PC randomly freezing!! HELP!!

Teki187

Teki187

Teki187

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Somewhere in York
Ok, for the past 2-3 weeks my computers been completely unstable.

It will randomly at no given time or action just freeze, the screen will freeze, you cant move the mouse and you have to force restart the system.

Now prior to this, i had 2x1gb Geil 800mhz 4-4-4-12 2T ram and it ran fine. Even had the processor clocked at 3.2ghz and it still ran fine.

Then i got my self some 4x1gb ballistix 8500 and i have them running at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 2T on 1:1 with the processor (processor at 3.2ghz). This is when the trouble started and my computer would just freeze randomly.

My spec is:

Asus P5N-E SLI with Northbridge @ 1.5v (North and Southbridge both have coolers, I have the Zalman Northbridge cooler on the south)
Antec Neo HE 500W power supply
C2D E6400 @ 3.2ghz (1600 FSB) at 1.45v +100mv
Zalman CNPS9500 (with AS5 compound, changing it to MX2 later this week)
4x1gb Crucial Ballistix 8500 C5 @ 800mhz/5-5-5-15 2T and 2.1v
Gainward 640mb 8800GTS @ 600/900 (in games)
Creative X-Fi Gamer Extreme
2x250gb Seagate 7200.10
Vista 64bit Home Premium

Temps are:

Core 1 & 2 at idle 47c and load 70c
CPU at idle 35c and 40-50c on load
Graphics Card at 50c idle and 60-70c on load (going to add some MX2 compound later this week and possibly change the cooler to the Zalman VF1000)

I can run Prime95 for as long as i want sometimes without the computer freezing. I've also ran memtest+ and i've got no errors on the memory.

If anyone could help it would be great, its been driving me nuts and i've crashed twice while making this post.
 
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Hi just checked the spec on OC, Crucial Ballistix memory voltage should be set at 2.2v.If you put your Geil back in is the pc stable again, also are you running the latest bios.
 
OLDPHART said:
Hi just checked the spec on OC, Crucial Ballistix memory voltage should be set at 2.2v.If you put your Geil back in is the pc stable again, also are you running the latest bios.
Click to expand...

Well the memory should be at 2.2v at 1066, my memory is at 800mhz.

My motherboard is running 0901 which is the latest they have.
 
Hi yet again, read the Asus P5N-E SLI product description on OC IT STATES-
DDR2 is the next generation memory technology to replace the current DDR. With the highest speed up to 800MHz . Also Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533 memory speeds, judging from this your mobo does not support DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz
 
OLDPHART said:
Hi yet again, read the Asus P5N-E SLI product description on OC IT STATES-
DDR2 is the next generation memory technology to replace the current DDR. With the highest speed up to 800MHz . Also Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533 memory speeds, judging from this your mobo does not support DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz
Click to expand...

Aye, which is why i put the memory down to 800mhz.

So i have 1066 memory running at 800mhz.
 
Can,t see the point in having PC2-8500C5 1066 if your mobo does not support it. If it was me l would put the Geil back in, as you stated your system was stable.
 
I've found the S&M test to be good for identifying stability issues when overclocking. It tests both CPU and RAM , plus gives them more of a beating than Prime95 (temperatures get much higher). Try it out and run the tests a few times. If there are errors it's quite specific about what's wrong.

For example: my X2 5000+ BE ran prime95 stable @3GHz for hours but I still noted instability problems when gaming. Ran S&M and it identified an error in the L1 cache on one core within a couple of runs. Bumbed up the voltage slightly and it's rock solid.

What are you doing when it tends to crash? Have you tried backing off the C2D overclock?
 
Uriel said:
I've found the S&M test to be good for identifying stability issues when overclocking. It tests both CPU and RAM , plus gives them more of a beating than Prime95 (temperatures get much higher). Try it out and run the tests a few times. If there are errors it's quite specific about what's wrong.

For example: my X2 5000+ BE ran prime95 stable @3GHz for hours but I still noted instability problems when gaming. Ran S&M and it identified an error in the L1 cache on one core within a couple of runs. Bumbed up the voltage slightly and it's rock solid.

What are you doing when it tends to crash? Have you tried backing off the C2D overclock?
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the reply.

Well since my last post my CPU is failing the Small FFT's in prime95 and the northbridge is crazy hot, too hot to touch.

So im thinking it could be the northbridge overheating, which another member has told me. Would that make the computer just freeze though?

Also, how quickly can this S&M (also what is S&M) test find errors with the cpu? If the NB is running stupidly hot i'd prefer to not burn out my motherboard.

As for what im doing when it crashes, well anything. I've typed this reply and its froze. My original post it froze twice while doing it. In games i can go for hours or even days before it freezes, then it can freeze 3 times in 20mins.

And about the memory, i got 1066 memory mainly because i was going to upgrade the CPU, but i didnt in the end and now im stuck with it. I cant just send it back to OC and say sorry want 800mhz now.
 
Edit: Just re-read your post. DO NOT run S&M until you've sorted the temperatures!

Well, S&M will heat your northbridge - possibly more than anything else out there. When I'm running it on new hardware I always keep an eye on the temperatures. I'd try and sort out the NB temperature issue before running it and definitely don't leave it running unattended before you've checked what sort of temperatures it gets.

Compared to prime95, S&M is very quick to find (generate really) errors but this is because it's stressing your hardware more than prime95.

Edit: I tend to use S&M to confirm that an overclock is 100% stable, after satisfying myself that it's prime stable first.
 
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Uriel said:
Well, S&M will heat your northbridge - possibly more than anything else out there. When I'm running it on new hardware I always keep an eye on the temperatures. I'd try and sort out the NB temperature issue before running it and definitely don't leave it running unattended before you've checked what sort of temperatures it gets.

Compared to prime95, S&M is very quick to find (generate really) errors but this is because it's stressing your hardware more than prime95.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

Whats S&M so i can do a nice google search.

Also which northbridge cooler do you recommend?
 
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If you google "S&M CPU test" you should find it. Not sure about nortbridge cooling, never had to replace a northbridge cooler.

By the way, your memory controller is located on the Northbridge, rather than the CPU itself, so it would make sense for it to generate errors if it was getting too warm.

Seeing as you're talking about spending money now, I'd really urge you to try your old RAM. If that's stable then try getting hold of some RAM you can run at a lower voltage. I'm using Geil Black Dragon 2x2GB and it's fine at 1.8v or 1.9v (at DDR2-800 speed).
 
Uriel said:
If you google "S&M CPU test" you should find it. Not sure about nortbridge cooling, never had to replace a northbridge cooler.

By the way, your memory controller is located on the Northbridge, rather than the CPU itself, so it would make sense for it to generate errors if it was getting too warm.

Seeing as you're talking about spending money now, I'd really urge you to try your old RAM. If that's stable then try getting hold of some RAM you can run at a lower voltage. I'm using Geil Black Dragon 2x2GB and it's fine at 1.8v or 1.9v (at DDR2-800 speed).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

Just got S&M.

Well i got my ram from OCUK, so i cant just send it back for no reason, so i have to deal with what i have :(.
 
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Just ran S&M (CPU (FPU) test) and i got the same crash error as prime95 small ffts. Also vista error reported about the CPU.

Could it be that im not giving the processor enough power?

Or is it just broke?
 
Apart from, as far as we know, the RAM may be faulty. According to Crucial's own guidelines it should be compatible with your board. Your system seems to be OK when it isn't installed...

Edit: I'm assuming you've tried running at the rated timings and voltages?
 
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Uriel said:
Apart from, as far as we know, the RAM may be faulty. According to Crucial's own guidelines it should be compatible with your board. Your system seems to be OK when it isn't installed...

Edit: I'm assuming you've tried running at the rated timings and voltages?
Click to expand...

Well i've ran Memtest+ and the memory has no errors.

I'm currently running the Ballistix at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 2T at 2.1v.
 
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