Windows 8 desktop p5qc/q9550 keeps freezing "randomly" in multiple OS

[dwelfusius]

Okay, small situation sketch.
Ist I had a win 7 x64 which ran smooth for over a year (had x32 before that, and some linux variants)..Then I decided to upgrade my pc to win 8 (i had heard from fellow it'ers that the upgrade was much better than previous versions so i thought why not give it a go)..It was a disaster, my pc kept freezing on me sometimes even before i had one program open.If it went in sleep -> oh yeah freeze OR actually going to sleep but not being able to wake up.After some weeks in that hell, i did a clean install..Better,it seemed, but not much and not for long.After more cold rebooting my pc in a month than in the 2 or 3 years I've had it I decided to put win7 x64 back on..You can imagine my horror when I noticed that (although being WAAAY less severe) even my win7 started freezing on me.I even had my boot menu (3 times orso) and my post (1 or 2 times) freeze on me, so I'm suspecting maybe some HW issues.Often I had corrupted ntfs system after one of these agressive shutdowns,which were solved by autorepair next boot.

I ran chkdsk,hdd diag,memtest86..All came back clean.In windows i used advanced driver updater (because i was sick of doing it all manually) so ALL the drivers were up to date, even sata controllers,chipset,...

Also, I don't know if it matters but when freezing my pointer dissappears very often (90% of the time).

I attached the win8dump files and evt logs in the win7 file, the more info the better no? (Yes writing this from a win7 os cause it freezes less)

Any help would be tremendously appreciated.
Katrien

(ps:sorry for any faults, english is not my first language)


edit: just had a crash (not a freeze) included dump in file

 

[kemical]

Hi,

each of your dmp files is different although nearly all point to an hardware issue. This could be down to a number of things but most likely is failing RAM. I know you said you had tested with memtest but please test again. Only test one stick at a time otherwise errors can be missed or mixed up with the wrong stick. Oh and please run for at least 7/8 passes.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

As for running your system under win 8 I'd personally run the advisor first especially with you having a sound blaster card too.

Upgrade to Windows 8 - Microsoft Windows

Lastly I couldn't find any mention of your PSU. Could you please post age, make and output, thank you.

 

[dwelfusius]

Secure Boot isn't compatible with your PC
Your PC's firmware doesn't support Secure Boot so you won't be able to use it in Windows 8.
More info

Only thing that pops..What you proposed (ram testing) I actually already did, although i was pretty sure it wasn't the issue, since i had freezing before and after i upgraded my ram (2 complete new bars) but you never know right..

Since basically the only CRASH i had was due to my nvidia driver/card i decided to go out on a limb and use the old 8600gt from my bf instead of my gts250, and i have not had any crash since..but obviously it's too soon to judge, so I'm going to try it for a few days.Is this behavior something that can be caused by a bad video card (really card, not driver since driver has worked on win7 x64 a long time)?

I will keep you posted.

Oh yes PSU is a zalmann zm850-hp
Output
+3.3V@25A, +5V@30A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, +12V3@28A, +12V4@28A, +12V5@18A, +12V6@18A, [email protected], [email protected]

(is this what you mean)

 

[kemical]

It could well be that the VRAM on the old card has been damaged or is defective.

Don't worry about the secure boot. You won't miss it.

As for your PSU, it might be the case that your old card is indeed fine. If you notice your PSU has 2x+12V@28A. These might be marked for graphics but if not see if you can find which is which. Your old card (gts250) needs at least 24A to run correctly so a +12V@28 is more than enough.

 

[dwelfusius]

Okay no crash/freeze in 4 days since i removed the card, BUT the card is in someone elses pc and appears to be functioning fine..So what do i do now?Only thing i can think of are very localized overheating (so i plan to clean the graphics card from top to bottom) ,maybe got a bit loose in the pcix slot (is that even possible), or a weird/faulty driver (which seems inplausible since i had it in two diff. os, one of which where it has worked perfectly in 1yr)..Or maybe pcix issue?But then this card would cause issues too nr psu (this one runs on sole pcix power so no extra feed)..Going to borrow the 540 from my m8, see what that does.

Anything else you think i can try?

 

[kemical]

Okay no crash/freeze in 4 days since i removed the card, BUT the card is in someone elses pc and appears to be functioning fine..So what do i do now?Only thing i can think of are very localized overheating (so i plan to clean the graphics card from top to bottom) ,maybe got a bit loose in the pcix slot (is that even possible), or a weird/faulty driver (which seems inplausible since i had it in two diff. os, one of which where it has worked perfectly in 1yr)..Or maybe pcix issue?But then this card would cause issues too nr psu (this one runs on sole pcix power so no extra feed)..Going to borrow the 540 from my m8, see what that does.

Anything else you think i can try?

Katrien,

did you read my post above re' PSU and the ampage. Graphic cards need the correct ampage or they don't run correctly. A card might be said to need a 500W PSU to run but also and what is rarely discussed is that it also needs a lead with the correct ampage. So let's say you have a card that requires a 500w psu, what you also need to find out is what ampage it needs.
Now the gts 250 needs a lead carrying 24A, anything lower will cause lock ups and blue screens. If you did have a lead connected which carried the correct ampage and the card still crashed then I would hazard that the psu is failing. (especially when you have the card running fine in a different system)

 

[usasma]

Just FYI - Win7 topic here: Link Removed

 

[dwelfusius]

small update, now had the 550 gti running for week (borrowed from my friend)Also uses one extra power (just like my gts250) and also no issues (except that although being a better model it has more issues with large maps than mine :s).

I'm thinking that maybe something changed when I opened the case or so?I really am at a loss.Now going to put my hyperclean 250 in again, see what that gives :s I'm hoping it no longer causes issues :s

 

[usasma]

I built systems for 20 years and I always had at least one problem with a connection (until 2009 when I built this system).

Try the original vidcard and see what happens. Be very sure that it's firmly seated and that the power plugs are also firmly seated. Visually check to make sure that the cooling is working.

Then you'll see that it's either fixed, or that there's a problem with the card

 

[dwelfusius]

hmm just had it 2 times..now I put my other videoo power cable (6+2) in, see it's not cable related :s 250 is still in friends pc, but it's looking less lice the card nox

 

[usasma]

Let us know what happens when you try the original card again.
If it does the same thing, then we have to suspect the motherboard

 

[dwelfusius]

Let us know what happens when you try the original card again.
If it does the same thing, then we have to suspect the motherboard

ok but now waiting to see if it also happens with my other power cable..

 

[dwelfusius]

Ok even with the other power cable I still got freezes, so I decided to put the 8600 back in..Again, no freezes..
So now I bought a HX650 from corsair and put it in just today, together with my 250gts..I will see if this solves the issue or not..I do hope so

BUGGER

Ok so once again, same issue,on both os'es..So not psu related.Put the 8600 back in, all working fine again.I'm at a loss, is there something that can cause idk freezes when the output of the VC is too high (like in medium/high end cards) compared too lower end/older cards?..My best guess was the psu cuz that was the only difference connectionwise..Or drivers, but the card works fine in another system.. Can it be my mobo?If yes why doesn't it freeze when using the older card?

pff

 

[kemical]

 

[dwelfusius]

I wonder if there is a compatibility issue between the 250GTS and some other piece of hardware you have running in that system. It's possible but it seems unlikely since the system ran fibe for over 2yrs, only change was more ram, but the issues started before that. TBO troubleshooting problems like this can be a long drawn out process unless you luckily stumble on the answer (as your already finding out),
Just so we can rule them out have you ran a chkdsk and tested your RAM? In cases like this you just never know and i've seen HDD problems though up all sorts of issues. Test your RAM with memtest:
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
Memtest turns up clean (also used my old ram to check but also clean and still freezes), chkdsk performed, HDD diags, WD lifeguard,and so on..all clean..Only after a couple of freezes my ntfs gets a bit jumbled but thats more a symptom than a cause, because after one descent boot the "issues" are ok again.
When you go to run the chkdsk it will say no need to scan but run it anyway.

Lastly can you open up the run app and type 'dxdiag' without the quotes and click ok. Once opened click save all info and post in the forum (using the 250GTS of course)
Event viewer clean, first thing i checked.DXdiag ran already but not copîed (was issueless eather way) Problem is i can try and run it, but not sure if i can do it without my pc freezing while trying . But i'll swap the cards once more.Cooling wise my pc should be ok,yesterday i did a furmark with my 250gts and there I noticed that under stress it goes up to 86° which is quite high, but the card can go up to 105 so it shouldn't be a reason for flipping.In normal gaming card is 65 or so, and idle its 45 orso.I have 3 casefans plus a big copper zalman for my cpu.If anything i would expect to see graphic issues on my screen before it falls out.But there is nothing, and no errors which makes this thing so hard to tshoot.
Check your event viewer, see if anything relates to the freezing. Also what's the cooling like on the 250gts and in your case? This might answer why it runs ok in a different machine and the 8600 runs ok too (depending on the cooling it has and if it differes from the GTS250)

 

[usasma]

If possible, please provide this:
- open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc)
- expand the Custom Views category (left click on the > next to the words "Custom Views")
- right click on Administrative Events
- select "Save all Events in Custom View as..."
- save the file as Admin.evtx
- zip up the file (right click on it, select "Send to", select "Compressed (zipped) folder")
- upload it with your next post (if it's too big, then upload it to a free file-hosting service and post a link here).

Also, some P5 boards are known to have memory issues with BIOS set at "Auto".
Please visit the RAM manufacturer's website and get the settings/timings/voltages for your RAM
Then use those settings to set the memory settings/timings/voltages in your BIOS (in other words, DON'T use the "Auto" settings).

 

[dwelfusius]

Voila zip added (are these different events from system log? just curious).

I'll adjust the ram voltage and timings, but again it would baffle me since before i had this ram i had ocz that needed 1.75v (so i had to put things manually aswell) and there i also had the issue..But still it's worth a try..Thx

 

[usasma]

Get rid of Pokki.
Run CHKDSK /R /F on ALL hard drives:

CHKDSK /R /F:
Run CHKDSK /R /F from an elevated (Run as adminstrator) Command Prompt. Please do this for each hard drive on your system.
FWIW - I know that the /F is supposed to be redundant, but I prefer to have it run anyway.
When it tells you it can't do it right now - and asks you if you'd like to do it at the next reboot - answer Y (for Yes) and press Enter. Then reboot and let the test run. It may take a while for it to run, but keep an occasional eye on it to see if it generates any errors. See "CHKDSK LogFile" below in order to check the results of the test.

Elevated Command Prompt:
Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)
At the top of the Search Box, right click on Cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator"

CHKDSK LogFile:
Go to Start and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry.
Double click on the Source column header.
Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Win7) (winlogon for XP).
Copy/paste the results into your next post.

Run Hard Drive diagnostics on ALL hard drives: Link Removed

 

[dwelfusius]

already uninstalled

ok small add-on:

I have also tested with my bf's 560 and also, freezes, now back on the 8600 no issues

Will do the chkdsk again from a cmd admin promt, will post back

 

[usasma]

If the hard drive tests don't show any problem with the hard drives (both the CHKDSK and the diagnostic must be run) - then the problem is most likely that your motherboard does not support the additional features of the newer card.

The reasoning is that it's unlikely for 2 560's to only be bad on your motherboard - especially if an older card (the 8600) works without issue.