Hey all, I recently built my first computer, and I’ve had freezing problems with it since day one. And for clarification, when I say “freeze” I mean that the computer completely stop responding and I have to press the restart or power button on my chassis. The freeze will also cut all power to my keyboard and mouse – any lights on them go out. Though, all my fans will continue spinning. Sometimes the monitor will still display the desktop other times it won’t. There are two different times it will freeze up (OS: Windows XP 32-bit Professional SP3): 1st: Sometimes it will freeze on startup, but always only after you see the desktop, sometimes it will freeze while still loading the icons in the task bar, or sometimes it will freeze several minutes (~5 min. or so) after everything is loaded. 2nd: Otherwise it'll freeze when I stop using it (it’s never frozen while I’ve been gaming). For instance, I could be playing Warcraft or Fallout 3 for five hours or so and have no problems at all. But then I exit out and leave the comp for 20 min and when I come back it'll be frozen. Though, this isn't consistent, sometimes I can leave it up for about two days before it freezes. Of particular note, I can leave it up for several days in Safe Mode without it crashing. In Normal mode it never went longer than two days without freezing, but I left it up in Safe Mode (with networking) for four days without any problems. I would also like to mention that I’m more or less a novice at all this, but am willing to perform tests and generally follow your advice to the best of my abilities. I also have access to Memtest, SensorsView, Orthos, CPU-Z, PC Probe II, and Everest v5. --System Spec-- -All items purchased from Newegg- Windows XP 32-Bit Professional SP3 (Originally had Vista 64-Bit Ult, but switched to XP when I began having problems.) ASUS P5Q PRO LGA 775 Intel P45 Motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W PSU CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) XONAR DX Sound Card (card is currently removed from system) SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 Rosewill RNX-56CX Conexant 56Kbps Modem (I live out in the boonies) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s ASUS SATA DVD-ROM Drive SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner CyberPower 1080 Surge Protector LG W1952TQ-TF Black 19" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor Regular 'ol PS/2 Keyboard (Originally I was using a Logitech G11 keyboard, but was having problems with it temporarily cutting out on me for ~10 sec. I’ve had it hooked up to a different comp for a while now with no problems. So the problem with my G11 may be linked to whatever is causing my freezing problem.) Logitech G5 USB Laser Mouse Cosmos 1000 Chassis --A few things that I’ve tried-- -Originally had Vista 64-Bit Ult as my OS, but switched to XP when I began having problems – I’m still having the same exact problems I had in Vista. -Checked the event viewer and the only error listed is one from Win32Time when it tries to update my comp’s time, but couldn’t since I wasn’t connected to the internet…this wouldn’t actually cause my comp to freeze would it? -Tried killing all non-essential processes via the Task Manager, but this had no effect on it freezing. -It's not a virus or spyware since it's done this from day one. -I have the latest BIOS version, and have updated most of my drivers (I think). And nothing is listed in my deceive manager as undetected or anything. -I don’t think it’s overheating since I have the sides of my tower off, and I’ve never had a problem with it while gaming. Also, I ran Orthos for about 5 min once and the temps shown in SensorsView are as follows (Ambient temp at the time of the test: 25C): CPU: 53C SYS: 10C AUX: 37C HD0: 46C -One theory I have is that it’s a setting in my BIOS throwing it off. This is my first time building a comp and my BIOS settings have about three times the settings of my old Dell 8300 (not to mention I don’t entirely understand all the new settings). For instance, in my BIOS’ Ai Tweaker menu, my DRAM settings show: DRAM Timing Control [Auto] (In grey text) 1st Information: 5-5-5-18-3-52-6-3 2nd Information: 8-3-5-4-6-4-7 3rd Information 14-5-1-6-6 Are these values correct? How do these numbers correspond to my RAM sticks being 4-4-4-12? In any case, suggestions on how to get my comp straightened out would be much appreciated. (Also, if you believe it to be a problem with my hardware, why wouldn't the problem surface in Safe Mode as well?) -Searix-
I don't see a cpu heatsink listed. Are you using the stock heatsink that came with it? That cpu temp of 53C, was that with Ortho's running tests or just at an idle? Is your version of Ortho's new? You may have been only testing one core. Download and run OCCT for at least an hour and see what happens. Keep and eye on your temps for both cores and report back. http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download
This may be just a random coincidense but I have been having a very similar problem with my pc. It had been fine up untill I transfered the graphics card and logitech dinovo desktop setup over from my other pc. I downloaded the latest drivers from the appropiate sites and not long after had very similar lock ups to yours. I stress tested the pc and it was fine all temps etc ok and all tests passed, so I downloaded slightly older drivers etc from Logitech and AMD and it seems to have been fine since (touches wood). Just thought i'd mention it
just a random thought, there is a setting that downclocks the cpu. because your problem is when the cpu is at idle, try turning thst off and see what happens.
As it doesn't happen in Safe mode, I'd say it's a driver issue. (Safe mode disables nearly all drivers and uses the Windows default ones instead). First try removing the Xonar drivers completely. Try a driver cleaner aswell to get them completely removed. If it still freezes, try removing the graphics card drivers, again with a driver cleaner. You could also try another hard drive.
