Computer boots, monitor goes to power save, computer freezes - what happened?

Inf^Shini

Inf^Shini

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So my problem started while playing some CS:Source, it was annoying as the game would freeze about 10-15 seconds at a random time then I would be able to resume play normally.

Then it started to freeze, monitor would go to power save mode, and the computer just froze completely (keyboard CAPS Lock light wouldn't toggle off/on) and I could hear the hard drive get louder and start "whirring" for some odd reason.

The problem would occur about 30 minutes after boot up, then would occur 5-10 minutes after rebooting, then it just started happening without having to start up a game, and now it just happens right after I boot up the computer, and if I'm lucky, I can get to the log in screen right before it konks out.

I had been meaning to clear some room on my HD and do a defrag, scandisk, thourough virus scan and whatnot but I never got around to it so I'm wondering if that might be part of the cause :/

It's been running pretty well for about 2-3 years now, switched out the PSU about 1-2 years ago to a Silverstone 600W, swapped my 7900GT for a 7950GT through warranty, and my RAM has always been good to me.
The one question mark I really have is my motherboard, it's a DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lan Board, although the only noticeable problem is some of the USB ports stopped functioning.

Anyone know something about this kind of problem?:/
 
You could be overheating, make sure your fans aren't so clogged with dust that they can't move. Get the dust off the CPU heatsink and video card as well, really get in there and clean off everything. Once you're system has booted, check your CPU temperature.

If that doesn't help, it could be a hardware problem, and you'll have to start the process of elimination. To rule out any software issues, try booting from a CD and see if the system stays on. If not, you might need to start swapping out components and either replacing them with known good components or testing them in a known good system.

A flaw in Nvidia graphics cards has made the news lately, and it could be source of these symptoms, but I had thought it only affected the 8xxx series.
 
Thanks for the quick response, I'll crack it open tonight and check it out. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

[quote name='dafoomie']A flaw in Nvidia graphics cards has made the news lately, and it could be source of these symptoms, but I had thought it only affected the 8xxx series.[/quote]
Really? I haven't heard about that. I did have to send in my 7900GT because it started overheating for no apparent reason and started acting up.
 
You can actually hear the hard drive whirring? That'd be the first place I'd start -- if you've got a spare HDD laying around, see if you can boot from that. I know mine started getting loud, and the system started lagging and applications would hang. I replaced the drive and now we're up and running with no issues.
 
Sounds like either the hard drive or video card is crapping out. See if you can boot into safe mode (press F8 while computer is booting), if you can get into safe mode then run chkdsk. If you have a spare video card lying around, install it and see if the problem goes away....if not, then that rules out the video card causing a problem.
 
Well I went to go clean it out and it was loaded with dust, just a nasty amount. Hooked it back up feeling good, booted up, logged in, was just about to post in this thread when the monitor went into power save mode again and the computer froze about 5-10 seconds after >.>

One thing I did notice is that the HDD Busy light stayed on the whole time, it whirred, then died down but the light still stayed on. The Video Card fan kept going at 100% as well.

So I bummed...I'm figuring it might be between the Video Card and HDD as well :/
 
Try booting from a CD or USB stick with the hard drive disconnected.

Would you say it lasted longer than before now that you've cleaned the dust out?
 
Don't rule out bad RAM. download and run memtest... is free http://www.memtest.org/
Test the ram on another computer. Also, be sure the heat sink on the processer is seated properly. It might also be a good chance to apply a fresh squeeze of artic silver. Hope that helps infshini
 
[quote name='dafoomie']Try booting from a CD or USB stick with the hard drive disconnected.

Would you say it lasted longer than before now that you've cleaned the dust out?[/quote]
When I cleaned it out, it lasted about 10 seconds longer, then the monitor went into power save but the video card fan keeps going. That was actually the last time it ever booted up correctly.

Now when I start it, it's on for about 5 seconds before I get a long beep.

I've ruled out the HDD and Video Card, I've tested the RAM and that's fine as well, my CD-Rom drives are fine and so is my floppy.

I fear my CPU might be done for but I've also read that the battery on the board might have died and therefore the CMOS settings would be lost, however they pointed out that it should just resort to default settings and still be able to boot up, but I have no clue about that.

So basically, when I start up my comp now, there is power to all components but there is no signal going to my monitor, after about 5-7 seconds there is one long beep, however my RAM is fine.

I'm completely stumped and am a little worried it might be my CPU. I'm just glad it's not my HDD, I have a lot of important stuff on there -_-
 
[quote name='dafoomie']How did you rule out the other components? Did you test them in another system?[/quote]
I didn't mean to put the Video Card in the list of tested components.

I tested the rest of them except my CPU which all came out fine. The Video Card I have is an EVGA 7950 GT which looks like a refurb; they sent it to me after sending in my old 7800GT for Warranty

I listened closely to the beeps this time and it sounds like one long beep and two short beeps, and after looking up what that indicates (My Mobo runs Award BIOS), it says:
Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information
Click to expand...
So I'm assuming it's the Video Card that crapped out again, so along with sending this one in for Warranty again, I'm debating about picking up a more recent Video Card as well, so what would you recommend?

On the beeps, do they usually come in quick succession or is there a short pause between each beep?
 
[quote name='Inf^Shini']I didn't mean to put the Video Card in the list of tested components.

I tested the rest of them except my CPU which all came out fine. The Video Card I have is an EVGA 7950 GT which looks like a refurb; they sent it to me after sending in my old 7800GT for Warranty

I listened closely to the beeps this time and it sounds like one long beep and two short beeps, and after looking up what that indicates (My Mobo runs Award BIOS), it says:

So I'm assuming it's the Video Card that crapped out again, so along with sending this one in for Warranty again, I'm debating about picking up a more recent Video Card as well, so what would you recommend?

On the beeps, do they usually come in quick succession or is there a short pause between each beep?[/QUOTE]
The beeps vary. I suspected the video card all along. Be certain before you buy anything though, make sure the warranty replacement works before you decide to upgrade, just in case you need that cash to fix something else.

As for a new card, just check slickdeals and fatwallet and buy the best card in your price range. Obviously I would avoid any models affected by this Nvidia manufacturing flaw.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']The beeps vary. I suspected the video card all along. Be certain before you buy anything though, make sure the warranty replacement works before you decide to upgrade, just in case you need that cash to fix something else.

As for a new card, just check slickdeals and fatwallet and buy the best card in your price range. Obviously I would avoid any models affected by this Nvidia manufacturing flaw.[/quote]
Yea, I'm just glad nothing happened to my HDD.

EVGA has a lifetime warranty on their Video Cards so I'm safe there, I'm just figuring I'll be sent another card that will last for a moderate period of time then conk out again but I'm also interested in newer models.

Has there been any bad news about the Nvidia 9000 series? I was eyeing a 9800 GT but I have yet to do more research. I got a $120-200 price range that I can work with but I'll probably change my CPU sometime soon so I gotta save for that as well.
 
Ok, I got the replacement card, I went from a 7950GT to an 8800GT o_O, so that's cool.

However, everything looks fine but it's running slooooowww. It's blatant just scrolling up and down a page, and I have no idea what's going on. I did reset the CMOS data to default because I had no idea what was wrong at the time, plus I decided to hook up the SATA HDD I bought as well.

I left my other HDD as the primary and this one was tacked on, but have not set it to a slave or w/e (really have no idea), but it's just annoying now, I thought I had the problem solved, but now I got something else wrong :/

On a side note, the fan on the replacement card also has a fan problem, it squeaks like it's loose or scraping something, so I'mma have to crack it open and see if I can fix that too.
 
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