Windows 7 Random freezing Please help

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Hello everyone

Im asking for your help because google cannot help me and I don't know what to do.

So what happens is when ever I do something on my PC it randomly crashes/freezes with strange buzzing sound comming out from standard audio output. Freezing happends mostly on games and I have tried many tests, memtest, tests for psu, for graphic card and CPU. It was all ok

So freezing happens after some time of doing things, and as mentioned it happens even with surfing on internet or doing some other stuff like editing videos/pictures etc.. Tho it happens most on games like league of legends, like far cry 4 and stuff.

HDD remains mystery because I cannot/don't know how to check it.

Temperatures are fine
CPU - reaches most 50
Graphic card - reaches most 70

So my specifications are;
CPU: Phenom II x4 960T
Graphic card: AMD Radeon HD 6970
Motherboard is MSI something I will tell you if you need it
RAM: 8 GB
PSU: 550 V
HDD: ST31000528AS ATA Device (but it is actually connected with SATA, idk what it is, maybe PC cannot recognise HDD??)

If need something more tell me.
Please Help

 

[kemical]

Hi Alexander,
I'm pretty sure i know of the strange crashing your getting where the screen freezes and a horrible buzzing noise comes from the audio. A number of things can cause this crash but usually it's down to either overheating, not enough juice from the PSU, drivers or having settings too high in certain games although this can be linked to drivers.
I've had this issue plague me with one particular system I'd built and it took a huge amount of time until I finally traced the cause to overheating.
The max temp of a Phenom II Deneb chip is 63c and although you say your CPU reaches 50c have you checked when actually 'ingame'? Games can stress a CPU even more so than say Prime95 at times and the temperature can rocket. In my case it wasn't until I monitored the CPU whilst gaming that I saw that temps were way above what I thought they were.
A good application to test with is Speedfan. The reason being is that you can see what the past few minutes have been like temp wise. If you look under a section called Charts you'll see a graph line of the last few minutes:
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

The other thing I notice with your system is that your GPU warrants a PSU of 550W or greater:

550 Watt or greater power supply with one 150W 8-pin PCI Express® power connector and one 75W 6-pin PCI

ref:
Link Removed

Now I know you already have a PSU of 550W but can you post what the actual make is please. If the PSU is of poor quality then this is a possible suspect too.

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Thanks for reply kemical, I will look forward to the temperatures when playing games. I don't think it is because temperatures, because it freezes not only in games man, it happends even when surfing internet, as mentioned.

So I will cehck temperatures and stress my CPU/GPU with Prime95, but I think it's not problem. I can sometimes play even most stressfull games like far cry 4 for an hour and to do not get freeze or any problems at all.

I've been suspecting PSU and temperatures for quite a while, but I have recently discovered on hd tune this:
Link Removed

I am not profesionall in any way when it comes to HDD, so I don't know what to do next.

Any more information?

Thanks in forward

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Ok with intense gaming

GPU reaches: 54C
CPU reaches: 36C

Here image of speedfan

Link Removed

Any software for checking power supply?

 

[kemical]

Do you know which manufacturer made the PSU, it should be written on the side?

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Do you know which manufacturer made the PSU, it should be written on the side?

Yes it's CODEGEN 55W as mentioned before.

 

[kemical]

Thanks Alexander.. Well IMO if everything else checks out like temp and HDD then logically the next step is the PSU.
But
The other thing you need to check is your HDD. There are a couple of things you can do to test if your HDD is running as it should.
Open Speedfan and click 'Smart' along the top. This, like HD tune, gives you a list of the SMART values for your drive. Any failure is cause for concern. You'll see that you need to find your disk from the drop down menu. When you do you'll also see a button for an online in depth diagnostic of your drive. Try that as it's worth viewing what is revealed.
Also try running SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
This works for any drive and will test the functionality of the drive.

Regarding the PSU. The quality of PSU's can vary enormously and it could be that the quality of your PSU isn't up to grade. See how things go with the Hard drive but at some point you probably should think about getting a better quality PSU: See the remarks at the end of this thread I found:
See this page regarding that PSU: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/667658

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Thanks Alexander.. Well IMO if everything else checks out like temp and HDD then logically the next step is the PSU.
But
The other thing you need to check is your HDD. There are a couple of things you can do to test if your HDD is running as it should.
Open Speedfan and click 'Smart' along the top. This, like HD tune, gives you a list of the SMART values for your drive. Any failure is cause for concern. You'll see that you need to find your disk from the drop down menu. When you do you'll also see a button for an online in depth diagnostic of your drive. Try that as it's worth viewing what is revealed.
Also try running SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
This works for any drive and will test the functionality of the drive.

Regarding the PSU. The quality of PSU's can vary enormously and it could be that the quality of your PSU isn't up to grade. See how things go with the Hard drive but at some point you probably should think about getting a better quality PSU: See the remarks at the end of this thread I found:
See this page regarding that PSU: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/667658

Thanks for reply once again.

As with SMART test here:
http://www.hddstatus.com/hdrepanalysis.php

As seagate I tested it and it got 0 errors

 

[kemical]

Hi Alexander,
thank you for posting the results. The HDD does after all look like it's ok if not a little old. As I mentioned above the crashes may well be connected to the PSU. Tell me, did you buy the computer all together or has the PSU come from another build?

I also checked on what amperage a AMD 6970 needs and it's 34A. The PSU you use has an output of 34A which doesn't leave much room for error.

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Hi Alexander,
thank you for posting the results. The HDD does after all look like it's ok if not a little old. As I mentioned above the crashes may well be connected to the PSU. Tell me, did you buy the computer all together or has the PSU come from another build?

I also checked on what amperage a AMD 6970 needs and it's 34A. The PSU you use has an output of 34A which doesn't leave much room for error.

Oh yes, I didn't mentioned that, the PC was bough all together and the PSU is from original build, I didn't upgraded it or downgraded it.

 

[kemical]

Has the machine always done this or is it something recent?

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Has the machine always done this or is it something recent?

Recent, it past 2 mounths since it started.

1 more thing, since I don't play LoL it stopped freezing, Im guessing maybe network adapter driver is not working or something, because when I play sigleplayer games nothing happends. Like Half Life 2.

 

[Pauli]

For start, I would go for the PSU. They don't usually provide what they promise, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

The only way to check the outcome is by a high grade meter = professional service.

I have a Nexus 1000W RX-1K 80Plus Bronze, you can check some figures in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817610004

In most cases, you can't get what they sell you. You won't get 100%, you're lucky to get the 80%, if even that works, it may be 50% to start with, and they often go down pretty soon in power supply. They wear down, period, especially lower standard equipment. That's one thing.

Another thing is, your network. That would most instantly be obvious. The increase in Internet traffic has been higher than the volume provided by services, goes most of all to wireless. We cannot have an endless traffic without needed lanes, and lanes need investments, and hungry ones want profits before making investments.

There's so much "not scientific" in the IT, it's hard to believe. Sell you dreams, off come nightmares.

Once upon the time, you bought a bad horse. You could shoot the one who tricked you, and you were applauded. But today? Not saying we're surrounded by merely bad ones, but there are tendencies...



Must apologize for me over whelming, it does happen. Best wishes, Alexander.

 

[kemical]

Recent, it past 2 mounths since it started.

1 more thing, since I don't play LoL it stopped freezing, Im guessing maybe network adapter driver is not working or something, because when I play sigleplayer games nothing happends. Like Half Life 2.

So it could be related to your Network adapter or it's driver. I'd try updating the driver if you haven't already.

 

[Pauli]

Heat is a problem. Always. Not only in human relations, where it does have its flavor.

The standard use of a vacuum cleaner is never to be besides recommended. To check and clean about dust and stuff is never above The Highest we know in electricity. - All to my disadvantage, I must admit, I hate the bruuum of vacuum cleaners, like every dog I've known. We have one known as Winston right now, seems to be like me. I hope he doesn't bite me.

In the Stone Age of transmission with vinyls and tapes and C-Cassettes, when Beatles and Rolling Stones, and even my hyper favorite Uriah Heep played, everyone knew that heads should be cleansed once in a while. It seems to have been lost. Perhaps we should get back to grandma's age, where purity was a virtue. Keep it clean, it stays clean, and will work.

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Thanks for replys guys, I updated network driver today I will see if it freezes again, and I will give you feedback.

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Freezing is still happening. Im guessing it is the heat problem, because freezes are now happening when heat on motherbord is high. I can avoid freezes, if I shut down computer for about 5-10 minutes.

Also Im cleaning computer once in week. Im cleainging components in details. I dismantle processor, clean parts, put paste, take back together. That is mostly for Procesor and Graphic card.

Oh and I think I made mistake when entering information, it's not Radeon HD 6970, it's 6790

 

[kemical]

Can you improve the cooling like adding case fans or the like?

 

[Pauli]

To second kemical freely, bigger fans are better. Besides doing the job better, they are usually pretty silent, compared with smaller ones that sound like jet planes. Water cooling is an option, too.

If a heat problem, it's usually CPU, you need to take the cooler off, and clean it. Mobo temps are case related. I once put in an extra case fan, and my CPU dropped with 10 degrees Celsius... remarkable. It's also not a mere question of getting fresh air in, it's very much about getting hot air out. You need to have down level open, to get fresh air in, and up level open to let heat out. Upper fans may be crucial.

I drilled my former case in a way that made it look like Swizz cheese but, even if it wasn't a beauty, air came and went. And it was functional. Get rid of what you don't want = hot air, and get what you need = cool air. Basic physics, heat goes upwards.

 

[Alexandar Radovanovic]

Thanks for replys once again, I will try to do something, It may be usefull if I gave you picture of my computer case , because I have already put fan that is from behind (by myself) and it isn't attached to anything inside. I made it so It can flow in cool air and it's located underneath connections on the back of case. it basicly cools through GPU. As for CPU I don't know where can I put anoather fan.

I think I may getting freezing because heat of motherboard goes very high, and I don't know what or how can I cool that up.
I will take pictures and post em here so you guys can take a look.