Frequent Crashes But Nothing Fails Stability Testing...? Help?

[Fallengod]

Test memory. Its gotta be video card or motherboard, or settings on motherboard.

 

[BD231]

Have you tried running with only 2 or 4 gb's of ram? Each stick individually?

 

[chazdraves]

I did try single DIMMs, but I noticed no change. Again, the thing is rock-solid for roughly 6 hours and then usually becomes notably less stable but is completely brought back by a restart and then good for another flawless 6 hours. So far, I've been in Ubuntu for 3 hours without a single glitch to speak of. I guess we'll see, but my money is on software and not hardware.

- Chaz

 

[Neutralman]

Chad I've had the same problem as you for the past 6 months. Specifically, when I game it will randomly crash/freeze/blue screen. Mostly happens during gaming but on a small occasion at other times. I've tried reinstalling windows (no fix), new high quality ram (no fix), and updating video drivers (no fix) since I felt it was video card related (gtx 260).

I have not been able to fix this problem, however, I find that after the first crash, upon restarting the computer, it does not crash again unless I shut the computer down for longer than an hour. It's extremely annoying but I've been able to bypass the problem through this restarting method.

 

[chazdraves]

^---- That's actually good to hear, I appreciate your posting it. That's basically the exact thing I've found as well.

To that end, I've been running Ubuntu for nearly 8 hours straight now without even so much as a texture flicker. I really don't believe this is a hardware problem. I'm going to do the unthinkable and leave my system running overnight and try again tomorrow - I've never managed that without issue in Windows. If that fixes it, then I'm convinced it's somewhere in the software. I wish I knew what the fix is, but I've already ordered a new laptop to replace this rig.

I'll update tomorrow. Thanks for all the ideas!
- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

Well, my final verdict is in. I'll just update so anyone else can use this information to make their own decision.

I am now 100% convinced that this issue is software related and that there is nothing at all wrong with my hardware. Linux made it a full 12 hours and didn't have a single texture flicker, lock-up, reset, or even a skip in the frame rate. I'm not advocating Ubuntu, but I am making the point that the problem lies somewhere within Windows - whether that be the OS, the drivers, something else? I have no idea, but every issue disappeared with the installation of Ubuntu.

Hopefully someone can do something useful with that information. I'll keep an eye on this thread a bit longer, but my mind is made up.

Warm Regards,
- Chaz

 

[Neutralman]

^---- You know what. My friend who works for tech support at a university told me for months now that the simple fix to my problem is to buy windows 7 (I have vista right now). He claims its software related, and since you mentioned ubuntu, I think my problems started after I downloaded one of the windows service packs. My computer was fine for over a year before I downloaded the service packs.

 

[chazdraves]

I've got Win 7 64

Still got the problem... It's something that happened starting with Vista, but it continues in Win 7.

- Chaz

 

[Neutralman]

Ugh. Looks like its time for me to shop for a new desktop!

 

[chazdraves]

I would be curious to see what comes from going 1-2 generations back in GPUs. My theory is that it has something to do with the most/second-most recent video cards on the market being somehow incompatible under certain circumstances. If you know someone that has an older card that'll work in your rig, consider giving it a try to test the theory (I don't). Otherwise, I suggest it's some odd incompatibility based on a combination of parts running in Windows.

Just my thoughts, anyhow.

- Chaz

 

[kalrith]

Didn't read the whole thread, but here's how to max stress test your system. Run prime95 on 3 cores. Then run Furmark cranked up on your native res. Let this run for 12-24 hours. 1 hour of stress testing definitely doesn't cut it. I've gotten errors 7-8 hours in before.

If that doesn't produce any errors, then run Memtest86+, limit it to test 5, and run for 12-24 hours.

Edit: Be sure to monitor temps and that you have adequate cooling before running these stress tests!!!

 

[pandemonium]

Chaz, I've been having very similar problems as what you've mentioned and also taken the same troubleshooting steps (maybe not as extensively) as you to no avail; minus reinstalling the OS / swapping to a different OS.

I have Windows 7 x64 (Ultimate) as well and have random crashes/freezes. Luckily for me it's not restricted to gaming and will happen at random, even while just browsing or watching Netflix. I've even had it freeze up while completely idle and not in use! It's so annoying since I let my computer sleep and rarely shut it down and all the site login cookies become corrupt and I have to login to everything all over again. I've done this about a hundred times now and it really pisses me off, lol. A good test of my patient and I'm afraid to say it's winning.

I've run memtest86 for several hours, but never more than four. I'll try this while I'm at work tomorrow. I'll admit that 4 hours (even 4 instances utilizing all memory and nearly 100% of CPU) won't be enough to produce results.

Regarding your thoughts on the latest generations of graphics cards being the culprit, I can say it's not the case - for me at least. I've experienced complete freezing now with X800, 7950GT, HD4830, and HD6870.

The only commonality between our builds other than OS is our MoBo brand, Gigabyte. /sideeye

I really hate wiping, but at this point I'm thinking that it's my only option. :/

Edit - Stupid question: What do you mean by TDR? Timeout Detection and Recovery?

 

[chazdraves]

Yep, that's the TDR in question.

I'm really glad you added that information, that's actually quite enlightening. More to the point, I hope it's helpful to someone else in the future.

I would recommend (if you like) trying to install Ubuntu using the Wubi Windows installer (which allows you to uninstall it through control panel like any other program. If you can run Ubuntu on there for a day or two successfully, we can once again and more completely point the finger at Windows as the culprit. This wouldn't quite nail the actual causation, but it would be a step towards it.

Other than that, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. I made the decision to buy a new Acer laptop and haven't looked back, but it drove me insane for the time I had to fight with it.

Best of luck!
- Chaz