different animals.

 

[sputnik27]

should of specified happens with both

 

[abekl]

Have you done your version (browser and plug ins) check and update?

 

[sputnik27]

yeah i updated java, adobe flash player, installed the latest of waterfox and installed microsoft silver light i think it was.

 

[abekl]

...and...

 

[sputnik27]

Still freezes on this site. I can access it scroll through it and stuff but when i close it the windows minimizes half way and then it just freezes and becomes unresponsive.

 

[abekl]

I'm stumped.

I think you might have a corrupted install of your browser. Try backing up your bookmarks, uninstalling (Completely) Firefox, and perform a fresh install. Then restore your bookmarks.

That's about all I can think of.

 

[sputnik27]

Thats the thing. I was having these issues with normal Firefox, so i uninstalled it then installed waterfox because its 64 bit. Still same issues. I just dont know any more... What do you think of the new msi mpower boards. can you give me a link on this forum for a review or something, because that might be my next option.

 

[abekl]

I really don't think you have a hardware problem. Everything says to me that it's a software config error somewhere in Windows. If it was a hardware problem, you'd be seeing this behavior all throughout Windows.

That being said, if you want to look at motherboards, please stick to Asus and Gigabyte. In my experience, they are the two best makers. MSI has a good share of quality control issues, and I don't recommend it, same goes for Asrock.

 

[sputnik27]

thanks, what would you say a software issue is characterised by ? I really want to get this computer going so i can enjoy the break when i finish my final year of school in a few weeks so if i dont have to buy anything and i can solve this that would be awesome. Heres a question, i've seen many people attempting to freeze these fixes by messing with timings and volts with the ram. Now if i was to boost my ram which is 1.5V in the bios to 1.60 would i kill it ? also what would the best timings be?

 

[abekl]

I've never heard of adjusting ram voltage or timings to solve freezing issues. If you were getting Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issues, then I'd say sure, could be your ram voltage or timing.

To adjust ram voltage, go in .05 v increments. Say from 1.5 to 1.55. If you set your 1.5v ram to 1.6 it won't kill it. It'll age a little faster, but that's about all. As for timings, you can try relaxing the timings from the default which is usually something like 9-9-9-24 to 10-10-10-25, and see if that helps. Leave the 1T or 2T setting alone.

 

[sputnik27]

Hey i think i found a solution. Now i believe it was my d-link wireless network adapter that was clashing with something. Since the adapter was fairly old i can see why it was causing an issue, i ended up replacing it with an old Netgear usb wireless adapter that i had lying around and updated its firmware to the latest. After doing this i am having no issues what so ever browsing on waterfox, going on this site and Youtube as well as Facebook. I can close Waterfox with no freezing nothing. Now its just a waiting game to see whether it does get triggered again. Any how man i thank you for your help, although it did not directly help me, by telling me it looked software related you got me motivated again to figure out what it was. thank you! Is it possible to mark this as solved?

 

[abekl]

wow. Glad you appear to have gotten it solved. I would never think to look at the router.

 

[sputnik27]

Best answer selected by sputnik27.

 

[jaquith]

After the fact, but I don't recommend WiFi for any desktop; either CAT-5e/6 'wired' or PowerLine. See this video - http://www.youtube.com/user/NCIXcom/videos?query=PowerLine

WiFi is like a roller coaster for bandwidth, horrible for online gaming due to latency and in general leave it (WiFi) to your Phone, Notebook and/or Tablets.

 

[sputnik27]

Im totally with you on that point, but when you have Croatians for parents the idea of cables running through the house or holes being drilled through places to hide it, it doesnt sit to well them. Wifi is my only option.

 

[jaquith]

PowerLine uses the wall sockets if you don't or cannot run CAT-5e/6 lines to your PC's, so the lines as such are no more than the power cords themselves. Meaning the PowerLine is clean and as simple as you can get.