computer freezes while NOT gaming??? requesting the help of computer genuises

my computer randomly freezes while browsing the web, playing music and watching movies, but doesnt freeze when playing games such as WoW, DoTa 2, BF3 or GTA4.
i also cannot access BIOS(asus is working on this with me.. it's been like this since day 1)

specs:
p8z68v LX
i5 3570k OCed to 3.9ghz
128gb mushkin ssd
500gb WD hdd
ati raedon 6970hd
8gb ripsaw ddr3 ram
corsair 750w PSU
sony cd/dvd drive
asus cd/dvd burner

all computer temps are low. cpu is 31c idle, 35c when gaming. mobo is 25c when idle, around 29c when gaming
only way to get back is to hard restart the computer.

windows memory test does a standard test fine, but locks up during an extended test at 24%.
since i cannot access BIOS, i cant do any other memory test


lately(past 3 days) it has been happening withing 10 minutes of me turning on the computer.. and it happens repeatedly. i am suspecting the Mobo, but i am not sure. it could also be the RAM. i have ran the computer with each memory stick individually, and im getting the same results with each stick(computer freezes when browsing the web, but doesnt freeze when playing games)

it happened before i OCed to 3.9ghz too.

any ideas? it's really irritating not being able to simply browse forums.

Should've bought a Mac.


/thread.

Looked through your event log to see if any errors are being thrown?

Computer locking during the extended test is a sign that the memory is bad.

If you want to try another memory test, you can download a live boot Linux cd and run the test from there.

is this only during browsing? or have you experienced this freezing problem in other applications?

If you don't experience this freezing during game play it's not your video card.

I have experienced this too at times. When I open a browser, click on a link and it freezes for 2-4 seconds and then it unfreezes. is that right? is there any other freezing occurrences you seen?

When the browser freezes like that it can be due to the browsing trying to retrieve your cache files to load the webpage up more quickily. To test this, you can turn off caching all together. Are You using IE , Chrome or Firefox? I turned my caching off and it stopped freezing to narrow down it was just my browsing that was effected by the freezing. I also see your using a SSD. Need to make sure your indexing turned off when you go into the C:\ properties. SSD that have indexing turned on will reduce the performance and life of your SSD.

Here is a link you can read to make sure your SSD is fully Optimization:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/36440-Windows-7-8-SSD-Optimization

He can't get through a memory test on his system, which makes me think it's a hardware problem. Unfortunately he can't get into the BIOS, otherwise he might be able to override the default RAM timing that is selected based on information pulled from the memory modules.

I second the idea of running another memory test from a bootable CD or USB thumb drive. You can get MemTest86 ISOs here.

Other things I would do: get the latest BIOS. Version 4105 was released on 07/23/2013, and one of the fixes is for "System stability". You should be able to update the BIOS even if you can't get into it.

You could also try using ASUS' overclocking utility to select less ambitious memory timing to see if that helps with system stability.

For some reason, I can't boot through usb. I'll pick up a couple disc's and burn the iso on there.

It has happened with no apps running. Wake up. Turn on comp. Leave room. Come back. It's frozen.

It has happened once while I was gaming. It happens less often when gaming though

Sent via a microwave.

Had the same issue with a computer at work...changed out the motherboard and hard drive ...found out it was the video card.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

09vdubgti said:

Should've bought a Mac.


/thread.

Click to expand...

mac's dont have blue lights shooting out of them

joffems said:

Computer locking during the extended test is a sign that the memory is bad.

If you want to try another memory test, you can download a live boot Linux cd and run the test from there.

Click to expand...

but how can i figure out which one is bad?

Elchinophil said:

is this only during browsing? or have you experienced this freezing problem in other applications?

If you don't experience this freezing during game play it's not your video card.

I have experienced this too at times. When I open a browser, click on a link and it freezes for 2-4 seconds and then it unfreezes. is that right? is there any other freezing occurrences you seen?

Click to expand...

ive had GTA4 freeze once on me. other than that, my games havent frozen. a little random lagg here and there, yes, but nothing major

Elchinophil said:

When the browser freezes like that it can be due to the browsing trying to retrieve your cache files to load the webpage up more quickily. To test this, you can turn off caching all together. Are You using IE , Chrome or Firefox? I turned my caching off and it stopped freezing to narrow down it was just my browsing that was effected by the freezing. I also see your using a SSD. Need to make sure your indexing turned off when you go into the C:\ properties. SSD that have indexing turned on will reduce the performance and life of your SSD.

Here is a link you can read to make sure your SSD is fully Optimization:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/36440-Windows-7-8-SSD-Optimization

Click to expand...

full optimized the ssd :thumbsup:
it has happened without me touching the computer
i turned it on. went ate breakfast. came back, and it was frozen.

PRND[S] said:

He can't get through a memory test on his system, which makes me think it's a hardware problem. Unfortunately he can't get into the BIOS, otherwise he might be able to override the default RAM timing that is selected based on information pulled from the memory modules.

I second the idea of running another memory test from a bootable CD or USB thumb drive. You can get MemTest86 ISOs here.

Other things I would do: get the latest BIOS. Version 4105 was released on 07/23/2013, and one of the fixes is for "System stability". You should be able to update the BIOS even if you can't get into it.

You could also try using ASUS' overclocking utility to select less ambitious memory timing to see if that helps with system stability.

Click to expand...

i have the latest bios. i can manage some of the CPU stuff through Asus Suite, which is how i overclocked it in the first place.it lets me play around with RAM voltages, but that's all i can see.
stupid question, but how am i supposed to boot from a CD without being able to access BIOS?

Nena2357 said:

Had the same issue with a computer at work...changed out the motherboard and hard drive ...found out it was the video card.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

my gfx card takes a beating when i run BF3 or something like skyrim, and the computer doesnt freeze. i cant see how that's the issue. that's the main reason asus cant figure it out either

mycrors7 said:

stupid question, but how am i supposed to boot from a CD without being able to access BIOS?

Click to expand...

Even if you can't permanently change the boot order in the BIOS, you should be able to do a one-time boot device override -- that's typically done by pressing F12 during the POST (although on my Samsung Ultrabook it's F10).

I thought about why the problem happens when the system is largely idle but not when playing games. It could be related to power management. You could try a different power profile or modify the one you're using. To try that theory, I would start by switching to the "High Performance" profile and disable all remaining power conservation mechanisms -- make sure the CPU runs at 100% minimum clock frequency, don't let the drives sleep (important in case your system tries to power off the SSD during garbage collection!), and turn off selective USB shutdown. If that solves the problem, try re-enabling things one-by-one to identify the culprit.

Also make sure Windows is up-to-date, as well as your chipset drivers.

too much porn

PRND[S] said:

Even if you can't permanently change the boot order in the BIOS, you should be able to do a one-time boot device override -- that's typically done by pressing F12 during the POST (although on my Samsung Ultrabook it's F10).

I thought about why the problem happens when the system is largely idle but not when playing games. It could be related to power management. You could try a different power profile or modify the one you're using. To try that theory, I would start by switching to the "High Performance" profile and disable all remaining power conservation mechanisms -- make sure the CPU runs at 100% minimum clock frequency, don't let the drives sleep (important in case your system tries to power off the SSD during garbage collection!), and turn off selective USB shutdown. If that solves the problem, try re-enabling things one-by-one to identify the culprit.

Also make sure Windows is up-to-date, as well as your chipset drivers.

Click to expand...

I got it. I can access bios... I just cant see bios. Lol. I blindly had to choose a bootable device. The order went ssd, hdd, disc drive 1, disc drive 2, usb.
Had to restart the computer a coupe times, but i finally got it. Doing a memtest right now.
It's all good so far. I'm 23% in. Been 10 mins

Mister_A said:

too much porn

Click to expand...

SOPA and PIPA made me do it

Sent via a microwave.

memtest86 ran. everything passed. im stumped.

If windows and all your drivers are up to date, and you think it may be hardware related rather than software, try disconnecting everything and running on bare minimum (HDD, motherboard on-board video, single stick of RAM). Then add each component back in one at a time until you can reproduce the issue and identify the bad part.

If you think it may be a bad stick of RAM, try pulling all of them out except one and run the computer with one stick at a time to see if it fails with any single one of them.