I'm thinking it's the processor.

RAMWolff

New Member
Messages
41
Location
RWC, CA USA
Hi,

After posting in another forum thinking I had an issue with my external hard drive causing system freezes I'm beginning to think it's now my processor. I ran some pretty big utilities yesterday before work, one that Microsoft installed on my system when they were helping me out of my 8.1 bad install (which corrupted my video drivers and killed Explorer totally causing me to do a refresh).

So thinking I was out of hot water and getting all of my needed apps installed I thought OK, bad times behind me. All of a sudden out of the blue I start getting system freezes. Started to eliminate possibilities one by one and since I've had such a bad time with external backup drives, from Seagate, THREE to be exact in the past year I thought "OH NO, here we go again" so I unplugged the drive and it seemed better for a while. Then I came from the shower yesterday morning and found my system frozen again and so it was back to square one trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

So I re-ran the utility that MS installed on my system called Windows Repair, All In One from Tweaking.com and ran Malwarebytes too since that's one of the programs Tweaking recommended. I set it up to turn the system off when it was all done since I had to leave for work. Came home and booted up and seemed fine. But this AM when I booted up I started running some more diagnostics to see if it's all good finally. Ran CPUID CPU-Z program and guess what... system totally froze over when it hit getting info from the processors. Hitting the Reset button to force a reboot and tried two more times and the same thing.

So this system is only about 4 months old, delivered in July from CyberPower out of San Jose. They specialize in gaming computers but I'm a graphics artist so like to buy from them since they give me the processing power I need.

My specs should be there to look over as I filled out most of it for my system. Can someone please help me here???

Thanks

Richard
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
I did find out something interesting. The CPUID programs: CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting that I love and rely on have been reported to cause system freeze ups for Windows 8 and 8.1 users. I attempted to uninstall them both in regular mode but froze the computer up so went into Safe Mode and did it there. Wondering if those programs were running in the background and helped to cause the freeze ups?

Apparently there are updates to the programs but need to check into that a bit more before putting myself through that again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
Try the CPU stress tests listed at the end of this page: Hardware Diagnostics

Incompatible software can cause numerous problems with your system. I would suggest:
- removing any program that you have not personally verified as Win8/8.1 compatible
- updating ALL drivers to the latest, Win8/8.1 compatible version. If there aren't Win8/8.1 versions, you'll have to wonder if these dievices are incompatible
- ensure that you have ALL Windows Updates for your system (with the exception of the Bing stuff).
- ensure that the system BIOS/UEFI is the latest availble version and that it's compatible with Win8/8.1
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Thanks so much for the reply. I'll for sure give those diagnostics a go.

Since removing those 3 programs yesterday, via Safe Mode, I've not had one freeze. *fingers crossed*

MOST of the software I have on the system is deemed compatible with Windows 7 up as stated on many of the sites I checked out. Drivers are all up to date, I checked that out immediately when all this hit. Even updated my NVIDIA drivers. Usually I hold off on that because allot of the times the NVIDIA drivers do weird things when installing but this last update was stellar so perhaps NVIDIA worked out those pesky bugs.

PS, to whomever designed this website, THANKS for the dark theme, it's so nice and easy on my eyes! :geek:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
CPU tested solid. So that's good. Heard back from CyberPower and they sent me a list of diagnostics and tips to test my system. I've included that list here just in case anyone else wants or needs them.

Memtest86:

Memtest86 was created in 1994. Memtest86 uses two algorithms to try and test the RAMs ability to read and write patterns without data corruption or errors occurring between the memory cells. As stated by the creator of Memtest86, while it is impractical to try and test this problem with an exact algorithm, because that would require exact specific knowledge of the memory cells, the algorithms he has created are a reasonable approximation. Not all memory is created equal or with the same design layout, so the possibly of creating the perfect test is pretty much impossible. Memtest86 can find problems with memory that other programs such as Intel Burn Test and Prime95 cannot find.

Download: Memtest86 USB.zip (1.1 MB) - http://goo.gl/aU2Z43
Download: Memtest86 CD.zip (532 KB) - http://goo.gl/E3zAJS
How To:

Note(s): These steps are for the USB Flash Drive version of the application as this is the method recommended and how the majority of people will use this application. The CD version instead requires you to use an application that can burn an ISO image to a CD.
It is recommended to test each RAM stick individually on their own as Memtest86 will not be able to tell you which specific RAM stick has errors should any be found.

1. Extract the files from the Memtest86 USB.zip archive. The files will need to be saved on your computer not on the USB Flash Drive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the imageUSB application file to run the application.

As shown in the image above, for Step 1: select the USB Flash Drive you are using to install the program onto. Skip steps 2 and 3 as they can be left at their default settings and under Step 4: simply Left-click Write to UFD (USB Flash Drive).

Once the application is completed the installation to the USB Flash Drive, you will receive a message that says the following:

Simply Left-click OK and then Exit to quit the program.

2. Leaving the USB Flash Drive plugged into your computer, Restart your computer. As you see the first BIOS/UEFI POST screen, press the proper function key to boot to your motherboard’s Boot Options Menu.

The following keys are commonly used by motherboard manufactures:

· Asus – F8
· Gigabyte – F12
· Intel –F10
· MSI – F11
· ASRock – F11

3. In the motherboard’s Boot Options Menu, select your USB Flash Drive and press Enter. The test should automatically begin running.

4. The column you want to pay attention to is the Errors: (yellow box) column. You will want to let the testing do at least three complete Iterations (green box), but just like with any test, doing more will provide more accurate results. If the test reports any errors the RAM stick(s) will need to be replaced.

***
Or follow the link here: Run Diagnostics to Check Your System for Memory Problems and follow the instructions of how to invoke mdsched.exe which gives you options to run after the next reboot to test the systems memory modules.

***

There are some other tests to try that run within Windows:

CPU And RAM Testing:

Error Message(s) / Symptoms:

Ø Overheating
Ø System Shutdowns/Restarts
Ø Blue Screens
Ø Poor/Low Performance
Intel Burn Test:

Intel Burn Test is a program created by Intel to test their CPUs for stability. It uses the Linpack software Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms library for performing basic vector and matrix operations on digital computers. The Linpack software library was first created in the 1970s and early 1980s to be used on Supercomputers for testing stability and performance. Today, the Linpack Benchmark is used to rank the Top500 list of Supercomputers in the world. Not only is Intel Burn Test very stressful on the CPU, but it is also stressful on the computer’s RAM. Intel Burn Test can use 100% of the CPU and 99% of the RAM (it can’t use 100% of the RAM because the operating system will crash).

Download: Intel Burn Test 2.54.zip (1.68 MB)- Download IntelBurnTest - MajorGeeks
How To:

1. Extract the files from the Intel Burn Test.zip archive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the IntelBurnTestV2.54 application file to run the application.

Note: It is highly recommended to read the text file named Readme-IntelBurnTest before continuing.

2. For normal testing you may leave all the default settings and simply Left-click on Start to being the testing. If you wish to use Intel Burn Test to also test the memory, change the Stress Level to your desired option in the drop down menu.

As you select the different options in the Stress Level drop down menu (black box) you will notice that the amount of RAM that it will test (red box) changes. The RAM amount that you have available for testing (blue box) cannot be exceeded otherwise your computer will crash.

3. This program features the Freeze Test image (green box) which will keep you informed that the computer has not frozen and that testing is still proceeding. As the testing proceeds you will begin to the Linpack Output (purple box) populated with results. The amount of results you will receive depends on the amount of Times to run are selected at the top (yellow box). You may change the Times to run to as many as you desire for longer testing.

4. Once testing is completed you will be presented with a message telling you that the testing has either passed or failed. At this point it is recommend to run a second CPU test such as Prime95 to ensure accurate results.

Reasons for failure are; CPU overheating, miscalculations in mathematics, RAM errors, or inability to finish the testing due to system freezing, blue screening or other reason.

Prime95:

Prime95 is a program created in 1996 used to find Mersenne prime numbers. Because Mersenne prime numbers can take a long time to find, usually only one Mersenne prime number is found per year, Prime95 can be run continuously for very long periods of time which is great for finding long term stability issues. Prime95 runs an algorithm that is capable of using 100% of the CPU. While Prime95 can stress RAM, it doesn’t test as much RAM as Intel Burn Test nor is it as demanding in mathematical calculations.

Download: Prime95.zip (5.0 MB) - http://goo.gl/4MYdaf
How To:

1. Extract the files from the Prime95.zip archive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the prime95 application file to run the application.

2. When the programs opens for the first time you will be prompted with a Welcome to GIMPS! window asking you would like to proceed with using the program. Since you do not have a GIMPS! Account just Left-click on Just Stress Testing.

3. Once you Left-click on the Just Stress Testing button you will get another pop-up window that will say Run a Torture Test that will have all the testing parameters. By default the Blend test is selected. For CPU testing it is recommended to use the In-place large FFTs testing method. You may experiment with the different methods.

4. After Left-clicking OK to begin the testing the program will open individual windows within the program with one being titles Main and the others title Worker ## - Self-Test. Each worker window indicates a separate test being run on each CPU core. In the example below the screenshot shows an Intel Core i7 920 which has four physical cores, but eight logical cores due to Intel Hyperthreading technology. Hence the reason for the eight workers.

5. Prime95 will run continuously until you choose to stop it or if there is a failure. For stability testing it is recommended to run Prime95 for at least one hour. To stop the testing go to the top right corner of the screen and Left-click on Test and select Stop in the drop down menu.

Reasons for failure are; CPU overheating, miscalculations in mathematics, RAM errors, or inability to finish the testing due to system freezing, blue screening or other reason. Prime95 has the capability of stopping individual workers if an error is detected which is good for finding out if the CPU is defective.

When the pop-up windows saying Stop one or all workers open, Left-click OK as the default option will stop all testing.

GPU Testing:

Error Message(s) / Symptoms:

Ø System Shutdowns/Restarts
Ø Blue Screens
Ø Driver Crashes
Ø Poor/Low Performance
FurMark Benchmark:

FurMark is a very intensive OpenGL benchmark utility created in 2009 that uses fur rendering algorithms to test the performance of a video card. It just so happens that fur rendering algorithms are also very demanding on the video card which makes FurMark perfect for video card stability and stress testing.

Download: FurMark.zip (4.6 MB) - http://goo.gl/iU3pG
How To:

1. Extract the files from the FurMark.zip archive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the FurMark_1.10.6_Setup application file to install the application.

2. Follow the installation directions to install the FurMark application. Upon finishing the installation the program will open. Your web browser will also open and go to the Geeks3D website which you may close.

3. You may either leave the default settings or you can play around with them. Then you simply need to Left-click on the Burn-in test button to being the testing.

The program will give you a pop-up window that gives you a work of caution and also tells you what types of failures may occur. Press to GO! button to continue with the Burn-in test.

4. This Burn-in test is a continuous test and will run for as long as you want it to. We recommend running the test for at least an hour to ensure stability, but you may run the test longer if needed.

Reasons for failure are; faulty power supply, defective GPU and/or VRM, video card cooling not working well enough so the video card overheats, bad driver installation, blue screens, artifacting and/or lines, discoloration, screen goes blank, system shut off or restarts.

HDD Testing:

Warning: Most HDD tests are NOT meant for SSDs and if run on an SSD it CAN damage the SSD which is considered physical damage and not covered under warranty. For SSD testing only use the tests labeled SSD SAFE.
Error Message(s) / Symptoms:

Ø Windows Errors
Ø Blue Screens
Ø File Corruption
Ø Date Loss
Ø Boot Problems
Seagate Seatools:

Seatools is a hard drive testing tool created by hard drive manufacture Seagate. While it is designed with special features that only work on Seagate and Maxtor hard drives, it is still a great hard drive testing tool that works on all hard drives. There are two versions of Seatools, a Windows version and a DOS version. If you are still able to boot into Windows then you can use the Windows version. If you are unable to boot into Windows then you will need to use the DOS version. The DOS version also offers a few options that the Windows version does not offer such as low-level formatting.

Download: Seagate SeaTools.zip (25.3 MB) - http://goo.gl/M22c2
How To:

1. Extract the files from the Seagate SeaTools.zip archive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the SeaTools_Windows application file to install the application.

2. Open the Seagate Seatools application. Left-click on I Accept to accept the End User License Terms.

3. Check the checkbox (red box) next to the hard drive(s) that you want to test. Left-click on Basic Tests (yellow box) to bring the drop menu down with the different tests you can select. There is no particular order in which you should run the different tests, but it is recommend to run all the different tests to be thorough.

Warning: DO NOT run any of the Advanced Tests. Some of the Advanced Tests can delete ALL your data!

The program will report any issues should any be found.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard:

Data Lifeguard is a hard drive testing tool created by hard drive manufacture Western Digital. While it is designed with special features that only work on Western Digital hard drives, it is still a great hard drive testing tool that works on all hard drives. There are two versions of Data Lifeguard, a Windows version and a DOS version. If you are still able to boot into Windows then you can use the Windows version. If you are unable to boot into Windows then you will need to use the DOS version. Both the Windows and DOS versions of the program have the ability to do zero writes which is the same as the low-level formatting that Seagate Seatools uses in its DOS version. A system hard drive can only be formatted while in DOS mode.

Download: Western Digital Data Life Guard Windows.zip (48.9 MB) - http://goo.gl/1RQdO
How To:

1. Extract the files from the Western Digital Data Life Guard Windows.zip archive. Navigate to the main folder where the application resides and Double-click the setup application file to install the application.

2. Run the Western Digital Data Life Guard application, check the check box next to I agree the License Agreement, and then Left-click on Next to continue.

3. Right-click on the hard drive that you would like to test and select Run Diagnostics.

4. First run the QUICK TEST and if no problems are found run the EXTENDED TEST. The application will report any problems should there be any found.

Warning: DO NOT run any of the WRITE ZEROS test. The WRITE ZEROS test will delete ALL your data!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
There were many changes between Win7 and Win8 that made some programs incompatible.
Recently I've seen a lot of problems with Win7 and Win8 software on Win8.1 systems - and quite a few companies issuing patches to make Win8 software compatible w/Win8.1
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Yea, I'm catching on.

One thing that's really got to me was this AM I got this HUGE banner across my desktop screen, preventing me from doing anything telling me to go to the Store and install Windows 8.1. HELL TO THE NO! Been there, not going to until ***I'M*** ready. Not sure how to disable that from being part of my boot up each time. That's just nervy and annoying!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    CyberPower
    CPU
    Intell Core i7 5820K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X99-UD4-CF
    Memory
    16 Gigs of DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX760
    Sound Card
    on board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic 27" and 20"
    Screen Resolution
    27":1920X1080 20":1600X900
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 1863GB SATA
    Cooling
    liquid
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Marble
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    MS default
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