completely random freezes and sudden reboots.

[m4th_]

hello everyone and sorry in advance for my english, if some terms or sentences may sound strange.

as title says, since 2/3 weeks my poor PC started to act weird in 2 different ways (maybe there's a connection between them, maybe not):

1) in a completely random way my PC totally freezes, mouse doesn't move, no input given works (not even the old fashioned ctrl-alt-canc), the audio is "blocked" on the last sound given.

2) again, completely random, the PC suddenly shuts down and reboots itself, just like that, no reason given, no error messages, no freezes this time.

the things that worries me is that they happen RANDOMLY.. i fit was happenin gin certain moments i could say: "ok it happens when i do X or Y", but no! random, completely. it happens when i play games, when i browse the intraweb, it even happens when the computer does nothing at all.

i tried to document myself, and for the reason given i got so many possible solutions and answers like: it could be the RAM, it could be the graphic video drivers (strange, i just updated them), it could be the temperatures (i monitor them with a program called speedfan and it says they are in normal conditions and degrees).

it's very frustrating and also it's not healthy for my PC, i guess.

my specs are:
video: ATI Radeon HD 5750
CPU: Intel Core i5
OS: Windows 7 64bit
RAM: 6GB

my questions are:
wtf it could be the problem?
could it be a software problem? solved by a format?

someone already suggested me to try run a memtest boot to see if there's any problems with the RAM blocks, i'll do that tonight.

a word of gratitude to whoever helps me out on this one.

[deshende]

You may want to check that your RAM power voltages are set to the appropriate levels. My system acted similar to yours before I set mine. You should be able to find what level your ram should be running at if you look up info on your motherboard and info on your RAM.

[m4th_]

cheers for the suggestions, where can i check the levels? on the RAM itself (phisically) or somewhere in the system?
plus, where i can set those levels, once i knew the right amounts?

[deshende]

If you get into the Bios on startup it should give you the option.
Looks like the key to press may be different on different models. Just look for the prompt to push a button to get into the Bios setup. This should pop up before your OS starts to load.

[m4th_]

allright, so:

i ran the memtest thingie and it gave no errors at all, then i rebootet my PC, and tried to install the ASUS program to upgrade my bios, and here comes the lulz:
at the moment i tried to install it, the PC shutted down and rebooted (at the exact moment when the windows installer window opens up, with the progression bar), and this reminded me that it happened 2 times already, at the exact same moment (trying to install a program).
is this some sort of hint? i hope so.

anyways after it rebooted itself i tried to install it again and this time it worked, and the BIOS upgraded itself to some new version, then i started up my WoW client, played for like 30 mins with no problem, and then suddenly, it freezes..
this is so frustrating.

i also checked the voltages like you said deshe, it they are all set to "auto", i guess it's ok, right?

i'm about to cry.

[Isiolia]

You're not overclocking anything, right? RAM set to Auto should be fine, but your CPU, or even GPU? Not that one -shouldn't- overclock per se, just that settings that don't quite work can result in system flakiness like you're seeing.

If your RAM seems fine, then I would next look into the filesystem being corrupt and/or a HDD failure. Can try scheduling a checkdisk, or finding a bootable disc to scan it (or pull the drive and scan it on another PC). Could be that it's fine unless the system tries to hit a particular part of the drive.

Drivers are also something to check. Network (particularly wireless) and audio drivers can be rather flakey sometimes.

[sruon]

What's the CPU voltage ? Is it overclocked? (use CPU-Z)
Did you install any of the software bundled with the ASUS motherboard? I've had terrible experience with them, giving similar results.

[Crowort]

Which PSU have you got btw?

[m4th_]

to answer everyone:
no, i'm not overclicking anything and CPU voltage is AUTO as well (saw on that same page i saw the RAM one).
as for the PSU i have Coolermaster Gx650 650W 80+ RS-650-ACAA-E3 (pasted the whole name as it appears on the online shop).

i tried running a check disk and everything went fine, no errors found, but how do i check for the HDD? plug it into another PC? no other ways (diagniostic programs etc)?

for network i use a wifi usb key, installed the driver that i found in the package, never gave me a problem.
as for sound, my motherboard (which btw is a Asus P7P55D-E LX Intel P55 Socket 1156 DDR3 1600 Pci Express Integrated:Lan-Audio-Usb 3.0-Sata 6Gb/s RETAIL) has integrated audio so i never had to install any drivers.

speaking of which, i never installed any ASUS given utility, i just downloaded today the control panel to update the bios, that's all i have.

again thanks for the help everyone.

[deshende]

Ram set to Auto voltage didn't work for me. I had to bump it up to recommended manufacturer's settings. (Auto is at like 1.5 if I remember and I had to bump it up to 1.9 on my set up).

[m4th_]

how do i know the correct voltage fo rmy manufacturer? on the bios page, when i highlight the RAM setting it says "should be a value between 0.8 and 1.4".

[m4th_]

btw the RAM model is: TEAM GROUP TXD36144M1333HC7TC-D Triple Channel DDR-3 1333 Xtreem KIT 6Gb. (3x2024Mb.) 7-7-7-21

[deshende]

The couple random sites I checked list the voltage at 1.65

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemor...xtreemcl9.html

[m4th_]

allright so, i go to that bios page again and manually set the voltage to 1.65.
that's for the RAM, what about the CPU? should i change it also?

[deshende]

I've never had to mess with CPU voltages. I wouldn't change them right off. Just change the RAM and see if that helps or not. That way you're not changing too many things at once.

[m4th_]

i don't wan tto prematurely jinx it but..
after 2 "full" evenings of PC usage (brwsing, working, playing) i can say that the problem is.. GONE!

what it could have been? seems like that the combo of updating the bios + change the voltage of RAM (btw i could only increase it on even numbers, so i did set it to 1.64.. hopefully that 0.01 won't cause any trouble) did the trick.

thanks again for every single help and suggestion everyone gave me, much appreciated. grazie!

[m4th_]

i admit, i jinxed it on myself.
my pc just shutted down and rebooted itself like it used to do, and i was just browsing my facebook page.

after a friend's suggestion i installed blue screen view (bsv) and here i paste the most recent crash report:

==================================================
Dump File : 010411-21372-01.dmp
Crash Time : 04/01/2011 09:22:36
Bug Check String : NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
Bug Check Code : 0x00000024
Parameter 1 : 00000000`001904fb
Parameter 2 : fffff880`08b64288
Parameter 3 : fffff880`08b63af0
Parameter 4 : fffff800`038e0137
Caused By Driver : Ntfs.sys
Caused By Address : Ntfs.sys+213d8
File Description :
Product Name :
Company :
File Version :
Processor : x64
Computer Name :
Full Path : C:\Windows\Minidump\010411-21372-01.dmp
Processors Count : 4
Major Version : 15
Minor Version : 7600
Dump File Size : 275.688
==================================================

i noticed that in all the reports present (4, strange, i'm sure it crashed waaaaay many more times) there is a file that is always present, which is: ntoskrnl.exe.
could it mean something? can it help you in any ways?

[m4th_]

i tried to dig around the webz in search of solution for that error code.. i'm pretty sure all this fuss is about the hard disk.
now, i only hope it's not something "unrepairable", and just a driver/compatibility problem.