PC freeze problem (lots of info)

[TStupified]

Hey there.

So I built myself a new computer about 3 months ago to play FFXIV with and not longer than 2 weeks from the build date the pc started having problems, the thing just totally froze in normal use. The freeze was this basic total freeze that probably everyone knows, keyboard, mouse and other things like that stop working, picture stays on, all the fans and lights in the pc stay on, only solution is reset button. After rebooting after the first freeze, the pc froze about 2-5min after loading windows every time, it even froze in BIOS/POST, safemode was ok though.

Now this happened about 5 times during one day and one day only. After not locating the problem myself I called my friend who works in a local hardware store and asked if he could come pay me a visit and check some basic things with the tools he has available, so he agreed to come the next day. I had the computer just to wait for my friend, but I had it unplugged from all cords, I even took the RAMs off and all the connections from the mobo (because my friend told me to do so in case there was a bad connection somewhere).

Then my friend arrived the day he promised to come and we started doing some testings, at this point, even we had done nothing (except for plugging all the removed connections to the mobo as well as RAMs), the pc didn't freeze during the first 15mins anymore, but as the problem wasn't actually "solved" we proceeded to test few of the components. We did memtest86 to test the RAMs, separately and together (2 RAMs) and there were no errors, we tested the PSU with a PSU testing tool made for the purpose, worked perfectly, we ran chkdsk in order to find out if there were any errors on my harddisk, there were none.

We then drank a few beers, talked shit and stuff like that for awhile, to see if the pc still freezes at some point of a few hours period, it didn't. My friend then left and told me to call him if the problem was back.. but it was gone. The problem just literally vanished, leaving me with a bad feeling, because we didn't solve it really, so it was still there, somewhere, kind of. And now after 2 months, it is back, like I feared.

So the problem made a return 2 days ago, my pc just totally froze in normal use, everything physical inside the pc was still running though (fans, lights, etc.), but the software had jammed. Then I proceeded to start windows in safemode, looked for possible problems from the eventviewer and of course, for solutions from the internet. There were no errors in the eventviewer during the time of the freeze, and I really didn't find any solutions from the internet either, ones that I hadn't already tried, that is. So I turned my computer on for shits and giggles to see how fast the normal mode freezes again, well it took about 15 hours for it to freeze again. Now for the last 3 days it has taken about 7-24 hours for the pc to freeze, but it does freeze at some point it seems. Nothing triggers the freeze, it can happen in idle, it can happen when playing FFXIV, it is just totally random. Also, one of the freezes was different, everything froze like before but my music stayed on.

So what I'm asking of you guys, is some possibilites of what is causing this and of course, solutions if possible.

Here are the specs of my computer, running Win7 64bit Ultimate, fully updated:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965BE (not OC'd) + Corator DS
MOBO: ASUS M4A87TD-EVO
GPU: Gigabyte GTX460 1Gb (OC'd slightly by manufacturers and slightly by me)
RAM: 2x Kingston HyperX 2Gb 1600Mhz CL8 (huge heatsinks on these, can't fit them under the CPU cooler to get use of the first slot and dual channel (dual channel doesn't work in the channel 2, for some reason)).
PSU: Corsair VX550W
HD: Basic Samsung Spinpoint F3 500gb atm.

Now, before you try to suggest it, I'm not totally incapable when it comes to PCs, I know it's not a overheat problem and that is hundred percent. All the components are within the safe temperatures at all times. I've run Prime95 for 20hours and furmark for long enough and there were never any problems with those, no errors with Prime95 either.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[sruon]

Does it still happen in the bios? You may have to turn the error service on to get the reports in the viewer, WhoCrashed may help if you happen to finally get a dump.

But right now I don't see what it could be specifically.

[Crowort]

I'd be temped to reset your graphics card to default clocks myself. Thou these kind of problems are hard to fix sometimes, Id always run everything at stock just to make sure.

[Mafai]

After rebooting after the first freeze, the pc froze about 2-5min after loading windows every time, it even froze in BIOS/POST, safemode was ok though.

This caught my eye. It froze in the BIOs but not in safemode, that has to be a piece of hardware. When it gets in its freeze cycle, thats when I would recommend pulling stuff out one at a time and seeing if the problem continues.

[TStupified]

Thanks for the input so far, I took a look at that WhoCrashed program, but they're only mentioning reboots and crashes, where as I'm not really experiencing either one, in stead I have to reboot my computer manually because it just stops responding. And I do have all kinds of non-critical reports in the viewer and it has shown the kernel-error caused by force reset every time I've had to do so, but no errors or such before the initial freeze, but in conclusion to that, the error service should be on.

It has been about 20 hours without a freeze now, I'm still basically just waiting it to happen, we'll see if WhoCrashed can give any input about what freezes me if it happens again.

[Mafai]

Sorry I did a bunch of editing above while you were reading.

[TStupified]

Yeah one thing I probably should do as well is try some memory that actually fits in the first ramslot of the mobo, someone mentioned that some motherboards like you to use the number one slot before using the others, not sure how much truth there is in that but meh, I'm up for trying it.

As the components that could cause this besides the ram, I personally see the motherboard being at the top of the list.. but of course it is the hardest component to test really. Also heard that if my PSU would be slowly dying it could be causing these very random problems I'm having, and as being so random, it could be showing up working just fine with the PSU tester.

I've blown a few graphics cards in the past (not by myself though, they died by themselves when they still had warranty on) and they're always shown some graphical errors when they are dying, so that's why I'm kind of sceptic about the problem being in the GPU.. do not have a spare one to test though, damn friends and their laptops.

[Crowort]

I wasn't saying that the graphic card was the most likely, only that setting it to default clocks (I believe every thing should be when you have problems) would mean you could eliminate unstable ocing.

[TStupified]

I wasn't saying that the graphic card was the most likely, only that setting it to default clocks (I believe every thing should be when you have problems) would mean you could eliminate unstable ocing.

The thing is though, that I didn't have any OC on my GPU when the problem first started to appear (about 2 months ago), but I'll try it anyway. Also just froze again, about 22 hours from the last freeze.

[sruon]

As the components that could cause this besides the ram, I personally see the motherboard being at the top of the list.. but of course it is the hardest component to test really. Also heard that if my PSU would be slowly dying it could be causing these very random problems I'm having, and as being so random, it could be showing up working just fine with the PSU tester.

Couldn't have said it better, these particular components are extremely annoying to test and the fact it takes so long to crash must be kind of annoying to do tests but eventually you'll find out what's causing the issue.

If there was no mention of freezing during BIOS/POST I'd say a reinstall of Windows could help but right now... no idea.

Good luck.

[Cheerios]

Yeah one thing I probably should do as well is try some memory that actually fits in the first ramslot of the mobo, someone mentioned that some motherboards like you to use the number one slot before using the others, not sure how much truth there is in that but meh, I'm up for trying it.

As the components that could cause this besides the ram, I personally see the motherboard being at the top of the list.. but of course it is the hardest component to test really. Also heard that if my PSU would be slowly dying it could be causing these very random problems I'm having, and as being so random, it could be showing up working just fine with the PSU tester.

I've blown a few graphics cards in the past (not by myself though, they died by themselves when they still had warranty on) and they're always shown some graphical errors when they are dying, so that's why I'm kind of sceptic about the problem being in the GPU.. do not have a spare one to test though, damn friends and their laptops.

Video cards don't need to show graphical errors to indicate that they're dying. If your PC is freezing at BIOS, it makes me think it's an issue with your RAM somewhere. Maybe not an actual stick of RAM, but the memory slots on your motherboard. Since you only have 2 sticks, you can try to move the memory to different slots that aren't occupied. I have run Memtest without any errors for a few hours, and when I restarted, my PC crashed. I ran it again the next day and it magically found errors in the first 3 minutes of Test #2.

Just straight up freezing while using your PC can be so many things, but as others have said, it could very well be your video card. If the RAM was having issues at first, then it's possible that the video drivers (or any drivers for that matter) could have been corrupted partially. I'd suggest doing a clean install of your video card drivers.

You used to need a program like DriverSweeper to clean the video card drivers out completely, but the new Nvidia installer gives you the option for a clean install.

[Mafai]

The drivers would have nothing to do with the problem if its freezing in his BIOS.

Its definitely hardware related.

[Cheerios]

The drivers would have nothing to do with the problem if its freezing in his BIOS.

Its definitely hardware related.

And if that hardware was RAM, then it could very well have corrupted software and drivers for later boot-ups. Even if the issue is RAM and it gets rectified, there will likely still be corrupt files somewhere that chkdsk won't fix. It can even ruin system restore points.

[Bloodfire]

I know it's a wild, WILD idea but look at your components contacts(where the chip connects) see if you have bent pins on anything or scorch marks, flash your BIOS, and perhaps swap the wiring.

It MAY just be a short somewhere, and when it occurs your PC flakes on you. Or the PC may just have a faulty chip or component somewhere... it happens.

Just saying, it's a possibility.

Oh and have you physically used other PC parts as a process of elimination? Example: if you think your memory is faulty try it in another PC or try different memory on your new mobo. If you can recreate the issue on another PC with a particular component from your new one then you have your culprit. Just try to recreate the freeze with different combination of hardware.