A few days ago, I began experiencing what seemed to be random hard freezes. At first, I noticed it when my monitor would go to sleep and the computer would never wake up, requiring a manual power down and reboot. Then it started having issues after playing Guild Wars 2 for 30-40 minutes.
Naturally, at first, I thought it was my GPU... but it isn't. I've troubleshooted this thing to high hell for 2 days now, and I'm down to just the issue being the CPU or motherboard. Let me list my specs and what I did to troubleshoot so far.
***Please note, I am not trying to troubleshoot an overclock here -- I'm trying to fix my system. I want to get my system working at stock settings for everything again, and right now it is not functioning stock.***
3570k - NOW STOCK but was at 4.4GHz, +0.15 offset
Asrock Z77 Extreme4
16GB Samsung low profile DDR3-1600 (4x4)
128GB Crucial M4 boot drive
Corsair AX-750 PSU
Gigabyte HD6950 1GB
All of that, and still the same exact issue. The freeze is sometimes just a black screen, sometimes I get a BSOD, and sometimes I get skipping sound and the screen turns to gibberish. Event View has not been helpful, since the hard freeze prevents the system from logging anything.
I have serious doubts that the issue is my PSU since the Corsair AX series is so high quality and my system doesn't even come close to stressing it. Also, because the system runs for so long with no issue.
So, I'm left with the CPU and/or Mobo. I was running a 4.4GHz overclock, though at very reasonable temps, but I realize this could have caused problems. I've personally never seen an Intel CPU go bad so quickly from OCing before and my Asrock Mobo is the lowest quality component in my system (first time I ever went cheap on the mobo). I am thinking it is the mobo, but I'm not 100% sure whether Microcenter will allow me to exchange it (it is within warranty). I hope they do, but if not then I'm going to have to buy new components myself to test this out.
I was wondering, do any of you have any thoughts on this? Can this type of instability (hard freeze after 30-40 minutes, whether under load or idling) be the result of the mobo failing? Upon visual inspection, the mobo looks just fine, but I know these cheaper boards can sometimes do wacky things.
I would very much appreciate any help/direction that the community could offer. I'm not very eager to buy expensive components, replace them, and find out that the problem still exists.
EDIT: Clarified in the post that this is not about stabilizing an overclock, this is about a malfunctioning stock system.
Naturally, at first, I thought it was my GPU... but it isn't. I've troubleshooted this thing to high hell for 2 days now, and I'm down to just the issue being the CPU or motherboard. Let me list my specs and what I did to troubleshoot so far.
***Please note, I am not trying to troubleshoot an overclock here -- I'm trying to fix my system. I want to get my system working at stock settings for everything again, and right now it is not functioning stock.***
3570k - NOW STOCK but was at 4.4GHz, +0.15 offset
Asrock Z77 Extreme4
16GB Samsung low profile DDR3-1600 (4x4)
128GB Crucial M4 boot drive
Corsair AX-750 PSU
Gigabyte HD6950 1GB
- I started by taking everything back to stock
- I pulled all of my RAM and tried 1 stick at a time
- I ran Memtest86+ for over 2 hours with no errors
- I flashed newest BIOS update and cleared CMOS
- I did a full format and reinstall of Win7, using the bare minimum of drivers required -- twice!
- I did a clean boot
- I get the crash even in safe mode
- I logged all temps and checked after crashes, they were all normal (<70C)
- Prime95 runs fine until about the 30-40 minute mark, as stated, and I get the same hard freeze
- I pulled my GPU and ran the onboard video -- same issue
- I fully cleaned the system and reseated all components
- I changed the SATA cable on the boot drive
All of that, and still the same exact issue. The freeze is sometimes just a black screen, sometimes I get a BSOD, and sometimes I get skipping sound and the screen turns to gibberish. Event View has not been helpful, since the hard freeze prevents the system from logging anything.
I have serious doubts that the issue is my PSU since the Corsair AX series is so high quality and my system doesn't even come close to stressing it. Also, because the system runs for so long with no issue.
So, I'm left with the CPU and/or Mobo. I was running a 4.4GHz overclock, though at very reasonable temps, but I realize this could have caused problems. I've personally never seen an Intel CPU go bad so quickly from OCing before and my Asrock Mobo is the lowest quality component in my system (first time I ever went cheap on the mobo). I am thinking it is the mobo, but I'm not 100% sure whether Microcenter will allow me to exchange it (it is within warranty). I hope they do, but if not then I'm going to have to buy new components myself to test this out.
I was wondering, do any of you have any thoughts on this? Can this type of instability (hard freeze after 30-40 minutes, whether under load or idling) be the result of the mobo failing? Upon visual inspection, the mobo looks just fine, but I know these cheaper boards can sometimes do wacky things.
I would very much appreciate any help/direction that the community could offer. I'm not very eager to buy expensive components, replace them, and find out that the problem still exists.
EDIT: Clarified in the post that this is not about stabilizing an overclock, this is about a malfunctioning stock system.
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