Computer hard freeze after a few minutes

[Codehawx]

Hello, i'm new here, so please be easy with me.
Also, excuse me for my bad english. I'm from indonesia, so yeah, please bear with my english.
But i'll try to use english as clean as i can.

So basically my uncle asked me to build him a new rig for his children. Gaming purposes rig i suppose.
The thing is i live in indonesia where the people here usually have a very tight budget, including my uncle.
I've been building many rigs since 6 years ago, but it was all with new components and easy troubleshooting. Which made my experience on building rig was only "plug those things here and there, power on, install this and that, then play the game".

Now because of the budget, i'm forced to buy second-handed components with possibly low quality components (really bad QC and maintenance).
So, this is the (poor) rig i curently have.

CPU : Intel Core 2 duo E7500 2.90ish GHz (forgot the details)
VGA : Pixelview Nvidia Geforce 9400 GT 1GB DDR3 128bit
Motherboard : Amptron G31LM (very cheap MB, got it for Rp350.000, about US$30, crappy vendor)
RAM : 1x 2 GB DDR2 (not sure about the vendor)
PSU : E-tech 450W (not sure if peak power or true power, crappy vendor i guess)
HDD : 160 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200
OS : Windows 7
Everything is second-handed.

The first time i built it, i formatted the whole harddisk and installed Win7 into it. It installed just fine, then i installed the intel chipset (got it from the internet for this motherboard), and installed NVIDIA Driver.
Restarted, then i installed a light game, Need For Speed Underground 2.

I played the game for about 5 minutes, it froze up. A complete freeze that i had to hard reset the computer.
I tried to play the game again, sometimes it froze up after 10 minutes, 5 mins, or even just for a few seconds.
So i tried just to leave the computer on, it actually didn't froze up, It stays awake for more than a night. But sometimes, i experienced an automatic restart even when doing nothing.
I tried to copy a huge file from my External HDD to the computer, it froze at 50ish%, sometime, an automatic restart.
I tried to install a flash game, plant and zombies, played it for 1 hour, no problem.
I tried to turn the computer in safe mode, and leave it be. It survived for a whole day.

So i thought i need to troubleshoot this rig. I started from the OS. and tested by playing the NFS.
OS : I re-installed the OS 2 times, no luck. Still freezes.
PSU : I tried to attach my own PSU (seasonic 550W True power), no luck, still freezes.
RAM : Reseat the RAM? No luck.
RAM : I tried a memtest, no problem it says.
VGA : I tried to use just the onboard VGA, no luck, still freezes.
VGA : i tried to test the 9400GT by attaching it into my own rig which has mid-end built. Played every games i have with it, works 100% fine for even hours.
Overheat : everytime it hangs, i touched every component with my fingers, quite warm. But far from 90degree hot.
Harddisk : done nothing, i have a doubt with this harddisk health.
Motherboard : This is the biggest doubt i have for this rig. But i'm not really sure either. It's hard to find LGA775 MB these days in my country (with cheap price, of course), nor i know how to test it.

If possible, i want to keep out on buying new components since i'm very tight on budget (but if it's crucial then i guess it's okay).

sorry for a long post, i'm just trying to write every detail i have done.
Kinda in a hopeless state here, i've been troubleshooting this rig for 1 week.

thanks in advance.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

I would use hwmonitor to check the temperatures on your components. Also, I would suggest using a free program called gsmart control to test the hard drive's health. A clue might be though that when you attempted to copy a file it stopped at 50% while it was copying. Those are the first 2 things I would check.

 

[Codehawx]

I would use hwmonitor to check the temperatures on your components. Also, I would suggest using a free program called gsmart control to test the hard drive's health. A clue might be though that when you attempted to copy a file it stopped at 50% while it was copying. Those are the first 2 things I would check.

thanks for the advice.

As what you said, i've ran the HWMonitor and this is the result after the computer turned on for 1 hour (with just the activity from gsmart control, no game).

(deleted the unnecessary data, just showing the temp)

Spoiler

CPUID HWMonitor Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HWMonitor version 1.2.6.0

Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model To be filled by O.E.M. (0x000006C0 - 0xE87917D0)

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor Winbond W83627THF
Temperature 0 25ｰC (77ｰF) [0x19] (SYSTIN)
Temperature 1 31ｰC (87ｰF) [0x3E] (CPUTIN)
Temperature 2 127ｰC (260ｰF) [0xFE] (VTIN)

Hardware monitor NVIDIA I/O
Temperature 0 39ｰC (102ｰF) [0x27] (TMPIN0)

Hardware monitor NVIDIA NVAPI
Temperature 0 39ｰC (102ｰF) [0x27] (TMPIN0)
Fan PWM 0 50 pc [0x32] (FANPWMIN0)

TL;DR.
temp MB 0 and 1 are legit i guess.
While the MB 2 i don't really think is correct. 127 degree celcius is insane.
Max VGA temp was about 42-49 iirc
Max HDD temp was about 39
Max CPU temp was about 40 iirc.

as for Gsmart control, this is the result

Spoiler

smartctl 5.43 2012-06-30 r3573 [i686-w64-mingw32-win7(64)-sp1] (sf-5.43-1)
Copyright (C) 2002-12 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
Device Model: ST3160815AS
Serial Number: 5RA2A5XP
Firmware Version: 3.AAD
User Capacity: 160.041.885.696 bytes [160 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Tue Dec 30 22:32:05 2014 SEAST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x82) Offline data collection activity
was completed without error.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 430) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 54) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 111 072 006 Pre-fail Always - 36944078
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 098 097 000 Pre-fail Always - 0
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 097 097 020 Old_age Always - 3755
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 10
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 087 060 030 Pre-fail Always - 526936673
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 084 084 000 Old_age Always - 14341
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 020 Old_age Always - 2666
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 041 041 000 Old_age Always - 59
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 058 047 045 Old_age Always - 42 (Min/Max 27/42)
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 042 053 000 Old_age Always - 42 (0 24 0 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 056 047 000 Old_age Always - 198593251
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
202 Data_Address_Mark_Errs 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 59 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 59 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 11122 hours (463 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 00 3c c1 9e e0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x009ec13c = 10404156

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 00 37 c1 9e e0 00 01:17:54.123 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 c0 9e e0 00 01:17:54.123 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bf 9e e0 00 01:17:54.122 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 be 9e e0 00 01:17:54.108 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bd 9e e0 00 01:17:50.771 READ DMA EXT

Error 58 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 11122 hours (463 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 00 35 c1 9e e0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x009ec135 = 10404149

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 00 37 c0 9e e0 00 01:17:54.123 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bf 9e e0 00 01:17:54.123 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 be 9e e0 00 01:17:54.122 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bd 9e e0 00 01:17:54.108 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bc 9e e0 00 01:17:50.771 READ DMA EXT

Error 57 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 11122 hours (463 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 00 3c c1 9e e0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x009ec13c = 10404156

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 00 37 c1 9e e0 00 01:17:47.752 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 c0 9e e0 00 01:17:47.359 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bf 9e e0 00 01:17:43.984 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 be 9e e0 00 01:17:43.982 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bd 9e e0 00 01:17:50.771 READ DMA EXT

Error 56 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 11122 hours (463 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 00 35 c1 9e e0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x009ec135 = 10404149

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 00 37 c0 9e e0 00 01:17:47.752 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bf 9e e0 00 01:17:47.359 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 be 9e e0 00 01:17:43.984 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bd 9e e0 00 01:17:43.982 READ DMA EXT
25 00 00 37 bc 9e e0 00 01:17:43.979 READ DMA EXT

Error 55 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 11122 hours (463 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Looks like it's throwing some errors at you if you look toward the middle of the log in gsmart. Also, look at the properties where it shows how many of the things it tests it thinks are old age. It's also showing some things it thinks are prefailure. If you have a spare drive to test it may not hurt.

 

[Codehawx]

Looks like it's throwing some errors at you if you look toward the middle of the log in gsmart. Also, look at the properties where it shows how many of the things it tests it thinks are old age. It's also showing some things it thinks are prefailure. If you have a spare drive to test it may not hurt.

i've tested it with another drive i have, a SATA2 260GB Seagate barracuda 7200 rpm, which works fine in my other rig.

It didn't even survived for a minute after the dekstop screen has appeared. It froze up quickly. I couldn't even get into to install the game. I tried it several times but it just performed worse than what i had before.

@update
i tried with IDE harddisk 30GB seagate barracuda 7200 rpm, this time i managed to install and play the game for a few laps, but then it freezes again when i was trying for my 2nd race.

@update
ok, i'm on my last stand here. i'll try to attach my harddisk, the 9400GT, with another rig which has about same specification.
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo, forgot the details.
MB : ECS G41T-M16
Ram : 2GB DDR3 (forgot the vendor)
PSU : 450W

I'll update again and see how it goes.

 

[Codehawx]

@update
the game plays fine. Been playing constantly for 45 mins and no sign of freezing. So i guess the culprit has been narrowed down to only 3 components, whether the motherboard, or the processor, or the ram.