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I have a dual boot under W7 x86 and W7 x64. Both are freezing randomly. sometimes the HDD led is fully on. Waiting only brings sometimes a black screen. here is when It freezes

  • Playing a game, mostly AC
  • Running chrome sometimes freeze while loading a page
  • Seems it is rarer in 32 bit
  • Sometimes, when I try to stop the screensaver, it is not responding (keyboard + mouse) which let me think that it froze while sleeping since I have to hard reboot since #3. Note that CD ROM reader is working.

Here is my config :

GPU: Nvidia GT 610
PSU: Antec EA-430 Green
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 64 5000+ @2.6GHz
RAM: 8 Gigs Kingston

Also, the ACPI is s1 &s3. Finally, it seems that freezes came by session : I get a freeze after a long time and then I reboot, then I can get several freezes quickly. It makes me think it's b/c of overheating but I ran a GPU stress test and it get past 100 °C w/o freezing. Besides, according the following charts, it doesn't get past 90 - 95° C.

Here is a chart of my log while playing until it freeze (open in a new tab to enlarge):

chart

A second one uring an other session of gaming:. I usually overclock my GPU from 810 MHz to 830 MHz but this time:

chart 2

I ran a GPU stress test and it is boiling (get past 100° C) without any freeze. Stop there to avoid burning out my GPU

UPDATE #3

I removed the latest version of the nForce drivers into a lower one, it seems freezes in game are rarer.( I got one after)

So,

  • What can I try to solve the freezes ?
  • Is it worth upgrading my config? please use arguments

UPDATE #4

It froze while poking around in the BIOS.

I must also precise that I don't have any inverter I had one but it was dead since some times - perhaps the freezes started just after. Anyway, I bought one just now. We'll see.

UPDATE #5

I manually tested my Power Supply, it displayed 12.36 for +12V, and didn't seemed to change anything. However it seems I applied too much thermal paste on my CPU (grey one).

UPDATE #6

I cleaned the cpu and the paste but i stil got freezes...

18
  • You don't have the current Nvidia drivers. The current version is the 334.89 WHQL
    – Ramhound
    Mar 6, 2014 at 18:06
  • I know but the first freezes came with it... now i am sure that it is not b/c of a buggy 133.89
    – Vinz243
    Mar 6, 2014 at 18:28
  • Came with 133.89 either thats the actual driver version or its really old software. I don't have the dll version handy for the 334.89 release. Do a clean insallation with the current drivers
    – Ramhound
    Mar 6, 2014 at 18:33
  • 3
    And don't overclock.
    – harrymc
    Mar 23, 2014 at 10:56
  • 1
    I think your problem could have something to do with a failing hard drive. Read the S.M.A.R.T. values off the HDD using something like Speccy and check if your HDD has problems
    – Vinayak
    Mar 27, 2014 at 15:07

5 Answers 5

2

Man, I had a similar problem some time ago, and it was driving me crazy!
So, that's what solved my problem: change the Memories of slot.

I started to think what changes I did until this problem came annoy me, and then I realize that I had bought a new FAN for my FX-8350 and I've needed to change the memories of slot because of the size of the FAN, then I turned on the PC and performed a stress test of Memory, at some point the Windows Freezes, so that were the problem.
I changed the FAN and put the memories back on the original slots, then the problem disappeared!

Hope this help! :)

Edit: This could also be a motherboard slot problem or a memory problem.

2
  • This solved a workstation issue for me once. Strange solution but when you get an intermittent issue and are at a loss, sometimes these weird solutions get it done. :)
    – isildur
    Mar 29, 2014 at 16:41
  • I chnage my mb THEN removed 2slots of RAM and it worked. Thank you
    – Vinz243
    Apr 4, 2014 at 19:45
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It can be related to drivers problems (always keep your drivers up to date), freezes can also be caused by an overheating, monitor the temperature using SpeedFan for example to be sure that the GPU does not exceed the 95°C (mostly nVidia GPUs have a 105°C critical temperature). Last, if you tried to overclock your GPU/GPU Memory, set back the default frequencies, some GPUs just don't like overclock :) .

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  • What about W7 updates ?
    – Vinz243
    Mar 6, 2014 at 10:26
  • It could be, but that's very rare, in the chart log that you've posted, the GPU core keeps heating without stabilizing (in normal cases, your GT610 would not get over the 85°C if it's well cooled). If your graphics card is a passive one (without fan cooler) try to place a fan so you can keep it cold. Mar 6, 2014 at 13:28
  • Yes, but as the chart shows, it doesn't get past 90°C. See my updated post for a new chart
    – Vinz243
    Mar 6, 2014 at 16:29
  • Yeah, I assume that your PC did not froze when you logged this, you can try to stress your GPU and see if it heats too much with Kombustor and watch the temperature of the GPU. Did you update your drivers by the way? Mar 6, 2014 at 16:46
  • See my updated post
    – Vinz243
    Mar 6, 2014 at 17:43
1

Get a new CPU cooling unit Your computer CPU is overheating and shutting down to prevent CPU damage. Average temperature of the CPU is 40-45c.

I had the same problem with CPU overheating, going very high above 70c and Windows would freeze.

Common problems to check for overheating CPU:

  • It's usually the thermal paste not being put properly.
  • CPU fan not being strapped on tightly
  • The CPU has liquid cooling and all the solvent dried-up.
  • You dropped the computer while carrying it, the CPU fan went ajar or out of position.
  • The CPU heat sink has damaged foils or bent due to misapplied pressure when mounting.
  • The CPU heat sink is full of dust and CPU fan is turning around dust :)
5
  • According the charts, it get past 40-45. I will not do it immediatly, b/c it's not 100% sure it's the reason.
    – Vinz243
    Mar 23, 2014 at 17:52
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    It could be your BIOS setup, where it makes a warning at between 60-80c ? For me, I changed the CPU fan and then my PC never hung after that.
    – buttercup
    Mar 23, 2014 at 18:27
  • I wil soon uploiad my bios complete config
    – Vinz243
    Mar 23, 2014 at 18:59
  • No, no. I meant - I went to the PC shop where I brought my PC from and then, the person changed the CPU fan because it was full of dust and the fan stopped working.
    – buttercup
    Mar 31, 2014 at 11:24
  • On which OS does it freeze? The x86 or x64?
    – buttercup
    Mar 31, 2014 at 11:25
1

For the overheating issue, I would undoubtedly recommend you to invest in Arctic Silver 5 Thermal compound or a similar quality one. It would decrease the heating issues definitely.

Secondly, if you don't mind using your system without the cabinet would surely be a plus [Experimental way, perhaps very successful], it allows the heat to flow off more easily and if you don't like buying big cooling fans, use a table fan with the above config. Trust me it would work.

Thirdly, the internal software/driver issues are solely not the reason for freezes, or maybe not at all.

Also, while using chrome; disable the extensions which you are not currently using. (Tab-suspender extensions DO NOT SAVE the memory)

I would also recommend you to play games with every other big application to be closed on the sides. It is a good practice, and prioritize your assassinscreed.exe in task manager. (Although I haven't noticed much difference with prioritizing).

Hope you have a smoother gaming experience. :]

0

I know this sounds simple, but it saved my bacon on a Dell server that kept randomly freezing and rebooting after a power outage and UPS failure on a rack server. Called Dell support and the tech recommended this solution.

So he told me to pull all cables connected to power and powered peripherals from the unit, then press and hold the power button for 15 seconds. Reconnected everything and it worked flawlessly. His explanation was that some capacitors have the tendency to keep a "dirty charge" after a power outage or a system freeze. I don't know how this worked but I know it solved the problem.

Since, I have used this technique to solve many an issue with servers, workstations, fax machines, etc.

It's worth a shot.

As a side note, I pretty much spend two days doing the things you already mentioned before calling tech support with no luck. It happened to be a known issue for that particular server but he mentioned that he had also used the technique to solve many an issue on other devices.

Good luck.

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