No errors with PC Doctor. Computer crashes often

[Noddan]

Hello!

I'm having issues with my computer crashing frequently (black screen and restart, sometimes with a "brrrr" sounding noise). This especially happens when playing certain games, but it has happened when I'm just browsing as well. Some games run better than others and sometimes it allows me to play for hours and sometimes it crashes straight away.

At first I suspected a heat-related issue so I made sure that the computer was completely clean, applied new cooling paste to the processor etc. but to no success.

I have bought PC Doctor and ran every test available but didn't present any errors(!). I have also tried other programs such as Memtest and other software to stress test the computer, but it didn't produce any results.

My setup consist of 4x2GB RAMs which also made me try one at a time in different slots to try and rule them out that way, but the computer still crashed at similar instances.

All my drivers are up to date.

This is my set-up:

• Corsair Powersupply TX 850W 140mm fan, 4x PCI-E 8-pin
• ASUS M4A79T Deluxe, Socket-AM3 AMD 790FX+SB750, DDR3, Firewire, GbLAN, ATX, 4xPCI
• AMD Phenom II X4 945 3,0Ghz, AM3, 8MB, 95W, Boxed
• Kingston ValueR. DDR3 1333MHz 8GB, CL9, Kit w/four matched ValueRAM 2GB DDR3
• Gainward GeForce GTX 295 1792MB PhysX PCI-Express 2.0, 2xDVI, HDCP, HDMI, Core 240x2, 55
• Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB 7200RPM, SATA 3.0 Gbps, 3,5", 16MB
• As well as a 250GB SSD Harddrive (don't have the exact specs atm)

I could really use some assistance as to where to look next.

Thank you in advance
Noddan

[Kris_PCD]

Hi Noddan,

First let me welcome you to the forums, and I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with your computer. I would first like to ask which tests you have been running on your system, and if the system has ever crashed while they are running?

Given the "brrr" noise you describe, my first thought would be that it could be the hard drive or one of the fans starting to give out. To check the fans you will need to perform a visual inspection of all of them to confirm if they are spinning like they are supposed to (sadly there is no reliable way to tell how fans are spinning with software), and I would suggest that you run a Full Hard Drive Test to check the hard drive for any problems.

Please let me know what you find, and if you have any other questions or issues.

Thanks,
Kris

[Noddan]

Hi Kris,

Thank you for your reply.

I've been running the PC Doctor full system scans as well as stress tests on CPU and GPU. It did not crash while running these.

The brrr sound comes from the speakers, not the hardware.

/Noddan

[Kris_PCD]

Thanks for clarifying, that would probably rule out a fan problem then. 

I would still suggest running the full hard drive tests just to be safe, and I would also ask if you have checked your installation of Windows for any possible problems that could be causing the crash. Finally I would suggest checking your power supply, because if you are having fluctuations in the power being output to your system, it could definitely cause the behaviour you're seeing.

I hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions or issues.

Thanks,
Kris

[Noddan]

I will make another scan of my hard drives tonight when I get home from work and report back my findings.

I have recently reinstalled windows (on the new SSD hard drive) but experienced crashes both before and after the upgrade.

What is the procedure for checking the power supply?

Thank you
/noddan

[Kris_PCD]

Well then, it sounds like Windows isn't the issue either.

There are multiple ways to check a power supply, but for the intermittent behaviour (under load mostly) you are seeing, I would suggest either running the system with a different power supply for a little while or using your current power supply in another computer and see if the problem follows the power supply. Obviously this isn't a simple thing to test, but it seems like one of the most likely causes.

I look forward to hearing the outcome of your testing, and please let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks,
Kris

[Noddan]

Hello again.

I ran full scans on both my hard drives but received no errors.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to test with a different power supply as I do not have one that fits. Are there any other means of testing this or am I doomed to buy a new one to try if that helps?

BR
Noddan

[Kris_PCD]

These are the only testing methods that I am aware of for a power supply:

• Using a Voltmeter: This is usually only done by experienced techs (due to the high likelyhood of electrocution)
• Using a Power Supply Tester: Works a lot like the voltmeter, but with less chance of shock (e.g. http://store.pcdservicecenter.com/power-supply-tester/)
• Replacing the Power Supply: Easy if you work in a repair shop with spares, but inconvenient if you just have the one computer.

Unfortunately for you, the kind of behaviour you are seeing would be difficult to see with either option 1 or 2. Since you said "I do not have one that fits", I assume you have one available but you can't get it into your case. If so, you could always leave the power supply outside of the case (make sure you do this on a non-static surface e.g. tile floor and wooden table), and just run the wires to the motherboard.

Please let me know what you find.

Thanks,
Kris

[Noddan]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes I have a very old one. The problem is that it doesn't have the required connections for the motherboard or the graphics card.

Noddan