PC Crashing Randomly, Completely freezing.

[DragonBorn1511]

So I have a bunch of older PC parts laying around and thought, why not just build a rig out of them for some overclocking madness and fun?

The CPU, Mobo, RAM, Case, GPU, WIFI Card & Sound Card were all already part of the same system. The PSU was taken from a working system and was tested in multiple systems as well. And the same goes for the SSD + HDD.

The Specs:

Coolermaster Elite 310 Case
Phenom II X4 925 CPU
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2x4GB RAM
Asus M4N68T-M Motherboard
Powercolor HD 5570 1GB GDDR3 (This will change, as i'm going to be experimenting all my old GPUs to see how far I can OC them)
Corsair CX600M PSU
Kingston SSD NOW 40GB
Seagate 160GB HDD
Startech Sound card
TP LInk PCI Wifi Card

So I installed Windows 8.1 fresh on the SSD (leaving the HDD out of the equation at this point) and The PC just randomly crashes and freezes. Doesn't reboot itself or turn off, just freezes. I tried reinstalling 8.1 but it even sometimes crashes while setting up windows!

So I thought, maybe the SSD just didn't want to cooperate with such old hardware. So I Installed wIndows 8.1 on a 500GB Seagate HDD, exact same thing happened. The furthest I've ever got is halfway through downloading GPU Drivers off the internet.

All the parts were working when I last used them. I even tested them all individually before putting this all together. So it's really odd.

I used to run this CPU + Mobo setup with Windows 7, so I guess i'll try putting WIndows 7 on it to see if that fixes the issue.

However in the meantime any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WildCard999]

I would try Win7 and see if that is an improvement. If it is and if you want Win8.1 on that system I would update the BIOS and try reinstalling 8.1.

 

[DragonBorn1511]

I would try Win7 and see if that is an improvement. If it is and if you want Win8.1 on that system I would update the BIOS and try reinstalling 8.1.

Trying it out now (W7), Weird thing is I've used WIndows 10 on this board + CPU before, and it ran fine...rather odd.

 

[WildCard999]

That is odd, although Win10 has a habit of downloading the majority of drivers on its own.

How are the temps on the CPU & GPU?

 

[DragonBorn1511]

That is odd, although Win10 has a habit of downloading the majority of drivers on its own.

How are the temps on the CPU & GPU?

Temps are fine, CPU has an Arctic cooling freezer 12 on it.

Windows 7 seems to be working fine, I installed it and now i'm running a windows experience index (albeit with no GPU drivers) and the PC is still going along nicely....very odd.

Guess I'll try Windows 10 instead of 8.1 this time around.

As for W10 downloading the drivers on it's own, 8.1 did that too, all driers were downloaded automatically.

 

[DragonBorn1511]

That is odd, although Win10 has a habit of downloading the majority of drivers on its own.

How are the temps on the CPU & GPU?

Okay looks like I was wrong, Windows 10 crashed as soon as it was done setting up, I went to put my wifi password in on the desktop and it crashed.

Would your recommendation be a BIOS update? Because I think this board is 2-4 BIOS Updates behind.

Tbh i'm a bit sceptical of doing BIOS update for the regular fears that people have, so not sure if it will be worth it. I've done it on a laptop before but they have battery power and I don't own a UPS.

 

[WildCard999]

Hmm, the MB should support 8.1, here is the download page for the newest BIOS for 8.1 since that is what you originally wanted.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/M4N68TM/HelpDesk_Download/

Try this and see if it helps with the crashes. There is always the small chance of bricking the MB.

 

[DragonBorn1511]

That is odd, although Win10 has a habit of downloading the majority of drivers on its own.

How are the temps on the CPU & GPU?

Hmm, the MB should support 8.1, here is the download page for the newest BIOS for 8.1 since that is what you originally wanted.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/M4N68TM/HelpDesk_Download/

Try this and see if it helps with the crashes. There is always the small chance of bricking the MB.

Sorry for the stupid question, since BIOS updates are done differently for different boards, how is this one done specifically? On my laptop you just ran the file on the desktop and it did everything for you, but this doesn't seem to be a runable program/utility.

 

[WildCard999]

I think you'll need to download the file to a flash drive and update via BIOS. In the file there should be instructions/manual on how to update.

 

[DragonBorn1511]

I think you'll need to download the file to a flash drive and update via BIOS. In the file there should be instructions/manual on how to update.

So I took out my PCI WiFi card.....and everything works perfectly with Windows 10 without needing to do the BIOS update haha, no Idea why. Guess I'll try another PCI wireless card later, for now this USB Dongle will do.

 

[WildCard999]

Interesting, well I'm glad its working lol.