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Pc freezing randomly, and when not in use..

A

axion

Senior member
Guys, my new PC likes to suddenly and randomly freeze at strange times.

Sometimes it can be while browsing eBay, sometimes it can happen while watching a you tube video.

Recently I wake up to the PC frozen in the morning, but it was fine when I stopped using it the night before.

All lights and whatnot stay on, fans keep running. Lights on the keyboard shut off, and mouse won't work. Anything that was moving on the screen stops as well.

Now, about 1 out of 10 times, if I wait about 30 seconds or so, my keyboard will light back up and things will carry on just fine. Most of the time though I am having to hit the reset button.

Specs are as follows:

Core i7 920
6GB Corsair XMS3
WD 640 Black
Corsair 650 PSU
BFG GTX 260

I have checked connections and everything seems fine. Like I said there is no real time I can pinpoint, or anything specific I am doing when the PC locks up.

And, thinking it might have been the USB ports, I tried changing things around in different USB spots while frozen and no go there as well.. Please help!

 
Could be a driver issues. Make sure you have the most recent drivers. If you do then try roleing back to an older set that may be more stable. Especially on the video card.
 
You mean motherboard drivers?

I have not updated any drivers that I know of, so I will try that and see what happens.

I believe through vista's windows update the nvidia drivers were updated once or so. Will post back if it continues!
 
I have AVG run a scan nightly and nothing shows.. What other means of protection would you recommend?
 
I have the same problem with my new Core i7 setup, but it can happen very fast if I try and stress the CPU.
Try running IntelBurnTest, and see if you get any freeze or errors.
 
It sort of sounds like it is going into hibernation. That takes a longer time to wake up than sleep. Have you checked all your power options? Make sure hibernation is unchecked/off, and change every sleep option to NEVER.
 
I actually have the power settings on High Performance and have both Monitor and PC shutoff/sleep set to Never.

I was just informed by my wife that the PC did lock up again today while I was at work, after updating the GFX drivers. 🙁
 
I don't use Vista, but if Vista is like XP in that it has a Safe Mode, try idling in Safe Mode while you're at work or asleep. That should rule out any autostarted background apps or services.

Beyond that, some wild stab in the dark guesses: maybe your hard drive is failing and hanging. Maybe your power supply is weak and unstable.
 
I have thought about the PSU but I wouldn't know what to do, or how to even start checking it to see if it's bad? I have a 1 yr service plan on newegg since I read a few reviews about people frying them after a few months of use.
 
Do you have any old software that is not designed to run on vista or multi core processors?
On my old Core 2 Duo setup, an old firewall called BlackICE was the cause of an unstable computer, it turned out it could not run on a multi core processor, it runs fine on my single core processor laptop.
 
I am having a somewhat similar issue with my core i5 build. Except my crashes are mostly BSODs or application/service crashes when the computer is at low load or idle. I can run memtest (which passes) or prime95 + World of Warcraft + windows updates at the same time with no issues. But if im trying to sync itunes, surf the web, or just letting it sit idle i have problems. Im beginning to wonder if the underclocking when idle isn't undervolting the CPU? Alot of people give me a hard time for my power supply being the issue, but if that were the case, I should be BSODing during prime95 or at least failing the test. As a related note, I have a shuttle SP35P2 with a 400w power supply running a Core2Duo E8400, 4GB ram, and a GTX260 with no issues.

My Setup:
Core i5 750
4GB Corsair DDR3 1333 (2GBx2)
Intel DP55WB motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Enermax 405w Tomahawk
 
Well still doing it, uninstalled all the crap I don't use, checked all connections, drivers, etc.. and still locks up here and there. Im about to throw this thing out the window! lol
 
Originally posted by: bishyaler
I am having a somewhat similar issue with my core i5 build. Except my crashes are mostly BSODs or application/service crashes when the computer is at low load or idle.
Click to expand...

bishyaler - I'm having similar problems with an i7 860 build. I haven't had time to observe very thoroughly what might be causing it. But occasional hangs/app crashes have been happening when there really is very little running. Have you started a separate thread about this? I'd like to read up what others are suggesting.


axion - Have you checked BIOS settings for power management as well? Often you can configure options directly in the BIOS for enabling various sleep states.
 
The fact that you were missing the chipset driver could have and probably was what was causing the crashing, and perhaps windows linked to you the wrong chipset driver. Have you tried manually finding the driver and installing that?

Also, drop your memory to just one stick. I've seen 2 or more setups cause issues before. Or, you may have a failing chip, so if it still crashes with just one, swap in the other.

One other thing, are you running your memory and cpu at their rated voltages? You said this was a new build and have you been to the bios to make sure each isn't under-volted?
 
Thanks guys I will give those ideas and shot and report back!

How would one find the rated voltage my cpu and ram are supposed to be running at though if I no longer have any of the retail packaging?
 
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