Unknown computer problems

[Dpg3456]

Hello all,

Today i get to work on my fathers computer. It consists of 32gbs of g.skill ram, a tb wd hdd, 850 pro ssd, 8370, h100, gtx 960, 500w seasonic power supply, and lastly a asus sabertooth mobo.

His problems are only when the computer boots or restarts. I told the computer to restart through windows and then the screen went black and the computer hung. It usually will hang on a fresh boot but will be okay once its restarted. Windows will kinda load, there is a black screen but you can ctl+alt+delete and see the blue screen pop up. Not quit sure what would cause this.

All help would be appreciated.

I know right off the bat that everything in the bios is set to auto and the ram, although running right speed is running the wrong cl.

 

[trents]

If the RAM timings are more aggressive than what the modules are rated for then this could certainly be causing your issue. Choose the XMP setting for the RAM and it should give correct timings.

 

[Dpg3456]

If the RAM timings are more aggressive than what the modules are rated for then this could certainly be causing your issue. Choose the XMP setting for the RAM and it should give correct timings.

I should have specified originally. But they are running looser than they are supposed to. I am thinking it's the CPU but I don't see why. I'll change the ram to the xmp later when he isn't using it.

 

[knoober]

How old is the install of the OS? Maybe Windows just needs a refresh or reinstall? Your system might be a little happier if you manually set voltages instead of leaving them on auto. I don't think that is the cause of the issue, just that you might see a general performance increase.

 

[trents]

What is the frequency the RAM is running at? The FX series Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) is rather weak. 1866 mhz RAM is about all it can handle reliably without a lot of monkeying around with timings and voltages, including the voltage of the IMC, so if he running RAM faster than 1866 and a huge amount of it at that (32gb is a lot) then he is asking for stability problems.

I would also suggest you try adding some extra voltage to the IMC, if nothing else, to support the large amount of RAM.

 

[Dpg3456]

How old is the install of the OS? Maybe Windows just needs a refresh or reinstall? Your system might be a little happier if you manually set voltages instead of leaving them on auto. I don't think that is the cause of the issue, just that you might see a general performance increase.

The os is maybe two years at the most. I think it would too but if it won't help I won't bother.

 

[Dpg3456]

What is the frequency the RAM is running at? The FX series Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) is rather weak. 1866 mhz RAM is about all it can handle reliably without a lot of monkeying around with timings and voltages, including the voltage of the IMC, so if he running RAM faster than 1866 and a huge amount of it at that (32gb is a lot) then he is asking for stability problems.

I would also suggest you try adding some extra voltage to the IMC, if nothing else, to support the large amount of RAM.

It's running at 1600. What would the imc be called in the bios and how much should I boost the voltage by?

 

[Suppressor1137]

try xmp for memory first; Then reseat ram and video card. Change video card slot after trying a reseat and problem persists.

Run memtestx86, then if that passes, and the problem persists, reformat.

If the problem persists, the issue either lies in the cpu or the motherboard. Definitely not a video card or psu issue.

 

[Dpg3456]

Okay I will mess with ram. First and go from there. Maybe pull some ram out and just run 16gbs. Instead of 32?

 

[knoober]

Okay I will mess with ram. First and go from there. Maybe pull some ram out and just run 16gbs. Instead of 32?

You could, but I dont see why. If your ram ends up being the culprit you will have to test the sticks one at a time to find the bad one. I guess it could tell you if the IMC is stressed... go for it?

 

[Dpg3456]

Okay fair enough. I'll try xmp first.

 

[trents]

IMC is probably CPU/NB in bios or just NB.

 

[Dpg3456]

Ah okay. ill take it one step at a time and report back. thanks for the replies everyone

 

[Dpg3456]

Just a quick update, late night i changed the ram to the xmp profile, turned off a bunch of virtualization in the bios, updated gpu driver, defragged, cleared tmp files, chkdsk, sfc /scannow, uninstalled some programs he doesnt use and stopped some programs from stratup boot. To me, the computer seems much more responsive and quick to boot. I also did not encounter any restart problems or anything like previously. I am surprised how well this helped.

 

[Suppressor1137]

Yeah, all of the above can really bog a system down. That's why a reformat works so well; It gets rid of all the junk files that build up over time, cleans the system completely of old driver installs, melts the tmp files, and removes all of the old things you may forget to uninstall over time because you have so much space on a HDD/SSD. I do the last one too; to the point that I make it a point to uninstall everything I don't use once a week.

Just have him let you know if the problem returns; while it could be okay for a day to a week, sometimes, things like that like to re-appear over time.

 

[Dpg3456]

Yeah, I really hate windows. There really needs to be another mainstream alternative to windows and iOS that doesn't need the coding experience Linux requires.

But yeah, I told him to tell me if the problem starts up again. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[knoober]

There really needs to be another mainstream alternative to windows and iOS that doesn't need the coding experience Linux requires.

Kinda off-topic for your thread and I dont mean to derail anything, but Ive got a thread in the AltOS subforum about distros that are easy on a beginner and should be easy for an older relative to switch over to. In some cases you can skin it to look like Windows and they might not even be able to tell (well thats an exaggeration but only a little).

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...indows-10-Alternatives-for-the-Linux-Beginner

 

[Dpg3456]

Kinda off-topic for your thread and I dont mean to derail anything, but Ive got a thread in the AltOS subforum about distros that are easy on a beginner and should be easy for an older relative to switch over to. In some cases you can skin it to look like Windows and they might not even be able to tell (well thats an exaggeration but only a little).

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...indows-10-Alternatives-for-the-Linux-Beginner

No worries. Idk about the mods, but I don't mind my post going off topic. Since when i do have news ill post it and everyone addressing my issues and stuff. So no harm here. Ill definitely check it out.

 

[Dpg3456]

Kinda off-topic for your thread and I dont mean to derail anything, but Ive got a thread in the AltOS subforum about distros that are easy on a beginner and should be easy for an older relative to switch over to. In some cases you can skin it to look like Windows and they might not even be able to tell (well thats an exaggeration but only a little).

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...indows-10-Alternatives-for-the-Linux-Beginner

Okay so i read it. I think that if i had to pick from your list, id go with Kubuntu. But i do have some questions. Can you install normal microsoft programs? Like i usually use HWinfo, MSi afterburner, steam, discord, uplay, origin, chrome and razer synapse. is there a way to use these programs on Kubuntu? Would i delete windows off of my ssd or just create another partition and install it on that?

 

[Suppressor1137]

yes and no. some work, while others don't. with steam, a lot more games are available cross platform, but there are exceptions.