Question Random partial Windows freeze, one year of troubleshooting ?

[Penko]

Hello everyone, Thank you for clicking on my problem.
I have been having issues with my computer for over a year now, and its a really weird Windows freeze that doesn't occur often.

What exactly happens is that when I’m working or playing, Windows partially freezes. I can usually tell something has gone wrong because the clock stops updating, and some apps become unresponsive and can't be interacted with. On the occasions when I manage to open Task Manager and check CPU performance, I notice that the "UpTime" timer has stopped. Interestingly, sometimes the applications I’m using continue working normally 2-5 minutes after the issue or clock freeze occurs.

Well clearly thats issue with windows, Yeh i have reinstalled Windows 10 about 2 times, Moved to windows 11, same reinstall did 2 times.(all installations come from official windows as i have Keys). For some time i had suspicion that it was my GPU, and removing the Nvidia Experience app helped for few weeks but then it came back.
At this moment i just decided it's time for some upgrades to my computer and get some important stuff upgraded.
- New MB. Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite v2 rev1.2
- Got new kit of ram. 2x8 GB
- Newish GPU. RTX 3080
- New PSU. 750W Gold rated PSU

The new hardware that i got is paired with:
- Ryzen 7 5600G
- 250GB NVME m.2 aData drive

To point out some of the really obvious stuff that i did try to resolve this.
- When messing with GPU drivers i always used DDU in safe mode
- On both old and new MB i always kept the bios updated
- Tested about 2-3 older drivers for each GPU
- Safe boot tested, no changes with it on or off

Troubleshooting is taking long as there are no logs created when system freezes.
Nothing in Event viewer, no BSOD (not even once)
Windows is always up to date
Recently upgraded my ram and got the same 2x8gb kit

Issue dosen't occur often and it's really random. Like i would go for a month without issues and then have 2 instances in the same week.

 

[helpstar]

any old hardware left?
try memtest
check ssds with manufacture's tool
dism commands to check windows
how did you install windows exactly? from which source?
check if the motherboard is touching the case somehow
cpu cooler is correctly assembled and not too tight on the cpu?

 

[Ralston18]

Also:

- Check Reliability History/Monitor.

- Where is the system getting its' time? Mismatched dates and times can be problematic.

(Right click the date and time in the lower right screen corner then select " Adjust date and time".)

- Install a new CMOS battery. Just as a matter of elimination. Be sure to follow the procedure provided in the motherboard's User Guide/Manual.

 

[Penko]

any old hardware left?
try memtest
check ssds with manufacture's tool
dism commands to check windows
how did you install windows exactly? from which source?
check if the motherboard is touching the case somehow
cpu cooler is correctly assembled and not too tight on the cpu?

From old components i only have the mentioned SSD and some additional HDD-s that i use as media storage and game storage.

- Windows was was always installed via USB, Iso was created from both Microsofts creation tool and rufus
- I just completed memtest, all went great with no errors. But i had to stop it as i didn't know it would take this long (stopped at 1 hour of testing, came to pass 2 on 50%). i will do another run over the night but for now it came to pass 2 with no reported issues
- CrystalDisk and Adata tool report the main disk is in good health, with 59% of lifetime left.
- Dsim was ran a lot of times, some times there was something to repair and in others reported all good.
- I have reinstalled the Motherboard recently when i was putting the new PSU. I can confirm that there is no contacts with the case apart form mounting screws.
- I will have to check the CPU cooler, can't remember if i had any issues mounting it.

I will complete the suggested test later today after work, will follow-up additionally on Yours and Ralston18's suggestions.

Thank you!!

 

[helpstar]

remove the hard drives not in use and the one which only has 59% lifetime left. install windows on a different drive

 

[johnbl]

google "how to force a windows memory dump using the keyboard"
make the registry settings.
google "how to set windows to make a kernel memory dump"
make the change so you will get a kernel memory dump.

now the next time your system freezes up, use the keyboard to make a memory dump. Then put the memory.dmp file on a server and post a link. Someone with a debugger can take a look and see what is going on.

The most common reasons I have found in the past:
old Realtek motherboard sound driver was responding to the GPU sound drivers direct memory access requests and overflowing the GPU audio drivers buffer and hanging the GPU driver. There is much less error checking in a GPU driver due to the need for speed and it sometimes does not detect that it is not refreshing the screen. fix was in the updated motherboard driver for Realtek. You could also use control panel device manager to disable any HD audio device that does not have a speaker attached. Or if you do not use the motherboard sound hardware, you can disable it in bios.

I have seen other reasons but they are less common failure cases.

 

[Penko]

Hello,

Following up on on this.

So i did the full ram test as suggested, It passed with flying colors
Took about 4hours and 20 minutes(32 gb ram), 0 errors reported.
The system time is updated via Internet, as always been
I have ordered a new ssd to replace the Windows boot drive.
As suggested i enabled the Karnel Dump to get some data, so far it has not freezed.
Additionally, i disabled all unused devices under Sound and Microphone (even the disconnected ones)

While i think it's not gonna be the SSD as this is an ADATA nvme, should be absolutely fine i do hope that simple replacement of ssd will help me here.
The odd think that i'm might be missing is my CPU temp, I notice that on Task manager there is no temp reported there, does the sensor come with cooler or is it on board somewhere?