Quikzilvr7

--- THIS IS NOT A "NEWB" QUESTION. I HAVE DOCUMENTED AS MUCH INFORMATION AS I COULD ---



Hello everyone -

I've researched over the internet for months and finally put a computer together several months ago (of course I upgraded, if you look at my specs below ). However, about 3 months ago or so, my computer started RANDOMLY freezing, at completely (to my knowledge) random times.



Here is my build:

Win. XP SP2

- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775
- GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
- CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply
- Intel Xeon E3110 Wolfdale 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor
- Crucial Ballistix 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
- Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (lapped)
- Samsung SpinPoint S 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache (purchased from the UK)
- Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120mm Fan for Heatsink
- 4 other fans in case to circulate air


Other notes:
- I have a dual-monitor setup- one 22inch lcd monitor, and one 19inch crt monitor.
- I use Kaspersky internet security, which *might be responsible...
- When I hit the middle mouse button on a webpage in firefox and mouse my mouse down to autoscroll, the webpage flickers - sort of as if it is "lagging" or not scrolling smoothly (hence maybe it is a graphics card problem?)




Here is the Problem:

The computer RANDOMLY freezes! However, it is often at startup - for example, I cold-boot the computer in the morning, and then ALMOST after all of my startup programs have loaded, it freezes . Also, sometimes when my screensaver is on, it freezes. I can often boot fine, then reboot fine, and then reboot again, and everything is fine... and then 3 days (or any other random interval of time) later, it freezes! The problem has occurred both while I was working on the computer (thus using the cpu) and while I was away from the computer (not using the cpu).




Now, the technical stuff. My GA-P35-DS4 mobo has the F12 bios revision (i.e. the LATEST ONE), my videocard has the "ForceWare Release 169 - Version: 169.21" (also the latest driver), and both drivers were installed properly (i.e. first uninstalled the previous driver, then install the new one). Also note that I have used a antistatic wrist strap to uninstall and reinstall all of my computer components, including using antistatic foam on the table to lay down computer pieces, as well as having antistatic foam to stand on while I work!!


Note that I have run a barrage of tests on my setup. All of my 1gb Crucial Ballistix 240-Pin DDR2 ram sticks have had one pass in memtest 3.4, and I have had Orthos and core-temp running overnight (12 hrs) and only maxed out at 42 C - never higher (note that I have a very good cpu, a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler which I lapped, and have used artic silver 5 as the thermal compound).



Now, the speculations...

I personally think that it could be a problem with either the video card or the motherboard. It could be the video card because of the "firefox problem" that I listed above, and that the video card controls what you see on screen and thus has the power to freeze the computer (maybe?). It could the motherboard, on the other hand, because I have read of capacitors wearing out and freezing older computers - and while this computer is pretty new, it is possible that my motherboard arrived to me defective.



Now, if anybody has ANY idea as to what is causing the random freezing, PLEASE PLEASE help me and let me know!! I am begging for guidance here!

johnhook

Quikzilvr7,

Your random "freezing" problem is either due to faulty hardware -or- drivers/settings.

Prior to this random "freezing" problem, have up updated any drivers (video or otherwise), changed any settings in your forceware driver's control panel, changed any BIOS settings, installed any new hardware, software or otherwise made any changes to your PC (including any unintended Windows Updates)?

I've found that the behavior you describe usually is a result of new video drivers or settings. If you've upgraded/updated your video drivers, try rolling them back to the prior version/settings when your PC was stable. Overclocking will also cause the behavior you describe, as will BIOS setting changes. Installation of new hardware in PCI slots can cause unintended conflicts with video hardware as well - especially sound cards.
Forceware drivers often come with configuration programs that typically run in the system Tray. These config utilities usually allow you to control very specific video hardware features/settings. Changing these settings can cause instability of they tweak the video hardware's performance to settings that are out-of-spec with your PC's bus, CPU, memory or timing settings.

If downgrading your video hardware drivers to a previous known stable version or to the Windows WHQL built-in drivers causes the random freezing problem to go away - then it's a driver or setting issue.

If none of that applies - you may have a thermal issue or hardware that's gone bad. I've seen a LOT of posts out there where the only solution that works is to replace the video card. If you have the luxory of doing so - try transplanting your Video card in a different PC and see if you experience the same problems.

Based on your original post - you clearly know what you're doing. Basically you need to use a process or elimination approach to determine if you're problem is driver/software/firmware related or if you in fact have faulty hardware.

- John

Quikzilvr7

Thanks for replying John... actually, I am planning on getting a new video card, so we'll see how that turns out.