Custom Built Computer Stalling

smithy4mcavan

Hi all,

I have this system approximately 3 months but recently it just starts stalling and I have to restart the computer. I don't know a huge amount about why it would do this but below are the system specs.

Intel Quadcore Q9550 2.83GHz Processor
XFX 750iSLi Motherboard (still under gurantee)
5 Gig DDR2 800MHZ RAM
Seagate 750 Gig SATA Hatd Drive
Nvidia Geforce GTX 280 (1 Gig DDR3) Grafix Card
Antec 900 Ultimate Gamers Case
22X DVD Rewriter
Windows 7 Home Premium (Genuine)
Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
650W PSU

Would it be that the psu is not strong enough or perhaps not enough cooling ?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Cherrytaz

Deano12345

smithy4mcavan wrote: »

Hi all,

I have this system approximately 3 months but recently it just starts stalling and I have to restart the computer. I don't know a huge amount about why it would do this but below are the system specs.

Intel Quadcore Q9550 2.83GHz Processor
XFX 750iSLi Motherboard (still under gurantee)
5 Gig DDR2 800MHZ RAM
Seagate 750 Gig SATA Hatd Drive
Nvidia Geforce GTX 280 (1 Gig DDR3) Grafix Card
Antec 900 Ultimate Gamers Case
22X DVD Rewriter
Windows 7 Home Premium (Genuine)
Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
650W PSU

Would it be that the psu is not strong enough or perhaps not enough cooling ?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Cherrytaz

What 650W PSU is that ?

CrinkElite

There are a number of programs that can give you a fairly acurate reading of your temperatures.
I use Speedfan as it gives you a nice graph showing your tmps over a period of time (handy for monitoring during full screen applications).

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

It's supposed to do HDD monitoring as well but this has never worked for me.

As Deano has pointed out It is important to know the brand of your PSU as there are huge differences between 650w powersupplies depending on the manufacturer.

Try making sure that all of your IDE/SATA devices are connected properly as a malfunctioning or loosely connected DVD/HDD can cause freezing and crashing.

Auvers

smithy4mcavan wrote: »

Hi all,

I have this system approximately 3 months but recently it just starts stalling and I have to restart the computer. I don't know a huge amount about why it would do this but below are the system specs.

when you say stalling does that mean freezing up with no response from keyboard mouse?

what is you CPU temp?

smithy4mcavan

Yes it freezes up with no response from keyboard/mouse/anything.

The psu is a High Power Plus 650W

Model: Hp-650-G14C

Thanks

Cherrytaz

Auvers

does it start freezing while under load or at random intervals?

oh any chance of some temp readings?

youcancallmeal

That looks like a fairly dodgey PSU but if your PC has been running fine for the last 3 months then it may not be the problem.

How often does your PC freeze and are you doing anything in particular when it happens? Have you looked in event viewer to see if it throws up any critical errors around the time it freezes? Also why have you got 5GB of RAM, it appears to be an odd number that wouldnt take advantage of dual channel?

marco_polo

Fair chance it could be a software/driver issues either. I had a very similar problem with my new build for a few weeks with random freezing on the desktop while the PC was completely idle, but a combination of Service packs (I had Vista at the time), driver updates and a bios update finally resolved the problem. Not sure exactly which ultimately solved the problem as the updates were all done within a short space of time, but worth making everything is up to date.

In your specific case though I wonder if you installed any new drivers / hardware just before the problem started which may have destabilised your system?

Deano12345

youcancallme>al wrote: »

That looks like a fairly dodgey PSU but if your PC has been running fine for the last 3 months then it may not be the problem.

How often does your PC freeze and are you doing anything in particular when it happens? Have you looked in event viewer to see if it throws up any critical errors around the time it freezes? Also why have you got 5GB of RAM, it appears to be an odd number that wouldnt take advantage of dual channel?

Maybe not as odd as you think,2x512mb sticks and 2x2GB sticks probably.

Download HDTune and run a health test.

Memtest 86+ is a great tool for checking your ram

smithy4mcavan

Yes the pc was built with 5gig ram for some reason. I will take one out and use it a 4gig for a while until I buy another 2gig.

I use the computer for some fairly intensive stuff with 3d's max,photoshop, flight simulator but I still think the computer is up to it.

I will run the speedfan and update drivers etc and see if anything changes.


Its actually one 2gb and three 1gb

Thanks for the help and i'll keep the thread updated

Cherrytaz

Solitaire

I'm guessing High Power Plus is a European distributer of Sirtec's retail line, High Power. If you ignore the typos on the 650W unit's table the product specs and model numbers are an exact match.

Deano12345

smithy4mcavan wrote: »

Yes the pc was built with 5gig ram for some reason. I will take one out and use it a 4gig for a while until I buy another 2gig.

I use the computer for some fairly intensive stuff with 3d's max,photoshop, flight simulator but I still think the computer is up to it.

I will run the speedfan and update drivers etc and see if anything changes.


Its actually one 2gb and three 1gb

Thanks for the help and i'll keep the thread updated

Cherrytaz

I'm just thinking now, the NB on the 750i's run very hot, and populating all the memory channels along with the high load may be causing some problems for the NB

smithy4mcavan

Ok i've taken out one of the 1gig ram so its now has 4gb in total.


No stalls as of yet.

Here is also a print screen from speedfan:

Deano12345

Stock cooler on the CPU ?

smithy4mcavan

It seems to be just a standard intel cooler on it. Since removing the ram everything seems ok, heres hoping.!

PogMoThoin

Ram usually works best in dual channel in matching identical pairs and is sold this way

CrinkElite

Your temps are fine. Hopefully It's the ram that's causing the problem.
Have you tried re-arranging their slot order.(keeping matched pairs together of course).

You could also try lowering their frequency in the bios to see if that helps.

By the by memtest is available here http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

PogMoThoin

1st and 3rd slots are for the first pair of ram, 2nd and 4th for the second pair, I hope You hadn't the matching sticks right beside each other?

smithy4mcavan

I didnt change anything from the way I received the computer, I just removed the 1gb one.

The arrangement is now:

2GB card (closest to processor)
1GB card
1GB card

PogMoThoin

It needs to be 1GB, 2GB, 1GB, Blank or 2GB, 1GB, Blank, 1GB. Its dual channel, You've got 1Gb paired with 2Gb either side of the channel. Slots 1 and 3 should have the same size sticks

smithy4mcavan

Ok thanks

Any suggestions for a decently priced 2gb stick of memory for this computer?

youcancallmeal

smithy4mcavan wrote: »

Ok thanks

Any suggestions for a decently priced 2gb stick of memory for this computer?

If you want to take advantage of dual channel you need two sticks of the same capacity and speed (If at different speeds they will only run as fast as the slowest stick). In order for us to suggest 2gb stick we'd need the full spec of the 2gb stick you already have?

smithy4mcavan

Here is a printscreen of my current ram

youcancallmeal

You should really read your motherboard manual to help you understand about dual channel RAM. In the screenshot it appears that Slot 2 and 3 are matched sticks but I'm pretty certain you should have them in Slot 1 and 3 to take advantage of dual channel. To be honest your probably better off not buying another 2gb stick of RAM as I don't think you would see much difference