Sisters new pc, freezes when on desktop randomly

[scrobert]

Hello well we have spent ages trying to solve this problem. bought another hardrive, tried a different dvd drive, ram, bought a nice big graphics card, and even tried installing my 32bit version of vista instead of her 64 bit.


What happens is we turn the pc on, sometimes if you click control panel it freezes, or if your on a game or maybe that index rating.

It was working before but it would crash when she was playing games, it would make a loud stuttering noise then restart, or was it freeze. well anyway that nolonger happens as it freezes within minutes of logging on!

I checked the ram voltage and tried changing it with no results.

Updated the bios which also never helped and we tried resetting the CMOS but again nothing.

I tried the PSU in my own pc and i tried doing the index rating which caused my pc to freeze which rarely ever happens.

So does this backup my conclusion that the PSU is faulty? Its a 700w ez-cool silent.

Would appreciate all the help i can get as everyone looks to me for computer problems and this has been the most annoying thing ive had to deal with.

Specs of the pc are: 6 gb ddr3, 1gb ati crossfire, core 2 duo, blu-ray drive, 700w psu. not completely sure as its not my pc.

Thanks

Rob

 

[default_user]

Overheating CPU? Is the fan working? Is the cooler clogged with dust?

Does the BIOS have temperature monitoring and alarm settings? If so, boot into the BIOS and set an alarm temperature. Set it low to start with and keep increasing it until you get the freeze again. This will give you an idea of how hot your CPU is running. Do a google search for the temperature tolerances of the CPU. If it's running close to or over the maximum then that's probably the problem.

I had this issue with one of my PCs a little while ago. Cleaning the dust out from between the cooler fins cured it.

 

[chaos]

Have you tried your PSU in your sister's PC?

You can also get various programs which will monitor temperatures; depends on what mobo you have.

 

[scrobert]

Have you tried your PSU in your sister's PC?

You can also get various programs which will monitor temperatures; depends on what mobo you have.

Thanks for the replies

Well I would try my psu but its only a 450w which is probly underpowered for even my own pc.

Pc is all new build, just had a look and the heatsink looks pretty clear.

If the proccessor was overheating would the pc not just turn off as they have a built in saftey feature, well p4's did anyway.

When the pc freezes its like the mouse stops moving and everything is still chugging along. Its like when you accidently knock the powercable to a HDD and it freezes the pc. so like a sudden power loss it seems.

I will have a look on the bios an leave the pc running but i cant leave it on the desktop or do anything as the pc freezes to quickly, so you can imagine how frustrating it is.

Its like if there is a big load on the pc it'l freeze as we sometimes had trouble with it freezing in the vista setup.

 

[Hellcat]

Have you tried your PSU in your sister's PC?

You can also get various programs which will monitor temperatures; depends on what mobo you have.

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

If you have issues first thing is to strip it back to the minimum hardware. Unplug any spare HDDs, unplug all the optical drives.

Keep adding hardware back until you get the issue. When you do get it, unplug the last item and try plugging in others. If the issue still occours then think PSU/heat. If not then you have faulty hardware.

 

[panda1408]

I would think that it is the PSU. The fact that your PC froze when you were using it points straight to it. Also I reckon that that PSU will struggle to power the system properly as it is only a cheap one and it will probably only supply alot less that 700w.

 

[Hellcat]

You don't need a huge amount of power.

I have a quad core Phenom 64bit with a 4870 x2, three hard drives and an optical. Mine is quite happy with a cheap 600W psu. I've seen lesser systems than mine be told they need a minimum of 800W

 

[Focus Owner]

i have a 500 W with core 2 duo 3ghz
runs fine now i hope

 

[scrobert]

Okay Well im back, my sister still hasnt sorted her psu out. and now i have exactly the same symptons!

Freezing on the desktop.

I need to find out what the hell is causing it as we only have 1 pc left.

So im going to see if i can do some virus scanning on before loading windows.

Im really annoyed ive lost all my files again.

 

[scrobert]

Ok my pc appears to be running fine now.

I noticed the graphics card was hanging out abit and wouldnt actualy sit secure.

I completely took everything out the case eventually. had a fight with some stand-offs spinning round. So i replaced the lot to find that the orignals are half the size as the new ones.

Took somones advice in an above post to clean it, so i soaked it in the bath lol ok I used a bristle brush thingy i have.

It hasnt frozen yet so i hope its problem solved, will have to have a go at strippin everything out of my sisters pc an see if that helps.