New PC Random Crashes

[paul_norman_81]

Hi guys,

I built my parents a new computer using components from Scan a few weeks ago (details below), but they inform me that it crashes after a short period (about 10mins to an hour) with a strange graphical error (<- video). As you can see the screen is still somewhat visible (if distorted and shaking), but the computer is locked. No error code is given. The temperature in the bios is only 40 degrees and it's not running anything in any way taxing or graphical - note they were on Yahoo! when it froze in this instance.

The problem is I don't live near them (at all) and they're not technical - not even enough to put memtest on a usb stick. Does anyone know what this might be? I'll make a special trip back up north to attempt to diagnose it and return the faulty part if necessary, but if it's a known error caused by the i3 core or the RAM or the motherboard then I'll get a friend to make a special trip and sort it out.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

Spec:
Intel CPU i3 2105 Dual Core Sandy Bridge Processor
MSI H67MA-E35 B3 Intel H67 Express - Socket 1155 - Motherboard
Corsair Memory XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 Mhz CAS 9 Dual Channel Desktop
Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB WD2500AAKX Hard Drive - HDD
LG 22x SATA BLACK DVDRW GH22NS70
Enermax ENP350AGT NAXN 350W Power Supply (PSU)
Intel 775,1155,1156 CPU Cooler Akasa AK-CC7117EP01
Coolermaster Elite 360 Black Mid Tower Computer Case
Genius Keyboard Desktop Wired
Edimax EW-7711In 150Mbps wireless 802.11b/g/n 32 bit PCI adapter

[Phage]

I can't see the video but my guess would be the GPU is faulty.

[paul_norman_81]

If it weren't an i3 I'd agree, but the GPU is built in to the CPU and uses the RAM for memory and is routed by the motherboard. They don't have an external GPU to test with unfortunately.

[mepsipax]

Hi That looks like a graphics card 'gone bad' It waits till the pc warms up then you get graphical artifacts, due to the card overheating.

Maybe get your parents to put speedfan or similar on their pc, to check temperatures.

Also by going into windows 'computer management' then 'event viewer' you may be able to see error messages in there that may give a clue to what is causing this.

[paul_norman_81]

There is no external graphics card, it's an i3 with on chip HD3000 graphics, so separating out whether it's the GPU (i.e. the CPU), the GPU memory (i.e. the RAM) or part of the motherboard handling the process is the hard part.

I had my parents check the CPU temperature in the bios straight after a crash and it was 40 degrees which should be low enough not to be an issue really. It's got a big fan on it for an i3 (which I turned down to 50% below 50 degrees), so I'll have them turn that up to screaming levels and see if it helps.

Good call on the event viewer. I'll have them read some 'events' out to me!

[mikeo01]

Looks like a driver conflict/bad driver install or youve installed and partitioned the hard drive wrong.

My guess would suggest its a driver conflict or bad driver install. Best thing to do is look up the event log to see whats going on and what drivers have caused errors.

[shaithis]

I would check RAM first (hopefully there are 2 sticks in there and they could pull 1 and swap them if necessary)....if it ain't the RAM (I don't think it is but it's possible) it's almost certainly the CPU.

[mikeo01]

If it is the CPU the PC won't boot at all or lock up before Windows. Unless the CPU is somewhat faulty which is unlikely.

[3DWizard]

Temperatures would be your main concern. What system temperatures were being given when the crashes appeared?

[Mapester]

I had this sort of thing happen to an i5 Cpu i built recently , at 1st I thought I was overclocking too high and that to be the cause instabilty, reducing my OC did not stop it, but since I have changed an option in the Bios under IGPU settings to disable remapping memory Pci/Pcie it has not done it since.

[mr.tea]

@ paul norman :
i got exactly the same video freezes as you showed , and also sometimes whole system crashes (just like if the power plug was suddenly removed)

the only common point i see with your config is we have the same mboard (my cpu is core i5)

things i noticed :
- it do not get these problems if i run a Linux OS (dual-boot setup)
- when i run a Windows OS under VirtualBox inside a Linux OS : i also get whole system crashes (but not the video freeze) but it might be a completely different problem as i read many users in forums who also got VirtualBox crashing the whole system when the guest OS is Windows ...

i will try Mapester's tip

[mr.tea]

Paul did you find a solution to this pblem ?
i tried some bios mods i tested ram endurance too but still nothing solved
with linux i dont get these crashes but with win get at random around 1-2 crashes/hour