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Question

Faulty memory causing PC freeze?

Apr 30, 2017 9:59AM PDT

Hi guys, apologies if this is the wrong section to post this but I am seriously confused right now.

I have a Dell inspiron 3521 laptop with a one 8GB ram stick. For several weeks now my PC has been freezing up (usually I notice this happens when it gets under high load - most commonly watching YouTube or if I have too many things running). I can tell when it's going to freeze as the sound starts tearing. Sometimes I will get a BSOD - whea_uncorrectable_error. Sometimes the PC will just stay frozen. HOWEVER when I pick up my laptop by the bottom (where the RAM and the Hard disk are) or move it slightly, then it unfreezes (usually it freezes again after a couple of seconds).

My question is: Is it possible for faulty RAM to cause this? Maybe a faulty Hard drive? I have ran a chkdisk as well as a Memtest86 and a mdsched.exe. All of them come back as though nothing is wrong. I have two RAM slots in my PC and I have tried using both, but the problem persists. Also I have tried to run my laptop without the batter to eliminate that as the culprit.

If anyone has any idea what faulty piece of hardware could be causing this, please share and I want to buy a new component. Thank you Happy

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Tell more about CHKDSK
Apr 30, 2017 10:10AM PDT

Is it with the /F and /X switches?

Also, since it fixes with a movement, it's something hardware. It could be a board, drive or connection. You can't tell by this clue alone.

If this was mine my first step is backup then time to dive in to do a deep clean, remove and replace all heatsink compound then unplug and replug all connections. RAM is pulled and canned air is used on the slot then the RAM put back in. (Remember we want to unplug and plug in everything.)

Be sure all screws are tight but avoid gorilla tight or stripping threads.

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Chkdsk
Apr 30, 2017 10:40AM PDT

Hi thanks for the response. Unfortunately I can't remember what switches I ran chkdsk with. I do believe it was /f /x. If I were to run it again which ones would you recommend I use.

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I reccomend
Apr 30, 2017 11:03AM PDT

the F and X switches.

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Clarification Request
I'd take the lifting of laptop as main clue
Apr 30, 2017 10:59AM PDT

When you lift it, there's better airflow to cool it. I'd suspect an overheat problem with the CPU.

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Perhaps
Apr 30, 2017 11:22AM PDT

Thanks for the response. That was one of my guesses as well but to be honest I don't think it's that since I'm able to play games no problem even when the CPU gets very hot and I've also had the freezes appear when the CPU is cool. I try to keep my PC clean however you guys may be right when you say there is not good airflow inside.

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laptops now often have
Apr 30, 2017 11:36AM PDT

.....a long shared heatsink and the CPU on one side the graphics chip on the other. You can find pictures of these motherboards on a google and see it. One side can be hotter than the other. Maybe your problem is the graphics chip instead of CPU.

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There are many possible culprits.
Apr 30, 2017 5:10PM PDT

What I don't understand is what hardware component is capable of freezing the whole system for a couple of seconds when disconnected and then resuming like nothing had happened when connected again. Is this the case with a hard drive?

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probably NOT a hard drive problem
Apr 30, 2017 8:18PM PDT

NT