Computer keeps crashing – any ideas

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 18:52

Hi,

I wondering if anyone can help me try and figure out why my computer crashes under certain circumstances.

My specs are in my sig apart from I’m running a 280x, it still crashed with the 6950. The monitors are 21 in. running 1920x 1080 from the 280x and 17in. at 1280 x1024 running from the on board gfx. Initially I thought there was a problem running monitors with different resolutions from the same graphics card but I guess this proves there is not.

Normally my computer runs fine, however if I’m playing a game on the larger screen and try watching a video on the other the computer will randomly freeze up and I have no option but to restart. I recorded a little video to give you a better idea of what happens.

Thanks,

Slack

Meloco · 8 May 2016 at 19:02

I can't believe I am saying this again... but RAM issue.

Try testing again with 1 stick of ram (i.e. 1 stick, if it crashes or not still try with the other).

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 19:09

Ok, i assumed i would be something different as in normal use or only using one moitor it's fine.

I'll give it ago

Meloco · 8 May 2016 at 20:07

Slackjaw190 said:
Ok, i assumed i would be something different as in normal use or only using one moitor it's fine.

I'll give it ago

The only other causes i've ever experienced of this are:

- Overclocking
- Internet Browser (strangely used to happen just with Firefox)
- Corrupt windows install

However, the usual supsect is dodgey ram.

Skilid · 8 May 2016 at 20:31

I had this when I built my first PC. Turns out I hadn't set the RAM timings correctly. I didn't even know what that was when I built it...

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 20:49

Meloco said:
The only other causes i've ever experienced of this are:

- Overclocking
- Internet Browser (strangely used to happen just with Firefox)
- Corrupt windows install

However, the usual supsect is dodgey ram.

K i tried putting my oc back to stock and it didn't make a difference
I tried IE instead of Firefox and still crashed
I could upgrade to Windows 10 i guess. I got it on my other pc and perfer win7

I just tried a few games with one stick and couldn't get it to crash. I swap it over with the other one and see what happens.

Meloco · 8 May 2016 at 21:03

Slackjaw190 said:
K i tried putting my oc back to stock and it didn't make a difference
I tried IE instead of Firefox and still crashed
I could upgrade to Windows 10 i guess. I got it on my other pc and perfer win7

I just tried a few games with one stick and couldn't get it to crash. I swap it over with the other one and see what happens.

it's most likely going to be the ram if it was not crashing with one stick (or incorrect timings/setup).

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 21:23

Meloco said:
it's most likely going to be the ram if it was not crashing with one stick (or incorrect timings/setup).

I swapped the ram sticks over and it crashed straight away. I'll keep testing with the stick I think is good to make sure.

My timings are 9-9-9-24 according to CPU-Z

I'll then look at replacing the 'bad' stick. I think they're gaurenteed for life but i guess they make it Corsair make it so difficult you don't bother

Thanks for your help btw

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 21:49

Scrap that, it just crashed with the 'good' stick.

Can they both be bad?

Skilid · 8 May 2016 at 22:21

Of course it's a possibility. Rare though I would expect. Memtest?

Slackjaw190 · 8 May 2016 at 22:31

Guess so, i'll run it overnight

dunn2010 · 8 May 2016 at 22:43

Have you checked event log on your pc for the time of crash? it may state why it crashed and what caused it. (faulty app running in the background)

also when you were swapping the ram and testing, did you use a different DIMM? if you used the same DIMM with both when testing one at a time, it may be that, that's causing the issue.

Slackjaw190 · 9 May 2016 at 12:17

I ran Memtest 8hrs overnight and no faults found.

I'm away now with work until next weekend so I'll have a look at the log then

dunn2010 said:
Have you checked event log on your pc for the time of crash? it may state why it crashed and what caused it. (faulty app running in the background)

also when you were swapping the ram and testing, did you use a different DIMM? if you used the same DIMM with both when testing one at a time, it may be that, that's causing the issue.

Do you mean a separate stick of ram not linked to the crashing build? If so I don't have immediate access to one.

Skilid · 9 May 2016 at 13:54

By using a different DIMM he means a different memory slot on the motherboard.

Meloco · 9 May 2016 at 17:32

TBH if you are not getting any errors with memtest it's most likely to be a fault elsewhere. It may be an idea to fork out for some cheap RAM to test. However, I would try wiping the HDD and doing a fresh install of Windows first.

Slackjaw190 · 9 May 2016 at 22:01

EliotG said:
By using a different DIMM he means a different memory slot on the motherboard.

I'll give it a try, the first slot of RAM doesn't have to be in slot #1 then?

Meloco said:
TBH if you are not getting any errors with memtest it's most likely to be a fault elsewhere. It may be an idea to fork out for some cheap RAM to test. However, I would try wiping the HDD and doing a fresh install of Windows first.

I'll give it ago next weekend and let you know how I get on

breadturbo · 9 May 2016 at 22:44

Have you checked the PSU?

dunn2010 · 10 May 2016 at 19:16

I'll give it a try, the first slot of RAM doesn't have to be in slot #1 then?

Nope, any slot you like.

MrMD · 11 May 2016 at 01:40

I had this exact thing happen to me when i had a 280x,when it occured it was always when i had a video on YT open.Im sure it was related to Flash player.Eventually one of the beta drivers seemed to magically fix it.

Either roll back to some older drivers,or try uninstalling flash player and using an HTML5 plugin for video content in your browser.

Meloco · 11 May 2016 at 16:51

MrMD said:
I had this exact thing happen to me when i had a 280x,when it occured it was always when i had a video on YT open.Im sure it was related to Flash player.Eventually one of the beta drivers seemed to magically fix it.

Either roll back to some older drivers,or try uninstalling flash player and using an HTML5 plugin for video content in your browser.

This is partly why I suggested the fresh install... it will make sure to update all drivers etc.