Random lockups, at my wit's end

Judas · May 22, 2009, 04:42 PM

what is your moms psu and it's ratings?

I typically am not a fan of the stealth extremes... they are considerably unreliable imo...

I'd go with a Coolermaster 500 watt before a stealthxstream 600...

If you get a chance, go into the bios and check the hardware monitor and see what the voltages are and how much they are fluctuating...

***craig5320*** · May 22, 2009, 05:45 PM

Most issues I've ever had when the system freezes as oppose to BSOD it has nearly always been down to temperatures. Try getting an app to monitor your system temps, or run with the case door off to see if any fans have actually failed. I had a GFX fan break and wasn't spinning and that caused the system to lock up when it overheated.

procupine14 · May 22, 2009, 05:50 PM

I have to go with Craig on this one. Perhaps something is getting hot. But freezing during post is a bit odd to me. I haven't seen that one a whole lot outside of motherboard issues. But if it IS the motherboard I would expect it to fail to post consistantly and not just produce a one or two-time incident. Save that for perhaps some reason its the NorthBridge getting toasty.

Golbeze · May 22, 2009, 09:29 PM

My mom's PSU, if I remember right, is an Antec 500W that's not sold anymore, been in use for years and has done well. My mom's computer, which used to be my computer before my last upgrade last year, rarely had problems. Now that I think back, when I first got this mobo and cpu, it did randomly freeze up on POST once in a while, and eventually went away. Not until recently that it started up again, both in POST and in Windows. I'll reinstall speedfan and check the voltages and report back with them.

Golbeze · May 22, 2009, 09:43 PM

Ok, checking speedfan, highest temp is my video card at 51C, everything else is well below that. In the mobo bios the voltages remain stable at these values:
+3.3v - 3.328
+12v - 12/048
Vcore - 1.316

I saw no fluctuations in the time I was checking them.

Oh, and all fans are working properly

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig5320

Most issues I've ever had when the system freezes as oppose to BSOD it has nearly always been down to temperatures. Try getting an app to monitor your system temps, or run with the case door off to see if any fans have actually failed. I had a GFX fan break and wasn't spinning and that caused the system to lock up when it overheated.

Or memory ...

Grab memtest and try swapping out the sticks one at a time to test.

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 02:22 AM

All sticks have already been tested with memtest, no errors in any of them. It was one of the first things I tested.

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 02:30 AM

I would suggest you check your temps as Craig mentioned. The only time I have experienced a freeze as opposed to a BSOD is with memory or timings within the system buses.

I have had this occur with CPU cores running under 30C overclocking.

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 02:37 AM

Speedfan reports this;

GPU: 50C
Temp1: 42C
Temp2: 27C
Temp3: -2C (that one looks weird, -2?)
Temp: 50C
HD0: 35C
HD1: 30C
Core0: 37C
Core1: 37C

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 02:51 AM

I am not a fan of Speedfan try this:

CPUID

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 02:52 AM

Cool, I'll give it a go and report back

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 02:54 AM

Cool

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 02:57 AM

Ok, here's stats from the text file I saved from that program:

Voltage sensor 0 1.18 Volts [0x4A] (CPU VCORE)
Voltage sensor 1 1.86 Volts [0x74] (DDR)
Voltage sensor 2 3.33 Volts [0xD0] (+3.3V)
Voltage sensor 3 4.95 Volts [0xB8] (+5V)
Voltage sensor 7 12.35 Volts [0xC1] (+12V)
Voltage sensor 8 3.25 Volts [0xCB] (VBAT)
Temperature sensor 0 44°C (111°F) [0x2C] (System)
Temperature sensor 1 29°C (84°F) [0x1D] (CPU)
Fan sensor 3 2419 RPM [0x117] (FANIN3)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 39°C (102°F) [0x3D] (Core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 39°C (102°F) [0x3D] (Core #1)

GeForce 8600 GTS hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 52°C (125°F) [0x34] (GPU Core)

ST3808110AS hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 36°C (96°F) [0x24] (HDD)

ST380817AS hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 34°C (93°F) [0x22] (HDD)

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 03:11 AM

I don't see anything out of place on those temps. Have you changed any settings regarding memory straps or timings in BIOS?

A BSOD starts with "Memory dump beginning at ...." which shows your CPU and memory are communicating.

A freeze shows they aren't and I think this is the issue the others like Judas have been experiencing O/Cing the Expert kits.

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 03:53 AM

No, I haven't played with the timings or clock speeds of the memory in the BIOS, in the BIOS they're set to Auto, and CPU-Z reports 5-5-5-15 @DDR2 800, which is what they're supposed to be at. No overclocking or tightening of the timings at all.

Judas · May 23, 2009, 07:49 AM

pull one of the sticks of ram out (so your running ONLY ONE stick of ram )... and then see how things fair.. if it locks up again..

i've seen some rare cases where running dual channel even with memtest passing would cause random bsod's or similare circumstances

Mac Daddy · May 23, 2009, 12:50 PM

I would try what Judas suggested your problem is so intermittent memtest could have missed something. Something is conflicting in hardware your going to have to locate it.

Golbeze · May 23, 2009, 04:33 PM

Hmm, I did have a problem with memory when I very first upgraded this computer; the dual channel kit I had gotten, one of the sticks was bad. Computer wouldn't boot up at all with the bad stick in. I had to send the two sticks back for a replacement, but so I would still have a computer I ordered a single 2GB stick of G-Skill @DDR2 667. I had tried combining the one good GEIL stick with the G-Skill stick just to see if they would work together (I figured, if they did with no problems, I would just do that and forget sending the GEIL sticks back). They didn't, computer would post, but windows would freeze on bootup. My G-Skill stick is now sitting on a dresser with the replacement GEIL sticks running in my computer.

Anyways, I'll give that a shot, run with one stick and see how it goes, but if it is a problem with dual-channel causing the freezes, does that indicate a problem with the memory, or the motherboard, or what? And if it freezes with only a single stick, what then?

Judas · May 23, 2009, 05:00 PM

It could be a problem with the memory, and/or the motherboards northbridge Memory controller.

You shouldn't have a single problem running 2x2gb sticks at all, why it wouldn't load windows raises some questions as that may have presented you with the emediate problem rather then a deteroraiting one.

I would suspect that the board is the likely culprit at this point.... but it's still hard to say.

Mac Daddy · May 24, 2009, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golbeze

Anyways, I'll give that a shot, run with one stick and see how it goes, but if it is a problem with dual-channel causing the freezes, does that indicate a problem with the memory, or the motherboard, or what? And if it freezes with only a single stick, what then?

Judas is over complicating things as he usually does

Let's break it down to the sticks try one then the other. If your system freezes using one of them you have found your issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

It could be a problem with the memory, and/or the motherboards northbridge Memory controller.

You shouldn't have a single problem running 2x2gb sticks at all, why it wouldn't load windows raises some questions as that may have presented you with the emediate problem rather then a deteroraiting one.

I would suspect that the board is the likely culprit at this point.... but it's still hard to say.

May 22, 2009, 05:45 PM	#32
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,568 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Most issues I've ever had when the system freezes as oppose to BSOD it has nearly always been down to temperatures. Try getting an app to monitor your system temps, or run with the case door off to see if any fans have actually failed. I had a GFX fan break and wasn't spinning and that caused the system to lock up when it overheated. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

May 22, 2009, 05:50 PM	#33
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end I have to go with Craig on this one. Perhaps something is getting hot. But freezing during post is a bit odd to me. I haven't seen that one a whole lot outside of motherboard issues. But if it IS the motherboard I would expect it to fail to post consistantly and not just produce a one or two-time incident. Save that for perhaps some reason its the NorthBridge getting toasty. __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

May 22, 2009, 09:29 PM	Thread Starter #34
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end My mom's PSU, if I remember right, is an Antec 500W that's not sold anymore, been in use for years and has done well. My mom's computer, which used to be my computer before my last upgrade last year, rarely had problems. Now that I think back, when I first got this mobo and cpu, it did randomly freeze up on POST once in a while, and eventually went away. Not until recently that it started up again, both in POST and in Windows. I'll reinstall speedfan and check the voltages and report back with them.

May 22, 2009, 09:43 PM	Thread Starter #35
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Ok, checking speedfan, highest temp is my video card at 51C, everything else is well below that. In the mobo bios the voltages remain stable at these values: +3.3v - 3.328 +12v - 12/048 Vcore - 1.316 I saw no fluctuations in the time I was checking them. Oh, and all fans are working properly

May 23, 2009, 02:22 AM	Thread Starter #37
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end All sticks have already been tested with memtest, no errors in any of them. It was one of the first things I tested.

May 23, 2009, 02:30 AM	#38
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end I would suggest you check your temps as Craig mentioned. The only time I have experienced a freeze as opposed to a BSOD is with memory or timings within the system buses. I have had this occur with CPU cores running under 30C overclocking. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

May 23, 2009, 02:37 AM	Thread Starter #39
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Speedfan reports this; GPU: 50C Temp1: 42C Temp2: 27C Temp3: -2C (that one looks weird, -2?) Temp: 50C HD0: 35C HD1: 30C Core0: 37C Core1: 37C

May 23, 2009, 02:51 AM	#40
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end I am not a fan of Speedfan try this: CPUID __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

May 23, 2009, 02:52 AM	Thread Starter #41
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Cool, I'll give it a go and report back

May 23, 2009, 02:54 AM	#42
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Cool __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

May 23, 2009, 02:57 AM	Thread Starter #43
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Ok, here's stats from the text file I saved from that program: Voltage sensor 0 1.18 Volts [0x4A] (CPU VCORE) Voltage sensor 1 1.86 Volts [0x74] (DDR) Voltage sensor 2 3.33 Volts [0xD0] (+3.3V) Voltage sensor 3 4.95 Volts [0xB8] (+5V) Voltage sensor 7 12.35 Volts [0xC1] (+12V) Voltage sensor 8 3.25 Volts [0xCB] (VBAT) Temperature sensor 0 44°C (111°F) [0x2C] (System) Temperature sensor 1 29°C (84°F) [0x1D] (CPU) Fan sensor 3 2419 RPM [0x117] (FANIN3) Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 hardware monitor Temperature sensor 0 39°C (102°F) [0x3D] (Core #0) Temperature sensor 1 39°C (102°F) [0x3D] (Core #1) GeForce 8600 GTS hardware monitor Temperature sensor 0 52°C (125°F) [0x34] (GPU Core) ST3808110AS hardware monitor Temperature sensor 0 36°C (96°F) [0x24] (HDD) ST380817AS hardware monitor Temperature sensor 0 34°C (93°F) [0x22] (HDD)

May 23, 2009, 03:11 AM	#44
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end I don't see anything out of place on those temps. Have you changed any settings regarding memory straps or timings in BIOS? A BSOD starts with "Memory dump beginning at ...." which shows your CPU and memory are communicating. A freeze shows they aren't and I think this is the issue the others like Judas have been experiencing O/Cing the Expert kits. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

May 23, 2009, 03:53 AM	Thread Starter #45
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end No, I haven't played with the timings or clock speeds of the memory in the BIOS, in the BIOS they're set to Auto, and CPU-Z reports 5-5-5-15 @DDR2 800, which is what they're supposed to be at. No overclocking or tightening of the timings at all.

May 23, 2009, 12:50 PM	#47
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end I would try what Judas suggested your problem is so intermittent memtest could have missed something. Something is conflicting in hardware your going to have to locate it. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

May 23, 2009, 04:33 PM	Thread Starter #48
Golbeze HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 276 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Random lockups, at my wit's end Hmm, I did have a problem with memory when I very first upgraded this computer; the dual channel kit I had gotten, one of the sticks was bad. Computer wouldn't boot up at all with the bad stick in. I had to send the two sticks back for a replacement, but so I would still have a computer I ordered a single 2GB stick of G-Skill @DDR2 667. I had tried combining the one good GEIL stick with the G-Skill stick just to see if they would work together (I figured, if they did with no problems, I would just do that and forget sending the GEIL sticks back). They didn't, computer would post, but windows would freeze on bootup. My G-Skill stick is now sitting on a dresser with the replacement GEIL sticks running in my computer. Anyways, I'll give that a shot, run with one stick and see how it goes, but if it is a problem with dual-channel causing the freezes, does that indicate a problem with the memory, or the motherboard, or what? And if it freezes with only a single stick, what then?