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I installed additional 8 Gb of RAM on a system recently. Everything was running fine before I observed that the system randomly froze, I don't know what the proper term is, but the screen just hangs up on a static frame, and the PC, just hangs up. And it usually happens when I am playing games on it; I took following steps to check what is wrong: Updated all the drivers Clean OS install Removed the newly installed RAM sticks Removed the old ones and checked with the new ones only Removed any additional peripheral Memtest, with no errors Check disk, no errors System file verification, no errors

One thing strange thing happens, when the system hangs up, my keyboard just powers down, and it's a Logitech G510, and with power downs I mean that it goes blank, and that is rare since even during crashes, usually the keyboard backlight is there.

The specs of PC are: Windows 7 professional x64 Intel core i3 3rd generation(3240) Intel Z75 based m-ATX motherboard(Intel DZ75ML-45K) Nvidia 550ti 2*2gb ram sticks @1333(corsair) 2*4gb ram sticks @1333(transcend) Microsoft wireless combo Logitech G510 keyboard 450w cooler master smps Htpc cabinet

The temperatures are within range during load; they rarely cross 70C GPU stress test sometimes crashes the system, and sometimes goes on for hours without any crash.

Any guess what might be wrong? (Sorry for not being able to give exact specifications of PC, and I hope this is the right section for asking such questions)

Siddharth
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  • So after a clean reinstall and having the newly added RAM removed, it still freezes? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jun 12 '14 at 20:16
  • Yup, it does, and that is bothering me, why when everything is back as it was before – Siddharth Jun 12 '14 at 20:18
  • System "Freezes" are not memory problems thats normally caused by HDD problems. Time to replace your HDD. – Ramhound Jun 12 '14 at 20:19
  • @Ramhound But the HDD was working fine before, and all the trouble happened only after I installed the new RAM sticks – Siddharth Jun 12 '14 at 20:20
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    @Siddharth - The problem also remains after you installed Windows again which points to a hardware problem not a software problem. – Ramhound Jun 12 '14 at 20:22
  • @Ramhound Might be true, but how and why, and where, since RAM upgrades are not known to cause any permanent hardware damage – Siddharth Jun 12 '14 at 20:23

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If your mouse pointer freezes, it's most likely RAM, graphics card, motherboard or power. If most/all stuff freezes, but the mouse keeps working, then it's most likely a hard drive problem.

You've proven it's (most likely) a hardware problem by reinstalling and seeing the same problem, so now it's time to start troubleshooting your hardware.

  1. Visually inspect and make sure you didn't knock anything out-of-whack when you installed the RAM (heat sinks, etc.).
  2. Run memory tests (memTest86+) for a couple days straight.
  3. If they come up clean then start swapping hardware for known-good parts until you find the culprit. Start with the power supply.
Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
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  • Seems like that might be the possible course of action, but I have checked everything internally, no loose cables, no improperly installed hardware, and even power rating of each connection is normal, so just out of curiosity, what can go wrong with simple ram installation – Siddharth Jun 12 '14 at 20:32
  • Static electricity for one. Coincidence for another. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jun 12 '14 at 20:37
  • and bad luck can be another, I have replaced the HDD with a backup one and now I am running Memtest for like two days, let's see what happens. – Siddharth Jun 12 '14 at 20:40
  • I used "coincidence" instead of "bad luck" but you get my meaning. :) Good luck! – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Jun 12 '14 at 20:41
  • One thing I would like to ask about is that does HDD failures ceases any power to USB devices, since my USB devices just turn off during crash – Siddharth Jun 13 '14 at 09:11