Random Crashes

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by gregr, Dec 3, 2008.

  1. gregr

    gregr Geek Trainee

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    My computer has been randomly crashing. The crashes are kind of strange... The audio coming out the speakers studders, then the mouse stops moving, and then everything on the monitors stop moving. No blue screen and it doesn't unfreeze even if I wait a long time (20-30 minutes). I have to do a hard reset to get the system working. The crashes typically happen soon (5-10 minutes) after I start the system, but can happen at any time.

    I reinstalled windows, installed every windows update, installed all of the latest drivers listed on Gigabyte's website, flashed the bios, and the problem continues. Nothing is overclocked except the GPU which is factory overclocked. I've got all of the cables tied down and tucked away, and the air flow feels pretty good. I've run memtest and some other diagnostics and nothing so far points to a problem.

    System Specs:

    OS: Vista x64 Ultimate
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P
    CPU: Core 2 Duo E6750
    Cooler: Zalman 9700 CPU (With Arctic Silver)
    Ram: 4x G.Skill 2GB PC2-6400
    GPU: MSI RX3870X2-T2D1G OC Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB 512-bit
    OS Drive: Western Digital Caviar 250GB
    Storage Drive: Western Digital Caviar 750GB
    Swap Raid: 3x Western Digital Raptor 36GB (In RAID 0 using windows software RAID)
    Wireless card: EW-7128g
    Power Supply: ZALMAN ZM750-HP 750W
    Optical Drive: LG gsa-h62n
    Case: RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP (With the door on the front removed for better air flow)
    Monitor: 2x 19' Hanns-G LCD
     
    gregr, Dec 3, 2008
    #1
  2. Net Jockey

    Net Jockey Geek Trainee

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    You don't happen to have a 110 volt fan cooling your unit do you?
     
    Net Jockey, Dec 3, 2008
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  3. gregr

    gregr Geek Trainee

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    I don't have a 110 volt fan cooling the machine. All of the cooling is coming from the case fans which are all powered off of the PSU.
     
    gregr, Dec 3, 2008
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  4. Net Jockey

    Net Jockey Geek Trainee

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    Well that was the only thing that I could think of that might be causing your problem...
     
    Net Jockey, Dec 3, 2008
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  5. Fred

    Fred Moderator

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    I don't think I've ever seen that problem before, personally. I have a few suggestions and if you have further questions/comments just post back.
    • Boot to safe mode by pressing F8 as the computer is booting and see if it freezes up in safe mode. After you boot to safe mode, I would suggest running a virus/spyware scan. If you don't know what to run, I would suggest google'ing AVG Antivirus and Malware Bytes Anti-Malware.
    • Boot up with only the neccessary components; IE: Hdd, 1 stick of RAM, video card, mobo. If it doesn't freeze after this, you know its one of those components. If it does freeze, it's either the OS or one of the remaining components.
    • Run DFT to test the hdd.
    • Run memtest to test the RAM. Both memtest and DFT will have to be burned to a blank cd.
     
    Fred, Dec 4, 2008
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