Video freezing and game freezing - Possible cause?

[Leprekaun]

Hi all. My problems with my PC seem to never end! . Anyway, I'm trying to solve any issues with my system as best as I can. My motherboard had a problem with it which I got Gigabyte to fix and while my system has been stable, I still get videos freezing, the sound continues on as if nothing happened and then eventually the video continues playing again. Also, when running the FarCry 2 Ranch benchmark, sometimes the benchmark would completely freeze for a moment and then continue on again. I'm running RAM at manufacturer spec, GPU is at stock speeds and although I've OCed my CPU to 4.02Ghz, I've ran a 9 hour Prime95 stress test where all cores were running stable so I don't really know what is the solution. I was thinking it could be GPU driver related but I remember getting the same issues with my AMD/ATI GPU so it would lead me to believe there is something else not quite right. I've also ran SeaTools to diagnose if there are any HDD issues, the tests passed without issue and also checked my drives' health with Acronis Drive Monitor and they're all reported 100% health so I've checked everything that can be checked so I don't know what else to do :S. I am slightly tempted to invest a new motherboard but if it is something that I can fix myself, I would much prefer to do that. So any ideas?

[clone]

I still get videos freezing, the sound continues on as if nothing happened and then eventually the video continues playing again. Also, when running the FarCry 2 Ranch benchmark, sometimes the benchmark would completely freeze for a moment and then continue on again.

2 different issues, 2 different problems... possible cause may be the same but not exclusive.

in this case heat would be my first guess, sound driver my second..... have you replicated these issues while running the CPU at stock speeds and have these issues been replicated after you pulled the soundcard?

don't ask questions, do not tell me you've run apps that prove what can't be blamed, run the cpu at stock speed and see if the issues persist, run the system using integrated audio and see if the issues persist.

[Hammer_Time]

You did run Driver Sweeper to clean out your old ATi 6950 drivers before you installed your new GTX 660 card with nVidia driver right?? I think I mentioned this before but can't remember if you replied about it or not ... if you did not do this then I highly recommend you uninstall your video driver, run Driver Sweeper and make sure it comes up "clean" after analyzing, then install nVidia driver again.

If that does not fix it, take Clone's advice, remove the overclock on your cpu completely for testing purposes, stock frequency and voltage for your cpu...

if still having problems, uninstall Adobe Flash completely ( Google Chrome has its own builtin Flash Player component , so does FF for that matter , I am not running any Adobe products at all on my system and Youtube videos play back just fine in both those browsers with no Flash Player installed whatsoever. The latest Flash Player has been very flaky lately and this might be the cause of your problems...

Might not hurt to install Windows Autoruns utility to see exactly what is loading on Windows startup:

http://autoruns.en.softonic.com/

Uncheck any items that are not "essential"... if unsure if something is "essential" or not, then just google the name of the process/service/app , if still unsure just ask us here...

If still having problems after that, remove your Creative Core SB sound card and use the onboard audio for testing purposes...

Hopefully one of the above will reveal the problem for you, good luck!!

[Fuzz]

Does it run stable with no OC in games? OC's can affect more than just CPU and memory, which is all prime 95 tests for.

[DIREWOLF75]

I am slightly tempted to invest a new motherboard

There is a clear risk that this would be a waste of money.

but if it is something that I can fix myself, I would much prefer to do that.

Probably. The issue is to find where the problem is so you have something to aim at.

I still get videos freezing, the sound continues on as if nothing happened and then eventually the video continues playing again.

How long does the gfx freeze up? Halfsecond stutter or 20 second complete freeze? Does the HDD R/W during this?

Also, when running the FarCry 2 Ranch benchmark, sometimes the benchmark would completely freeze for a moment and then continue on again.

Are you certain that you have nothing else running at the same time? Try monitoring CPU load when this happens.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (@3.42Ghz)

While that small OC is generally not a problem, you simply have to run at stock and try again, you could have a cpu that wont run well above stock at all. Or something messing things up indirectly from the OC.

[Hammer_Time]

I'm running RAM at manufacturer spec, GPU is at stock speeds and although I've OCed my CPU to 4.02Ghz

Dire - I realize his siggy says his cpu is only running at 3.4 Ghz, but he stated in his original post that he is actually running it @ 4.02 Ghz right now... that is "the wall" pretty much for his model of cpu, so Clone and I suggest he back it right down to stock speed until he gets his system stable...then he can start slowly increasing cpu o/c if he chooses to at that point...

[DIREWOLF75]

Dire - I realize his siggy says his cpu is only running at 3.4 Ghz, but he stated in his original post that he is actually running it @ 4.02 Ghz right now... that is "the wall" pretty much for his model of cpu

I read it as that he has TESTED the cpu up to that point. But of course, what he said can be read either way.

so Clone and I suggest he back it right down to stock speed until he gets his system stable...

Eh, well so did i...

[Hammer_Time]

pretty sure he means he is currently running his cpu at 4 Ghz , as stated in his post, regardless of what his siggy says...

of course he can reply here and take away the guessing...

[Leprekaun]

Yeah, sorry guys for the misunderstanding. I forgot to update my sig to say that I'm running at 4.02Ghz . I've since set the CPU multiplier to Auto now, which will make the CPU run at stock 3.42Ghz and I've reverted to using Unganged mode for the RAM so that my PC is running with factory defaults. I'll monitor it for the next while and see. If it doesn't work properly, I've already sold my RadeonHD 5850 so hopefully, I can use the money from that if I ever need to invest in a new motherboard and besides, I could always sell my current motherboard as well. Also, it would be nice to have a motherboard with SLI capability so I've had my eye on the Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 for when I plan on running SLI in future.

[Hammer_Time]

Told ya so Dire!!!

Hope your system is stable for ya now that you removed the overclock...keep us updated of course

[Sauron_Daz]

How is it running with the CPU at 3.4 GHz?

[Leprekaun]

I can't really comment too much because I like to give these things 2 or 3 days to see if it's running smoothly. So far, it's been stable, smoothness, I'm not really sure yet so I'll try stressing it with some benchmarking software like Heaven and 3DMark.

[Hammer_Time]

Good idea!

Glad to hear it is running stable now ( at least so far ) !

Will take some days to know "for sure" though... just been through all that with my fried video card recently.. new RMA warranty replacement card is rock solid as expected though, system up for past 2 days and not one crash!!

[Sauron_Daz]

Glad to hear it is running stable now ( at least so far ) !

Mer too!

[Hammer_Time]

Mer? Are you a "Merkat" now??

[clone]

Yeah, sorry guys for the misunderstanding. I forgot to update my sig to say that I'm running at 4.02Ghz

thought so as well.

surprising how common it is for ppl to blame hardware and not the overclocked state of the system just because some software said it was ok.

no offense implied or intended but their really was no doubt where the problem was.

I'm using a similar cpu overclocked as well and from the view of overclocking it's 100% stable.... it's not actually but one should expect the occasional gremlin every so often from an overclock, mine fails to post about 1 a month requiring me to soft off and then reboot..... nature of the beast.

[Sauron_Daz]

Mer? Are you a "Merkat" now??

New keyboard...with slightly smaller keys.

[DIREWOLF75]

New keyboard...with slightly smaller keys.

REALLY hate those. They add dozens of typos per minute for me if i´m writing something long.

I really should get a better kb than my current one as well...