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Cause of random system freezes?

W

wpcoe

Senior member
Randomly, but too frequently, the system in my sig below freezes.

I first notice it when the mouse cursor doesn't move, then if I try the keyboard it doesn't respond. The coup de grace is that the reset button on the computer case won't restart the system. I have to press and hold the start button until the computer shuts down.

How do I determine the cause? Motherboard? RAM? Power supply? CPU? Windows itself?

It happened this evening so I went to look at event logs, and realized I don't know which logs to look at. Nothing stood out for the time frame when the system froze.
 
First: Do you have a "Haswell Ready" PSU?

Second: Have you tried disabling SST and C-states?

Third: Have you done RAM tests?

Strange that the case's RESET button doesn't work. That means a fairly serious hardware-hang.
 
How does one tell if a PSU is Haswell Ready? Mine is a Silverstone SST-ST45SF-G. From what I can tell from this article apparently the ST45SF is, so would the "upgraded" -G (80+ Gold) version be, also?

From what I can tell my ASRock motherboard doesn't enable SST. I will disable C-states, and see if I get a shutdown.

I ran Memtest86-7.1 for two iterations of the default tests. Should I run it longer?

Yeah, the reset button thing bothers me. I suspect a motherboard issue, but not sure how to prove that.
 
wpcoe said:
How does one tell if a PSU is Haswell Ready? Mine is a Silverstone SST-ST45SF-G. From what I can tell from this article apparently the ST45SF is, so would the "upgraded" -G (80+ Gold) version be, also?

From what I can tell my ASRock motherboard doesn't enable SST. I will disable C-states, and see if I get a shutdown.

I ran Memtest86-7.1 for two iterations of the default tests. Should I run it longer?

Yeah, the reset button thing bothers me. I suspect a motherboard issue, but not sure how to prove that.
Click to expand...

You'll have to eliminate one thing at a time. This isn't an over clocked system I assume, since you're using an i3 dual-core processor. IF it is, and you've tweaked the bCLK or other limited means of boosting speed, eliminate that and set all back to stock.

Further, I would recommend you go online and get the free and latest version of HCI Memtest-64, build the bootable CD for it, and test your RAM. I don't use Memtest86 anymore, and wouldn't know about version 7.1. But HCI Memtest-64 is considered more reliable and versatile for the more recent chipsets, processors and RAM.

You would think the power-saving C-state features would work on a stock-clocked system, but they can cause trouble for an overclock. But what do I know?
 
more info on your system.
how long have you had the problem?
any new components that might be causing the problem?
is computer under warranty?
 
wpcoe said:
The coup de grace is that the reset button on the computer case won't restart the system.
Click to expand...

I'd love to hear what the fix for this ends up being.

I have never heard of the RESET SW not working. That is crazy talk.

Just hearing that screams "motherboaaaarrrrdddd" -- but can't be too sure.
 
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