random short term freezes and judders

[defladamouse]

My computer often will spend 30ish seconds frozen or running horrendously for no apparent reason. It doesn't seem to be related to the stress on the CPU since i'm currently running an OCCT Linpack stress test at 90% RAM use and i'm not having any more problems than normal, maybe less. I've run a memory check, both windows diagnostic and with "memtest" and they both say the RAM is fine. I've run Orthos stress tests for well over an hour and the current OCCT test has just reached an hour and nothing has been returned.

A good example of what happens: Battlefield BC2 runs perfectly on full spec. On Empire:TW it all runs smoothly even on massive battles with 10'000 troops all fighting at once but when i try and interact with notifications at the start of turn it sometimes freezes for a bit and then runs again, similar problems in Left 4 Dead 2 and Warhammer Dawn of War 1.

I'm running Windows 7 on a 2.66GHz i7, 6GB RAM, nVidia GTX260, MSI X58M

Any ideas for what i can do to try and solve it? Or at least diagnose the issue?

 

[defladamouse]

it seems to be getting worse, it completely freaked out twice in about 5 minutes, i started running a low stress test and while it's running slowly it seems to be more stable.

 

[Nibiru2012]

First you have done a "double post". Also posted in Hardware.

Some games have been causing issues with Windows 7, actually it's the reverse. Maybe there's someone here who can help.

 

[WindowsGeek]

I think this issue is caused by the amount of processes/programs you are running. I don't have this problem much anymore, but when I run too many things at once while playing games, the games will start running rather horribly. Also you might want to bring any recent overlcocks down a little bit, but I'd recommend checking your temps.

 

[defladamouse]

First you have done a "double post". Also posted in Hardware.

I did that because i thought it could be either a wondows 7 issue of a hardware issue and want to get opinions on both.

it seems unrelated to the background processes, sometimes it'll freeze up with nothing more than media player, internet and MSN running and others it'll work with fine with allsorts going on.

I'm currently not overclocked, i thought that might be the issue so returned everything to default settings and it's not overheating, it never gets above about 40C apart from when stress testing when it reaches 78, still below the max safe temp for an i7.

everything runs fine, it freezes and freaks out, and then runs fine again rather than just generally not performing well.

 

[Thrax]

Go into the BIOS and disable everything related to dynamic clocking: C-STATE, EIST, SpeedStep, C1E, and any similar option. See what happens.

 

[defladamouse]

done that, as far as i can tell at least, and it's had no effect. To be sure it wasn't an issue with multitasking i ran Warhammer Dawn of War with as little as possible in the background, even disabled anti-virus and network, and it made no difference.

My GPU has just started acting up, no idea if it's related, but even in POST screen i get red dots all over the place, it's not the monitor, any idea if the two could be related? i'd also assume it's not driver related since it occurs in the POST screen as much as in windows.

 

[Thrax]

Do you have an SSD?

//EDIT: Red dots indicate a dying GPU or underpowered/dying PSU. An underpowered PSU could create all the symptoms you're experiencing.

 

[defladamouse]

never heard of an SSD, unless i just don't recognise the acronym.

i've borrowed my flatmates PSU, i'll try that now and let you know what happens, fingers crossed

 

[defladamouse]

just plugged the new PSU in, the graphics are unaffected but so far the freezing seems to have stopped, i'll give it a bit of work to do and see if it keeps surviving but it managed more than 5 mins of game time perfectly smoothly so it's promising.

 

[Thrax]

If the graphics are unaffected, but everything else seems acceptable, it's probable that the dying PSU browned out your video card (under-supplied power) and damaged it. Once the demand from the video card was sufficiently reduced due to damage, the power supply had just enough capacity to keep the rest of the system going at a haggard pace.

Your GPU sounds rather one-foot-in-the-grave-ish, sir.

 

[defladamouse]

after slightly more testing it appears that the new PSU has had no effect. The word "bugger" springs to mind .

 

[defladamouse]

been talking to my flat mate, he pointed out that if the stress tests came back fine then it's unlikely to be the CPU or the RAM. How likely is it to be the motherboard and idea how i can diagnose it if it is?

 

[WindowsGeek]

I don't think it would be your board, if the CPU and RAM test out ok. I would run some CUDA tests or just a total GPU diagnostic on that graphics card, I think that's your problem. Google "CUDA test" or "GPU diagnostic," there are a ton of great programs to use out there.

 

[Nibiru2012]

It could be your motherboard, sometimes the capacitors will age and start to leak their electrolytic fluid.

Examine your motherboard very carefully and look for capacitors that have bulging endcaps, or cracked endcaps. If your motherboard is over 5 years old and you left your computer on 24/7, that is a distinct possibility.

Example:

From Wikipedia:
The capacitor plague (also known as bad capacitors) involved the common premature failure of certain brands of electrolytic capacitors used in various electronics equipment, and particularly in motherboards, video cards, compact fluorescent lamp ballasts, LCD monitors, and power supplies of personal computers. The first flawed capacitors were seen in 1999, but most of the affected capacitors were made in the early to mid 2000s, and while news of their failures (usually after a few years of use) has forced most manufacturers to fix the defects, some bad capacitors were still being sold or integrated into designs as of early 2007

It very well could be your graphics card as Thrax mentioned. A few years ago I had an nVidia card fry out because the thermal compound between the GPU and the heatsink had dried out, cracked and separated. Fried the GPU completely.

Now I always double-check the thermal compound on a new video card as soon as I receive it, remove it (cause it's usually crappy anyway), put on some AS5 and it's good to go.

 

[defladamouse]

ran a CUDA test and it came back all clear. The system is only about 6 months old and the MOBO is in perfect condition.

it's not just freezing, programs stop responding for short bursts at the same time, dunno if that helps?

I've just put in a new motherboard as i wanted a new one and a possible diagnoses was a good excuse turns out it didn't work

The little red dots stopped a couple of days after the PSU was replaced so i'm leaning away from it being a GPU deffect.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Have you checked your Power Settings in the BIOS?

Is your RAM set at the proper clock and CAS settings in the BIOS?

Have you set your Power Option in Windows 7 to "High Performance"?

 

[defladamouse]

Power option is set to high perfomance, BIOS settings are default, don't know what CAS settings are

 

[defladamouse]

out of curiosity i'm going to try a clean install of Vista to see if that helps, i've so far only tested it on 7.

 

[Nibiru2012]

First, you're going to need to tweak your BIOS settings:

These images are directly from the Gigabyte mobo manual for the board you're using.

Set your HPET setting to 64 bit in the BIOS.

If your hard drives are not set for a RAID configuration, then set them to AHCI mode instead of IDE. this will enable the drives to operate at their peak efficiency.

Make sure the RAM settings in the BIOS match the settings your RAM sticks are configured for, such as CAS, RAS, clock speed, etc.

Consult your RAM maker for the correct settings and your motherboard manual on how to set them correctly.

I hope this helps. After setting AHCI mode, Windows 7 may ask you to reboot again after first boot from the change. Also, get the latest "Rapid Storage Technology" driver from Intel for the AHCI to work at its fullest.

Good Luck!