[SOLVED] New 12th gen PC build running W10, but freezes.

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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The computer will just freeze. Sometimes with the screen on and sometimes it turns off. It does so about 10 to 15 minutes or so after turning it on forcing me to force a reboot (hold down power button or unplug and replug followed by a reboot).

This is what I've put together so far (SFF build):

MB: Gigabyte H610M S2H DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 (new)
CPU: Core i3 12100T (used)
RAM: Crucial CT8G4DFS832A 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 (new)
PSU: Silverstone SST-TX300 300 W 80+ Bronze Certified TFX Power Supply (new)
Storage: 500GB Seagate 7200 RPM HDD (used)
(Internal graphics)
I'm running it out through HDMI to my 1080p television (Vizio d43n-e1)

I got Windows 10 on and went to Windows Update and ran that a few times (rebooting and all) until it finished. I also installed the base Gigabyte application that only suggests installing other Gigabyte applications, but I haven't installed any of those, nor any other apps.

I also have a used Pioneer BluRay drive hooked up, also an internal speaker, the front power button, and the power and HD LEDs all hooked up. Also a Noctua case fan (Noctua NF-A6x25 17.18 CFM 60 mm Fan) and a Noctua CPU cooler with fan (Noctua NH-L9i-17xx 33.84 CFM). Also a PS2 keyboard and trackpad and a wireless USB mouse.

The case is the ECE0229LP by Evercase in case that makes any difference. And yes, I'll be installing a floppy drive (already got it in, just not hooked up).

Now I'm going to change the HDD for a NVME drive later, but I just wanted to get this running and make sure everything works. I will be testing my wife's SSD (Crucial MX500 1TB SATA) with a clean install of Windows 10 from out of her laptop since I have that on hand. (I'll have to back up her drive first of course). But if that's not the problem how do I go about troubleshooting if it's the CPU, the RAM the PSU or the MB especially before the month warranty expires on the CPU?
 
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The computer will just freeze. Sometimes with the screen on and sometimes it turns off. It does so about 10 to 15 minutes or so after turning it on forcing me to force a reboot (hold down power button or unplug and replug followed by a reboot).

This is what I've put together so far (SFF build):

MB: Gigabyte H610M S2H DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 (new)
CPU: Core i3 12100T (used)
RAM: Crucial CT8G4DFS832A 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 (new)
PSU: Silverstone SST-TX300 300 W 80+ Bronze Certified TFX Power Supply (new)
Storage: 500GB Seagate 7200 RPM HDD (used)
(Internal graphics)
I'm running it out through HDMI to my 1080p television (Vizio d43n-e1)

I got Windows 10 on and went to Windows Update and ran that a few times (rebooting and all) until it finished. I also installed the base Gigabyte application that only suggests installing other Gigabyte applications, but I haven't installed any of those, nor any other apps.

I also have a used Pioneer BluRay drive hooked up, also an internal speaker, the front power button, and the power and HD LEDs all hooked up. Also a Noctua case fan (Noctua NF-A6x25 17.18 CFM 60 mm Fan) and a Noctua CPU cooler with fan (Noctua NH-L9i-17xx 33.84 CFM).

The case is the ECE0229LP by Evercase in case that makes any difference. And yes, I'll be installing a floppy drive (already got it in, just not hooked up).

Now I'm going to change the HDD for a NVME drive later, but I just wanted to get this running and make sure everything works. I will be testing my wife's SSD (Crucial MX500 1TB SATA) with a clean install of Windows 10 from out of her laptop since I have that on hand. (I'll have to back up her drive first of course). But if that's not the problem how do I go about troubleshooting if it's the CPU, the RAM the PSU or the MB especially before the month warranty expires on the CPU?
Do you have the cpu hsf mounted proper and is the fan working?

What happens if you power up and enter the bios and let it sit there?
 
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Isaac Zackary

Commendable
Aug 11, 2020
213
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Do you have the cpu hsf mounted proper and is the fan working?

What happens if you power up and enter the bios and let it sit there?
HSF = heat sink fan?
  • The heat sink fan came preinstalled on the CPU heat sink.
  • I just opened up the case to confirm and it starts spinning up immediately when I turn on the PC.
  • There are no cables or other objects in the fan that could prevent it from spinning.
  • I mounted the CPU cooler as per Noctua's instructions, Four 2mm dabs of thermal paste at each corner and one big 4mm dab in the middle. I tightened the four heat sink mounting screws slowly in a criss cross pattern and got them pretty snug, hand tight, but didn't wrench on them.
I will try it out in the bios to see what happens.

Edit:

It's been 18 minutes so far in the UEFI BIOS and so far no signs of freezing up. Also as a side note:
  • The CPU temperature, according to the BIOS, has fluxuated between 32°C and 33°C.
  • The +12V fluxuates between 12.33 and 12.366V
  • The +5V moves between 4.950 to 4.957V
Edit:

It has been over an hour and so far no freezing in the UEFI BIOS. I will leave it on for the next 5 hours and come back and see if it's still doing well. Then I'll test out another drive if it hasn't frozen, probably that Crucial MX500 SATA SSD.
 
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Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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Update on running it in UEFI BIOS.

After 6 hours total I got back and it was running fine in the BIOS. Nothing was frozen or wrong that I could see.

However, when I exited the BIOS so it would start up in Windows it simply went to a black screen and the HDD light did not light up at all. So I held down the power button for a few seconds to power it off and then rebooted the computer and it booted into Windows.

Note: Every time I do this it goes to a blue update screen saying "getting Windows ready" but soon after is ready for my password.
 
Update on running it in UEFI BIOS.

After 6 hours total I got back and it was running fine in the BIOS. Nothing was frozen or wrong that I could see.

However, when I exited the BIOS so it would start up in Windows it simply went to a black screen and the HDD light did not light up at all. So I held down the power button for a few seconds to power it off and then rebooted the computer and it booted into Windows.

Note: Every time I do this it goes to a blue update screen saying "getting Windows ready" but soon after is ready for my password.
Might be time to replace the hdd.

Do a fresh install of windows and then install the proper bios and mobo drivers.
 
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Isaac Zackary

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Might be time to replace the hdd.

Do a fresh install of windows and then install the proper bios and mobo drivers.
Thanks!

Ya, I'm thinking it's the HDD too. I only put it in there temporarily just to test out the system. I'll try out a SATA SSD here this evening.

I just hope I'm not wrong on this one because if it's something else and I miss the window to return it I'm going to be frustrated.
 

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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Bad news! I put in the nice SSD that's about a year or maybe two old and put it in there with a brand new fresh copy of Windows 10 (I had deleted all the partitions and started out fresh) and it just keeps freezing up, black-screening and restarting even with this SSD that works completely fine in my wife's laptop.

It actually seems to be even worse now. Sometimes I have to hard restart it several times just to get to the desktop/start menu and then it crashes again.

I took out the RAM and reseated it. That didn't seem to do anything.
 
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Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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Is your powersupply even powerful enough to run all that? Those are symptoms of low power.
Yes. The PSU is rated at 300W and my system is rated to use about 112W max.

I have a 12-year-old 1,500W PSU. Do you think I should try it out and see if it makes any difference?
 

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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The computer detected it didn't shut off correctly and so I used the menus to get to the command prompt. There I typed mdsched.exe and restarted from there. Windows finished checking the RAM for errors but did not find any. The computer rebooted, as it normally would, and I logged in and it again immediately froze.

I'm taking out the PSU from the old computer and trying it. I'll let you know what happens.
 

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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The 12-year-old PSU is hooked up and the computer is running. Sadly I can't do a 100% apples to apples comparison because the new computer is a SFF and only fits a TFX sized PSU. The old computer is a monster of a computer with an extra large 220mm deep ATX PSU.
 

oAi

Dec 12, 2022
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2
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The 12-year-old PSU is hooked up and the computer is running. Sadly I can't do a 100% apples to apples comparison because the new computer is a SFF and only fits a TFX sized PSU. The old computer is a monster of a computer with an extra large 220mm deep ATX PSU.
Think its the graphics card taking the most. 300w seems slow and peripherals add wattage. Could be fans too.
 

Isaac Zackary

Commendable
Aug 11, 2020
213
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Anywho. What I meant by not having an apples to apples comparison is that I can't close the case since there other PSU does not fit. So I have it just sitting outside the computer with the case panel off.

So far it has frozen once even with the 1,500W PSU.
 

oAi

Dec 12, 2022
4
2
15
Anywho. What I meant by not having an apples to apples comparison is that I can't close the case since there other PSU does not fit. So I have it just sitting outside the computer with the case panel off.

So far it has frozen once even with the 1,500W PSU.
Have you tried a re-image?

Edit: When is it freezing?
Maybe create new profile?
 
Anywho. What I meant by not having an apples to apples comparison is that I can't close the case since there other PSU does not fit. So I have it just sitting outside the computer with the case panel off.

So far it has frozen once even with the 1,500W PSU.
You removed the hdd and installed a ssd.

You did a fresh install of windows on the ssd.

Where did the windows installer come from?
 

Isaac Zackary

Commendable
Aug 11, 2020
213
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Have you tried a re-image?

Edit: When is it freezing?
Maybe create new profile?
What is a re-image?

When is it freezing? Mainly when doing updates, both on the Windows Update and when updating apps in the Windows Store. But it also would freeze randomly, several times while starting up, sometimes never making it to the desktop or even the password start screen. Sometimes it does it after a while when doing something like watching a YouTube video or something.
You removed the hdd and installed a ssd.
Yes, the HDD is disconnected and I installed an SSD.
You did a fresh install of windows on the ssd.
Yes. I deleted all the partitions and installed a fresh installation of Windows 10.
Where did the windows installer come from?
I used Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to put it on an 8GB USB flash drive (PNY brand). I then boot into the USB flash drive and install Windows 10. The copy of Windows Installation Media is recent.
 
What is a re-image?

When is it freezing? Mainly when doing updates, both on the Windows Update and when updating apps in the Windows Store. But it also would freeze randomly, several times while starting up, sometimes never making it to the desktop or even the password start screen. Sometimes it does it after a while when doing something like watching a YouTube video or something.

Yes, the HDD is disconnected and I installed an SSD.

Yes. I deleted all the partitions and installed a fresh installation of Windows 10.

I used Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to put it on an 8GB USB flash drive (PNY brand). I then boot into the USB flash drive and install Windows 10. The copy of Windows Installation Media is recent.
Unplug the blue ray unit....power and data.
See if it makes a diff.
 

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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Update. I went to reinstall Windows 10 (third time) and it black screened during the install. I think I'll try a different USB flash memory stick and download Windows installation onto it with my last Windows computer (3 out of 4 aren't usable right now with the PSU of one and the SSD of the other in this computer).

I will try unplugging both cables on the blue-ray player.
 
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Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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Update. different USB drive.

Again it rebooted again during Windows Install before it had actually installed.

I attempted again and it froze at 3% of "Preparing files for installation".

Both of those times it was with the Blu-Ray player completely disconnected, both data and power.

Now I can't seem to get through installing Windows before it freezes.
 
Update. different USB drive.

Again it rebooted again during Windows Install before it had actually installed.

I attempted again and it froze at 3% of "Preparing files for installation".

Both of those times it was with the Blu-Ray player completely disconnected, both data and power.

Now I can't seem to get through installing Windows before it freezes.
Put a copy of memtest86 on a flash stick.
Boot the flash stick and let it run.
Does it reboot/crash/show any errors?
 
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Isaac Zackary

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I had to go to work for a couple of hours running the PassMark MemTest86. When I got back, the computer had a black screen and was unresponsive.

PS. By "black screen" I've been meaning it doesn't produce a video signal.

I am redoing the test but leaving my phone recording the screen in time lapse mode.
 

Isaac Zackary

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Aug 11, 2020
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2nd try with MemTest86 and the computer did not freeze or restart or anything of the sort this time.

It took 1 hour and 49 minutes to complete all 4 passes and it passed everything with zero errors.

But the fact that it froze and the screen went black the first try with MemTest I guess means it deffinitely is a hardware problem.

Since it passed both the MemTest86 here as well as Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, does that mean that we can rule out the memory?