Computer is completely freezing

[MustafaK]

My pc randomly freezes at different occasions; could be idle, or doing work, or playing a demanding game. When it freezes everything is locked and sound also stops working but the fans and lights on the pc seem to be working fine. It does not unfreeze and I must restart via the power button.

I have tried many solutions from the internet to no avail:
-hard formatted my ssd and hdd and did a fresh install of windows 10
-ran chkdsk on my ssd (where windows is installed)
-turned off quick startup
-increased virtual memory
-reset bios and removed cpu overclock
-updated all drivers
-cleared computer's temp files
-ran system file checker
-ran the windows memory check (mdsched.exe)
-ran disk check on ssd and hdd
-ran netsh winsock reset
-checked that the hard drive doesn't get turned off after a certain amount of time (from the power options)
-checked that the Link State Power Management is also turned off
-reapplied thermal paste and dusted pc

At this point I am guessing that this is a fault in the hardware but I don't know which part of the pc would be the problem so I can't simply replace it.

Is there anything else that I should try?

Thank you in advance



Specs
AMD FX-8350 8 core processor 4GHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4Gb DDR5
Corsair CX500 PSU
16Gb DDR3 RAM
Cooler master evo 212 fan
Asus M5A97 R2.0 Motherboard
128 Gb Kingston SSD
1Tb HDD

 

[Barty1884]

Likely the board. Underwhelming VRM for an 8350 and, while it "supports" an 8350, it doesn't do it well.

If you crank up fan speed (or preferrably, point a fan directly at the VRM), does stability improve?

 

[ElectrO_90]

I agree with Barty about the VRMs, also PSU can be slowly failing as well, not supplying the exact power it needs.
Age - it gets to us all in the end.
Although I would still install Hard Disk Sentinel, just because it will let you know if your HDD's are failing and when they are due to fail.

 

[Barty1884]

PSU is another concern, yes ^^
A CX500 at a few years old has a pretty significant fail rate. From what you've described though, I'm fairly confident it's the board.

 

[ElectrO_90]

Underclock the CPU by 1GHZ, that should help keep the strain down as well - for testing purposes, maybe try 2ghz.

 

[MustafaK]

Likely the board. Underwhelming VRM for an 8350 and, while it "supports" an 8350, it doesn't do it well.

If you crank up fan speed (or preferrably, point a fan directly at the VRM), does stability improve?

PSU is another concern, yes ^^
A CX500 at a few years old has a pretty significant fail rate. From what you've described though, I'm fairly confident it's the board.

Thank you for your replies. I haven't had an issue with stability for 2 or so years and I believe that it maybe the psu. While I was looking to see the fans were all in working order I noticed that the psu was very hot, I couldn't place me fingers on it for more that 5 secs kinda hot. Could this be an indication that the psu is failing?

 

[Barty1884]

If it's the VRM (or PSU actually), it would happen over time.

The VRMs are only rated for X hours at Y temps. As you hit/exceed the upper end of the temp limit, the lifespan is shortened dramatically.


As for the PSU temps..... that is very odd. Shouldn't be that hot to the touch IMO.
The CX500 was only rated for continuous operation at 30'C though. If the exterior is >30'C (excluding above the fan), as it would have to be to be uncomfortable for ~5 second touching, then the internals are almost certainly going to be operating out of spec.

 

[MustafaK]

Just checked again now with the PC running for 4 hours without a freeze and the psu was not as hot as yesterday. Still pretty hot but not unbearable.

Would you replace the psu or the motherboard if you were in this situation?

 

[Barty1884]

I would increase fan speed & underclock the CPU (as has been suggested) before ruling on either/or.

My gut feel tells me it's the motherboard, but I wouldn't go replacing components (especially not investing in an AM3 socket board) until I was certain.