Can freezing and lockups continue despite hardware changes?
Can freezing and lockups continue despite hardware changes?
So around a month or two my desktop stopped working properly, locking up completely without any BSOD while my girlfriend was playing The Sims and kept doing so afterward. At first I thought it might be a driver or malware problem, so I tried to locate the cause. Now I know freezing can happen in just 30 seconds after booting or even up to 15 minutes later. After checking for malware and driver issues, I still had the problem, so I finally wiped my drives.
Even after a fresh Windows installation, it kept happening, so I looked online and came to several conclusions, most suggesting hardware failure. So now I replaced my CPU without any results, following the frustration, I swapped my RAM. (I ran memory checks, monitored temperatures and voltages, but this was just desperation since I needed my PC for school too.)
I’ve ended up building a completely new PC now. Except for the PSU, which I’m not sure is the problem because I don’t see any flickering or sudden voltage changes before it freezes, and my motherboard and main boot SSD are fine. At this point I’m stuck trying to figure out what’s wrong, except for those three things. I’m running low on ideas for possible fixes and my budget for new hardware is almost gone. The only reason I haven’t replaced my SSD is because my PC can’t run long enough to boot from a USB after reinstalling Windows. I’ve also ruled out the 3060 model by relying entirely on the CPU’s integrated graphics.
To fully explain what freezing feels like, imagine playing a heavily modded version of Skyrim on a console and the game freezes completely, becoming unresponsive with a loud jarring noise (especially if audio is active), which is how my whole PC freezes.
What I haven’t replaced in my system so far are just my boot drive, PSU, motherboard, and HDMI cable. My event viewer is clean except for the odd power-off incident where I had to hard reboot.
I’m not sure if this could be a BIOS issue, so if any of these symptoms suggest it, please let me know.
Full system specifications available, including the PSU brand and model. Can monitor CPU and GPU temperatures while playing?
I7-8700k
32gb Corsair Vengeance 3200mhz
Thermaltake 850 g+ modular
Intel 660 nvme ssd
Asus Rog z390-e
Windows 10
Samsung 2TB HDD
Coolermaster 320 AIO
Gigabyte 3060 TI
According to the OP, temperatures and voltages are normal.
"(I ran mem checks and observed temperatures and voltages; I noticed something unusual) it doesn’t relate to gaming, this occurs 30 seconds to 15 minutes after boot, no matter what I do. I don’t even have time to flash a boot file to replace the SSD."
My system is essentially just a shell with only the boot drive, cooler, RAM, CPU, PSU, and motherboard. It feels like a skeleton of components waiting to be booted for troubleshooting. I’m considering replacing the motherboard, but I’m worried about cost compared to the Z390-e gaming model. It even freezes in safe mode, which points to hardware issues.
No riser and most components are in boxes. I discovered a post on Tom's previous night with similar problems, which led me to suspect an HDMI cable issue. Today I'm attempting the fix. I'm also highly confident it's not the 3060ti since I've had 15 minutes without issues and previously checked the GPU performance. A new problem I've observed is green and red artifacts appearing during boot, reseating the HDMI, and rebooting resolving them, possibly pointing to the HDMI itself. At this stage, I'm trying various solutions.
Latest news includes an additional batch of inexpensive RGB fans. They function properly until freezing occurs, after which they behave erratically by cycling through presets. Could the fans be causing shorts that disrupt the whole setup? Or is this more related to the SSD or motherboard?