Question PC Freezes for a about a second every few minutes

[Koz1120]

I have a brand new Alienware Aurora ACT1250 and I'm having an issue I can't figure out. Every few minutes the PC freezes for about a second. Most of the time it's the entire PC, audio, video, and even the keyboard if I'm typing. Other times it seems like it's just the audio, just the video, or just something else like the typing. It's very strange. I bought the PC through Dell and their tech support is utterly useless and they claim it is not hardware related. Here are the things I've already tried:

1. Updated all drivers
2. Reinstalled the BIOS
3. Did a factory reset (with the "keep your files" option). The problem persisted even with just windows installed.

What else can I try? What info can I provide to help figure this out? If it's truly not hardware, I need to figure it out, but I'm suspecting it IS hardware related, but I don't know how to figure it out.

Note: I'm not an idiot when it comes to PC's, but I'm no guru either, so please explain things as clearly as possible so a novice can understand

 

[rgd1101]

malware scan the system?
what did you install? how full is the ssd?

 

[Misgar]

Every few minutes the PC freezes for about a second

I associate this behaviour with my ancient laptops with exceedingly slow dual core CPUs, not enough RAM and Windows Update. The poor CPU just gets bogged down during updates and sits at 100% use.

This shouldn't be the case with a brand new modern PC, but you could monitor CPU, RAM and disk use in Task Manager and see if any programs are grinding to a halt. It might also be worth checking Event Viewer, System logs for any red flags.

 

[Koz1120]

malware scan the system?
what did you install? how full is the ssd?

Malware scan from several different apps returned nothing. I've installed a few things, but nothing major (Itunes, some Steam games, Google Drive, Chrome, ect). I did a factory reset (keeping personal files) and the problem persisted with just Windows and hardware.

SSD is 584 GB free of 930 GB on the main drive, and 1.42 TB of 1.86 free on the secondary drive

 

[Koz1120]

I associate this behaviour with my ancient laptops with exceedingly slow dual core CPUs, not enough RAM and Windows Update. The poor CPU just gets bogged down during updates and sits at 100% use.

This shouldn't be the case with a brand new modern PC, but you could monitor CPU, RAM and disk use in Task Manager and see if any programs are grinding to a halt. It might also be worth checking Event Viewer, System logs for any red flags.

Average task manager percentages show about 10% CPU, 50% Memory, and less than 10% Disk (currently showing 0%)

I've checked the Event Viewer, but I don't really know what I'm looking at (even after Googling some of the results). I tired uploading a screenshot of the error log, but for some reason this site keeps telling me it can't upload the image from the link (it's on ibb). Not sure why I can't post it

 

[Misgar]

I've checked the Event Viewer, but I don't really know what I'm looking

The events I normally check are the ones flagged in red. When I don't have a clue as to the precise meaning, I search for an answer and see if it's relevant. Most of the time I don't bother with Event Viewer, especially when a computer hangs and doesn't write anything to the log.

With a brand new computer from Dell, I'd recommend returning the unit as "not of serviceable quality". Even if Dell doesn't replace it outright, at the very least they should plonk it on a test bench and run a bunch of proprietary test programs.

You've already performed a Factory Reset and (presumably) removed all 3rd party (non Dell) programs, so Dell can't claim its somebody else's software messing things up. Remove all your personal files and send the machine back. It's a pain, but what would you do if a brand new car went wrong? Try to fix it yourself?

If it was out of warranty and my PC, I'd replace things one at a time, RAM, GPU, SSD, CPU, mobo, PSU, etc. It's a bit drastic and impossible unless you have a large box of spares. I'd also dump the Dell version of Windows and install a plain "vanilla" Microsoft ISO from scratch. Dell include a certain amount of bloatware and it's one more thing to go wrong.

Sorry I cannot think of anything more helpful, but I think it's Dell's responsibility whilst the warranty is valid.

 

[Teknoman2]

Have you looked at the temps? Its not an uncommon mistake on prebuilds to have some cooler cover not removed before installing the cooler.

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

List of all connected peripherals.

Wired or wireless network?

= = = =

You can post screenshots here via imgur (www.imgur.com > green "New post" icon).

Also look in Reliability History/Monitor for error codes, warnings, and even informational events that occur just before or at the time of the PC freezes.

Two other tools to use are Resource Manager and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free).

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Use both tools but only one tool at a time. You will need to keep the tool window open and viewable in order to observe system performance.

Objective being to, hopefully, see some change(s) that correspond with the PC freezes.

Likely you will need a bit of trial and error with respect to using and understanding the information provided by the tools. Watch the graphical representations for what changes when freezes occur.

Take your time, watch carefully, keep notes.

 

[alexbirdie]

Average task manager percentages show about 10% CPU

Seems a little bit high. Which processes?

And your symptom looks like something is writing/sending/waiting/???? every few minutes.

Hints from Ralston18 should help( Resource Manager and Process Explorer).