1

What’s up everyone here in Spiceland? So about a year or so ago now I started slowly acquiring the parts to build my first true gaming rig. I selected all the parts I wanted created myself an Amazon wishlist and every month or so I would buy another part until I had everything I needed to build the system. Finally once I had everything I built the rig, installed a copy of Windows 8 and then upgraded it to 10 while Microsoft had the free upgrade to Windows 10 thing going on. I selected the keep nothing update so it would be a fresh install of Windows 10. I updated all of the drivers for everything off the manufacturers’ sites so that everything was as up to date as it could be. I then loaded up Steam and Skyrim and started a new game and was tickled to death at how visually stunning it was to finally play a game on ultra settings and then it happened… About 10-15 minutes into playing the game froze or so I thought, as it turned out though the whole system had locked up, could not get to Task Manager, could not move the mouse, nothing. So I hard rebooted the system thinking well it must be a fluke thing. Get back into Skyrim and it happens again. Imagine my frustration. So I am thinking ok it must be the game, so I load up Diablo 3 and it does it again…WTF. I am fuming at this point.

So then I think ok is it just games, so I immediately think video card issue. So I run some tests, general hardware tests, video card stress test, benchmarks, system never freezes in any of it and all of the tests come back fine, and not just on the video card either, the hardware tests were on all of the components and they all passed.

So I am researching for about an hour or so, all on the same system mind you and it never freezes once. I go to watch a Youtube video though and it freezes, download a video and watch it and it freezes, not every video but eventually. Even try taking a video I recorded, open it in Adobe Premiere and it freezes then too.

So I bite the bullet and buy a new graphics card thinking mine must be defective in some way since it only freezes while doing video related things, gaming, streaming, recording, etc… Video card comes in, I install it, I update drivers and I run Skyrim again. I play the game for an hour flawlessly and I am tickled to death, problem solved right??? (No way could it have possibly just ended there)

Of course not, the following day I load Skyrim up again and it freezes and I want to cry at this point… so I assume now that there is no way it is the video card. I mean what is the likelyhood of 2 cards from different manufacturer’s having the same exact issue? So even though I originally spec’d this rig on PCPartpicker which tells you if there is any incompatibilities I went ahead and checked ASUS’s website for my motherboards HCL and I see that the RAM I have is not in that list. So I think ok since in all my research everything pointed to the Video card or the RAM let me try that. So I purchase some new RAM that is on the HC and load it up. Load up Skyrim to be consistent, play for about 30 minutes and it freezes again. I then pull the RAM out immediately, replace my old RAM and return the RAM because clearly that is not it and I want and need my damn money back.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell is happening at this point, which being an IT professional and having worked in this field for over 10 years is embarrassing to say the least. To be honest I did not even want to post this on here because it is ridiculous to me that I cannot figure out what in the hell is wrong with my own PC at home when I can fix countless PCs on a whim at work. I have lost all sense of hope and am now reluctantly reaching out to the best community of IT people around to say, please help me…

Specs for the rig are below:

CPU

AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor

CPU Cooler
NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Motherboard
Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+
Memory
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
* Replacement Memory
Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (On HCL)

OS Drive

Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage Drive

Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Graphics Card

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB G1 Gaming Video Card

* Replacement Graphics Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
Case

NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition (White) ATX Full Tower Case

Power Supply
Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

Optical Drive
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Case Fans
(4) NZXT Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan

(1) NZXT FZ-200mm LED 103.0 CFM 200mm Fan
Monitor
Asus VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor
I really do not want to have to keep buying components one by one and testing to see what works and what doesn’t. I am so exhausted and frustrated with it. I have spent so much money on this rig and to have it not work is just overwhelming at this point. here is a list of other things I have tried:

  1. Everything on this site: FIX: Windows 10 Freezes Randomly

  2. Fresh install of Windows 10.

  3. Updating drivers for everything.

  4. Installed all Windows updates.

  5. I have run Passmark to test the CPU.

  6. I have run 3Dmark and Furmark to test the video card.

  7. I have run Memtest86

  8. I have run a hardware test that tested all of the components, (can’t remember the name of it) they all passed.

  9. I have run Core Temp and had the Performance monitor running while playing to see if system is overheating or running out of resources or something. Temps are always low, resources never breach 30%.

  10. Uninstalled and re-installed every single component to ensure it is seated properly.

  11. Checked all cables to ensure they are plugged in completely and securely.

I have run out of ideas and I am currently waiting for tax money to come in to try replacing the power supply next, then the OS drive and finally the CPU and Motherboard. Because right now I have an over $2000 rig that works about as good and can handle the sames tasks as my mom’s $300 laptop I bought her so she could surf the internet and check Facebook and email :frowning: As completely ridiculous as it sounds I have a gaming rig that cannot play games.

I am open to any and all suggestions anyone has whether that is an answer or even just a hello or talk about Skyrim, gaming, gaming rigs or anything else. Throwing this in gaming, probably not the perfect place for it but thought since it is a gaming rig it kind of just fit there but if someone wants to move it please feel free.

19 Spice ups
2

Are there any firmware updates available for that SSD? Assuming Windows is installed on that.

3 Spice ups
3

Actually I forgot to mention that. I checked that last night and the firmware is the current version.

1 Spice up
4

I once had an almost identical issue. For me it was a bent pin on the motherboard.

I sent the part back to get inspected and clearly enough they agreed the pin was bent, not by myself but from the factory. (the bend was not visible to the eye very well).

I would contact amazon as their returns are normally amazing and start replacing the parts you still can.

No diagnostics or anything came up any positive faults, i also bought a new set of ram (which is now in my spare rig, yay!) and spent days running tests on them and other components. This of course didn’t come up with any faults.

The only reason i came up with ti must be the motherboard is its the only component i couldnt get the ‘exact’ same results from every test.

Hopefully this helps you.

5 Spice ups
5

TLDR

I really don’t see you having done any sort of troubleshooting aside from replacing the video card. Are any of these components compatible under Windows 10 with the correct Windows 10 drivers? Have you swapped out the memory? Is the memory compatible with the motherboard?

6

Well your TL DR is why you have the questions you do because I did that and more with troubleshooting. Sorry I know it is a long post. I did replace the RAM that was on the HCL and I ran countless hardware tests, benchmarks and component specific tests that all turned up nothing.

2 Spice ups
7

That is the worst, I feel your pain. Honestly this is a classic case of take 1 part out, put in replacement and check to see if it works. Because you’ve already replaced the RAM/GPU, I’d put some money on the CPU/Mobo. Could a PSU cause these problems as well if power isn’t distributed correctly? Do you have a PSU tester?
I’ve got a spare AM3+ board lying around I believe, I could ship it to you so you could test?

2 Spice ups
8

If it is the mobo I am probably well past the point of being able to get Amazon or ASUS for that matter to replace it as it was one of the first things I purchased over a year ago. I was saving the mobo to be the last part I tried to replace but maybe you are right and it should be the next one I try to replace.

1 Spice up
9

I was having that issue as well. It wouldn’t freeze to the point where i had to force it off, but it would lock up for minutes at a time before doing everything i had tried to do during the lockup all at once. I ended up finding a really good deal on a replacement processor and motherboard (FX-8320E and MSI 970 Gaming for $162. Not fantastic but it’s an equivalent processor and a better motherboard, i don’t have a big fancy rig, just passable) and after 3 hours of toil getting everything set back up, it works much better. A few of my games still crash (i’m looking at you, EA) but the lock-up issue has since stopped.

TL;DR my assumption is the motherboard.

3 Spice ups
10

Flash the BIOS?

1 Spice up
11

As you have an NZXT Kraken, do you have the CAM software installed? If so you can tell it to overlay in your game with stats about Temps and component usage, this may help you identify if your CPU or RAM is getting maxed out.

LiyJkr2.jpg
LiyJkr2.jpg800×600 30.8 KB

You can download it here: https://camwebapp.com/

Are you seeing any errors in your event log after the Skyrim crash and reboot? Have you reset your BIOS back to default?

2 Spice ups
12

As bizarre and far-fetched as this sounds; have you tried running full-screen applications/games with the stock cooler as opposed to the X61? This can at least rule out the cooler, which is not exactly a cheap one. I’ve personally always been quite sceptical of these kinds of coolers as I find the over-complicate a very simple function and there’s a lot more that can, you know, “go wrong”.

1 Spice up
13

Nothing at all in the event logs?

How about a memory dump. There’s a technet article about configuring a memory dump when the system hangs here:

2 Spice ups
14

I was thinking that especially after hearing what nicrobin went through. I don’t have a PSU tester but was going to buy one. As far as the board, man that would be awesome! I would ship it back to you if it works, at least that would let me know if it is indeed the mobo and I could just buy a new one. That way if it is not that at least I did not waste the money on a mobo. I mean I guess I could just buy one from Amazon and return it if it does not work. I would hate for something to happen to your board.

2 Spice ups
15

Yeah I am seriously leaning toward that as well being that the other components just don’t seem like they would cause this.

1 Spice up
16

Did not think about using that but achieved the same thing by running Core Temp and having the Performance monitor up while gaming, system froze with temps below maximum and system resource utilization below 30%.

1 Spice up
17

The 9590 is a hot chip. To my knowledge you cannot even buy it with a stock cooler as a liquid cooler is highly recommended for this Processor. I am sure people have done it, but being my CPU temps are all well within the norm I don’t see how this could be the cause.

1 Spice up
18

I check those and found absolutely nothing except the events showing where I hard rebooted the system but I will take a look at this article. Thank you.

19

Yeah, more than once actually, no joy.

1 Spice up
20

Oh man this is heartbreaking, I hate to hear about busted gaming rigs, especially one with so little use that was so well planned and budgeted for!

I’ve had exceptional luck with Asus motherboards, and I’d hate to think that was the culprit. I would go with power supply since its relatively painless to swap out unless you went nuts with cable management. The Corsair 850 is a great PSU though, but that 9590 is a really power hungry chip.

If you were going to replace the mobo, maybe get yourself an upgrade? Check out the Sabretooth series or my favorite, the Crosshair V

Are you overclocking anything?

2 Spice ups