Freezing on bootup, possibly RAM?

[Ulti]

Hello Hexites,

My brother's machine has recently started having issues. The main issue is that when his machine loads into Windows 7 (64 bit), it immediately freezes and has black lines over the display then there is something like a blue screen, but not the BSOD. Occasionally it will get the BSOD upon freezing but this is rare and I've forgotten what the error message is. This only started happening yesterday evening and all he did yesterday was install a driver for a wireless USB adapter (I have uninstalled this in safe mode) and also install the free trial of Skyrim through Steam (I also uninstalled this in safe mode). He was playing Skyrim for around 10 mins before the system suddenly flickered and then it went into a BSOD and from there on, it immediately freezes on bootup now. This suggests to me that it's either a RAM issue or graphics card issue.

Here are the relevant specs:
CPU: i3 2120
RAM: 2x 4GB PNY 1333mhz CL9 1.5V
Motherboard: Biostar TH61 ITX
Graphics Card: MSI HD7850 1GB
PSU: Silverstone ST30F 300W PSU
Monitor: Dell 21.5" 1080p

These are the steps I've taken:
1) Boot into Safe Mode - seems to run fine
2) Run a chkdisk /r which seemed to be fine, I was away when it finished but my brother said it just completed then rebooted quickly.
3) Memtest on bootup. One thing that is puzzling is sometimes the board will boot with 1 stick but if I take it out and pop it back in it won't boot. Funnily enough the RAM passes memtest though. I remember having an issue with this RAM before where if I popped it in, sometimes it didn't boot but once I reseated it, it would boot completely fine and pass memtest.
4) The system was booting but there was no display so I tried plugging in the monitor to the motherboard and to my surprise, even though the graphics card was still plugged in, it was outputting fine but not in 1080p so I installed the Intel HD graphics drivers and it now runs in 1080p.
5) Reset BIOS other than fan control and SATA mode settings (AHCI) which did not change anything.
6) Pulled SSD from his machine, popped it in mine and ran a health check which suggested everything is okay.
7) I've tried to do a system restore but it seems I must have turned it off previously as there are no restore points.

Next steps to take:
1) Run Prime95/Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility to test CPU. (This will tell me if his CPU is faulty)
1) Run his RAM in my system and see if it works. (This will tell me if his RAM is faulty)
2) Run my RAM in his system and see if it works. (This will tell me if his motherboard is faulty)
3) Test his graphics card in my system and see if it works. (This will tell me if his graphics card is faulty)
4) Test my graphics card in his system and see if it works. (This will tell me again if his motherboard is faulty)

Are there any other steps to try?

I've ordered some new RAM but it won't be dispatched until Monday so if I find the RAM is okay then I can just cancel the order. I'm guessing it's the RAM because I had issues with the RAM with other motherboards. The weird thing though is that simply reseating the RAM can let it boot up fine and consequently pass memtest fine. I don't really understand that. What is the ideal amount of passes for memtest?

I'm thinking it may also be a graphics card issue but the fact that it loads up in boot mode fine without any artifacting or issues suggests otherwise.

Thanks!

[satrow]

Reads like graphics but pushing it hard on Skyrim might have stressed out the PSU as well. Not enough power or poor regulation could prevent the card from powering up, or the motherboard VRM might have developed issues.

Test the card in that other rig might be the first step. CPU the last.

[gupsterg]

Are there any other steps to try?

IMO you've covered it, I'd probably have a view of voltages. Occasionally I was experiencing lock ups / BSOD on my Q6600 rig and thought it was the OC but it wasn't. HWinfo revealed grossly low voltage readings for either 3.3v or 5v or 12v can't remember which. I then checked PSU ATX 24pin plug with multimeter and all was well, then removed plug from mobo and reseated it and all was well again.

[Ulti]

Thanks for the replies.

I've done further tests with everything plugged in except the graphics card and it's all pretty much working okay:

1) I ran Intel XTU on his PC for 30 mins with only 1 stick of my RAM in and it passed without an issue.
2) I tested his RAM in my PC and there are no issues, it passed one round of memtest. I will leave it to do more tests overnight as he's complaining about not having anything to do without his PC...
3) Tested his graphics card in my system and again, it works and displays an image with no artifacts initially but as soon as I install the AMD drivers it just gives me a black screen. That's a pain because that was the most expensive part in his PC. I would have rather it was the CPU/motherboard/SSD/RAM that failed...

Unfortunately I have no PSU testers but his system was drawing only 120W on load - so little that the PSU fan rarely span up so I don't think the PSU would be stressed out enough anyway.

Well time to look for a graphics card!

EDIT: I noticed there was a "Report a problem" alert too in the notification area and upon clicking on it, it showed lots of errors highlighting a "graphics hardware" issue. Can't remember the exact wording but it seems that was the culprit.

[Bonebreaker777]

GPU gone (possibly under "high" load)? Still under warranty? If yes,return. If not any longer, then try to 're-bake' that green devil.

Happens with and driver installation (old, new, beta, automatic)?

[gupsterg]

try to 're-bake'

Agree, could work. I did it with a GTX 280 once, felt so nutty doing it! found no tips on Nigella's webpage either! LOL

that green devil.

I think wrong team colour chap! HD 7850 is red team .

[Ulti]

I guess I could try to bake it but I've already got it listed as faulty on eBay and rebought another HD7850. Completely forgot about it - that's probably what people do on eBay, buy slightly faulty graphics cards and try to bake them haha.

I also left memtest overnight on his PC and woke up to see 500+ errors! I realised they were different brands though, one is Mushkin and one is actually Integral. I guess I must have sold my PNY set or something and just remembered wrong. Don't want to bother trying to find out what the actual problem is so I'm going to just sell these and be done with it.

Managed to grab a brand new set of low profile Kingston 8GB RAM on eBay for £30 delivered and a MSI HD7850 2GB for £35 from a nice chap on HUKD. Received them both today and I've just done 8 hours of memtest on the RAM and it passed without a single error and the graphics card didn't have a speck of dust so I'm really happy now. Scored some nice bargains! Now my brother is playing Skyrim on 1080p ultra settings at 60fps so he's a happy chap too.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[gupsterg]

Nice to read you resolved it for minimal outlay .

Cracking price on the RAM! .