Mysterious buzzing and freezing!

Hey guys,

I'm writing here because I've been a long time reader of the forums and you guys know your stuff. Recently, I've been having troubles with my computer that I just can't figure out. I'm normally very good with computers and I've never ran into a problem, hardware or software, that I haven't been able to fix. But I'm stumped...

Recently, I "believe" that I've been having troubles with either my CPU or PSU. It used to be that whenever I played a game, my computer would seize up for a split second, I would hear a buzzing sound from the speakers, and then it would resume normal operation as if nothing had happened. This normally happened when I stressed the components by playing some games. It used to happen every 30 seconds or so and ceased to be a problem when I quit the games.

Now, however, regardless of being in a game, it still occurs. Its noticeable outside of a game, because my mouse stops moving for a split second every 3 seconds or so and I still hear a buzz from my speakers. During that split second, everything on my screen stops (read: freezes). Again, only for a second. I'll give you the specs to my computer. What do you think needs to be done?

I don't have enough money to start buying parts to see if they work, nor do I really have any suitable computer pieces lying around. I have ran Memtest86+ or whatever its called to see if the RAM is the problem. It passed every test with no errors.

I've bought a new fan and heatsink to see if it was my CPU that was overheating. Nope. I forget what my temperatures were exactly, but they were quite low and within normal ranges on idle and on full load. I'm running out of ideas. What do you guys think? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys,

Tom

Computer Specs (Straight from Newegg order history):
1 x Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1 x ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
1 x Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80570E8400
1 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 x Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
1 x EDIMAX EW-7728In 32bit PCI Wireless 802.11n Draft 2.0 PCI Card
1 x ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler

 

Your list of components shows that you invested in some quality stuff: Antec PSU, EVGA video card, Antec 900 case, Asus motherboard, all quality components. However, from the description of your symptoms, I'd say it is likely the motherboard. It sounds like you have capacitors on the motherboard that have been slowly failing. This explains why the symptoms only appeared during high-load periods at first, and then slowly progressed to a regular occurrence. Visually check the capacitors on the motherboard:
Normal healthy capacitors look like this:

http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:l-O3uyAZWlRbFM:http://www.hardware-one.com/reviews/msi6309/images/capacitor.jpg http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/GLW/GLW137/gwc118050.jpg

Leaking/popped capacitors look like this:

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:Y5WuxQTQI_nreM:http://www.op911.net/photos/story/capacitor.jpg http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:n6qnVlzrMn1XaM:http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/2162895/BadCapacitor01-main_Full.jpg

And here's one that is just VERY slightly bulging on top, a very slight 'pop'.... this is still a failed capacitor (the one on the left obviously).

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules/NDReviews/images/Ghetto/Topower/Dscn3207.jpg

Healthy capacitors will always be perfectly flat on top, but bad capacitors won't always be popped. Even if all your capacitors are perfectly flat, there is still a good chance the motherboard is dying, and that's my diagnosis judging from the symptoms you described. The only way to really diagnose this at home is to have a bunch of known-good parts laying around. If you have friends with extra parts, or are on good terms with a local PC shop, you might want to go that route.... good luck!

 

Yes Thank you for noticing that I put quite a bit of time and money into building this baby... And it nearly broke my heart when it started malfunctioning.

Everything you said could be true. Last night, I did a visual check of all my components. None of them seemed to have any physical signs of damage, including the capacitors on my motherboard.

However, I disassembled my computer piece by piece, inspecting and cleaning each part with compressed air. Finally, after about an hour and a half of painstaking inspection, I reassembled my computer (I seriously HATE putting my heatsink and fan onto my CPU!). For whatever reason, when i booted my computer, everything seemed to work (no buzzing, or freezing).

This leads me to believe that: a) the parts needed some serious cleaning and were overheating, perhaps. Or b) One or several components were not seated correctly or completely into the motherboard.

I had no idea about the possible problems associated with bulging/faulty capacitors, but I will make sure to regularly inspect them (and the other components) from this point on. I really don't want to have to buy any new parts very soon.

I really appreciate the help. If I hadn't taken your advice and inspected my motherboard thoroughly, I never would have accidently solved my problem.

Thank you ,

Tom

 

:celebrate :dood :dancer Glad to hear that all is well, and I'm always happy to help! :-D :major


...... and Welcome to Major Geeks! :wave