Strange 5 - 10 sec hanging / freezing

[stringer]

Hi Everyone,

My pc has been acting-up recently and I'm experiencing what i can only describe as short freezes or hiccups where the system will not respond for 5 - 10 secs. After the freeze the system resumes regular operation (ie. programs keep running, video keeps playing etc.) I didn't notice it at first but it seems to be consistently happening every 20 - 40 minutes. It's usually evident when i play videos either from the pc or streamed to another pc. I also see it in games and the freeze period is greatly amplified inside the virtual machines i'm running (freezes go up 15 - 30 secs).

I have no idea where to begin tracking down the problem, so i'm putting this our there to the TM experts.......

Here are my system specs:
> Mainboard : Gigabyte X58A-UD5
> Processor : Intel Core i7 950 @ 3066MHz
> Physical Memory : 6144MB (3 x 2048 DDR3-SDRAM )
> Video Card : AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series
> Hard Disk : OCZ-VERTEX2 3.5 ATA Device (120GB)
> Hard Disk : Western Digital WD20EARS-00MVWB0 (2000GB) * 3
> DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS50
> Monitor Type : Dell Computer DELL 2005FPW - 20 inches
> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter * 2
> Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7601 Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
> DirectX : Version 11.00

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

Are the graphics integrated? the same thing happens to me and it turns out it is my gpu so i am upgrading to a 6870 from my old 8800gt.

 

[stringer]

Are the graphics integrated? the same thing happens to me and it turns out it is my gpu so i am upgrading to a 6870 from my old 8800gt.

No the graphics are not integrated. I have 2 PowerColor 6870s in Crossfire.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

Crossfire sometimes causes problems did it happen when you had one?

 

[stringer]

Crossfire sometimes causes problems did it happen when you had one?

I have crossfire disabled but still have 2 cards installed in the pc. Do you know of any programs that can monitor or track these hickups? I'd like to get an idea of how often it happens.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

Umm...take one out and see if the problem still occurs if it does then put it in xfire

 

[stringer]

Umm...take one out and see if the problem still occurs if it does then put it in xfire

Thanks I'll give it a try this weekend and let you know how it goes.

 

[stringer]

I remove the 2nd card and now i'm only running one HD6870 but still noticing some hickups in games. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

Do you have the latest drivers...If not then one of them may be faulty so put the 2nd one in instead of the 1st.

 

[stringer]

Do you have the latest drivers...If not then one of them may be faulty so put the 2nd one in instead of the 1st.

I do have the latest drivers. I tried the other card alone but still noticing the hanging / freezing.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

how long have you had it??

 

[stringer]

how long have you had it??

this is an older build (1.5 years old). Problem has been occurring for as long as i can remember but haven't had time to track down the root of the issue until now.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

My guess is it is not the graphic card because of all the testing but if you can try a friends or another one you have that is preferably nvidia.