Question PC lags/freezes occascionally

[ejfimp88]

UPDATE: SOLVED 2019-11-10
So it seems I've found the issue. My normal HDD were making wierd writing sounds whenever the freezes happend, so I removed it. The freezing stopped, and when I tried adding it again after a couple of weeks the freezing started again. Hopefully this info can help others experiencing similar issues! Note that the HDD didn't even have anything stored on it when I had the issue.




Hey, first off, tried to find a more specific "support" forum, feel free to send me the right way if this is the wrong section.

Right, so, hopefully anyone has an idea of what the issue here can be, or have any suggestions as to what the hell else I can try.

After a little time my PC suddenly acts a bit strange. Sometimes it just straight up freezes for 1-2 seconds before going back to normal, everything runs fine but my keyboard, mouse and headset stops working, also for around 1-2 seconds, almost like they restart themselves. I have to disconnect and reconnect in Discord after this happens to get my microphone to work again. And if I have a streamed video (youtube, twitch) it reloads itself in the same way. The time it takes between the hickups can vary between 10 minutes to 2 hours.

At first I thought it could've been an issue with my GPU because it started while playing Warframe. Then it happened while playing Slay the Spire aswell. Thought maybe it could be Chrome then since I had chrome up both of the times, but it happend with other browsers too. I've had the Task Manager up all the time aswell, in case I could see where the issue was when it happend, but nothing changed during freeze or lag.

So I dug a bit deeper. I cleaned out my PC from dust, did a full scan for infection. Looked for all latest updates. I stresstested my GPU and CPU while looking at fanspeeds and temps. Checked SSD and Memory aswell. Nothing. No errors or infections at all. Nada. I've reinstalled windows aswell.

Here are my specs:

• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 18362)
• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz (8 CPUs), ~4.2GHz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
• Motherboard: MSI Z270 Tomahawk Arctic, Socket-1151
• RAM: HyperX Fury DDR4 2666MHz 16GB (2x8GB)
• SSD1: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (OS installed on this)
• SSD2: Kingston SV300S37A240G
• SSD3: Crucial M4-CT256M4SSD2
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" HDD
• Other: Elgato Game Capture HD60 PRO

Peripherals:

• Razer Naga Trinity
• Razer Ornata
• Astro A50 gen2
• Elgato Stream Deck
• Seagate External HDD 5TB

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[ConanLock]

Firstly, what PSU do you have (manufacturer and make)?
Some things to try, in order to see if we can get the speed up to how it should be:
• Make sure XMP is enabled in the BIOS. This allows RAM to run at full speed. It will typically be in the overclocking section.
• Make sure the RAM is in the second and fourth slot, so that it goes empty, RAM, empty, RAM. This makes the RAM run in dual channel mode, effectively doubling the bandwidth of data to the CPU.
• Run a full virus scan with Malwarebytes. This is the best antivirus out there in my opinion, and most people who have tried the lot agree. It has a free trial for the premium version for 14 days, then switches to the free version.
• Close all background programs. I.e don't run ANY internet browsers or other programs, apart from those needed like Steam.
• Make sure the monitor cable is connected to the GPU and not the motherboard.

 

[ejfimp88]

Firstly, what PSU do you have (manufacturer and make)?

I have a Cooler Master B500 V2 KOMPLETT Edition. I can link the exact one, but I don't know if links are allowed?

• Make sure XMP is enabled in the BIOS. This allows RAM to run at full speed. It will typically be in the overclocking section.

XMP was not on, so I'll try with that.

• Make sure the RAM is in the second and fourth slot, so that it goes empty, RAM, empty, RAM. This makes the RAM run in dual channel mode, effectively doubling the bandwidth of data to the CPU.

They should be in the correct place. There are no numbers on the motherboard itself but if you imagine that the CPU and fan is to the left of the RAM slots, they should be as you said. (Actually didn't know it could work like that, now I know)

• Run a full virus scan with Malwarebytes. This is the best antivirus out there in my opinion, and most people who have tried the lot agree. It has a free trial for the premium version for 14 days, then switches to the free version.

I've run a full scan with Malwarebytes. Nothing found.

• Close all background programs. I.e don't run ANY internet browsers or other programs, apart from those needed like Steam.

I think I have done this, might've only done it the other way around (only internet browser with no other programs).

• Make sure the monitor cable is connected to the GPU and not the motherboard.

They are in the correct ports in the GPU.


Will try a bit without using any other programs, and with XMP on.

 

[ejfimp88]

Update: It still happens.

I don't know if it matters, but when the PC resumes after the freeze my external hdd sounds like it's starting up. Going to try and unplug it to see if it still happens.

Here are some screenshots of the Task Manager when it happens. Both the CPU and GPU spiked quite heavily. In the second screenshot, Disk 0 and Disk 1spiked too but not in the first screenshot. Does this tell you anything?

And

 

[ConanLock]

Next thing to try would be to install SeaTools for Windows. Use this to look for any errors on your drives. It could be that one or more are faulty or beginning to die.
Also, if you download Memtest86, then make it into a bootable USB, then run it for about 5 passes, this would see whether there are any RAM related problems. Download the Memtest86 IMG, then use a program called Rufus to burn this file to a USB (on the drop down box, you have to choose to find the IMG file, not anything like FreeDOS etc). Boot into the new USB and let it run to find any errors.
Another thing to look at (and preferably share screenshots of) are the startup tab and processes tab of task manager. It could be that lots of really low power, small apps are having a big footprint on your system.

 

[ejfimp88]

Next thing to try would be to install SeaTools for Windows. Use this to look for any errors on your drives. It could be that one or more are faulty or beginning to die.
Also, if you download Memtest86, then make it into a bootable USB, then run it for about 5 passes, this would see whether there are any RAM related problems. Download the Memtest86 IMG, then use a program called Rufus to burn this file to a USB (on the drop down box, you have to choose to find the IMG file, not anything like FreeDOS etc). Boot into the new USB and let it run to find any errors.
Another thing to look at (and preferably share screenshots of) are the startup tab and processes tab of task manager. It could be that lots of really low power, small apps are having a big footprint on your system.

MemTest86-Report

Task Manager Startup
Task Manager Processes 1
Task Manager Processes 2
Task Manager Processes 3
Task Manager Processes 4

Mind you this is a fresh install of Windows. These are what I've installed after the clean windows installation that hasn't been a recommendation here.

Steam
Battle.net
Discord
Nvidia GeForce Experience
Razer Synapse

Edit: I did the SeaTools tests, all of them and no errors.
Edit2: I found that a cable for a monitor is a little damaged, Going to replace it today to see if it does anything.

 

[ejfimp88]

Cable was not the issue.

 

[ConanLock]

Have you tried updating your BIOS yet? If not, that could fix the issue. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-TOMAHAWK-ARCTIC Make sure to follow the instructions carefully, as they are very helpful to ensure everything goes smoothly in the update process.

 

[ejfimp88]

I had already updated it before posting here to see if it helped (double checked and the isntalled one is the latest) but it didn't help.

Edit: I updated the other things there too, chipsets, LAN and so on.

 

[ejfimp88]

No other ideas I assume?