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Custom build. Computer was running fine for about 2 years. No updates or driver changes that I'm aware of, no major software installs or any installs really that I can think of.

One day it just froze after about 30 minutes, the mouse moves on the screen and the waiting cursor goes up like it's working. If I leave the computer on it goes to BSOD after about 5 minutes of this.

I ran memtest, no errors in the RAM. Left on performance monitor and the temperature and memory usage were fine, nothing out of the ordinary like a runaway program. Virus scan appeared clean. If I turn the computer off after a while and then back on, it will go for another 30 minutes no problem, but I noticed if I just restart it doesn't seem to work. I haven't timed it I don't believe it's an exact 30 minutes, around that time frame though.

I'm not even sure what to try anymore....

Update: temp monitoring does not show any abnormal temperatures. I confirmed by running 3dmark benchmark, no issues. The computer will freeze under 1% load and at 40 degrees. I can run 3dmark for 20 minutes, turn off for 1 second turn back on, then run it again and have no issues, but if I leave the computer just turned on with nothing running it freezes.

I will try reseating RAM and getting the BSOD error.

To make it clear, when I said turning off the computer helps, I mean I can power down for 1 second and then turn it right back on and it doesn't misbehave.

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Try reseating your RAM on the motherboard. – Praveen Oct 19 '12 at 2:28
We'll need more information. What's the Stop error on the BSoD you're getting? Since powering off for a while seems to help, have you tried a new power supply? Have you ensured the computer is clean and not over heating? – techie007 Oct 19 '12 at 3:18
Agreed, it sounds like heat to me. Do you have a temp monitor you can run? – Mark Allen Oct 19 '12 at 3:48
I too think that heat is the culprit. But motherboard issue can also be the problem. – gladiator2345 Oct 19 '12 at 4:41
@gladiator2345 Since the OP stated that heat is not the issue, I also suspect that it is a motherboard issue. – Josiah Oct 19 '12 at 12:21
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2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

I wonder if the fan on the video card is dying and the video card GPU is overheating?!?!? Best way to test is to replace the video card with a known good one and test to see if it exhibits the same behavior.

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up vote 1 down vote

It could be the problem I had, if you have a Crucial M4 SSD: After 5184 hours of use, they begin freezing up, every hour, which causes exactly what you describe: Screen freeze but cursor moving, then BSOD.

Fixing it requires updating your SSD's firmware, here: http://www.crucial.com/support/firmware.aspx

Hope this helps.

edit

There appears to be similar problems with SSDs from other manufacturers such as OCZ, so it's worth updating your firmware if you're an early SSD adopter of any brand. Misan.

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