GA-990FXA-UD3 - Pc weird freezing! Help!

[vothros]

Hello! I am new to the forum, i will need your help for a problem i am having!
I bought a new  pc, its specifications:
1) CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2 GHz Six Core Socket AM3 125W Box Black Edition (HDT90ZFBGRBOX)
2) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
3) Ram: Kingston Hyper X 8GB DDR3 Non ECC CL9 1600MHz (KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX) (Kit 2 x 4096)
4) GPU: ATI Radeon HD6950 1GB DDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI HDMI Dual Mini-DP (XFX) (HD-695X-ZNFC)
5) PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower 700w (1st edition)

The problem is that my pc freezes after a while, showing some white screens or blue or....another colour (!)
pics above:
It's not the typical BSOD screens, neither it's windows problem.All drivers are up to date, windows up to date,i made 4 times format,trying all solutions,installing drivers from manufacturer's sites or using the dvd's included but the problem remains.
i am not sure if the motherboard is the problem, maybe it's my psu ? i need your help! 

[vothros]

PSU Specifications:

[vothros]

PSU Specifications:

[absic]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Looking through your post the first thing that springs to mind is that your problem maybe a graphics driver issue. Which drivers are you running for your Graphics Card? If they are the latest 11.7 from ATI then try running the 11.6 or 11.5 and see if that helps.

The second thing that I can think of is a memory issue. Have you tested your RAM using MemTest?

I have to say that at this point I don't think your PSU is the problem as Thermaltake are usually pretty good and 700 Watts should be more than enough for your system.

[vothros]

Thank u for the fast reply!
Well, i installed the 11.6 drivers from ATI's site. I also tried the ones that come with the dvd of xfx gpu,don't remember the version but they were older than 11.6 and the problem remained.
When i am in safe mode of windows i don't get those screens, i also tried to load an ubuntu live cd (without installing any drivers) and no freeze there also.
But when i am in windows normally, it freezes after a while.
I thought first it could be the motherboard because i have another problem, i cannot set up my speakers in 5.1 surround! I mean, i choose from Realtake's devide manager the set-up for 5.1  but only the side speakers are being heard. Rear speakers and sub-woofer nothing.
Then i thought it could be my psu because it's not new,i took it from my old pc and i thought maybe it's "old technology" and couldn't supply this motherboard with all those stuff on.
I didn't run a memory test cause i never thought such screens could be a memory problem, i will though. If u have any other ideas pls post

[absic]

Hi again,

the problem with the Realtek 5.1 audio is to do with software settings and is not a hardware issue so don't worry about that too much at the moment. We can come back to that once we have solved the problems with the system freezing. 

The reason I have suggested running MemTest is that I have come across similar "freezing" problems and they were due to the RAM.
Another cause could be that the Graphics Card is getting too hot. Have you checked it's temperatures?

[vothros]

Yes i checked. The above pic are the temperatures, the pc was all day opened cause i was trying to figure out what is going on.
How do u find them?  (keep in mind we have hot summer here in Greece, 36 degrees daily  )

[absic]

Looking at the GPU Temps I would say they are OK, especially with your high ambient temperature.

Have you made any changes in BIOS for your RAM are are you running at default settings?

[vothros]

The only thing i changed was the boot priority to start the format process.
Also, i changed the "Set Memory Clock"  from Auto to Manual  and then "Memory Clock" from x6.66 to x8.00 (Ungaged mode) so the memory runs at 1600mhz and not 1333 as it was default.
After those screens i  loaded the "Load Optimized Defaults"  again to be sure that it doesn't have to do with this small change i did.
The result was the same. 1333 or 1600  the freeze remains. I guess i will have to do a memtest now and back with results.But if it was a memory problem, why not do it in Safe Mode also ??

[absic]

At the moment I am thinking it is more likely a software rather than a hardware issue but it is really a process of elimination.

Running Memtest will show if your RAM is OK and if it is fine, that will then eliminate RAM as the possible cause of the freezing.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Going back to the beginning, the PSU you have is a good quality and well respected  make. It does however use four seperate 12v supply lines as opposed to a single 12v rail. These lines are rated at a maximum of 18 amps each. I don't know how old the unit is but it could be producing actually less than that on each rail therefore it is possible that your graphics card could be suffering from a power level lower than what it really needs.

[vothros]

I took the pc back to the shop and they told me it's the graphics card. They put the graphics card to other pc's also and did the same freeze.They will replace it.
Ok, and now about the psu, what do u think a nice psu could be for the pc i have?
Would this be a good choice? http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-units/enthusiast-series/enthusiast-series-tx850-v2-80-plus-bronze-certified-850-watt-high-performance-power-supply.html

If yes,i will order it to have my mind in peace!

[absic]

Pleased you got to the bottom of  the problem even if it does mean you need a different GPU.

The PSU you have linked to is a good choice and should serve you well.

[vothros]

Thanks a lot!

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I agree the PSU is an excellent choice and should last you for many years and upgrades. Good luck.