Question PC freezes but mouse still moves

[Petzya]

Hello
For weeks now my PC will freeze but for some reason I can still move my mouse and close applications that are open. At this point I think it’s a hardware problem but I’m not sure. Some days I can leave the PC on all day and then it’ll freeze while other days it’ll freeze quickly after startup. Heres a list of things I’ve done to try to fix this issue.

Reset PC to factory settings
Changed Power management settings/HDD settings

I tested both of my RAM sticks, came back with no erorrs
Tested both HDD and SSD, no errors
Used Cinebench to test CPU and 3DMark to test CPU/GPU, neither crashed once and temps were perfect for both

If its not a software issue, then I imagine the culprits would be either the PSU or MOBO. This PC is roughly 2.5 years old. NO OVERCLOCKING HAS BEEN DONE ON ANY COMPONENT.

SPECS
MOBO: MSI B450 Tomahawk
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 6-core 3.4 Ghz
GPU: EVGA GTX 1070 Ti SC
RAM: GSKILL Trident Z 16 gb (2 x 8gb) 3000 MHz
PSU: Seasonic Focus 650 W Gold
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 250GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB

 

[Colif]

What is frozen then if you can close applications and move mouse?
can't open new things?
can't move things around desktop?

latest bios on motherboard? https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK
latest chipset drivers? https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b450
run magician on ssd? https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/
tested ram with memtest?

does it freeze in safe mode?

 

[Petzya]

What is frozen then if you can close applications and move mouse?
can't open new things?
can't move things around desktop?

latest bios on motherboard? https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK
latest chipset drivers? https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b450
run magician on ssd? https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/
tested ram with memtest?

does it freeze in safe mode?

I did chkdsk for the SSD and HDD, I used the windows diagnostic tool for the RAM. Each came back with no issues. I did just install the latest bios and chipset driver. If that does fix it Ill update in a day or 2 so I can be sure the issue was resolved.


I did not start the PC in safe mode yet. To clear up any misunderstandings, the PC normally doesnt freeze when playing games, only when I’m surfing the web, talking on Discord, or have no apps open. If any apps are open(Discord, Chrome, etc) and the PC freezes, I can move my mouse and “X” out of those apps. I cannot open new apps. I can also hit control alt delete and try to shut off from there but it’ll just sit there loading, so ill have to hold the power button to actually shut the pc off.

 

[Colif]

are you running balanced or high performance power mode?

sometimes idle can be a problem for power supplies but I wouldn't suspect a Seasonic of that sort of thing
try running the tests in samsung magician on the ssd.

 

[maikutech]

@Petzya
Hmm I would be willing to say its a psu problem, even though you say the build is 2-3 years old, if the pc is freezing and crashes with a hard reboot
I would check there first, matter of fact eventviewer.exe will give you a good clue to what is happening.
Powerfailure kernel code 43 usually points back at the psu or a mobo problem.
I had a problem like yours last spring, after about 3 weeks of crashing and blacking out for for 20 - 45 minutes each time, I went ahead and bought a new one.

 

[Petzya]

Hello all. Thanks for the replies and sorry for not responding sooner. I updated the chipset drivers which fixed the issue for a little bit, but it reared its ugly head around yet again. I ran the Samsung magician, did a diagnostic test on the SSD, came back with no issues. I took a video of the PC freeing and will try to post it here if I can. Just to clarify, I have to manually reboot the PC by holding down the power button. The PC does not shut off on its own or blue screen when the freezing occurs.

Edit: The PC was on the balanced power setting, I switched it to high performance in an effort to fix this issue. It did not make a difference.