Question Computer freezes

Cesar_66

Prominent
Mar 11, 2022
4
0
510
Motherboard: ASUSTek PRIME H310M-E/BR
CPU: Intel Core i3-8100
GPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 1050
PSU: DT3 BX700
RAM: 1x Corsair DDR4-2400 (1200 MHz) 8 GB
HD: WDC WD10EZEX-00WN4A0 (1 TB)

Hello,

I have a PC with dual boot (Linux Mint/Windows 10).
It has been suffering with screen freezing frequently. It happens randomly, sometimes while gaming, sometimes during common use (my impression is it happens more during gaming).
I don't know what should be done, I believe that it is a hardware problem but without spare parts, or money, it is difficult to determine it.
I come here to ask if anyone has had this problem before and what actions did you took.

Here follows a video I did during one freezing occurence.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHAnf0GoCa0


Actions taken:
  • I have done memory diagnosis from Windows and didn't show any errors.
  • Updated drivers, didn't work.
  • Updated BIOS (Ver. 3002), didn't work.
  • Clean install with Windows 10 Home (current version), didn't work.
Previous facts:
  • My computer suffering from electric discharge a long time ago which destroyed a couple parts. I took to maintanance and they changed the ones that were no longer usable (I believe they were the motherboard and GPU). This happened, I think, four years ago. However, I don't remember if the freezing began immediately after this (can't remember how long has this been happening).
  • It is a little dirty but I will pay get it cleaned in april.
  • When it freezes, sometimes only holding the power button will deactivate it (reset doesn't work). If I wait long enough, sometimes the reset will work (but the screen still won't).
Verifications done:
  • I checked the temperature during gaming and idle. On hot days, while gaming, it can get from 65 to 85 degrees. During idle, it is usually 45.
  • Although it can freeze both on Ubuntu and Windows, the impression is that it freezes way more on Windows.
  • Did Prime95 for stress test (for 27 minutes), no problems showed.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Power down, unplug.

Clean out dust and debris. (You do not need to pay someone to clean the computer - you can do that yourself. Or get a knowledgeable family member or friend to help.)

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly seated.

Inspect for signs of damage: bare conductor showing, melting, browned or blackened components, pinched/kinked wires, swollen components, corrosion, etc..

= = = =

PSU: DT3 BX700 - How old? Original, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy gaming use - correct?

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, or even informational events that precede or correspond with the screen freezes.
 

Cesar_66

Prominent
Mar 11, 2022
4
0
510
Power down, unplug.

Clean out dust and debris. (You do not need to pay someone to clean the computer - you can do that yourself. Or get a knowledgeable family member or friend to help.)

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly seated.

Inspect for signs of damage: bare conductor showing, melting, browned or blackened components, pinched/kinked wires, swollen components, corrosion, etc..

= = = =

PSU: DT3 BX700 - How old? Original, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy gaming use - correct?

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, or even informational events that precede or correspond with the screen freezes.
I'm not sure I want to clean it myself, and members of my family would do a worse job than I would. I do dust with a brush from time to time (clearly not frequently enough) but there is some dirt that is really attached to the parts and I'm afraid of disassembling them (and ending up damaging them) to clean more deeply.

For the PSU, it is either 4 or 5 years old. It was a build some friends bought for me. They saw the PC being built on the store so I assume it was new. Heavy gaming to some extent. Don't know if it matters but I usually play really low settings and games that don't require much GPU.

I examined the event viewer in two occasions, no 'X' events showed up. In a future instance of freeze, I will get a print to publish it here.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
If not family maybe a friend (one who helped buy the computer for you), someone from work, school perhaps.

Most of the time a can of compressed air will do the job very nicely if you follow the instructions and are very careful. Don't spin the fans for example with the air. Stay far enough away so the cold air does not cause condensation on computer components.

To give you some sense of how it is done:

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-clean-your-desktop-pc/

Still, if not comfortable doing it by yourself then try to find someone to help.

As for error codes, Reliability History is much more user friendly. Any sort of event (error code, warning, or even informational) may be meaningful - especially if the entry or entries happen just before or at the time of a freeze. Clicking any given error will provide more details about what happened. Unfortunately those details may or may not be helpful.

One thing I look for is increasing numbers of errors and varying errors over time. Likely sign of a faltering/failing PSU.

"Windows not properly shut down" is a likely error to show up.

PSU's are built (as are many things) with a designed in EOL (End of Life). Eventually that time arrives and the host system suffers.
 

Cesar_66

Prominent
Mar 11, 2022
4
0
510
If not family maybe a friend (one who helped buy the computer for you), someone from work, school perhaps.

Most of the time a can of compressed air will do the job very nicely if you follow the instructions and are very careful. Don't spin the fans for example with the air. Stay far enough away so the cold air does not cause condensation on computer components.

To give you some sense of how it is done:

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-clean-your-desktop-pc/

Still, if not comfortable doing it by yourself then try to find someone to help.

As for error codes, Reliability History is much more user friendly. Any sort of event (error code, warning, or even informational) may be meaningful - especially if the entry or entries happen just before or at the time of a freeze. Clicking any given error will provide more details about what happened. Unfortunately those details may or may not be helpful.

One thing I look for is increasing numbers of errors and varying errors over time. Likely sign of a faltering/failing PSU.

"Windows not properly shut down" is a likely error to show up.

PSU's are built (as are many things) with a designed in EOL (End of Life). Eventually that time arrives and the host system suffers.

I will think about it, gonna look at the step by step. I'm very afraid of doing it myself because if I do mess up, I don't have spare parts or money to buy new ones.

Also, I've had someone tell me my PSU isn't of good quality and I should look into buying a new one. I just want to be as much sure as I can since I won't be able to buy anything else for a while after the purchase.
I will check the reliability history next time I have a freeze. For now, I will see if there is anything from the last time it froze.
 

Cesar_66

Prominent
Mar 11, 2022
4
0
510
Hello, it has been a while. Hope you all had a fantastic end of 2022.

So, since I last wrote this I bought a new PSU: Corsair CV550. Unfortunately, the problem persisted and got worse, to the point where the GPU stopped working (so I discovered that it was the GPU).
I ended up paying someone to clean it (I just couldn't muster the courage to try to clean it myself and mess something up). This was back in the beginning of august and it apparently solved the problem.

However, now the freezing has returned and it is worse. Before as in the video, occasionally I could restart the PC and, as you can see, the the keyboard was responsive. In this new freeze the keyboard no longer is responsive and only the hard reset options works.
My PC has dual boot (Linux Mint and Windows 10) and the freeze happens in both. Even if I'm just browsing. I've been thinking that it may be the RAM or motherboard but I simply can't pinpoint.

So my questions are:
  • Should I create a new thread talking about this new freeze? Or can I continue to use this one?
  • Is there a way to know for sure what it is? I don't have money unfortunately so I can't trade parts.

Upgrades since last time:
  • New PSU: Corsair CV550
  • Installed 3 new fans

Actions that I've retaken:
  • Memory check on Windows: no results
  • Temperature check: Decreased to 60~80 during game. On idle, stays below 40.
  • Reliability test on days that have frozen (on Windows 10) don't show anything unusual. Since I have to hard reset, it shows windows was not shutdown properly. Although before 2023 it had some Hardware reports (LiveKernelEvent was the event name) but I don't remember when the freezes came back so I can't be sure if it is related. The latest freeze was on the 18/01, here is the print.

I can't upload the picture directly, so here is the link (It is uploaded on imgur).

A new video showing the freeze:
View: https://youtu.be/W1mdpJuRi7o


If there is some sort of event viewer for Ubuntu I can check (just need to know where).
Thank you for reading.
 

zx128k

Reputable
Try downclocking the GPU core or VRAM and see if the freezing stops. Also check the temps on the gpu. The gpu could need cleaned (dust removed) and the thermal paste replaced (only do if temps are very high after cleaning the gpu with compressed air).