Computer freezing even after eliminating pretty much all causes?

Jacob Badaszewski

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Aug 7, 2015
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This is really frustrating. I built a gaming PC back in January and it worked like a charm until a few weeks ago. Now it'll randomly freeze (screen locks up, audio loops for a few seconds which sounds like buzzing then goes silent, I have to force-reset). Before I wiped my computer, it would occasionally freeze during a game. It got worse and worse, so I ran every diagnostic I could. Prime95 caused no problems when running for half an hour, furmark did the same. I ran memtest86 for 4 passes and got TONS of errors and replaced the RAM.

Even after replacing the RAM, the computer still freezes. Since I was planning on upgrading my CPU anyways, I replaced my CPU and motherboard. That didn't fix anything, I was still freezing. See, the computer would freeze if I was downloading something big or applying a big update (upgrading to Windows 10, etc). So I decided to try using only one hard drive at a time; I installed fresh installations of Windows 8 onto my Kingston SSDNow 120GB and my WD blue 1TB. Even when only one is plugged in at a time, the computer would still freeze just as frequently. So I replaced my PSU since my old one was junk and I needed a new one anyways. Didn't fix anything.

I even did unorthodox things like plugging my computer in on a different circuit in the house, running the computer on a fresh installation without the GPU using the on-board graphics or replacing the RAM AGAIN from a working computer but that didn't fix anything.

I've dropped a lot of money on this and I just can't figure out what's going on.

What's weird is I installed Ubuntu for a bit onto the SSD and left the 1TB hard drive empty and it didn't seem to freeze at all, even after hours of use.

My setup when this started was a Gigabyte GA-990FX-UD3 mobo, EVGA 600B PSU, AMD FX-8350, GTX 970, 1 8GB stick of Kingston HyperX fury RAM, Kingston SSDNOW 120GB and WD Blue 1TB hard drive. I now have a Z97x-Gaming 3 mobo and an i5-4690k CPU, 1 8GB stick of Corsair Vengeance RAM along with an XFX XTR 650W PSU.

I have a Hyper T4 cooler so overheating is definitely not a problem. For other accessories I have a Sentry 3 fan controller, a 5.25" media dashboard and a generic DVD burner. I also have a PCI wifi card.

What could be going wrong? Could BOTH my SSD and HDD have a problem which causes them to freeze? Could my PSU have damaged both my motherboards/CPUs? Could a poltergeist be haunting me?
 

Greenpernod

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Aug 5, 2015
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If your single player gaming i recommenced having no internet connection. And as you have shown it may be your OS is just messing up and maybe switching to ubuntu would alleviate all your symptoms. Case and point my computer always freezes up when i am connected to the internet when i first go on Witcher 3. But this problem never happens when i'm not connected to the internet.
 

Jacob Badaszewski

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Aug 7, 2015
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I mean, that COULD be the cause but it's unlikely.

It seems to freeze far less often when I'm just using my regular hard drive instead of my SSD or my SSD and Hard Drive. Hmm.
 
Were you using the PCI WiFi card w/ Ubuntu? If everything worked fine there, it would seem software/driver related somehow. Like you mentioned, 2 motherboards, CPUs, PSUs, sets of RAM, GPU removed, and the problem persists. If you weren't using the WiFi card in Ubuntu, i'd remove it all together for awhile to see what happens.
 

Jacob Badaszewski

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Aug 7, 2015
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That's actually a good idea... I WAS using the Wifi card with Ubuntu and it worked, but it could possibly be messing things up.

Because I freeze less frequently with the hard drive by itself, my guess is that the flash memory of the SSD and the flash memory of the hard drive cache got damaged by something. I'll borrow a working hard drive and see if it fixes it...
 

Jacob Badaszewski

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Aug 7, 2015
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Okay, so I downloaded Windows 8.1 and removed the PCI wi-fi card and it installed without a sinlge problem... before this it would ALWAYS freeze during the installation. Could it be a problem with my new modem that Time Warner just put in to replace my old broken one, the TP-link Router or the card itself or a combination of the 2?
 
I'd say the WiFi card, as the modem should be functioning independently of your PC, and shouldn't cause freezes. Worst case I'd say w/ modem is no internet connection. Same goes for the card communicating w/ the router, shouldn't cause the problem on the router end.
 

Greenpernod

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disable turbo boost settings in bios if you have them(causes CPU to ramp up momentarily when in high processing conditions to process more sometimes past the maximum of your CPU) also disable power saving options in bios which limit CPU power at times.
 

meows

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Oct 16, 2009
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This may be redundant, as you may have found the problem.. However for those with continuing issues. May I direct your attention to something I learned with my Shiny new x86 Dos4 installation. And I use every time I go fix someones computer that has a issue that is non specific.
Pre repair. find all hardware Install dvd's
First. right click my computer go to your video card and set it to VGA 640 x 480
Shut the computer down.
remove all but one stick of memory.,
remove all drives but the boot drive.. ALL means Harddrives, DVD, USB etc. everything.
Leaving the Keyboard and Mouse plugged in Unplug everything else.
Remove the Graphic card
Remove all other devices plugged into the computer.

NOTE:: if your Motherboard does not have onboard video leave your graphic card installed.
There should only be the motherboard, power supply, and a memory stick. and/or graphic card.
BOOT the computer.
If successful add ONE more stick of memory and boot,
continue There should only be the motherboard, power supply, and memory sticks. Until all memory is in,
Then do the Hard drives, followed by DVD's. then All others. Rebooting after each is reinstalled.
Continue until you find the error...

PS>>>>>> From reading your post and all the answers.., My first suggestion would be for you to go buy a New 850 or 950 Corsair power supply.. Your symptoms all point to a lack of Juice,
Hope it helps.