Question System Freezes, requiring forced shutdown.

[Swampduck1311]

Hello all,
Hoping for some assistance.
Recently My windows 10 computer will freeze entirely on a daily basis, upon a light work flow.

Symptom:
Generally I will have 10 browsers open (google maps, google docs, a few VoIP browsers, email) along with a few applications (slack, discord, so on) across 3 screens.
Entire system will freeze, mouse cursor frozen, Ctrl+Alt+Delete has no reaction. Even Num locks / cap locks is unresponsive. Requires forced shut down to solve.

History:
System was built a few months ago. Other than the psu and case, none of the components are new.
Freezing began a few weeks ago, seemingly immediately after I changed PSU.
My previous psu was sounding unreliable but causing no issue so I swapped it out before it died. First freeze showed up right after the new psu went it. I assumed it was psu related and returned the first rm850x and replaced it with another. Same issue with the second new psu as well. The only other change is previously had All core turbo boost unlocked.


Hardware specs:
Motherboard: Huananzhi x99-tf
CPU : Xeon E-2678 v3
Ram: 1x 32gb ecc 1867mHz
GPU: GTX 960
PSU: Rm850x
Case: Be Quiet 500dx
Cooler: Artic liquid freezer II 240.


Attempted solutions:
-I have updated windows 10.
-Went through and turn off any sleep options in Power Settings.
-I tried Parted magic to run the memtest86 but the test never completes. It will hang on the the "Checking multiple processors" line.


Anyone else have any thoughts as to where I can start for troubleshooting.
Freeze does seem dependent upon multiple browsers open. I can run a Bitdefender system scan for hours with no freezing. Generally once all the browsers are open, it's bound to freeze at some point in the day.

Many thanks for any and all help!!

 

[Grobe]

First thing I noticed when making a search for that MB model is that topic "super cheap" popped up in search results. Doesn't need to mean anything but not the less it is an indication I believe.

The other factor here is that your Memtest are unable to even get started? I had a bad laptop a couple of years ago where I faced similar problems, and I tossed it because I figured out that it had to be the main board.

Therefore, al in all I believe this is a motherboard related issue.

There is one thing you can do - just in case it indeed turns out to be a software problem, it's nice to be able to rule it out.
Go download a Linux distro - you don't need to install, just use the live desktop that doesn't touch the rest of the system:
For further details and description - have a look at this post.

[edit]
Also - do a check if the motherboard model and the RAM is known to be compatible to each other - that is you should look at each manufacturers web page, find the model and see if there exist a list or query to see if they're known to be compatible to each other.

 

[Swampduck1311]

[edit]
Also - do a check if the motherboard model and the RAM is known to be compatible to each other - that is you should look at each manufacturers web page, find the model and see if there exist a list or query to see if they're known to be compatible to each other.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah it's a bit of a sketchy board and would definitely qualify for "Super cheap". I accept my mistake if this is the cause in the end.
Seemed to have a enough trust worthy reviewers thinking it was worth a shot, so I gave it a go lol.

Worked wonderfully for the first few months. Doing a thorough look through it once the freezing started, I'm getting super high mobo temps from 3rd party software.
For example both Speccy and Aida64 Extreme state the motherboard temp as 120'C. This seems impossibly high and likely a sensor error ?(perhaps wishful thinking). All other temps are comfortably low and I cannot feel out any such ludicrous temps across the board. Hoping that the unusual nature of the board simply means incompatibility with the software?

I appreciate the link and the suggestion. I will definitely give that a go.

Quick side note. Given that the memstest wont even start, Is there any chance this is ram issue?
A very brief internet search tells me that memtest not even starting, but the OS posting and opening without issue, could mean it's simply an incompatible bios / software issue with memtest.
The reason I ask is the ram was purchased as a used set. One of which was DOA. The other worked fine. I'm really hoping there's a chance this is a Dimm on it's way out?

In terms of ram compatibility. I've shot myself in the foot with the nature of the motherboard. Compatibility claims are extremely vague and first hand experience from reviewers seems far more helpful. As far as I can tell, Ram is compatible.

 

[Grobe]

For example both Speccy and Aida64 Extreme state the motherboard temp as 120'C. This seems impossibly high and likely a sensor error ?

Most likely because you have a main board that is not that much used, then increasing the odds for that model is not fully supported by the software. Does the motherboard manufactorer have their own software for reading out temperatures ?

Quick side note. Given that the memstest wont even start, Is there any chance this is ram issue?

I have many runs with Memtest, but I never encountered that exact situation (that Laptop I told you about let Memtest run for a while before crashing) - so I can't say for sure what causes tis particular issue.

However - what i CAN say is that the version of Memtest you use may not be the same as typically found on the Linux distros. That version tends to be a fork of Memtest developed further by the Debian team (if I remember it correctly) - so you can still use a Linux image boot and try that version/fork of Memtest and see if it behaves the same.

 

[Swampduck1311]

Most likely because you have a main board that is not that much used, then increasing the odds for that model is not fully supported by the software. Does the motherboard manufactorer have their own software for reading out temperatures ?

I have many runs with Memtest, but I never encountered that exact situation (that Laptop I told you about let Memtest run for a while before crashing) - so I can't say for sure what causes tis particular issue.

However - what i CAN say is that the version of Memtest you use may not be the same as typically found on the Linux distros. That version tends to be a fork of Memtest developed further by the Debian team (if I remember it correctly) - so you can still use a Linux image boot and try that version/fork of Memtest and see if it behaves the same.

Amazingly helpful.
I will follow up with the Linux Memtest option asap.

Yes, I think half of my issue is that troubleshooting is more difficult with such an obscure main board. I do not believe the motherboard has temperature software but I will go looking into that and see if I can find anything.

Hopefully it turns out to be only an Ram issue (fingers crossed)

 

[Swampduck1311]

Most likely because you have a main board that is not that much used, then increasing the odds for that model is not fully supported by the software. Does the motherboard manufactorer have their own software for reading out temperatures ?

I have many runs with Memtest, but I never encountered that exact situation (that Laptop I told you about let Memtest run for a while before crashing) - so I can't say for sure what causes tis particular issue.

However - what i CAN say is that the version of Memtest you use may not be the same as typically found on the Linux distros. That version tends to be a fork of Memtest developed further by the Debian team (if I remember it correctly) - so you can still use a Linux image boot and try that version/fork of Memtest and see if it behaves the same.

Just tried the Linux lite option but did not see any Ram test option at boot.
Digging deeper.

 

[Grobe]

Just tried the Linux lite option but did not see any Ram test option at boot.

That's weird. But bear in mind I may not remember the exact phrase (option text) correctly, there may be under an "advanced" sub menu or something, I deal with many distros and they tend to do stuff different. Just get another distro if you for some reason cannot find that, Mint or MX - it should be there, just don't take the exact phrase for granted.

 

[Swampduck1311]

Good point.
I was still not able to get a Memtest to complete. Just sits at "Checking multiple processors"
Ended up starting form a clean install of windows 10 and Went through all the drivers to make sure everything is up to date.

Then even swapped out the ram with dual 16gb Samsung ecc.
Interestingly, the single 32gb stick seems to work fine.
As do the dual 16gb sticks.
However when all 3 are installed, It wont post. Some form of incompatibility I assume?

With all that done, computer seemed fine again for a few days but has now once more frozen on me.
Same as previous, no response to ctrl+Alt+Delt.

I'll dig around through more linux distros in search of a memtest and see if I can get that running however I assumes swapping the ram out has all but removed that as a possible cause.

 

[Grobe]

Ok, then it doesn't look very good for your mainboard/cpu, sadly.