New gaming computer randomly freezes during play

[Mynta]

Hey guys I have been having this wierd issue ever since i built my new rig, my computer will freeze ONLY during games, and it seems like it happens randomly or during very intense moments.

This is my setup (let me know if I left something out)

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8174MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570
Fan: Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler
Power Supply: Corsair TX950 950W 80 Plus
Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR3


I am not much of a computer whiz and I can't seem to find anywhere how I could try and fix this, anyone have any ideas? thank you very much

[Kevin38924]

Have you checked the manufacturer's website for the latest drivers on your graphics card? An update may help fix it.

[Mynta]

Have you checked the manufacturer's website for the latest drivers on your graphics card? An update may help fix it.

Just updated, hopefully that fixes the problem, if it doesn't, can you think of anything else?

[darthslayer]

Question: does the freeze persist indefinitely until you reboot, or does it eventually resume normally?

If its the former, I had a recent problem where my gaming rig would intermittently freeze and resume randomly. It would sometimes freeze for 5 seconds, sometimes for 30. I looked into cooling, drivers, running diagnostic tests and eventually traced the problem to the hard drive. The data sectors on the hard drive were fine, it was just that reading/writing took an exceptionally long time and was causing my freezes.

Just something to think about.

[Kevin38924]

If that doesn't happen to fix it, my next guess would be that your gpu could possibly be overheating somewhat, and I would suggest looking at your temperatures. This isn't likely to be the case, but it's always a possibility, some GPUs have a fan control that may need adjustments at first, if you have not done this previously.

[Mynta]

Question: does the freeze persist indefinitely until you reboot, or does it eventually resume normally?

If its the former, I had a recent problem where my gaming rig would intermittently freeze and resume randomly. It would sometimes freeze for 5 seconds, sometimes for 30. I looked into cooling, drivers, running diagnostic tests and eventually traced the problem to the hard drive. The data sectors on the hard drive were fine, it was just that reading/writing took an exceptionally long time and was causing my freezes.

Just something to think about.

Just updated my drivers and I had a crash anyways

The freeze is permanent until I hold the power button to force shut down.

It usually happens right after I give a command, like for example clicking to enter a tank in battlefield 3, or opening my inventory in SWTOR, etc.

---------- Post added 2011-12-16 at 05:20 AM ----------

If that doesn't happen to fix it, my next guess would be that your gpu could possibly be overheating somewhat, and I would suggest looking at your temperatures. This isn't likely to be the case, but it's always a possibility, some GPUs have a fan control that may need adjustments at first, if you have not done this previously.

My GPU temperature is currently at 32* C, is that high?

[Kevin38924]

32 degrees is plenty cool..... So temperature is out of the question in terms of being a problem... When was the last time you defragmented your harddrive and scanned for viruses? Another thing, Could you go to Windows Event Viewer and see if it shows any errors that occur shortly before the freeze occurs? Start>Control Panel>System and Security>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.

[Mynta]

32 degrees is plenty cool..... So temperature is out of the question in terms of being a problem... When was the last time you defragmented your harddrive and scanned for viruses? Another thing, Could you go to Windows Event Viewer and see if it shows any errors that occur shortly before the crash occurs? Start>Control Panel>System and Security>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.

I have never defragged my harddrive, i dont know how, and event viewer said there was a critical error which it called "Event 41 Kernel Power"

[silentstep66]

Are you using Microsoft security essentials?

Go to start menu and type in "Event log".. since the crash is happening while windows is up you should have a record of it.. find the error code and post it here!

[Kevin38924]

For defragging: Start>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter.

Can you give me more information on the event? There should be a details tab with Bugcheck information, that may be helpful to finding the problem.

[Mynta]

Are you using Microsoft security essentials?

Go to start menu and type in "Event log".. since the crash is happening while windows is up you should have a record of it.. find the error code and post it here!

Where in the event log can I find the error code?

I started defragmenting my hard drive, should be done soon.

[Kevin38924]

Where in the event log can I find the error code?

Click on your error, then underneath it, there should be a window with a general tab, and a details tab, click on details tab and then post what you see in that tab.

[Eec003]

Dont use those new beta drivers btw. They're causing voltage spikes causing bsod's.

[Mynta]

Like I said before I don't know how to really get the right info from the event log, but one of the errors' details was

"The previous system shutdown at 10:18:47 PM on ‎12/‎15/‎2011 was unexpected."

And its ID was 6008.

the error directly BEFORE my crash was:

"The shadow copies of volume C: were aborted because the shadow copy storage could not grow due to a user imposed limit."

the source: volsnap
Event ID 36

[Zulandia]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that particular error due to windows running out of space for system restores/saves? If so just either go give it some more space or delete old backups...though I don't think that can cause a crash.

[Mynta]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that particular error due to windows running out of space for system restores/saves? If so just either go give it some more space or delete old backups...though I don't think that can cause a crash.

How does one do such a thing? :O:O:O:O:O:O:O

[Kevin38924]

For that Error, I would suggest running Disk Cleanup to clean up unnecessary restore points, which would free up some space in the allocated drive

---------- Post added 2011-12-16 at 12:48 AM ----------

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that particular error due to windows running out of space for system restores/saves? If so just either go give it some more space or delete old backups...though I don't think that can cause a crash.

Yes, You are exactly correct and you do so by running disk cleanup. Search for it in the start menu and run it.

[denominator]

Before we all start yelling out "solutions" how about we actual get some system information.

To start: 32 degrees seems strangely cool for a 570 under load. That would be expected as idle: any change of a false reading?
Another question: everyone shouted out HDD issues but never inquired into your drive. What is it? Is it full/near capacity? How old is it? Chance of faults?

You said this only happens when doing very intense "stuff". This would likely point to a couple of things: heat, power, or fault.
Assuming your gpu is actually 32, what is the cpu sitting at during a crash?
Your power supply is ample big enough for your setup, is it supplying even power or may it be failing?

Have you done extensive stress testing on your equipment? Is everything functioning as it should?

[Mynta]

Before we all start yelling out "solutions" how about we actual get some system information.

To start: 32 degrees seems strangely cool for a 570 under load. That would be expected as idle: any change of a false reading?
Another question: everyone shouted out HDD issues but never inquired into your drive. What is it? Is it full/near capacity? How old is it? Chance of faults?

You said this only happens when doing very intense "stuff". This would likely point to a couple of things: heat, power, or fault.
Assuming your gpu is actually 32, what is the cpu sitting at during a crash?
Your power supply is ample big enough for your setup, is it supplying even power or may it be failing?

Have you done extensive stress testing on your equipment? Is everything functioning as it should?

I don't know how to check CPU, if you let me know how I can check for you.

As for the hard drive it is a western digital 1 terrabyte HD, with around 800gb of space left.

I haven't done stress testing as I am a novice :/

I don't think the power supplying is failing because the computer doesn't shut down, the screen just freezes and I can't move my mouse.



Also for the posters above who mentioned using disk cleanup, I just did, but that doesn't seem like a permanent solution, as it only cleared up 1.38 gb of space, is there a way to "set a higher limit" (it mentioned that it was due to user-set limits) so this doesn't happen later?

[souka]

8GB RAM with CPU 3.5GHz, I'm at a loss why your computer could ever freeze...