New build freezing up during games

[VoodooVyper]

Hey everyone, first post on this forum. I know this is a very common issue, but hear me out.

I built this rig back in September and have had this issue ever since. When I play video games, the comp freezes up completely and needs a hard reboot. Ctrl Alt Dlt or Alt Tab do not work. This freeze up can happen an hour into playing, or 10 minutes, or 4 hours... seemingly random.

As mentioned, this issue has been off and on. In another thread, I was recommended to update the BIOS. Which I did, and it seemed to fix the issue months ago. Then it started doing it again and what do you know, a new BIOS update and it fixed it again. Now it's doing it again and the latest update to the BIOS does not have any stability fix and coincidentally the issue continues to happen. The only thing I've changed since it started doing it is I added a NZXT Sentry 2 LX and a set of headphones.

I'm sure the first response will be about heat, but my temps are well within range (less than 50 degrees Celsius under load). I have also ran through memtest with no issues. I have reseated everything there is to reseat. I have reset the CMOS. My GPU drivers are always current. I have tried each RAM stick individually and in different ports. I recently purchased a second GPU and have tried each individually and in different slots and still the same issue.

My main problem is not knowing what's causing it. Is there someway I can actually see why the computer crashed? No dump file is being produced. Is there a system log that records these things? Another member swapped out every single piece in his machine until he realized it was his PSU, I really don't want to follow that same path.

My set up:

Intel Core i7-3770K
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B
Asus SABERTOOTH Z77
G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB DDR3-1600
Crucial M4 256GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM HDD
Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB SSD
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB x2
Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W PSU
Asus VS247H-P 23.6\\\" Monitor
CyberPower 1350A UPS

As far as overclocking, the GPUs remain untouched, but the CPU has been oc'd to 4.2 in the ASUS bios ui. The issue still happens when the CPU is not oc'd.

I have also been recommended to try the comp with out the ups, which I have and nothing different.

Any help would be immensely appreciated. Spending this much on a new machine and having an issue that I have no idea what's causing it is driving me nuts!

 

[LoganG]

is everything seated properly? cables and components

 

[Conumdrum]

What have you tried for drivers for the gpu?

 

[VoodooVyper]

is everything seated properly? cables and components

Yes, as mentioned everything has been reseated. The entire computer was built and rebuilt 100%.

What have you tried for drivers for the gpu?

Currently using 314.22 and have been up to date prior to this release as well.

 

[LoganG]

do you have a spare PSU you can try?

 

[Conumdrum]

Try one GPU. If crashes try the other. Posible you have ONE bad GPU. If it doesn't crash, keep trying for a week.

maybe a bad SLI bridge?

 

[VoodooVyper]

do you have a spare PSU you can try?

Unfortunately no

Try one GPU. If crashes try the other. Posible you have ONE bad GPU. If it doesn't crash, keep trying for a week.

maybe a bad SLI bridge?

As stated in the OP, each card was used individually, as well as each memory stick.

 

[LoganG]

can you try rebuilding the computer with just one gpu, one stick of ram, on a cardboard box outside of the case. And perhaps talk a friend into letting you borrow a psu?

 

[VoodooVyper]

can you try rebuilding the computer with just one gpu, one stick of ram, on a cardboard box outside of the case. And perhaps talk a friend into letting you borrow a psu?

My only option for obtaining a PSU would be to buy another unfortunately.

Are you recommending assembling the mobo with a memory stick and gpu outside of the case entirely? Are you suggesting a ground issue?

 

[LoganG]

I'm suggesting you eliminate as many factors as possible, case, 1 gpu, all but 1 stick of ram and if that still faults out, eliminate another factor.

 

[VoodooVyper]

I tried to narrow down the time when this started happening because like I mentioned, it was perfectly fine with zero crashes for months. So I did a system restore back to that point and rolled back my GPU drivers to 314.07. Plugged necessities into a power strip and loaded up a game just to the main menu (Bioshock Infinite) and left it alone for a while and it crashed within an hour.

I then returned the CPU OC to "normal" which is stock from what it was on before "performance" which ups it from 3.5 to 4.2ghz. I loaded up Bioshock Infinite again and left it at the main menu and no freeze! For over 6 hours. Loaded up Planetside 2 and played for about 2 hours and everything is good so far.

I have some more testing to do though. I screwed with some settings in NVIDA's 3D application settings at the same time I reset the CPU. Also, as mentioned, many of the earlier testing I did involved lower the CPU clock rate as well. When I had one GPU and one memory stick, I ran it with "normal" CPU level as well and it still crashed. In the past 4 months, I've had the CPU on "performance" and it hasn't frozen once, so I'm doubtful that that is the cause. But I do suspect that perhaps that setting combined with something else is causing an issue. I just need to find out what that something else is.

 

[Conumdrum]

Voodoo, you have 5 posts you can make a sig now. Glad your on to finding an issue.

You might of not had a stable OC on the CPU, not sure how much testing you did.

Like running Furmark Burn test AND Prime 95 at the same time. That is part of the process. Could be the PSU, it happens. Keep us informed....