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Computer Freezing / Locking up randomly

MasterEvilAce

Junior Member
I built a computer from scratch for someone earlier in the year, and it seems to occasionally lockup. I finally have the computer in my possession again to fix it.

I just don't know what's causing it, and I can't seem to be able to reproduce it. Supposedly simple things like browsing facebook or youtube will cause a freeze, where the picture gets somewhat distorted (colored lines maybe), and a high-pitched sound comes through the speakers until power is cycled on the machine.

I think it might be related to the onboard graphics chip (AMD), but I'm not positive. Reports of the catalyst drivers crashing and restarting out of nowhere. Not sure if it's that, or maybe even something like a powersupply issue. I have reinstalled the catalyst drivers a few times when I had access to the machine a bit earlier, but the problem is still there.

I've run RAM testers and benchmark programs (3DMark for instance) and let it run for awhile.. but there don't seem to be any stability problems popping up during those extreme tests.


Here is the primary hardware
1 x GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
1 x AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor ADX240OCGQBOX
1 x A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD2U800B1G5-DRH
1 x Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply


Any sort of applications I can run, or any ideas are appreciated. I will probably format the machine just in case, but I'm a bit worried if it is a hardware issue. The computer is running Windows 7 and the event viewer is fine up until it locks up and I have to restart it.. the only error shown is a loss of kernel power (from restarting).
 
Can you drop a video card in and see if that cures the problem?

(should help if the problem is only the on-board video)
 
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