PC freezes when not under load, fine with folding

revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
edited January 2009 in Hardware
Moderator (Leo) Edit: The lead-in to this thread is HERE


Well, the freezing problems still isnt fixed.
Basically, if the PC is running a game or somthing its fine, operates like normal.
Same with SMP folding, I can leave it on all day folding away and its fine. If I stop folding, or the game and use the internet after about 4 minutes the PC freezes for a few seconds (mouse wont move/capslock wont respond) then it auto resets, no BSOD, nothing.
If I run folding after that, its fine, if i stop folding and leave the PC for a few minutes it will freeze again and auto reset.
What is causing this and how can I fix it.

CPU temps are all fine
GFX temps are fine
Airflow is fine (Antec 1200)

Ive tried multiple ram slots aswell

Specs are

Athlon X2 5200+ 2.6ghz
Asus M2N-E SLI
2GB 800mhz ram (1 2GB stick)
Nvidia 8500GT 512MB
15" screen 1024x768
Windows XP

Please help me get to the bottom of this, im getting a new GPU, PSU and HDD soon but If its a mobo or CPU problem i'de like to fix that first.

Thanks.

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2008
    What power supply is in the system? Have you changed any of voltages or clock settings in the BIOS?
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited December 2008
    Nope, all stock speeds and voltages.
    BIOS is up to date aswell.
    PSU is a Winpower 550W
    Never heard of it :P I know, awfully generic.
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited December 2008
    Trfc set to 195ns for all slots (or at least the slot the ram is installed in)

    Raise the ram voltage to 1.9V.
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited December 2008
    Hey Revo,

    I take it you are still having problems with this? For anyone else you can see what has already been tried in this thread. Should help to stop you getting the same replies again!:wink:

    Just a thought but have you been tinkering with the power managment settings at all? I am wondering if they havn't bee set to switch off HDs and reboot (go into standby) after a period of inactivity? A long shot I know...

    Most systems will crash under load as that is when you will draw on your power and generate heat. Have you installed any additional screensavers? again a long shot but if your screen saver is somehow borked, I suppose it could cause your system to bomb when it kicks in.

    Do you have a multi meter you could use to test the voltages that are coming out of your PSU?

    You had a friend who posted on here a little while ago... Can you try exchanging parts with him? Get him to bring his rig over and nick his PSU and RAM and see how you go.

    Just a few thoughts.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited December 2008
    Erm yes I have been tinkering with power management. All ive done is set the off button to make the computer go into standby instead of turn off.

    Nope I havnt installed additional screen savers. The PC does not crash when the screen saver is active if folding is running.

    Basically as long as my pc is under load its stable, if its idling or doing a light task such as firefox it will freeze in a matter of minutes.
    Erm I dont have a multi meter :(
    I could borrow my friends PSU but he has just UV sleeved and cable managed everything so I think he will be pretty annoyed if I ask him to take it out :P

    If it is the PSU I can order a new one after new year, I was going to anyway.
    Going to get a Coolermaster Realpower 1000W modular PSU :)
    Do you recon a new PSU would fix this problem? Or could it be a CPU or mobo problem.
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited December 2008
    Like I said in my previous post hardware will fair under load not when idol. so I am not convinced it is hardware.

    It may be worth a re-install but I think it is worth trying a few other things first.

    I know this isn't your board but have a read through this thread. It is very, very long but it may give you a few things to try. It is the same family as your board so the problems are likley to be consistent.

    Next I would look at some diagnostics software. You have already tested your RAM. It might be worth testing your HD. I have been having problems with my HD and it was recomended that I try either Seatools or DFT (drive fitness test)

    If you can pick up a cheap multi meter from your local hardware store you can test your PSU rails.

    Also have a look in your power management settings and make sure that the options to turn off HDs, monitor, and stand by are not switched onto a time limit (ie set to never) I wouldn't recomend that you leave them like this but it is worth doing it for now to test.

    If this still doesn't work my next sugestion is a barebone boot. Take all none esential components out of the case so that you only have PSU, Mobo, Primary HD (do not connect any secondarys), GPU, CPU and RAM. Go into the Bios and disable all non-esential onboard hardware (soundcard etc) then boot. and check your stability. Doing this will reduce the load on your PSU and will also help to avoid potential driver conflicts.

    If you still have stability issues you know that the problem lies with one of your core components or you windows installation. At this point you will have to either start swapping components in and out one at a time to try and isolate the problem and consider a fresh install. Insidently if you swap your Mobo you will have to re-install anyway.

    Let us know how it goes.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited December 2008
    Yes I have a feeling its windows. The problem started after I installed GTA 4.
    Wierd :(
    I shall give those suggestions a try :)
    Thanks for the help.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited December 2008
    Right, done ram test- PASS 8 times
    Did seatools tests, i did short DST, short generic and then started long DST and after a min or 2 it froze like it does normally. I dont think its the harddrive as it passed the other tests it managed to complete.
    Once ive banked my money I will order a new HDD, monitor and PSU. If the problem is fixed then I know its the PSU.
    I have a feeling its either the PSU or OS.
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited January 2009
    Try running checkdisk. Boot to windows, open my computer and richt click on the drive you want to scan. Click on properties. click on the tools tab, and under error checking click check now. It should come up with a message saying it cant scan while the drive is in use, do you want to scan on restart? Click yes and restart. when the PC reboots it will scan the disk. This happens before the OS boots so it should run.
  • davexnetdavexnet
    edited January 2009
    I had a similar problem - it had something to do with power management
    (AMD's C&Q). To test it, go into Power Options and set the profile to "always on"

    See if the problem occurs now.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited January 2009
    Right, done checkdisk, checked all power management options, still freezes and resets.
    Today it froze and reset even with folding running!
    Whats happening!? :(
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited January 2009
    RyderOCZ wrote:
    Trfc set to 195ns for all slots (or at least the slot the ram is installed in)

    Raise the ram voltage to 1.9V.

    I cant change the Trfc but I have put the voltage to 1.9
    So far it seems stable! :D
    I will report back in 2-3 days to let you know if its fixed :)
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited January 2009
    Crap!
    Just froze and reset on me again, I guess the problem is not fixed :(
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited January 2009
    Just ordered some new RAM, A new HDD and a new monitor. 22" :D
    Im going to format soon, ill see if formating fixes the problem.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited January 2009
    FIXED, Really this time :P
    I've reinstalled windows due to getting a new hdd and the problem has gone :)
    Thanks.
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