Suggestions on why my PC is crapping out on me randomly

[ParaSitius]

Right-ho.

Specs first.

AMD Phenom II X4 945 @3ghz cpu
4g RAM
GeForce 9600 GT 512mb
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
1x 500g WD drive (courtesy of the Larchmeister) with Win7 64bit Ultimate installed
2x 500g as part of a RAID 0 setup (important stuff is backed up to an external drive so no worries here)

Now on to the issues I'm having.

Basically, I'm getting crashes at random times which bring up a BSoD or more often a reset straight to POST without any warning, other occasions the PC will just basically lock up and freeze with no life from either the mouse/keyboard then I'm forced to do a reset. I thought it might have been an issue with my last sata hdd which over a handful of months was having issues being recognised by the mobo (eventually leading to total non recognition and requiring the replacement Larchy helped me out with). Looks like this wasn't the case as upon finishing the new install of Win7 on the second screen where entering a password for the initial login the PC promptly froze (needless to say you can imagine just how chuffed I was when this happened). Thankfully, this didn't cause any problems when I rebooted and was able to create a profile second time round.

I've unplugged all bits of hardware so all that is connected is the above along with the mouse/keyboard so I can only assume that the issue is with one them.

Anyone give advice on ways of narrowing it down? I have no spare gfx card so I'm unable to swap out the 9600 to see if it's the problem, or could it be the mobo itself? The RAM was the most recent purchase but I've swapped them out with the old 2g sticks and the problem still happened so I can't see it being that.

As I type this, the pc is currently running fine in safe mode with networking and I've had it running like that for a few hours. The
problems crop up when I try loading the OS up in normal mode and then the crashing/freezing/resetting appears.

Does this mean there is a driver in Win7 causing the issue which isn't used in safe mode? If so, is it causing a hardware issues?

I'm no newb when it comes to troubleshooting pc issues but this one has me stumped (how stupid will I feel if someone points out a simple solution).

I'm missing my l4d2 fix

[DrKazza]

my pc did this a while back (few years) turned out the thermal compound had got old and shitty. remove CPU HS, clean both sides thoroughly, apply new goop...... profit

bit of a long shot but the cheapest thing to try and fix

[Cacker]

If it's temps due to poor thermal transfer or due to gunked up heatsinks (although you can visibly inspect that), get something like realtemps to check CPU temps. See if it's crapping due to high temperature.

Many a time a PC is brought to me 'with issues' and all I've had to do is use a vacuum cleaner. I'm guessing you've been inside to change RAM etc and made sure the CPU heatsink fins are all clean.

What have you installed lately ? That's most often the case with crappy drivers or borked install. Literally, think of everything you've installed before it started crashing.

[larchy]

Can you please tell us a bit more about your RAM; module size, number of modules, make, model number, speed, mfg voltage, voltage the board is running them at etc

When you changed the hard drive did you also swap the cable? Have you tried the new drive with a new cable on a different SATA port?

[TK421]

Fix it for him Larch so we can all 4vs4 on L4D !

[ParaSitius]

Larchy, click link below for info on RAM, hopefully what you require is there.

http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KVR1333D3N9_2G.pdf

For the sata cable, I just unplugged the dvd drive that was in port 6 and plugged the hdd in but it still crashed.

One thing I did forget to mention was that quite often when the PC reboots (either on its own or the odd occasion I chose too) the tv/monitor (Samsung 19") I use doesn't come out of standby mode (on/off button flashes). I can only assume that it is not receiving a signal from the PC and it can in fact take several attempts at powering up the PC before the monitor accepts said signal and the POST appears on screen, I wonder if this is pointing towards a gfx card problem?

As for the CPU, I ruled out an overheating problem due to the fact that sometimes the PC is on no longer then a couple of minutes (long enough to boot up windows and log in) when things fall over. Still, could be worth a try as this cpu was the first time I actually tried applying thermal paste and I've never been 100% sure if I did a good job of it.

And for old times sake.

BOOMER!!!

[larchy]

What PSU do you have and is it decent?

Check the speed the RAM is running at, and if possible try relaxing the timings/speed in the BIOS... It should be at 667MHz, but try running it underclocked at 533MHz just to see if it helps... I suspect this may fix it.

However... if it doesn't, and having done a bit of digging on that board, I'd suggest you look into an RMA to ASUS (they all have 3 year warranties so you should be covered)

[Quinnbeast]

Suggestions on why my PC is crapping out on me randomly

It's fucked mate.

[Karver]

graphics card overheat, exact symptoms I've been battling for a few months. Update nvidia drivers accordingly, then hope your gpu fan doesnt hit the bricks.

[ParaSitius]

Larchy, the PSU is a corsair HX 520w as recommended by yourself when I needed a new one that could supply power to several SATA drives and keep the gfx card going.

I changed the RAM speed as suggested but the PC still froze within a couple of minutes of me logging in.

I found my old Radeon XL800 gfx card which I thought I could swap out the current one in case that was the problem, then I did a quick check and realised there wasn't an agp slot on the mobo.

Seems my theory about the system running ok in Safe mode can be chucked out the window as the PC crashed when I was afk earlier tonight after about 10 minutes of running.

[larchy]

FWIW I don't think it sounds like the graphics card.

I would be looking to RMA the motherboard at this stage.

[ParaSitius]

Worth a try I suppose.