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Help ruling out bad hardware...confirmation requested

thecoffeeguy

thecoffeeguy

Senior member
Hey everyone.
So I have been having this weird issue with my rig that i built back in October.
SPecs:

OS: Windows 7 Pro
Mobo: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3
CPU: MD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core
Memory:G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
PSU: Enhance 500W
Hard Drive: 320gb Sata Seagate
GPU: Nvidia GTX 260
CPU Cooler: Stock AMD CPU cooler
Zero overclocking.

So here are the symptoms.
Sometimes, the system runs fine for hours with no issues at all. I can browse/email/game whatever with no issues at all.
Then, other times, I get random freezes. Can be 5 minutes after booting up, could be 2 hours after booting up. Usually when it starts to freeze up, it reoccurs during that day.
It has hung while booting up. Right before the login screen.
It has hung while playing games, while the screensaver is running. You get the basics.

My BIOS on my mobo is up to date.
My drivers are up to date.
I have tried reinstalling the OS. No luck. Still persists.

I ran memtest yesterday and it did 1 full pass with no errors. Was wondering if I should run more?

I took out one stick of RAM yesterday and tested one. Still having the same issue.

My initial thoughts are that it could be:

RAM
MOBO
PSU

To confirm, it would be highly unlikely that it is the CPU correct? Assuming that it is not getting cooled properly. But, I do no overclocking at all. That is why I ruled out the CPU.

How can I rule out the PSU?
How can I rule out the Mobo?

My gut tells me its the mobo or RAM, but how do I tell? I yanked one DIMM yesterday and tried running one. Same result. Still getting freezes.

Any other advice?
I have contacted both G.Skill and ASRock about the RMA process and I have those ready.
Just trying to determine which one it is.

Really appreciate the help.

TCG
 
It is actually possible your CPU is overheating which is not always caused by overclocking. You say you built the system 5 months ago back in October. Have you maintained the inside of your case by cleaning dust from all the cooling fans as well as the cpu heat sink? You can usually monitor the cpu temp in the hardware monitor in the bios. Also you should do at least two passes in a memory test. As far as the PSU, if all your fans, you HDD and optical drives are functioning after hours of being powered up its unlikely that is where your problems lie. You might also try pulling the VGA card out and going with the O/B graphics and see if the problem persists. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
pete1229 said:
It is actually possible your CPU is overheating which is not always caused by overclocking. You say you built the system 5 months ago back in October. Have you maintained the inside of your case by cleaning dust from all the cooling fans as well as the cpu heat sink? You can usually monitor the cpu temp in the hardware monitor in the bios. Also you should do at least two passes in a memory test. As far as the PSU, if all your fans, you HDD and optical drives are functioning after hours of being powered up its unlikely that is where your problems lie. You might also try pulling the VGA card out and going with the O/B graphics and see if the problem persists. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I might get an aftermarket CPU cooler (any recommendations, nothing gigantic please 🙂 ).
I will take a look at the inside of my case again, make sure it is nice and clean. I wonder if I should get a new CPU cooler, put that on and do some testing before exploring the RAM and mobo route.

I will do two passes with memtest thsi afternoon when I get home.
Unfortunately, i dont have a onboard graphics board. I would have to borrow a card if possible.

Thanks for your help.
Anything else anyone can think of?

TCG
 
If you go that route (new cpu heat sink and fan)_ Frys.Com and in store has a pretty wide selection of choices to match your CPU. Just be sure to clean any residue thermal paste from the top of the chip and apply an even coating of new paste before you seat the new heat sink. You might even try doing that with the cooler you have now before spending money on a new one.
 
Anyone know of a way that I can rule out the motherboard?
I'll add a after market CPU cooler, with better paste. That should rule out the CPU, assuming that they still exist.
After that, mobo, RAM and PSU?
 
if it's randomly freezing..
1) I would first try reinstalling the graphic cards drivers... as that can often cause these symptoms...
2) Then I would also run checks for malware
3) then run a CHECKDISK to see if you have a bad sector on the hard drive

If those don't address the issue.. go back and run at least 5 passes of memtest .. one pass is not sufficient...

It's very unlikely you have a CPU issue..
 
Software can also cause your Machine to freeze up, If it began shortly after installing anything new, you might want to try experimenting with that.
 
mlc said:
if it's randomly freezing..
1) I would first try reinstalling the graphic cards drivers... as that can often cause these symptoms...
2) Then I would also run checks for malware
3) then run a CHECKDISK to see if you have a bad sector on the hard drive

If those don't address the issue.. go back and run at least 5 passes of memtest .. one pass is not sufficient...

It's very unlikely you have a CPU issue..
Click to expand...

I will try the video card drives.
I'll double check for malware as well, but I am pretty confident it does not have any.

so if its not the video card, no malware, my drive passes checkdisk, and my memory passes 5 tests of memtest, are we saying it is the mobo?

Any way I can confirm 100% that it is indeed the mobo?

What strikes me as odd is that the machine was running great for about 7 weeks after being built, then it just started having issues, the freezes. Like something changed, or died.
 
BINGO! I think I found the issue.

I ran memtest this afternoon. Put one DIMM in and started it up.
I set back and let it run. It got through 3 passes and BAM! It locks up. Cant do anything at all.

Took almost 2 hours to get through the tests, but definitely froze after 1 hour 53 minutes and 3 successful passes.

Safe to say that this is a bad DIMM?
 
thecoffeeguy said:
Testing the second DIMM right now. Been through 5 passes so far.
Probably let it run overnight.
Test tomorrow, see how the rig reacts.
Click to expand...

so the second dimm passed 8 tests and was going strong. Had to pull the plug last night to get a few things done.

My suspicion is the first DIMM is bad.
 
did you test each stick in the same slot? If so, then its probably a bad stick. .but you can easily confirm by rerunning the test against each of the 2 sticks again to see if you get the same results
 
mlc said:
did you test each stick in the same slot? If so, then its probably a bad stick. .but you can easily confirm by rerunning the test against each of the 2 sticks again to see if you get the same results
Click to expand...

Yes. Tested both DIMMS in the first slot to verify.

Think I have a bad DIMM.
 
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