Computer keeps freezing randomly

[ShiftySpider]

Hi, as the title describes my computer has been constantly freezing. It usually happens after over 1 hour of use. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, it just freezes and I have to restart it. My specs are
E6300
Gigaybyte DS3
1 gig DDR2 667 Ram
430 watt Thermaltake PSU

I've had this computer for a few months now, but only recently did it start freezing up on me. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If you have access to a known good spare PSU give it a try.

 

[Bill Brasky]

I would say faulty psu, but don't those generally just cause crashes when there is large power draw from the system (e.g. 3d apps, etc)?

Do you monitor your cpu and gpu temps, spider?

edited for clarity

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: Zaitsev
I would say faulty psu, but don't those generally cause crashes during large power draw (e.g. 3d apps, etc)?

Do you monitor your cpu and gpu temps, spider?

The OP said it didn't matter what he was doing and it generally happens after one hour of use. Given that, it's better than 50-50 that it's the Tt power supply.

 

[ShiftySpider]

My CPU temp is usually quite low, but I am unsure of my GPU temp. I would also assume that that is low. Also, I don't have access to a spare PSU.

 

[latino666]

Originally posted by: ShiftySpider
My CPU temp is usually quite low, but I am unsure of my GPU temp. I would also assume that that is low. Also, I don't have access to a spare PSU.

whats the gpu?

 

[NOTuserfriendly]

UMmm..
i would stay away from Thermal take
it would probably be PSU
get SpeedFan and install that
and then monitor the temperatures
if you see red arrows ... well that means temp is to high
it might be bad RAM
im not sure
my friend had the same problem actually and it was the PSU who was causing things

 

[ShiftySpider]

All my temps are around 30 Degrees Celsius including GPU, and I have been using speedfan to monitor the temps So should I RMA the RAM and PSU, or is there anything I can do without returning them?

 

[cheesygoldfish]

Originally posted by: latino666

Originally posted by: ShiftySpider
My CPU temp is usually quite low, but I am unsure of my GPU temp. I would also assume that that is low. Also, I don't have access to a spare PSU.

whats the gpu?

Video card

 

[cheesygoldfish]

Originally posted by: ShiftySpider
All my temps are around 30 Degrees Celsius including GPU, and I have been using speedfan to monitor the temps So should I RMA the RAM and PSU, or is there anything I can do without returning them?

run a memory test

 

[latino666]

Originally posted by: cheesygoldfish

Originally posted by: latino666

Originally posted by: ShiftySpider
My CPU temp is usually quite low, but I am unsure of my GPU temp. I would also assume that that is low. Also, I don't have access to a spare PSU.

whats the gpu?

Video card

I know that...but what video card is he running. That PSU only has 18A on a single 12v line. Depending on what video card he has that PSU might be it like every one is saying.

 

[ShiftySpider]

I have a BFG 7900GS.

 

[ShiftySpider]

Originally posted by: cheesygoldfish

Originally posted by: ShiftySpider
All my temps are around 30 Degrees Celsius including GPU, and I have been using speedfan to monitor the temps So should I RMA the RAM and PSU, or is there anything I can do without returning them?

run a memory test

Sorry, but how exactly do I run a memory test? I have never done it before and am a bit confused.

 

[waitman]

download memtest iso and burn it to cd. You can then boot to the cd as long as you have your pc set to boot from the cdrom. You can find it here, http://www.memtest.org/ I have had 2 of those power supplies and have had flaky issues with both.

 

[ShiftySpider]

Okay, I have an update. I have some new RAM on the way that I just bought, so if that is the problem I'll know. If that is not the problem, I'll buy a new Power supply. I hope it is either of those. Heres the update part. Last week, it stopped freezing altogether, but on Friday night it started freezing for a few seconds, then allowing me to do stuff for a few seconds than freezing again, until it froze altogether. When I restart it, it will start doing that almost immediately if the computer was just on, but if I wait a while I can get 10-20 minutes out of it before it starts that. It did this before, but then it stopped and just froze altogether after an 1+ of use. One thing I noticed is that every time it was stuttering, there would be hard drive activity, so my question is is it possible that its a Hard Drive problem? Thanks you everyone that has helped so far, I wouldn't have much of a clue if it weren't for you guys.

 

[ShiftySpider]

No more help?

 

[Roguestar]

Don't just buy replacements, do the memtest.

 

[ShiftySpider]

I'm not just buying replacements, I knew that eventually I was going to need more than a gig of ram, and felt that now would be a good time. Also, I had some trouble figuring out memtest. It ran what I assume to be normally, then stopped and wouldn't proceed any further. I'm sorry, but I don't remember the exact details, and I won't be able to run the test again until tomorrow.

 

[ShiftySpider]

No one else thinks that it could be the HD?

 

[ShiftySpider]

Okay, well I just got the new RAM and put it in, now lets see if it freezes. I will report back when I have results.

 

[ShiftySpider]

Okay, well that did not work. Well, at least I finally upgraded to two gigs of RAM. So can someone answer my question about the HD, and if it is a PSU problem, is it because the PSU is faulty or is it because I am draining to much power? Thanks a lot.