[Need Help] Diagnosing why computer freezes

[tomyemx]

My computer freezes all the time and I can't figure out what's wrong.
I'm this problem for at least 6 months. I've tried running memtest, formatting and reinstalling windows twice, I installed win 7 x64 instead of x32, I replaced the graphic card and PSU, and non of them solved the problem. In most of the time it happens when I watch movies on my MPC-HC while the iTunes or Chrome are open in the background. Uninstalling iTunes and Chrome didn't solve it, just reduced the frequency of the freezes.
When I displug every cable on the computer's connection leaving only mouse, keyboard and monitor connected, disabling Norton Internet Security and closing every unnecessary program it doesn't freeze, even when I play movies on playlist all night.

I have windows 7 x64

Spec:
Motherboard: GA-EP43-DS3
CPU: E8400+Scythe KATANA III
Graphic Card: Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 1GB
PSU: Thermaltake LITEPOWER 500W
HDD: WD 320GB-16MB AAKS - 7200RPM S-ATA II
RAM: Kingston 4GB 1066MHz DDR2
Antec Sonata III
Mouse: Logitech G9
Keyboard: Logtech Media Keyboard 600

Thanks a lot!

Tomer

 

[zycuda]

I would say its time to upgrade the motherboard and ram, theres a small chance that its the hard drive going bad.

 

[zycuda]

That would also require you to upgrade the cpu, let me know if you want to know some good budget parts to upgrade to.(I really doubt its the hard dtive)

 

[smorizio]

i had random issue on my p35 gigbyte board. just random lock up and bsod. found out is was the 1066 ram. I swap in a stick of slower ram from a friend when i rmad my ram for a second time to the ram vendor. with the slower ram the system ran fine no blue screen or any other issues. called the vendor of the ram up and had them send me 800 speed ram for the 1066 ram i had.
the new ram worked fine..all the errors stop with the slower stock ram. it not the mb that was at fault it was the intel chipset.
the p35 and the slightly newer chipsets were not made for the newer 1066 overclock ram. the 1066 and faster ram were ok on the x48/x58 chipsets. memtest is not going to kick out a bit error because the issue only shows up on the chipset under load. it install windows fine and do light work but as soon as ram starts swapping back and forth under load the ram or chipset locks up.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

 

[tomyemx]

Thank you all for your answers!

I would say its time to upgrade the motherboard and ram, theres a small chance that its the hard drive going bad.

That would also require you to upgrade the cpu, let me know if you want to know some good budget parts to upgrade to.(I really doubt its the hard dtive)

Actually I do plan to upgrade the system but only in a few months, so in the meanwhile I'd like to check other options of solving this problem. By the way, is it really necessary to upgrade the cpu also? I'm actually not familiar with recent cpu's of the last 4 years so I'd like to get a recommendation on a cpu, and also on a motherboard and RAM I should upgrade to.

i had random issue on my p35 gigbyte board. just random lock up and bsod. found out is was the 1066 ram. I swap in a stick of slower ram from a friend when i rmad my ram for a second time to the ram vendor. with the slower ram the system ran fine no blue screen or any other issues. called the vendor of the ram up and had them send me 800 speed ram for the 1066 ram i had.
the new ram worked fine..all the errors stop with the slower stock ram. it not the mb that was at fault it was the intel chipset.
the p35 and the slightly newer chipsets were not made for the newer 1066 overclock ram. the 1066 and faster ram were ok on the x48/x58 chipsets. memtest is not going to kick out a bit error because the issue only shows up on the chipset under load. it install windows fine and do light work but as soon as ram starts swapping back and forth under load the ram or chipset locks up.

Hey smorizio, correct me if I'm wrong but I think that if I'll upgrade the motherboard to a 'modern' one the RAM's speed shouldn't be a problem. I also want to point out that I have the system for almost 4 years and the problem started only in the last six months.

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

Hi Brett, actually I did ran a test of WD (I don't remember its name) and it didn't find any problem. Is the test you suggested different?

 

[Brett928S2]

Thank you all for your answers!

I would say its time to upgrade the motherboard and ram, theres a small chance that its the hard drive going bad.

That would also require you to upgrade the cpu, let me know if you want to know some good budget parts to upgrade to.(I really doubt its the hard dtive)

Actually I do plan to upgrade the system but only in a few months, so in the meanwhile I'd like to check other options of solving this problem. By the way, is it really necessary to upgrade the cpu also? I'm actually not familiar with recent cpu's of the last 4 years so I'd like to get a recommendation on a cpu, and also on a motherboard and RAM I should upgrade to.

i had random issue on my p35 gigbyte board. just random lock up and bsod. found out is was the 1066 ram. I swap in a stick of slower ram from a friend when i rmad my ram for a second time to the ram vendor. with the slower ram the system ran fine no blue screen or any other issues. called the vendor of the ram up and had them send me 800 speed ram for the 1066 ram i had.
the new ram worked fine..all the errors stop with the slower stock ram. it not the mb that was at fault it was the intel chipset.
the p35 and the slightly newer chipsets were not made for the newer 1066 overclock ram. the 1066 and faster ram were ok on the x48/x58 chipsets. memtest is not going to kick out a bit error because the issue only shows up on the chipset under load. it install windows fine and do light work but as soon as ram starts swapping back and forth under load the ram or chipset locks up.

Hey smorizio, correct me if I'm wrong but I think that if I'll upgrade the motherboard to a 'modern' one the RAM's speed shouldn't be a problem. I also want to point out that I have the system for almost 4 years and the problem started only in the last six months.

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

Hi Brett, actually I did ran a test of WD (I don't remember its name) and it didn't find any problem. Is the test you suggested different?

Hi

Was it the LONG test (takes an hour or two) ...not a few minutes for quick test...

All the best Brett

 

[tomyemx]

Hi

Was it the LONG test (takes an hour or two) ...not a few minutes for quick test...

All the best Brett

I think it took a few hours but I really don't remember. I'll be able to run the test you suggest only next week (I'm not at home this week), so I can update next week about the reasults. Can you please give me a link to a download of this test? Thanks!

 

[tomyemx]

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

Which test should I run? there are so many...