PC freezing randomly without warning

[Chrisxark]

My PC has recently started to freeze randomly. It happens just whenever it feels like it I guess. Sometimes it'll go 24 hours without doing it, sometimes it does it 3-4 times a day. The screen goes pure white, sometimes checkered almost, and locks up. The only thing I can do is reset and try again.

I've eliminated a few reasons. It's not heat, my computer is staying about 30-40 C idle and never goes above 60 C while in heavy use. Usually peaks at 54 C while stressed. I don't think it's the RAM either, I just installed some brand new sticks and the problem didn't change at all.

It started one day after I took it outside to dust it out, it has been doing it off and on ever since. I thought it was overheating at first so I installed a Hyper 212 EVO cooler and while that did lower my temps by about 25 C, it didn't stop the randomly freezing.

Here's my specs:
CPU- AMD FX-8150
GPU- R9 280x
RAM 16 GB 4x4 Kingston HyperX FURY
Boot drive: 60 GB SSD w/ Windows 7


UPDATE: It seems to crash most frequently after I play a game for a while. I can play the game for hours but shortly after I exit them it freezes.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Chris.

Since you've already excluded the RAM as a possible culprit and since the computer is not overheating, this might be a GPU or a drive issue. Try installing the newest driver for your GPU, or an older version, as the newer ones are not always the best option, to see if the issue still persists.
Faulty SATA cables or drives might be the cause for a freezing/hanging system as well, so you should try the drive with a different SATA port and cables and backup your important data, just to be on the safe side. You could also run some tests on it, by using its manufacturer's diagnostic tool.

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Chrisxark]

Hey there, Chris.

Since you've already excluded the RAM as a possible culprit and since the computer is not overheating, this might be a GPU or a drive issue. Try installing the newest driver for your GPU, or an older version, as the newer ones are not always the best option, to see if the issue still persists.
Faulty SATA cables or drives might be the cause for a freezing/hanging system as well, so you should try the drive with a different SATA port and cables and backup your important data, just to be on the safe side. You could also run some tests on it, by using its manufacturer's diagnostic tool.

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Well I tried updating the drivers, that didn't help. The SATA cables might be the issue since I took the back panel off before I dusted it, maybe something got messed up. I'll try that and see if it helps.

 

[Chrisxark]

So I left my PC on for 12 hours unused, and it didn't freeze. Yet when I play for a while and then get off and let it cool down it freezes. It's definitely heat related, although not in the traditional sense. It seems to freeze when it cools down after the GPU gets hot for a while. I'm gonna run some stress tests and see if that causes my computer to crash, because I'm having the feeling that it might just be the problem.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Stress testing is a good idea, but keep in mind the other suggestions from my previous post, if you haven't tried them already. Also, if you have overclocked the CPU or the GPU, you might want to try them out at their default speed, to see if the issue still persists.

 

[jamraket]

Chrisxark,

Any updates on your problem? I have recently encountered the same problems.
I'd suggest stress testing your GPU with a program like Furmark.

Good luck!