Computer Crashes and Freezes!

[SgtDeadly12 10]

So I dont know why but for some reason my computer will just random crash and freeze when I am playing DayZ and other games. No blue screen, my PC just freezes and this terrible EEEEE sound comes over my headphones and sometimes my computer itself makes a similar noise, I cannot do anything with my computer except manually shut it off using the switch on the back, not even the restart button works. It's not overheating as I originally thought that was it and I got my computer checked out and they cleaned out the ton of dust in it and put in a third fan. They also told me my video card was failing so I ordered a new one and put it in. My system is well over the requirements to run ArmA II and even after I got the new card my computer still crashes (but not as frequently as it used to). My video card is rated to 220 degrees farenheit and the highest temp i've seen it at is 180 degrees farenheit. That only happened ONCE and wasn't even when my computer crashed..

System Specs:

I am using an ASUS X4980

Video Card: EVGA geforce GTX 480

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 980 Processor

RAM: 8.2 GB

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit

Sound Card: High Definition Audio Device

CPU Speed: 3.7 GHz

I am DESPERATE, please help.

[SgtDeadly12 10]

Really nothing come on guys!

[Ben213 3]

sometimes happens to me.. I think it may be driver issues.

[HackerSlasher (DayZ) 8]

It's always worth updating your graphics drivers, so go here and grab this one for your GTX480 : http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/44967

But..."PC just freezes with a terrible EEEEE sound" and cannot soft boot it. Although you said that you had it checked out, this either sounds like a CPU overheat primarily to me or possibly bad memory (which can go bad over time but would often give a blue screen error not a full lock up)...

"Real Temp" : http://www.techpower...ealTemp_370.zip

This will show you CPU's temperatures. Click on the "Settings" button and tick the box marked "Log File", then minimize it when you play a game. If your system crashes you'll then be able to see the temps that it got up to.

If you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty, you could download "Memtest86" and burn it to a CD: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso - then test each stick separately, ie one in your system at a time. You'll need to run each test for say a couple of hours on each stick (don't skimp on this). Remove the power lead first too ;)

If you don't want to test things yourself, take your system to a different place and tell them the problem. If they're worth their salt they should say that it sounds like a processor or possibly a memory problem and go from there to rectify it for you.

Edited August 15, 2012 by HackerSlasher

[SgtDeadly12 10]

Hmm...PC just freezes with a terrible EEEEE sound and cannot soft boot it. Although you said that you had it checked out, this either sounds like a CPU overheat primarily to me or possibly bad memory (which can go bad over time but would often give a blue screen error not a full lock up)...

"Real Temp" : http://www.techpower...ealTemp_370.zip

This will show you CPU's temperatures. Click on the "Settings" button and tick the box marked "Log File", then minimize it when you play a game. If your system crashes you'll then be able to see the temps that it got up to.

If you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty, you could download "Memtest86" and burn it to a CD: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso - then test each stick separately, ie one in your system at a time. You'll need to run each test for say a couple of hours on each stick (don't skimp on this). Remove the power lead first too ;)

If you don't want to test things yourself, take your system to a different place and tell them the problem. If they're worth their salt they should say that it sounds like a processor or possibly a memory problem and go from there to rectify it for you.

While a CPU overheat is likely it sometimes crashes very quickly like only 2 minutes into the game, do you think an overheat could happen that quickly?

[HackerSlasher (DayZ) 8]

While a CPU overheat is likely it sometimes crashes very quickly like only 2 minutes into the game, do you think an overheat could happen that quickly?

Not usually no, but it's not unheard of...and you didn't mention this originally.

So with that extra knowledge now other possibilities are that it's your PSU (Power Supply Unit) that's at fault, but there's no software to test that or that your motherboard isn't supplying the correct voltages or indeed has simply gone bad.

I'd therefore take it to a different PC shop this time and tell them that it hard locks after 2 minutes of game play. If they swap out the power supply and stress test it for a day or two and it doesn't lock up then you can pay them for it and their work.

But that's only one possible scenario.

Edited August 15, 2012 by HackerSlasher

[SgtDeadly12 10]

Thanks i'll probably take my computer in and have them do what you say, hopefully that will fix my computer.

Oh, I almost forgot, you have my beans!

[gorg_graggel 2]

they should also check the thermal paste on the cpu...

it might be degraded and cause overheating...

Edited August 15, 2012 by gorg_graggel