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Hayamaneko · 2013-10-26, 12:24

I have been having an issue for over two months now where my computer completely freezes for no apparent reason and without any kind of error message or indication of why it froze showing up on the event log. For a time rolling back the nvidia drivers to 314.22 fixed the issue but it no longer works. I once found that removing the card (460 GTX) and using an older Nvidia card stopped the freezing from occurring so I recently decided to upgrade to a Gigabyte 660 GTX, but the freezing continued. Now I have reason to believe that the problem might be the Physx drivers, though I am not 100% certain yet. I have removed all Physx drivers for now and will wait and see if something happens

If the PhysX drivers are indeed the culprit; how would I get around playing PC games that require the use of it? The only game I currently have that is dependent on it is Metro 2033 as it automatically installs the drivers if none are currently installed.

If the system continues to freeze then what can I do to figure out why my computer is freezing?

PC Specs:
ASUS P8B75-V motherboard
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz CPU
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 x1 RAM
GIGABYTE GV-N660OC-2GD GeForce GTX 660
BFG Tech BFGR650PSU 650W PSU
3 hard drives whose exact names I cannot remember

-KarumA- · 2013-10-26, 16:41

Have you recently updated your drivers or when rolling back to the older versions only used the uninstall in the add/remove programs window?
If so try uninstalling, running CCleaner and then try the latest drivers (non beta).

Hayamaneko · 2013-10-26, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

Have you recently updated your drivers or when rolling back to the older versions only used the uninstall in the add/remove programs window?
If so try uninstalling, running CCleaner and then try the latest drivers (non beta).

I've completely removed the Nvidia drivers using drive sweeper and then reinstalled the drivers. I done this process with the most recent non-beta build and and rolled it back again to 314.22. I've also tried updating the Motherboard BIOS before installing the drivers but the problem persist

Dextro · 2013-10-28, 16:22

Have you checked the Windows Event Log to see if there's any system errors logged at the time of the freezes?

Hayamaneko · 2013-10-28, 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dextro

Have you checked the Windows Event Log to see if there's any system errors logged at the time of the freezes?

I mentioned in the OP that nothing was showing up in the event log

Flower · 2013-10-28, 22:58

You wouldn't happen to have another desktop at your disposal that could take the video card, do you? Maybe it could help narrow down possible general areas of the problem?

Hayamaneko · 2013-10-31, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower

You wouldn't happen to have another desktop at your disposal that could take the video card, do you? Maybe it could help narrow down possible general areas of the problem?

It's not the video card. I was having the exact same problem with my 460 GTX before I upgraded to a 660 a few weeks ago. And no I don't have another PC to use for testing

Is it possible I am not looking in the right place in the event log for error messages? I don't see anything in the admin event section and I have no blue screen files to check

Hayamaneko · 2013-11-06, 22:12

This is still happening. It is much less frequent but It still happens once every few days and I don't have any clue how to diagnose it as no blue screen, error message or error shows up in the event log at the approximate time that it does happen. I have noticed that once my computer goes into sleep mode for a long period of time that it occasional stays that way and the screen, after going dark, does not wake up from sleep mode regardless what I do.

But again still no clue how to diagnose this, whether its a hardware or software issue is still a mystery

Tiberium Wolf · 2013-11-07, 01:33

Try to do a clean OS install and the just install the min possible and see if it still happens.

Hayamaneko · 2013-11-20, 01:12

Was finally able to get around to testing both my PSU's with a millimeter. Both PSU's, including the one that upon replacing got rid of the restart issue; seem to have the proper voltages and be in good working order (that is unless I did it wrong). Anyway I have no idea what I can do to figure out the problem. I could try reinstalling windows but this problem has been off and on again for the past few months during which I have already reinstalled windows 7 at least once

Tiberium Wolf · 2013-11-20, 14:05

You might have reinstalled but you might has reinstalled some driver that might make that situation to happen. Try to get work with minimum things possible to rule out hardware. Installing things slowly.

BTW, I noticed you didn't talk about the memory. Most of the freezes situations I got with no logs are from faulty memory. Did you check them by testing with others modules or if you have 2 module just use 1 instead.

Hayamaneko · 2013-11-20, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

BTW, I noticed you didn't talk about the memory. Most of the freezes situations I got with no logs are from faulty memory. Did you check them by testing with others modules or if you have 2 module just use 1 instead.

I've run memtest for about 10 hours with no errors found. I have no other memory sticks at the frequency compatible with my motherboard so I cannot test to see if the memory is faulty

4Tran · 2013-11-21, 00:42

This is one of those problems that are just a pain in the neck to isolate. My first assumption is that it's a hardware problem. Make sure that, at the very least, your mainboard is updated to the latest BIOS, and that you try a couple of different (older) video card drivers. You should also reset your mainboard CMOS settings to optimal or the safe mode.

If you have the time and patience, make sure that your problem doesn't originate with your software. To do that, you'll have to do a fresh install, load with just bare drivers and minimal software. You'll want to make sure that you have the mainboard chipset and IRST drivers installed. If the problem still manifests, check what you were doing when it happened - was the system running a game or some other heavy load, or was it just doing normal tasks like playing a movie or browsing the internet?

If you want to skip that step, I think that the likely causes of the freezing are, in order:

Mainboard
Power supply
RAM
Video card
Hard drive
.
.
.
CPU

Unfortunately, there's no reliable way to test a lot of the quirky mainboard problems other than to update the BIOS and hope that that fixes the issue. Otherwise, the simplest thing to do (if you have the parts) is to try out your system with a different mainboard.

The same goes for most of the other parts. The exceptions are the RAM and hard drives. If you've ran Memtest, then it's safe to assume that it's not the cause of your problem. You can find testing utilities from your hard drive manufacturer(s) and test those as well. If you're not sure about what you're doing, you might want to take your computer into a computer repair shop - make sure to ask about prices first though.

2013-10-26, 12:24	Link #1
Hayamaneko cat boy? Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: at your house, raiding your fridge Age: 40	PhysX causing random system freezes(?) I have been having an issue for over two months now where my computer completely freezes for no apparent reason and without any kind of error message or indication of why it froze showing up on the event log. For a time rolling back the nvidia drivers to 314.22 fixed the issue but it no longer works. I once found that removing the card (460 GTX) and using an older Nvidia card stopped the freezing from occurring so I recently decided to upgrade to a Gigabyte 660 GTX, but the freezing continued. Now I have reason to believe that the problem might be the Physx drivers, though I am not 100% certain yet. I have removed all Physx drivers for now and will wait and see if something happens If the PhysX drivers are indeed the culprit; how would I get around playing PC games that require the use of it? The only game I currently have that is dependent on it is Metro 2033 as it automatically installs the drivers if none are currently installed. If the system continues to freeze then what can I do to figure out why my computer is freezing? PC Specs: ASUS P8B75-V motherboard Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz CPU Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 x1 RAM GIGABYTE GV-N660OC-2GD GeForce GTX 660 BFG Tech BFGR650PSU 650W PSU 3 hard drives whose exact names I cannot remember __________________

2013-10-28, 16:22	Link #4
Dextro He Without a Title Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: The land of tempura	Have you checked the Windows Event Log to see if there's any system errors logged at the time of the freezes? __________________

2013-10-28, 22:58	Link #6
Flower Blooming on the mountain Join Date: May 2010 Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....	You wouldn't happen to have another desktop at your disposal that could take the video card, do you? Maybe it could help narrow down possible general areas of the problem? __________________

2013-11-06, 22:12	Link #8
Hayamaneko cat boy? Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: at your house, raiding your fridge Age: 40	This is still happening. It is much less frequent but It still happens once every few days and I don't have any clue how to diagnose it as no blue screen, error message or error shows up in the event log at the approximate time that it does happen. I have noticed that once my computer goes into sleep mode for a long period of time that it occasional stays that way and the screen, after going dark, does not wake up from sleep mode regardless what I do. But again still no clue how to diagnose this, whether its a hardware or software issue is still a mystery __________________

2013-11-07, 01:33	Link #9
Tiberium Wolf Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Age: 44	Try to do a clean OS install and the just install the min possible and see if it still happens. __________________

2013-10-26, 16:41	Link #2
-KarumA- (｡☉౪ ⊙｡) Author Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes Age: 36	Have you recently updated your drivers or when rolling back to the older versions only used the uninstall in the add/remove programs window? If so try uninstalling, running CCleaner and then try the latest drivers (non beta).

2013-11-20, 01:12	Link #10
Hayamaneko cat boy? Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: at your house, raiding your fridge Age: 40	Was finally able to get around to testing both my PSU's with a millimeter. Both PSU's, including the one that upon replacing got rid of the restart issue; seem to have the proper voltages and be in good working order (that is unless I did it wrong). Anyway I have no idea what I can do to figure out the problem. I could try reinstalling windows but this problem has been off and on again for the past few months during which I have already reinstalled windows 7 at least once __________________

2013-11-20, 14:05	Link #11
Tiberium Wolf Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Age: 44	You might have reinstalled but you might has reinstalled some driver that might make that situation to happen. Try to get work with minimum things possible to rule out hardware. Installing things slowly. BTW, I noticed you didn't talk about the memory. Most of the freezes situations I got with no logs are from faulty memory. Did you check them by testing with others modules or if you have 2 module just use 1 instead. __________________ Last edited by Tiberium Wolf; 2013-11-20 at 14:16.

2013-11-21, 00:42	Link #13
4Tran Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005	This is one of those problems that are just a pain in the neck to isolate. My first assumption is that it's a hardware problem. Make sure that, at the very least, your mainboard is updated to the latest BIOS, and that you try a couple of different (older) video card drivers. You should also reset your mainboard CMOS settings to optimal or the safe mode. If you have the time and patience, make sure that your problem doesn't originate with your software. To do that, you'll have to do a fresh install, load with just bare drivers and minimal software. You'll want to make sure that you have the mainboard chipset and IRST drivers installed. If the problem still manifests, check what you were doing when it happened - was the system running a game or some other heavy load, or was it just doing normal tasks like playing a movie or browsing the internet? If you want to skip that step, I think that the likely causes of the freezing are, in order: Mainboard Power supply RAM Video card Hard drive . . . CPU Unfortunately, there's no reliable way to test a lot of the quirky mainboard problems other than to update the BIOS and hope that that fixes the issue. Otherwise, the simplest thing to do (if you have the parts) is to try out your system with a different mainboard. The same goes for most of the other parts. The exceptions are the RAM and hard drives. If you've ran Memtest, then it's safe to assume that it's not the cause of your problem. You can find testing utilities from your hard drive manufacturer(s) and test those as well. If you're not sure about what you're doing, you might want to take your computer into a computer repair shop - make sure to ask about prices first though. __________________ The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won...