System freezes after 5 or so minutes, then blue screens

[chandra.hp]

Hello,

I've been visiting Anandtech for many years now but I'm a new member here and this is my first post. I'm having some computer issues and I've been unable to isolate the cause of these problems. So far I'm inclined to believe it's a hardware problem and not a software/OS problem.

My Hardware Configuration:

CPU : Intel Q6600 quad core; stock (no OC) with a large Sunbeam cooler similar to this.
Motherboard : Asus P5QL-E
RAM : OCZ 2GB x 2 (4GB total)
Videocard : PNY 8800GT; stock (no OC)
Soundcard: None, using mobo sound
CD drive : Lite-On DVD reader/writer
Hard disk drives : 1 Hitachi 200GB, 1 Seagate 600 GB or something around there
Operating System : Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit

Description of problem:

So just two days ago I was browsing the web. I was following a link to a YouTube video when all of a sudden my computer freezes. My first reaction was no big deal. Just reboot and everything will be fine. So I hit the reset button. Computer winds down and starts to reboot. Great everything is normal. Nope. It got to the "Starting Windows" screen and then after about 10 seconds the screen goes blank. I waited and waited hoping the log-in screen would appear. After waiting OVER 10 minutes the computer just decides to BSoD and reboot by itself.

Now something is different. The ASUS splash screen that comes up before the system post was not clean. It had artifacts all over. And then when it finally got to the post screen there were dollar signs and random letters all over the screen. Despite all this it still gets to the "Starting Windows" screen. But after that it just goes blank for 10-15 minutes followed by BSoD and reboot. And repeat.

I then took the action to flash the bios to the latest version. I thought that fixed it, but nope. Still the same symptoms. I tried running the Windows Repair and performed numerous restores several weeks old. Still the same thing. That leads me to believe that it's not a OS or software issue.

So then I leave my computer alone. Come back to it the next day and it starts up perfectly. I was back online and could do everything. But that only lasted for 10 minutes and it froze again and the same symptoms reappeared. This made me think that my computer might be overheating. So I let the system stay off for several hours. I start it up and everything is normal. I launch Speccy to monitor the system temperatures. I loaded up YouTube and played a video. Everything was normal. And then it crashed again. Here were the temperatures at the time of this crash:

CPU : 34C
Videocard : 69C
HDD1 : 26C
HDD2 : 28C

Despite this I open up my computer and break out the compressed air can along with a vacuum. Cleared up almost all the dust and link inside. Fired it up again, and it crashes again the same way. I also ran chkdsk. Nothing.

Now here is the kicker. I can boot up in safe mode just fine! I've posting this from the dysfunctional computer! It's been operating just fine in SafeMode for almost 1 hour. That leads me to believe it's possibly my videocard. That or the motherboard is going bad because I keep seeing weird things before and during system post.

HELP!

TL;DR version:
System freezes, goes to BSoD and then reboots and then repeats.
Get weird artifacts and characters all over the screen while booting up.
Tried Windows Repair and System Restore. No difference.
Tried chkdsk. Nothing
Flashed the BIOS several times. Did not fix.
Temperatures of CPU and Videocard are normal at the time of crash. But still cleaned out the interior of the CPU for dust and link. No progress.
System boots up in SafeMode and can stay on (unfrozen). Posting this from the broken computer.

 

[Motorheader]

From what you describe I would look at video card. Do you have a spare one around?

 

[chandra.hp]

No I do not have a spare video card. Any suggestions? Should I try to find something for ten bucks on Craigslist?

 

[Motorheader]

That idle temp is pretty high. I know some cards can go comfortably beyond that, but with a 3+ year old card it may very well have succumb to high heat.

A $10-$20 card to have as a spare and test for just such issues would not be a waste of money.

 

[BoomerD]

The nVidia 8800 was known for having poor solder joints. I'm not saying that's the problem...but lots of people had similar issues with theirs.

If you google "8800 oven trick" you'll find what many people have done with theirs...with mixed success.
Try it at your own risk. It works for some...not for other.

do you have the BSOD crash dumps?

 

[volcane]

This occasional freezing happened to my old AMD X2 system. I went through the same troubleshooting steps - reformatting, reintsalling - and still it froze.

Then I checked my motherboard. One of the capacitors exploded.

Try doing a physical check of your motherboard and graphics card to see if anything is amiss.

 

[john3850]

Had the same problem with 7900,7950 and recently 6year old 8800gtx the cards were only used to run off new pc and spares. [out of spares]
Believe the 8800 defaulted to 30% fan speed which caused more heat.
Videocard : 69C idle most have dirty hsf or no fan but the damage is done.
strip and cook 20 min as the last resort.

 

[KingerXI]

1. Download the newest drivers from Nvidia.

2. If you know what you are doing, take off the video card's fan shroud, remove the thermal paste, and apply some good stuff to get the temps down. See if that helps.

3. Download memtest and check your ram.

4. If that doesn't work... I just bought a used 9500GT off Ebay for $24 delivered. Get a 2nd card to test it.

Good luck.

 

[PowerYoga]

Had the same issue before, turned out the 8800 was broken. After I got a new card I baked the broken 8800 and it magically fixed itself. Overall I'd recommend testing with a different card and get a replacement, baking old card optional.

 

[Insomnihacks]

I had that exact same problem with my Core 2 Duo system. It turned out to be a faulty GPU (PNY GeForce 9600GT).

 

[chandra.hp]

Well... it looks like the consensus falls on the video card being the culprit. I was really hoping to scoop up this deal upon this finding but it was already out of stock at that point.

I'll be on the look out for similar deals of similar cards over the next few weeks. That me to is better than getting a spare card since it would only cost $30-40 more for the card, and if the 8800gt can be fixed via the oven then that will become my spare card.

Any recommended AMD video cards that compete with the GTS 450? And the GTX 460?

 

[Ketchup]

I would go nVidia unless you want to play with driver issues. I haven't had any issues (in another build) with their latest series of cards.

 

[PowerYoga]

Never had issues with the latest set of ATI drivers. The days where ATI had inferior drivers is pretty much gone. I actually heard more complaints about Nvidia driver issues in the last gen.

 

[JEDIYoda]

2. If you know what you are doing, take off the video card's fan shroud, remove the thermal paste, and apply some good stuff to get the temps down. See if that helps.

Wow..just wow...the BS is strong in this one.......keep guessing....in this case ignoring advice is good advice!!

 

[Matt1970]

Artifacts it typicly bad video ram.

 

[MobiusPizza]

sounds like GPU to me.

 

[chandra.hp]

Question folks... what is typically the most reliable brand when it comes to video cards? I don't care for overclocking and I don't see myself ever doing it. I want long lasting stability and reliability.

Is it Asus? PNY? Power Color?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[BoomerD]

In my experience...buy EVGA for nVidia, XFX for ATI/AMD cards.

Yes, there are cheaper brands available...but I prefer a company who stands behind their products, and IME, both of those have done so.