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Final Edit: Problem solved: it turns out asymmetrical RAM is, in fact, the devil. I don't know if that was what was causing the initial SATA problem or not (too much of a pain in the rear end to switch it back to the old port), but it was definitely causing the later video card problem. Thanks, all! Problem description: I should clarify that by "freezes," when I'm in Windows, it just locks into loading for 1-3 minutes. I can move the cursor around, there are sometimes one or two windows I can move around, too, but the rest of the windows are locked, show as "not responding" in task manager (if task manager is working, which it isn't always), and I can't start new programs (if I do, sometimes they do nothing, sometimes they will all load at once when it's done freezing). EDIT: Over the course of tonight, even, it's gotten significantly worse; it's loaded into Windows, and hasn't done anything for about 20 minutes, now. Before cleaning it out, I was getting some CPU temperature alerts (72-74 degrees Celsius), but those stopped after I cleaned it out. UPDATE: This issue is fixed; turned out to be a bad SATA port on the mobo. Now, my video card isn't working. The computer won't detect it at all, even though it powers up and the fans come on. Attempted fixes: *Ran Windows/Flash/Java updates *Cleaned out my computer; it had a bunch of dust, that seemed to help, briefly, but maybe that was just the placebo effect. *Re-seated video and network card *Ran scans with Microsoft Security Essentials and MBAM; MBAM caught some tracking cookies, but that's it. *Ran CCleaner's registry cleaner *Tried to run Event Viewer multiple times, it crashed every time, even in Safe Mode *Installed Process Explorer; processor use was spiking at ~30-35%, memory didn't seem to crack 4GB *Uninstalled a bunch of software (FoxIt Cloud/Reader, several games, a couple of random utilities, a few Chrome extensions) *Stopped a bunch of services (Windows indexing service, print spooler, NVIDIA streaming service) *Removed a bunch of stuff from startup/boot in MSConfig (Steam, Chrome, Samsung Magician) *Ran MemTest (no issues) *Repeatedly booted into Safe mode until I finally got Event Viewer working; figured out the problem was a bad SATA port; swapped ports, computer loads now, but won't detect the video card. *Tried manually running drivers *Updated BIOS to most recent version I could find (2012) Recent changes: Added a bunch of desktop backgrounds to Windows a few weeks ago (~15 or so), added a new 970 GTX video card in late January; this started maybe late June. Updated video card drivers and ran Windows Update when I first started having this problem. Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit System specs: Installed 1/2015: MSI GTX 970 Installed 8/2013: 12 GB GSkill DDR3 SDRAM Installed 6/2013: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD (OS/Program Installation drive) Installed 8/2011: Ridiculous heat sink Intel i7 3.4 ghz. quad-core Sandy Bridge processor Samsung 1TB HDD (used for storage) ASUS ATX Intel Motherboard Corsair 750W power supply Cooler Master Case Location: United States I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes At this point, I'm thinking SSD failure, though I'm not sure what the best way to go about diagnosing that would be; is there an SSD testing utility I can run by booting to a USB drive or something? And I've been running Samsung Magician, and it didn't give me any warning messages or anything. Goddamn, this is frustrating. UPDATE, 3:40AM local time: Okay, finally got this motherfucker to boot into safe mode, and load Event Viewer, after ~ten tries (which is a lot when it takes about 5-10 minutes to load up, and another 3-4 to try to load Event Viewer). Was throwing up a "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0" (Atapi Event 11) error. A lot. Like, it looked like several dozen times tonight. So, I opened that bad boy up, and after pulling the video card (the 970 juuuuuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssssst barely fits in my case), I moved the SSD to a different SATA port on the mobo. And it seems to be booting right up... at least, from the sounds of it. Because now I can't get video. Not out of the DVI outputs, not out of the HDMI output, and not even out of the DVI output on the mobo.  UPDATE, 4:15AM local time: Onboard video working again. The video card's fans are spun up, and the lights are on, but my computer refuses to acknowledge that it exists. I think I'm going to call it for tonight, come at it fresh (and soberer) in the morning/afternoon. Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 09:10
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Run a Ubuntu Live USB, and check stability via that. Ubuntu also has a Disks utility (which you can search for) which gives the SMART data for the hard drives.
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Jul 19, 2015 16:27
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I would try updating to the latest motherboard BIOS. Also, can you clarify how you have the RAM installed? You mentioned 12GB but linked to an 8GB set.
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Jul 19, 2015 18:51
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Fruit Smoothies posted:Run a Ubuntu Live USB, and check stability via that. Ubuntu also has a Disks utility (which you can search for) which gives the SMART data for the hard drives. Alereon posted:I would try updating to the latest motherboard BIOS. Also, can you clarify how you have the RAM installed? You mentioned 12GB but linked to an 8GB set. I bought two sets of those sticks because they were on super-sale; when I went to install them, I discovered that due to my ridiculous CPU fan, I can't actually use my fourth RAM slot. I still have the fourth stick bouncing around. I'm inclined to say the mobo is on its way out, but I'm about to try swapping in a video card from a spare computer we have lying around the house, just to verify it's not the card.
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Jul 19, 2015 20:45
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Programs that read SMART data work the same on SSDs as HDDs, though the logs are interpreted differently. My main suggestion right now is to remove the third stick of RAM and try with a matched pair of modules. RAM is intended to be installed in pairs, and while Intel controllers can tolerate unbalanced configurations in many cases, it isn't recommended.
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Jul 19, 2015 21:55
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Alereon posted:Programs that read SMART data work the same on SSDs as HDDs, though the logs are interpreted differently. My main suggestion right now is to remove the third stick of RAM and try with a matched pair of modules. RAM is intended to be installed in pairs, and while Intel controllers can tolerate unbalanced configurations in many cases, it isn't recommended. Alternate video card does not work in my computer. Additionally, the video output on the mobo has stopped working, too.
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Jul 19, 2015 22:06
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Alereon posted:Programs that read SMART data work the same on SSDs as HDDs, though the logs are interpreted differently. My main suggestion right now is to remove the third stick of RAM and try with a matched pair of modules. RAM is intended to be installed in pairs, and while Intel controllers can tolerate unbalanced configurations in many cases, it isn't recommended. Gloating time. Haven't swapped the 970 back in yet, but pulling the third RAM stick totally made the replacement GPU start working. Nobody likes a know-it-all, Alereon (thank you for the help! That's the last time I listen to anyone who says asymmetrical RAM setups are okay).
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Jul 19, 2015 22:33
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