HELP: Random System Crashes (no BSOD)

[dio_free]

Hey All,

I am experiencing some disturbing shut downs on my pc and would really appreciate some guidance. This has been plaguing me for about 6 months now and I can't take it anymore...

Just to be clear, these crashes do not provide a BSOD and therefore no error code for me to research and correct on my own.

In the last two days, this has happened 4-5 times, and most often while watching streaming video online (but not always). Without warning, everything will lock up (sometimes this is accompanied by a terrible sound emitted from the speakers - presumably looping audio from the video i was watching). The computer then reboots itself without my involvement.

Before anyone asks, my drivers are UP TO DATE, and my BIOS is up to date as well.

So far, I have asked around and most people point to my graphics card overheating, or a very dirty (dusty) pc as a likely cause. Firstly, my computer is generally kept very clean, and I am monitoring my GPU temps and they are usually WELL within normal ranges (frankly it runs very cool). I have called EVGA for support, and they told me they had not heard of this problem before. They had me run a bunch of gpu stress tests, all of which provided no clue (they were clean) as to what could be wrong. Someone else told me to make sure my RAM was properly seated. I did check that and I can't see any seating issues.

Any ideas? PLEASE help me!

Thank you in advance.

OS. Windows 7 HP 64Bit
CPU. Core i5 750 2.66
Motherboard. Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3
Memory. Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 6GB 3X2GB PC3-12800 DDR
Graphics Card. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
Monitor. Displays ACER LCD 24" 2MS H243H BMID
PSU. Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply
Case. Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case ATX 3/0/(6) 2xUSB Audio
Cooling. Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro REV.2 CPU Heatsink Cooler LGA13
Hard Drive. Western Digital Caviar Green (WD10EARS) 1000GB (1TB) SATA 3 Gb/s 64MB (OEM)

 

[mightymaxio]

Yes they run off of a bootdisk found here: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
And heres hirens:
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

 

[dio_free]

Read the guide on testing voltages. I think i could pull it off if I needed to but should eliminate other things first I think.

After testing HDD and RAM, and eliminating them as culprit. I will test with onboard GPU to see if its the GFX card. After that... it will either be mobo or psu ...

Does that order make sense?

If ram is not culprit, should i put 3rd stick back in, or keep it out?

 

[mightymaxio]

I would put the 3rd stick back in, and then test again because it could be the third stick is bad.

 

[dio_free]

Thanks Mighty. You are my hero btw.

Let's assume (just for now) that the third stick of ram is causing the problem. Is this a normal by product of using a third stick, or is something actually defective in that stick?

Seems surprising to me that simply having a third stick would cause such major problems...

 

[mightymaxio]

A third stick could cause problems but its not likely, i have used 3 sticks of ram and have not had issues but it could still be a bad stick because that was excluded from the test.

Trying to narrow down possibilities for rebooting, you could try removing the 460 gtx and just booting from integrated for a while just to see if the problem occurs again because the only thing you really havent tested is the GPU.

 

[dio_free]

Hey Mighty,

So far I have been stable, not a single crash, for a whole week. This means RAM was the culprit. I am down to two sticks of 2gb and running smoothly. Do you suggest that I put the third one back in and fix the voltages etc, or simply stick with two with current settings.

Are you able to help me look at my voltages and whatnot, and tell me if they look right?
thanks

 

[dio_free]

Best answer selected by dio_free.