Solved! Freezing up problem

[redbaron51]

Hello, I need some help with a hanging/freezing up problem. I have a Cyberpower PC laptop with:
Intel core 2 duo T7250 CPU @ 2.00 GHz
Windows Vista 32 (pre-installed)
2 GB RAM
nVidia 8600M GT 512 MB

I bought it early last year and it has been a perfect system. However, about a month ago it started randomly freezing. I’m not sure what the exact terminology is for this freezing, hanging up, or crash problem, but the screen freezes or pauses on a video image and the last sound from the audio repeats about less than a second in a loop-kind of like a broken record. The only way to fix this is to hold down the power button until it resets itself; I don’t think this is normal. Cyberpower PC tech support does not answer their phones.
I even installed XP thinking that it was a Vista/RAM issue, but XP does the same thing. The weird thing about this issue is that I can play games like Day of Defeat and Counter Strike at high performance settings all day long… IT ONLY happens while streaming video and sporadically while surfing the net. I have downloaded different apps that monitor GPU and CPU temp, downloaded the latest drivers, and even cleaned the little bit of dust that was in and/or around the inside. But, all test from Vista and third party tests show no problems with any of the hardware.
The temps are usually stay around: Core1-113 F--- Core2-133 F---GPU-133 F

Any ideas?

 

[Ultimate_Destructo]

i had a problem with the exact same symptoms on my laptop. the temperatures were also normal. but with me it was clearly an overheating issue that happened in video games. does your laptop freeze sooner the second time you load it? actually, your core 2 cpu is definitely too higher for idle and mine rarely gets that high under high load. your gpu is also a tad high for idle. make sure that your fans work. you could use Video Card Stability Test to test your gpu and there are plenty of free cpu stability tests out there. if your warranty is about to expire i would make a claim as soon as possible.

 

[redbaron51]

Thanks for the quick advice,

Yes. You are 100% right. I never thought of that until you mentioned it. It ALWAYS does it twice and the second time it freezes really quick! After that it usually stays on for awhile. However, it always gets initiated by streaming videos from any video site, mainly You Tube. For some reason it does NOT like to stream video anymore, which is weird because it use to be the quicker at streaming then all my friends’ laptops. As far as temp goes-check this out. I just woke my computer up, found this site, and read your suggestion; doing that within 2 minutes made the GPU temp go from 109F to 124F.

For the testing, I don't know if this is the same thing that you are talking about, but I downloaded a NTUNE program from nVidia and on the test system stability it completed a 10 minute test and passed 38 tests. It's that one with the 3 multicolor goblins and the guy in a wooden wheelchair about to fight.

As far as the warranty is concerned, it's supposed to have 3 yrs. in which, 1.5 should be remaining. However, after tolerating about a week of this problem, I got so mad that I hit it and broke a piece of the plastic cover next to the onboard mouse area. Even thought it changed NOTHING as far as the performance of the machine, it is an eyesore and I'm thinking that cause a problem when making a claim. But, I'm still new at what is acceptable on computers and what is not.

What do you think?

 

[Ultimate_Destructo]

Firstly, Celsius is generally used for computer temperatures. GPUs can easily tolerate being at 85C (176F) for a couple hours at a time. Your problem isn't really one that you can fix, and if you attempt to you could avoid the warranty. If you continue to have the problem then I wouldn't hesitate to ship it for repairs. The repair people will probably fix the plastic cover and charge you for it or they won't fix it at all, but they won't use it as an excuse not to fix your laptop. I got my laptop back a couple weeks ago from the repair site and they replaced the entire motherboard and fans, which fixed the freezing problem. What makes me mad though is that part of the laptop is pushed up by the hardware inside and the GPU fan doesn't turn on until the temp hits 82C. So good luck

 

[redbaron51]

Thanks for the help!

 

[pat]

you may be victim of nvidia chipset that caused recall some time ago... google..

 

[redbaron51]

Hmmm, I'll check that out...thanks Pat.

 

[Ultimate_Destructo]

lol for a second i thought you were talking about me. my name is patrick.