Has anyone experienced computer freezing without BSOD?

Basically, I put in a new Asrock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard.  After overclocking my CPU, in normal use, my system would freeze on the desktop.  I cannot move the mouse cursor, or alt+enter+del+ctrl.  Requires the press of the reboot button, sometimes, hard shutdown.   This happens anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours of use.  It's very random.  

I've done the following to check for stability in the following areas:

• Checked if CPU overclock is stable with 5 different tests of Prime95 for 24 hours, each time.  All pased, no stops.
• Swapped out GTX 670 with my old GTX 580 to see if the cause was my GPU.
• Swapped out RAM with another pair of RAM sticks.  
• CPU cooler is seated properly (never had this issue in my life) so I'm 100% certain of this.
• Temps are excellent, lowest it has ever been for any build I've done.
• All cables are snugged in, triple-checked.
• No broken or bent pins.
• All drivers for motherboard for up to date from website.
• BIOS is updated to most recent update.
• MEMTEST, passed, no errors.
• Diagnostic Memory Test, passed, no errors.
• Chk Disk - both HDD's, no issues.
• Turned off all power saving options for full performance.  Although, I've never had any issues in the past running with a more ecco-friendly power option mode in windows and BIOS setups.  This would be odd, but I tried it anyways.
• Audio drivers are up to date.
• Onboard Audio and Video are disabled.
• LAN drivers up to date.
• While using Event Viewer, no errors or critical errors are showing up.  It's clean.
• Registry, defrag, spybot, malware, you name it.  I've done it.
• Tested with my other MSI motherboard and everything is stable, even with an overclock.  
• PSU checks out, doesn't cause freezing while tested with other motherboard and I've used my Corsair PSU on two different builds with no issues.  
• I've tried RAM at different timings, set manually, according to advertised speeds and voltage.  Even tried XMP profile.
• I've tried different video drivers for GTX 670.

I just need some experts here to solve this mystery.  Or maybe it's not much of a mystery, and it's just a faulty motherboard.  I'm already in the process of returning this motherboard and getting a new one.  In the meantime, Amazon.com has been awesome enough to already ship one right now as we speak.  I'll have the motherboard for one more night for more testing, even though I don't seem to have much more to test.  Maybe I left something out.  I'll be shipping this MOBO back tomorrow to Amazon.com

To be honest, I've never had a single issue overclocking my CPU.  I've even managed a stable E8500 @ 4.0GHz on a cheap ASRock board several years ago before ASRock was more popular.  

Sounds frustrating, but my new board is on the way and hopefully history doesn't repeat itself.  Maybe I should have avoided this board with over 100 one egg reviews on newegg.com but people seem to praise it especially for the budget price.  I figured I'd give it one more go and if the second board still causes issues, while i have no issues with my other MSI motherboard, it has to be ASRock extreme 4.

I'll go with Asus or Gigabyte if that happens.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I didn't see that you mentioned it, but I do have a bit of dyslexia, and that is a bit of text to go through.

But have you tried a BIOS update, or will that void the warranty for your return?

My mobo (which is on its 5 year now) and my gf's mobo are both ASUS, never had any real issues out of them, (and nothing a CMOS clear or jump won't fix)

With that many 1 egg reviews, that particular mobo you are using is probably one of those hit or miss on Defects and DOA. I would say if you are serious about your rig, go for something slightly better. 

I just recently built my sister's boyfriend a pc and his Gigabyte mobo was DOA, wouldn't even boot, we got another gigabyte mobo (last am3 in town, slightly different model) but once we installed it, it booted up first time no problem.

Same thing happened to me twice in the last month, I'm also curious. 

I didn't see that you mentioned it, but I do have a bit of dyslexia, and that is a bit of text to go through.

But have you tried a BIOS update, or will that void the warranty for your return?

My mobo (which is on its 5 year now) and my gf's mobo are both ASUS, never had any real issues out of them, (and nothing a CMOS clear or jump won't fix)

With that many 1 egg reviews, that particular mobo you are using is probably one of those hit or miss on Defects and DOA. I would say if you are serious about your rig, go for something slightly better. 

 

I just recently built my sister's boyfriend a pc and his Gigabyte mobo was DOA, wouldn't even boot, we got another gigabyte mobo (last am3 in town, slightly different model) but once we installed it, it booted up first time no problem.

Lach0121

Same thing happened to me twice in the last month, I'm also curious. 

seanmcloughlin

sounds like your idle voltage might be to low. what are you offset/turbo?darksusperia

I have overclocked it using offset and fixed modes, but right now I have it at Fixed Mode. I've prime95'ed different times with different voltages and Prime95 didn't crash. I've used stock voltage, 1.25, 1.265, 1.28, 1.30. Prime95 never crashed and computer never froze during those tests.

The random freezes have occurred during desktop use, web-surfing, listening to music, watching a video movie. For 4.2GHz, 1.3 is too low huh? That's weird because how am I suppose to know even if Prime95 comes out fine? Still freezes after successful Prime95 testing.  Hmmm.

I have turbo disabled.  

Had this happen on my old PC. For me, it was due to my GPU voltage being too low (I had it overclocked), but it doesn't sound like that's your problem.C_Rule

That's interesting because I have a GTX 670 signature 2 which is factory overclocked. It could be a faulty card after all... Will do more testing tonight with GTX 580, while leaving the computer on and see if it freezes up. Often times, it freezes up when the computer is idle too. Sometimes while I'm using it.

Usually, if I have an unstable CPU overclock, Prime95 will fail and stop.  Not this weird random freezes.  

[QUOTE="darksusperia"]sounds like your idle voltage might be to low. what are you offset/turbo?Elann2008

I have overclocked it using offset and fixed modes, but right now I have it at Fixed Mode. I've prime95'ed different times with different voltages and Prime95 didn't crash. I've used stock voltage, 1.25, 1.265, 1.28, 1.30. Prime95 never crashed and computer never froze during those tests.

The random freezes have occurred during desktop use, web-surfing, listening to music, watching a video movie. For 4.2GHz, 1.3 is too low huh? That's weird because how am I suppose to know even if Prime95 comes out fine? Still freezes after successful Prime95 testing.  Hmmm.

I have turbo disabled.  

Had this happen on my old PC. For me, it was due to my GPU voltage being too low (I had it overclocked), but it doesn't sound like that's your problem.C_Rule

That's interesting because I have a GTX 670 signature 2 which is factory overclocked. It could be a faulty card after all... Will do more testing tonight with GTX 580, while leaving the computer on and see if it freezes up. Often times, it freezes up when the computer is idle too. Sometimes while I'm using it.

Usually, if I have an unstable CPU overclock, Prime95 will fail and stop.  Not this weird random freezes.  

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

 

I have overclocked it using offset and fixed modes, but right now I have it at Fixed Mode. I've prime95'ed different times with different voltages and Prime95 didn't crash. I've used stock voltage, 1.25, 1.265, 1.28, 1.30. Prime95 never crashed and computer never froze during those tests.

The random freezes have occurred during desktop use, web-surfing, listening to music, watching a video movie. For 4.2GHz, 1.3 is too low huh? That's weird because how am I suppose to know even if Prime95 comes out fine? Still freezes after successful Prime95 testing.  Hmmm.

I have turbo disabled.  

[QUOTE="C_Rule"]Had this happen on my old PC. For me, it was due to my GPU voltage being too low (I had it overclocked), but it doesn't sound like that's your problem.darksusperia

That's interesting because I have a GTX 670 signature 2 which is factory overclocked. It could be a faulty card after all... Will do more testing tonight with GTX 580, while leaving the computer on and see if it freezes up. Often times, it freezes up when the computer is idle too. Sometimes while I'm using it.

Usually, if I have an unstable CPU overclock, Prime95 will fail and stop.  Not this weird random freezes.  

CPU Load Line Calibration is set to 1 at the moment. I've used all 1 through 5 and all passed Prime 95.

IGPU LLC - Auto

IGPU Voltage - Auto

Internal PLL Overvoltage - enabled

Do you see anything here that might cause instability?   I've looked at many guides and all of them have it set this way except for CPU LLC varies between 1-3.  

I get the spinning ball of death on all sorts of macs.

[QUOTE="darksusperia"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

That's interesting because I have a GTX 670 signature 2 which is factory overclocked. It could be a faulty card after all... Will do more testing tonight with GTX 580, while leaving the computer on and see if it freezes up. Often times, it freezes up when the computer is idle too. Sometimes while I'm using it.

Usually, if I have an unstable CPU overclock, Prime95 will fail and stop.  Not this weird random freezes.  

Elann2008

CPU Load Line Calibration is set to 1 at the moment. I've used all 1 through 5 and all passed Prime 95.

IGPU LLC - Auto

IGPU Voltage - Auto

Internal PLL Overvoltage - enabled

Do you see anything here that might cause instability?   I've looked at many guides and all of them have it set this way except for CPU LLC varies between 1-3.  

for offset generally LLC level 2 or 3 is best for ASRock boards. If you default your bios using the clear cmos button or F9 in BIOS to load Factory defaults, does the freezing go away?

Also when you updated the BIOS, did you load factory defaults again after it then reset up everything?

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

[QUOTE="darksusperia"] you dont have LLC enabled while itsset to a fixed do you?darksusperia

CPU Load Line Calibration is set to 1 at the moment. I've used all 1 through 5 and all passed Prime 95.

IGPU LLC - Auto

IGPU Voltage - Auto

Internal PLL Overvoltage - enabled

Do you see anything here that might cause instability?   I've looked at many guides and all of them have it set this way except for CPU LLC varies between 1-3.  

for offset generally LLC level 2 or 3 is best for ASRock boards. If you default your bios using the clear cmos button or F9 in BIOS to load Factory defaults, does the freezing go away?

Also when you updated the BIOS, did you load factory defaults again after it then reset up everything?

1. Yeah, I'm fixed mode with LLC at Level 1.
2. I haven't experienced any freezing on default settings which leaves me to believe something might be wrong with the motherboard's stability. I've used this CPU on my MSI mobo and overclocked with ease.  I find it hard to believe I've passed all Prime95 tests which leaves me to believe my OC settings should have been very stable.  
3. Yup. Before I even updated the BIOS, I loaded default factory settings then I updated the BIOS. Made sure to start everything fresh.

[QUOTE="darksusperia"]

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

CPU Load Line Calibration is set to 1 at the moment. I've used all 1 through 5 and all passed Prime 95.

IGPU LLC - Auto

IGPU Voltage - Auto

Internal PLL Overvoltage - enabled

 

Do you see anything here that might cause instability?   I've looked at many guides and all of them have it set this way except for CPU LLC varies between 1-3.  

Elann2008

for offset generally LLC level 2 or 3 is best for ASRock boards. If you default your bios using the clear cmos button or F9 in BIOS to load Factory defaults, does the freezing go away?

Also when you updated the BIOS, did you load factory defaults again after it then reset up everything?

1. Yeah, I'm fixed mode with LLC at Level 1.
2. I haven't experienced any freezing on default settings which leaves me to believe something might be wrong with the motherboard's stability. I've used this CPU on my MSI mobo and overclocked with ease.  I find it hard to believe I've passed all Prime95 tests which leaves me to believe my OC settings should have been very stable.  
3. Yup. Before I even updated the BIOS, I loaded default factory settings then I updated the BIOS. Made sure to start everything fresh.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

[QUOTE="darksusperia"] for fixed voltage it should be off (1).

for offset generally LLC level 2 or 3 is best for ASRock boards. If you default your bios using the clear cmos button or F9 in BIOS to load Factory defaults, does the freezing go away?

Also when you updated the BIOS, did you load factory defaults again after it then reset up everything?

darksusperia

1. Yeah, I'm fixed mode with LLC at Level 1.
2. I haven't experienced any freezing on default settings which leaves me to believe something might be wrong with the motherboard's stability. I've used this CPU on my MSI mobo and overclocked with ease.  I find it hard to believe I've passed all Prime95 tests which leaves me to believe my OC settings should have been very stable.  
3. Yup. Before I even updated the BIOS, I loaded default factory settings then I updated the BIOS. Made sure to start everything fresh.

[QUOTE="darksusperia"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

1. Yeah, I'm fixed mode with LLC at Level 1.
2. I haven't experienced any freezing on default settings which leaves me to believe something might be wrong with the motherboard's stability. I've used this CPU on my MSI mobo and overclocked with ease. I find it hard to believe I've passed all Prime95 tests which leaves me to believe my OC settings should have been very stable.
3. Yup. Before I even updated the BIOS, I loaded default factory settings then I updated the BIOS. Made sure to start everything fresh.

Elann2008

found something similar to your issue.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1264018/i7-2700k-4-5ghz-asrock-z77-extreme4-freezes-and-or-gives-bsod

try some of the suggestions.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="darksusperia"] but you didn't load the defaults after the update? sometimes things get stuck, don't update. also what C states do you have enabled?darksusperia

found something similar to your issue.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1264018/i7-2700k-4-5ghz-asrock-z77-extreme4-freezes-and-or-gives-bsod

try some of the suggestions.

Random crashes are often faulty ram, but you said you tried different ram, odd.

Try memtest anyway?

Random crashes are often faulty ram, but you said you tried different ram, odd.

Try memtest anyway?

kraken2109

Hey guys can I join the club?

2 BSODs today, one the day before last (23rd)

These are the messages:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

According to bluescreenview the offending files/processes are (driver on the left and address on the right):

cmudaxp.sys    cmudaxp.sys+1ab97
ntoskrnl.exe    ntoskrnl.exe+75c40
nvmf6264.sys    nvmf6264.sys+43b3

Could this have anything to do with my motherboard? (Made a thread a few weeks ago about it running hot, but it's seemed stable)

The second one today happened after 2 hours of CS:GO, so most hardware seems fine. I also played a fair bit of Far Cry 3 yesterday.

EDIT: Forgot to meantion I stuck all fans on max (like a jet engine) and motherboard temp didn't change. I'd say faulty sensor but the heatsink (think it's northbridge) did feel quite hot.

Hey guys can I join the club?

2 BSODs today, one the day before last (23rd)

These are the messages:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

According to bluescreenview the offending files/processes are (driver on the left and address on the right):

cmudaxp.sys    cmudaxp.sys+1ab97
ntoskrnl.exe    ntoskrnl.exe+75c40
nvmf6264.sys    nvmf6264.sys+43b3

Could this have anything to do with my motherboard? (Made a thread a few weeks ago about it running hot, but it's seemed stable)

The second one today happened after 2 hours of CS:GO, so most hardware seems fine. I also played a fair bit of Far Cry 3 yesterday.

kraken2109

Sounds like a video driver or Ethernet driver issue. I'd start with video driver. Do a driver sweeper, cleaning out any remaining old and current drivers and install latest drivers or use previous ones that never gave you any issues.

With my issue, I've went back changed some dram configurations and enabled the C-states as suggested by some other users on forums I've searched that has used fixed mode.  

I'm finally getting Blue Screens.  It's weird how I wanted to see them, in any normal circumstance I dread BSOD. hehe.  I've started a new overclock with 1.255v @ 4.2GHz.  Prime95 is running smooth so far.  I'll do some intel burn test afterwards.

[QUOTE="kraken2109"]

Hey guys can I join the club?

2 BSODs today, one the day before last (23rd)

These are the messages:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

According to bluescreenview the offending files/processes are (driver on the left and address on the right):

cmudaxp.sys    cmudaxp.sys+1ab97
ntoskrnl.exe    ntoskrnl.exe+75c40
nvmf6264.sys    nvmf6264.sys+43b3

Could this have anything to do with my motherboard? (Made a thread a few weeks ago about it running hot, but it's seemed stable)

The second one today happened after 2 hours of CS:GO, so most hardware seems fine. I also played a fair bit of Far Cry 3 yesterday.

Elann2008

Sounds like a video driver or Ethernet driver issue. I'd start with video driver. Do a driver sweeper, cleaning out any remaining old and current drivers and install latest drivers or use previous ones that never gave you any issues.

With my issue, I've went back changed some dram configurations and enabled the C-states as suggested by some other users on forums I've searched that has used fixed mode.  

I'm finally getting Blue Screens.  It's weird how I wanted to see them, in any normal circumstance I dread BSOD. hehe.  I've started a new overclock with 1.255v @ 4.2GHz.  Prime95 is running smooth so far.  I'll do some intel burn test afterwards.

EDIT: According to nvidia control panel there are some more drivers (nforce) that should be updated. But looking at the site, it doesn't list the 720D chipset which my motherboard is.

^ Try chkdsk. Could be a corrupted file.Elann2008

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]^ Try chkdsk. Could be a corrupted file.kraken2109

reinstall windows

I'm finally getting Blue Screens.  It's weird how I wanted to see them, in any normal circumstance I dread BSOD. hehe.  I've started a new overclock with 1.255v @ 4.2GHz.  Prime95 is running smooth so far.  I'll do some intel burn test afterwards.

Elann2008

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

I'm finally getting Blue Screens.  It's weird how I wanted to see them, in any normal circumstance I dread BSOD. hehe.  I've started a new overclock with 1.255v @ 4.2GHz.  Prime95 is running smooth so far.  I'll do some intel burn test afterwards.

darksusperia

[QUOTE="darksusperia"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

I'm finally getting Blue Screens.  It's weird how I wanted to see them, in any normal circumstance I dread BSOD. hehe.  I've started a new overclock with 1.255v @ 4.2GHz.  Prime95 is running smooth so far.  I'll do some intel burn test afterwards.

Elann2008

not sure if your using a pci or pci-e soundcard, or what other pci-pci-e cards your using, but i would take them all out

And take out every usb device other then the mouse and keyboard.

Obviously put your cpu at its default settings and don't overclock it and see if that stops the freezes.

I would suggest trying another powersupply if you had a spare one around.

Maybe clone ur operating system (for backup) and do a fresh test install on a blank hard drive to see if that changes anything. 

While on the subject of hard drives, try to take them all out except the one u need for windows.... and if possible clone it to another hard drive and see if that hard drive helps... failing hard drives can freeze up pcs.  I had a 10000rpm raptor that was beginning to fail and would cause the pc to stop responding for long periods of time, then eventually failed... it was my operating system hard drive at the time.

Also plug ur hard drive into a different SATA port.... i had an Asus P8P67 motherboard last year that had 4 buggy SATA ports which made my hard drives act crazy and cause freezes also in windows.

I have had problems similar to that with my Asrock mobo, it just seems to work it selve out over time 

So if it was my motherboard, I could buy a nice AM3+ board and 8GB DDR3 ram for £140...

Problem is if I was gonna start doing big upgrades I'd want to go intel, so it would be £320 for 3570k, mobo, 8GB DDR3.

And I was gonna upgrade my graphics card soon... I don't really want to spend £500 right now :(

So if it was my motherboard, I could buy a nice AM3+ board and 8GB DDR3 ram for £140...

Problem is if I was gonna start doing big upgrades I'd want to go intel, so it would be £320 for 3570k, mobo, 8GB DDR3.

And I was gonna upgrade my graphics card soon... I don't really want to spend £500 right now :(

kraken2109

[QUOTE="kraken2109"]

So if it was my motherboard, I could buy a nice AM3+ board and 8GB DDR3 ram for £140...

Problem is if I was gonna start doing big upgrades I'd want to go intel, so it would be £320 for 3570k, mobo, 8GB DDR3.

And I was gonna upgrade my graphics card soon... I don't really want to spend £500 right now :(

Elann2008

[QUOTE="kraken2109"]

So if it was my motherboard, I could buy a nice AM3+ board and 8GB DDR3 ram for £140...

Problem is if I was gonna start doing big upgrades I'd want to go intel, so it would be £320 for 3570k, mobo, 8GB DDR3.

And I was gonna upgrade my graphics card soon... I don't really want to spend £500 right now :(

Elann2008

^ just crashed on desktop 10 minutes ago lol.. changed to LLC level 1, disabled CPU throttling. Testing as we speak.. lets see what happens. I even played BF3 with Prime95 running haha. :P

After these changes:

Ran Intel Burn Test: Maximum stress level, 20 passes, success.  Now on to Prime95 for at least 8 hours while I sleep. 

It hasn't changed since I changed audio output, how annoying.

Guess I just buy a new GPU at some point and use HDMI to my reciever, hopefully it won't introduce input lag. Maybe I can just use HDMI for audio and continue using DVI for video?

If you're going to oc, just skip the inexpensive mb's and get a good one. Cheap mb and oc'ing is just a real pain.  When oc'ing you  get what you pay for..go budget an you may just end up living in hell.

If you're going to oc, just skip the inexpensive mb's and get a good one. Cheap mb and oc'ing is just a real pain.  When oc'ing you  get what you pay for..go budget an you may just end up living in hell.

--Anna--

[QUOTE="--Anna--"]

If you're going to oc, just skip the inexpensive mb's and get a good one. Cheap mb and oc'ing is just a real pain.  When oc'ing you  get what you pay for..go budget an you may just end up living in hell.

Elann2008

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="--Anna--"]

If you're going to oc, just skip the inexpensive mb's and get a good one. Cheap mb and oc'ing is just a real pain.  When oc'ing you  get what you pay for..go budget an you may just end up living in hell.

--Anna--

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="--Anna--"]

If you're going to oc, just skip the inexpensive mb's and get a good one. Cheap mb and oc'ing is just a real pain.  When oc'ing you  get what you pay for..go budget an you may just end up living in hell.

--Anna--

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

[QUOTE="--Anna--"]

[QUOTE="Elann2008"] In general, that's true. But I've OC'ed with ease with a cheap Asrock mobo several years ago lol. It was crazy of me to buy it but it worked out. Yeah, I normally go with Asus, or if I must, Gigabyte. Turns out this Asrock Mobo is pretty good. There's just so many things you could tweak to find the right balance for stability. Passed all my intel burn tests, and Prime 95 on large and small FFTs, also blend. It's 100% stable now after changing the LLC and thermal throttling. There must have been vdroop.Marfoo

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

[QUOTE="--Anna--"]

[QUOTE="Elann2008"] In general, that's true. But I've OC'ed with ease with a cheap Asrock mobo several years ago lol. It was crazy of me to buy it but it worked out. Yeah, I normally go with Asus, or if I must, Gigabyte. Turns out this Asrock Mobo is pretty good. There's just so many things you could tweak to find the right balance for stability. Passed all my intel burn tests, and Prime 95 on large and small FFTs, also blend. It's 100% stable now after changing the LLC and thermal throttling. There must have been vdroop.Elann2008

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="--Anna--"]

I'm not trying to be mean...just reailist...but whatever make you happy. Good Luck and Cheers.

darksusperia