2 year old custom build with freezing problem

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BerserkBeast

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Location
San Antonio, TX USA
Okay here is the deal. This computer was my first build. I think of myself of decent tech, but still there is plenty of things I have to learn. I have consistently been having issues with the video card freezing up on me with this build with gaming and as far as I can tell it is a BIOS setting problem. I have fixed it enough to where the problem happens less often, but still happens from time to time. I'm fairly certain it isn't an overheating issue and would like some additional ideas as to what the problem is.

System:
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model EU80570PJ0876M - OEM

OCZ Reaper HPC 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR13334GK

ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ800-V2 800W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

The BIOS settings are as follow:
System Clocks
CPU Freq, MHz 3166.7
FSB Referance Clock, MHz 1333.3
CPU Multiplier 9x
CPU N/2 Ratio Enabled

PCIe x16_1 & x 16_2, MHz Auto
PCIe x16_3, MHz Auto
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz Auto

nForce SPP --> nForce MCP 5x
nForce SPP <-- nForce MCP 5x

CPU Spread Spectrum Center Spread
HT Spread Spectrum Auto
PCIe Spread Spectrum(SPP) Auto
PCIe Spread Spectrum(MCP) Auto
SATA Spread Spectrum Disable

FSB & Memory Config
FSB - Memory Clock Mode Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio Auto
FSB(QDR), MHz 1333

P1 Auto
P2 Auto

Memory Timing Settings
tCL(Cas Latency) 6
tRCD 6
tRP 6
tRAS 20
Command Per Clock(CMD) Auto (T1)

tRRD Auto (4)
tRC Auto (27)
tWR Auto (10)
tWTR Auto (14)
tFAW Auto (21)
tREF Auto (7.7 uS)

CPU Configurations
Limit CPUID MaxValue Disable
Intel Speed Step Auto
PP Mode Native Mode
CPU Thermal Control Disable
C1E Enhanced Halt State Enable
Virtualization Technology Enable

CPU Core 0 Enable
CPU Core 1 Enable

System Voltages
CPU Core Auto
CPU FSB Auto
Memory 1.750V
nForce SPP 1.50V
nForce MCP Auto

GTLVREF Lane 0 thru 3 Auto

System BIOS Cacheable Disable
HPET Function Enable

All drivers are up-to-date and I have been playing with these settings on and off for the entire time I've had the computer running. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm getting tired of playing the trial and error game with this computer.
 
Are you sure the gpu isn't overheating? Them cards can get right hot.

Have you updated the BIOS? didn't the early 780i's have stability issues?

Looking At your psu, I've never heard of it, newegg says it has 64A on the 12V, but its broke up on 6 rails...... Each with only 20A each. That may be a problem with a beast of the gpu you have.

Oh, welcome to the forum.
 
I'm fairly certain, one time it froze I turned off the unit, turned it back on and went to BIOS the BIOS systems were reading a max of 55 - 60 C and the board peaking at 40. A few times I have checked the card itself, it was fairly warm, but I wouldn't think that was enough to cause it to freeze. I have updated to P09 firmware. I have attempted to look around but I haven't seen if there was an upgrade from that.
 
When you say you have fixed it enough to where the problem is less often , what did you exactly do? how ca you know it is a Bios problem? and what version of OS are you running in your computer. Have you downloaded the latest drivers for you Graphics card? to me it sounds like an overheating problem. if it happens from time to time. ( but again i don't know what is it that you fixed that made it not so often.)
 
Pretty much the initial problem was memory dumps after approx 15-20 minutes of run time with Win XP Professional on it. Found out that the default setting for the voltage on the ram was far too low. as well as some of the clock settings were off. After the adjustments the computer was able to run with no problems. Then I started playing video games and that would last 15-20 and the same things would start to happen. I did research and found out that if I had stepped up the voltage on the nForce SPP to 1.50V then it would cause more stability. I did that and now the game can run for at least an hour with no problem. I am almost certain that it isn't an overheat issue because something different happens when there is an overheating component, as well as both the air coming is warm, but not hot, and that the GPU is warm but not as warm as I have felt it before.
Currently I'm running Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Yes I have checked the driver is the most up-to-date driver.
I have tried rolling back, completely uninstalling and reinstalling.
Uninstalling and installing older versions to see if there was a change and there hasn't been.
I have also ran several tests from Hiren's Boot (As is what I consider one of the more reliable testing software collections) all passes on hardware. Software has passed all test as well and proven so far.
If it is an overheating problem then I'm going to be feeling very silly for bringing this up on here.
 
You did run memtest?

You should really test the gpu temps at load, while 50-60 at a reboot is okay, it is alittle warm. My 260's run at 65C on full load.

I'm still thinking its a possible psu issue. The gpu rail might not be getting enough Amps
 
I did a memtest and it came out with no errors on 2 passes

Any suggestion how I test the temps with windows. I know nvidia has a program you can use but I can't find it.

And if it is a PSU error that will be easy to fix. Maybe I was wrong on my math on the size needed to run this beast. Any recommendation on a replacement PSU that could meet my needs?
 
It has been a while but I've been doing a lot of work and I think I've figured out a little bit more of what it is. Though still not for sure what the problem is. The first problem was that the CPU was actually severely underpowered because of the BIOS default (AUTO) that and the CPU FSB was as well severely under powered. It has been touch and go but I'm slowly getting the system more and more stable. The power supplies, I am not too sure how to figure out the amps per rail and so I'm kind of stuck on that, that might be causing some problems but no confirmation on that. Heat is a little bit of a minor issue but so far I haven't seen enough of a spike on the system to be concerned, running a high-def video game, movie, and a few additional programs: My cheap and situational way to stress test the system. Pretty much doing what I normally do when the problem occurs most frequently. I saw the temp spiked to a max of 89 C. Never reaching higher. From what I gather that's a good temp but shouldn't be anything work being concerned about. So I'm down to thinking it's more of a system stabilization between the processor, mother board, and ram. Anything anyone can think of? and just you know I'm not eliminating the possibility of the power supply. Just testing all roads till it's the only one that's possibly left.
 
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