Problems with freezing up

[Alistaair]

So my computer is a dell studio xps 435MT. My dad recently upgraded some parts from the factory one. He put in a corsair ax750 power supply, 12 gb of ram, and an ati radeon 6770 1gb (i think it's like an XOC brand). Ever since that has happened, i have had problems with it freezing. Not all the time, and only when i play video games for 2-3 hours. And after it happens once, it will repeatedly happen again after that whenever i try to play games. It does it no matter what game i'm playing. Team fortress 2, battlefield 3, MW3, Minecraft, doesn't matter. So here's the deal, when this happens, usually the screen will freeze, followed quickly by the monitor turning black, and after a second or 2, turn back on. With the resolution being about 600x800. Big. And the only way to fix the resolution is by starting the task manager, and ending the game i was playing. That's all it requires. And just a few minutes ago, it wasn't just the screen that flashed on and off, my whole computer actually froze, but it started like the other times with the monitor first. So my question is, what do you think the problem is? I talked to both my uncles, who are big techy guys, and from what i had described, sounded like the gpu was overheating. But i turned the fan onto 70%, same thing happened. And the temp isn't that high, only about 56 degrees C. Correct me if i'm wrong, but is it a CPU issue? Or a motherboard? I wouldn't be surprised at either one, as both are fairly old, and probably being dell, not the best quality. Except the cpu, which is a first gen Intel Core i7-920. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[kelthic]

yhou should monitor your temps with HWMonitor http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html and run http://www.memtest86.com/download.html. you GPU temp looks good, but i am wondering what your cpu temps are like. I'm also concerned that you might have a bad stick of ram. You should run multiple passes of mem test and replace the whole kit if any errors show up.

 

[Alistaair]

yhou should monitor your temps with HWMonitor http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html and run http://www.memtest86.com/download.html. you GPU temp looks good, but i am wondering what your cpu temps are like. I'm also concerned that you might have a bad stick of ram. You should run multiple passes of mem test and replace the whole kit if any errors show up.

Running temps at idle for the cpu are all around 40 C, i don't have a dvd to write the mem test with though. I will start running a game, just to see what temps are like when i get crashed. Hopefully it won't be a whole computer crash this time, just the monitor. I'll post another reply when i know.

 

[kelthic]

Sorry, try this version http://hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html how are your cpu temps at load?

 

[Alistaair]

Sorry, try this version http://hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html how are your cpu temps at load?

the cpu temps look fine, 50 C max, while there is something else noticable. The temp1 reading on the CPUID moniter is reading at 160 degrees farenheit. Not sure where that sensor is, but it doesn't really sound good to me. And everytime i try to play a game now it keeps freezing on me, the whole computer. I have to restart every time. The temp1 is called TMPIN0 in the CPUID monitor program

 

[kelthic]

verify that temp with speed fan or core temp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

though, despite that temp, freezing computers is usually a RAM, Video, or driver issue and not a temp thing. if the cpu was overheating, the safety systems would shut down your computer, not lock it up. Make sure you run memtest for several passes and report back any errors. Also, make sure you have updated your drivers, or try a different driver version.