PC hangs when playing mkv file via VLC, also when gaming / browsing / opening apps -- hard reset required

[Hedfulofspidrs]

Hello all,

My new PC (specs below) is misbehaving. I already sent it back to the supplier before to replace faulty RAM, but I'm seeing a similar issue again. The OS (Win 7) regularly hangs and becomes completely unresponsive, after which no input device (keyboard / mouse / ctrl+alt+del) works -- except for a hard reset.

The freeze can be replicated by playing an mkv file via VLC player (occurs in Safe Mode too). It also occurs when gaming, browsing or launching certain applications, but not consistently though.

Would be really grateful for any suggestions on what else I can try before sending it back.

I have tried / checked the following, but continue to experience the issue:

-- Re-installed VLC
-- GPU latest drivers installed (clean install)
-- GPU older drivers installed (clean install)
-- GPU moved to alternate PCI slot
-- GPU & drivers removed completely. Freezes still occur(!)
-- Ran Memtest for 2 hours. No errors
-- Checked / updated other device drivers
-- Changed motherboard profile to 'Eco' (low power) setting
-- Changed motherboard profile to 'OC Genie' (overclocked) setting
-- Alternate wireless USB Wifi installed (Netgear)
-- Windows updates
-- Re-installed MB AMD chipset drivers
-- Re-installed MB Realtek ethernet controllers
-- HD disk check. No errors.

Possible issues/solutions:

-- Insufficient PSU power?
-- Flash the BIOS? (not something I want to do unless absolutely necessary)
-- GPU / CPU temperatures? All the issues listed above can occur shortly after PC has been booted, so I don't anticipate overheating as the problem.
-- ATI onboard graphics conflict with nVidia card?

Specs

PC Case: Antec One S3 USB3.0 Gaming Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX500 500W Corsair High Performance Power Supply
Processor: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) 14MB Cache Six-Core
Heatsink & CPU Fan: Standard Heatsink & CPU Fan
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 970GX AM3+ SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 MB
Memory: Patriot 12GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Graphics Card: MSI Power Edition GTX 650 Ti 1GB Overclocked DDR5 Card
Sound Card: Integrated 8 Channel HD Audio
Primary Hard Drive: 1TB WD Blue 7200RPM SATA3 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD
Operating system: Windows 7

Peripherals used

Microsoft mouse
Microsoft keyboard
Samsung P2370 monitor

 

[mightymaxio]

Sounds like a memory error or a PSU problem. If the PSU can't supply adequate voltage levels such as a junk brand one does then it will randomly shut the pc off or lock it up.

 

[Hedfulofspidrs]

Sounds like a memory error or a PSU problem. If the PSU can't supply adequate voltage levels such as a junk brand one does then it will randomly shut the pc off or lock it up.

Hi -- thanks for the response.

Was worried about the memory too, but memtest didn't come up with anything. Also, shouldn't I see a BSOD if the fault lies with the memory?

Also, does this Corsair CX500 count as a crap PSU? http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx500.html