Computer Freezes/Hangs

[sermejong]

My computer freezes randomly. The latest was last night. I have used it since the day before until then doing browsing, watching, playing games and lastly encoding videos captured using Fraps into MP4 using H.264 codec. When I woke up, I saw that all videos were encoded successfully and then I used it for the remainder of the day. While I'm watching a Youtube video, my computer just froze and the sound goes 'drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr'. Those problems occur even before that, sometimes during the BIOS Logo, or Windows loading, playing games, starting up after welcome screen. It will start with the initial freeze, then followed with boot failures and freezes/hangs during the times I mentioned earlier. So these are the specs:

CPU : I7 2600k [Stock speed & stock cooling, never OCed, never reseated, cooler never reseated]

Motherboard : ASUS P8Z68-V/Gen3 [BIOS Updated to latest, freezes/hangs occur even before update, first hang/freeze happened 2 days after the purchase and after installing OS,games etc.]

RAM : G. Skill Ripjaws X F3-10666CL9-8GBXL [A red one, it's a 2x4GB kit, never been OCed]

GPU : ASUS GTX 560 DirectCU [Never been OCed]

PSU : Thermaltake ToughPower Grand 750W 80+ Gold [plugged in the wall socket]

CASE : Coolermaster Storm Enforcer [removed the top hdd cage]

HDD : Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM [OS in partition C, 3 partitions]
Seagate Barracuda Sata II 7200RPM [a very old one from my old PC, i added it after a week of usage of my system, system hangs even without this]

I've already RUN memtest86+ , prime95(not so long coz cpu temp reached 77C lol warning @72C), ran 3dMark11, did not froze in all of these.

now as i am typing, im using only a stick of ram(4GB) in slot two(blue), no GTX 560 on the board, only 1 HDD (the Western DIgital one). earlier it hangs with this configuration, now it is not lol. i hope it doesnt freeze during typing this. ive already tried removing everything from the case, putting the mobo in top of its box, reseating everything except the cpu, one time when my system hung, i even removed the Cmos battery and the CL RTC overnight. again my system is running in stock speeds no overclocking done. maximum temps during media encoding is 67C , it hit 68C for like 5 seconds. oh and ive updated my drivers, intel lan driver, realtek high def audio driver, usb 3.0 asmedia controller driver, even the chipsets(system froze even before this updates lol), gtx 560 forceware(from geforce.com) is latest too.

The point is im using it smoothly, then after some hours or days or weeks it will hang, then after i restarted from the hang, all hell breaks loose lol. boot failure and multiple hangs before i can even say 'Not again!'.
Computer parts were bought this March 2012.
now i think my os is corrupt due to many restarts due to hanging. because ill restart the pc coz it froze of course.
all mobo standoffs are there, all screws fit there. the standoffs were even insulated with a tape(a whiteone used in medical things i think. the white sticky paper looking one.).

 

[sermejong]

Bump~

Update:

24 hours without Freezing/Hanging. And without shutdown hehe. Left open the whole day while downloading. Got home and saw it was still normal.

Configuration:

Everything was put on except the OLD Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM Sata II 120GB.

I hope it doesn't freeze again, ever.

 

[sermejong]

Days of stability. The culprit is the Very Old Seagate Barracuda SataII 7200RPM 120GB, its like 6 years now? lol, Problem solved, every item/product in this build is stable and good.

 

[sermejong]

~BUMP~

:: Update ::

After weeks of stability, my computer froze again Sunday morning, May 13th of 2012 GMT+8. This is ridiculous! I am just watching a 1080p music video haha. My OLD Seagate Barracuda , I am using it again, it is still ok lol, I've installed a fresh Win 7 Home Premium and erased the old XP there. This computer is nuts, I left the computer and surrendered troubleshooting on the afternoon. I slept and then I turned it on at around 6:?? PM and it is working now, that is why I have installed Win 7 as I said earlier.

When it froze, I clicked the restart button then it wouldnt boot like the other scenarios. CPU led on my ASUS board is on, I reseated my CPU its still like that, removed the ram and used only 1, removed the GPU, removed the case fans, removed the internal USB3.0 header of the case. Even removed the all the HDDs. It wont boot, if it boots, its stuck in the bios logo. even when the GPU is removed, the VGA led is still on and stops there if the CPU led isnt on. And it looks like I am the only one with this weird problem, I hope its just something about the wall socket or the power from it, not the components. No one have ever replied to this thread. T_T

 

[sermejong]

Update~

Computer froze last May 20, 2012 GMT+8
I left playing a MMORPG, a not demanding one.
And it still hangs or fails to boot until 22nd of May early morning.
Now its 6:55PM ... not hanging right now so i am updating this thing.
Still no one's joined my loneliness. T_____T

Current Setup:

2600K
Asus p8z68v/gen3
thermaltake toughpower grand 80+ gold 750w
1 stick 4gb gskill ripjaws x on 3rd slot from the right
WD caviar blue 500gb plugged into a sata3 6gbps port using a black sata cord provided with the mobo.
in my case, the storm enforcer. HDD installed in the bottom drive cage. upper slot.

EDIT:
Additional Info~
Reseated the CPU Stock Heatsink and reapplied new thermal paste more than a week ago because the computer hung up that time. So after a week it hang again last Sunday as I have said above.
Even without a hard drive connected in the sata ports, the computer hangs on the bios LOL. Is it the mobo or the cpu overheating? Because at the time of hanging, the BIOS listed the cpu's temp as 42C and mobo as 36C the cpu temp sometimes reach 45C on the BIOS(UEFI ASUS EZ Mode, default settings).

Or is it the ThermalTake ToughPower Grand 80+ Gold 750W PSU directly plugged in the wall socket? The biggest clue here is the pc is still hanging since Sunday, unlike the other hanging situations where it only lasts like a day and then it will be stable and after weeks it will hang again. this set was bought last march 9 2012 only. i am patient but i need to use it cause it ain't cheap, the money was just given to me.

~The mobo and all other parts is now running outside the case. The mobo on top of its box, the PSU on its left. The HDD on its right and on the front is the monitor and the peripherals(keyboard,wireless mouse). They're all on top of a wooden table ;'D. Same ram from the specs both sticks slotted on slot a1 and b1.
Gpu listed on the specs isn't plugged in the PCIe slot. So say what? This is now narrowed into the mobo, psu, ram, cpu and hdd. Specs up above. Can somebody help? Really? Authority on tech ;'D

 

[sermejong]

~update

I'm starting to think that my sh*tty keyboard is making everything go nuts including me.

CD-R KING usb keyboard.
If you live in the Philippines, you know what this brand is. I don't say they're sh*t. But I wish it's all just bcoz of this keyboard. I have changed its plugging position from the top black usb port in my mobo(listed on the specs above), into the red colored usb port below it. We will see.. if this config will hang. Wish NOT! Oh God let it fly!

 

[sermejong]

~BUMP

I'm thinking of RMAing it now.
I think it's the mobo overheating?
When I cold boot it works for about 30 mins up to 1 hr. + until it hangs. Cpu and mobo temps tho are normal. Cpu temps ranging from 36-45C and mobo 35-38C. When it hangs, I touched the northbridge heatsink, it was so hot. I'm bringing the psu, mobo, ram and cpu and they decide what is the faulty hardware to RMA. -__- Ohhhh why me????