Constant PC Freezing

[Gartchan]

Hello, i recently built a new pc and it had been working okay for a couple months. I had random sporadic crashes here and there where the computer would just lock up but starting saturday night the computer now will not run for more than 5 minutes without freezing. When it freezes the lights on my g15 keyboard all flicker and the screen image is frozen. I have to hard power off and reboot and the computer will not run for more than 10 minutes without freezing again.

I have tried troubleshooting as much as I can. I have run windows memory diagnostic and Memtest86+ but am unable to get anywhere with either utility because the computer freezes 5-10 minutes in and the tests never complete themselves. This behavior is consistent with either stick of ram individually, with both, and in any slot.

Computer Info:

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

I attempted to make the bios changes from this thread but was unable to find the option to change cpu host/bus freq to 240. I also tried some of the alternatives in the thread but no matter what the computer continues to crash/freeze/lockup.

Please help!

[NemesisChild]

Suggest clearing the CMOS, then manually enter your memory timings & voltage in the bios.
Try running with each stick individually and also test each stick (individually) with memtest.
What PSU are you using?

[Gartchan]

Thank you for your reply. I have a Rosewill RV2-700 700W PS. I have already tested both sticks individually with the same result; I cannot run memtest for more than 10 minutes without the computer freezing up with either stick.

I also spent a good amount of time trying all of the suggested bios freuqency tweaks from the stickied thread here to no avail. This is a very frustrating problem. Honestly, im leaning towards a defective motherboard but that is only a hunch and any other suggestions on diagnosing this problem is greatly appreciated.

[NemesisChild]

Since the problem occurs with either stick, it's unlikely the memory is at fault.
But it's important the memory frequency, timings, and voltage be set in the bios, don't let them run on auto.
How old is your Rosewill 700W PSU?
And are you running a graphic card?
Do you have another set of DDR3 memory available for testing in your PC?

[Gartchan]

After testing both sticks individually and having the same result I also felt it was not the memory at fault but after reading the threads here about frequency issues I began to become concerened again. I followed the directions in the stickied threads and the problems continued.

The whole system is three months old, purchased on Feb 21st. I am using an ASUS EAH6850 video card. When the freezing first started a month or so ago it was random and infrequent, mostly while playing BF:BC2 and my first thought was that the card was overheating. After extensively testing that theory im fairly certain the card is functioning fine.

Now the freezes happen every single time i turn on the computer within 5-10m, no matter what im doing. It also freezes while in memtest or windows memory diagnostic utlitity so Im sure its not windows related.

Unfortunately, I don't currently own any other hardware to mix and match and troubleshoot that way.

[GSKILL TECH]

Try manually setting DDR3-1333 8-8-8-24 1.50V and see how that works.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[Gartchan]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately that did not fix my problem. Just tried it and the computer froze after 10 minutes. I am running out of things to try.

[GSKILL TECH]

Send them in for RMA, they should definitely work with those settings.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH