New $4,000 Computer Crashing and Freezing

[Seekster]

Hi all, I am new to this site. I posted in this general forum because quite frankly I do not know what my problem is. If this is the wrong forum then I apologize.

So I graduated from college last December and as a Christmas/Graduation present my parents promised to get me a new desktop computer. I am an avid gamer and so I wanted to get a top-of-the-line desktop that could handle even the most recent games with ease. After several weeks of researching the best computers, video cards, processors, storage methods, and other components, and after talking with some of the tech people at the office where I work, and haggling out an agreement with my parents, I finally got this (roughly) $4,000 monster:


Dell Studio XPS 9100

Processor: Intel (R) Core i7 CPU X980 @ 3.33 Ghz 3.33Ghz

Installed memory (RAM): 12.0 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1333MHZ, 6x2GB

64-bit Operating System

Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5970

Sound Card: ATI High Definition Audio Device, X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCle

Serial ATA II RAID 1 with Dual 1TB Hard Drives

Anti Virus: I got the PC with a 15 month subscription of McAfee Security Center. I recently added avast Free Antivirus as well to see if it detected any viruses. So far neither program has been able to detect any viruses in scans.

(I am still unfamiliar with Windows 7 since up until I got this computer I was using Windows XP. If there is a diagnostic program you want me to run or if there is a way for me to get more detailed information on my computer and its components then please let me know).


So anyway, after assembling the computer and naming it "Behemoth" (because carrying it up the stairs nearly broke my back) I decided to test my new computer by seeing how it ran all the games my old computer simply did not have the ability to run. So proceeded to install Mass Effect and ran the thing on about the highest settings. I think the machine only crashed once during my entire play through of the game.

Pleased with the way the machine performed I next installed Fallout 3. Now the problems began. Sometimes the screen and the entire computer would randomly lock up. I am not sure but I think this happened whenever a certain sound tried to play, because when it froze the sound would play repeatedly as if stuck in an infinite loop. Alt+Ctrl+Delete did nothing as both my mouse and my keyboard were frozen too. The only way out was to press and hold the power button. This freeze became such a common occurrence while playing Fallout 3 the I have since had to abandon the game.

This particular freeze did not start with, and is not limited to Fallout 3. Recently I re-installed Dawn of War Soulstorm, a game my old machine ran like a charm on fairly high settings. I encountered the same problem here. Even worse, sometimes while watching a video online, even on youtube, the exact same freeze with the looping sound will occur forcing me to hold down the power button and force the machine to shut down.

At first I thought maybe it was just that my machine was new and needed driver updates but I have manually gone into Device Manager and searched for updates until it tells me that I have the latest updates. The sound loop freeze still persists and its not the only issue. I have also encountered seemingly random blue screen crashes (sometimes these happen when I am not running anything on the computer), and instances where my mouse and/or keyboard freeze up (I have to restart the machine to get them working again).

The weird thing is that I have run games like Sims 3, StarCraft II, and Call of Duty: World at War and I do not think I can remember any of them freezing or crashing (if they did then it didnt happen often).

When I described what was happening to a tech guy at work, he suggested that I might have simply gotten a bad sound or video card installed and that I should call Dell and request a replacement. However I don't want to have to go through all that trouble if its possible that the issue is not related to a defective component.

Now I am not sure if this has anything to do with it but I think I might as well mention it at least, my machine has no audio speakers plugged in. As a gamer I am currently using a set of headphones.

Personally I think the sound loop freeze is the most pressing issue I am having because it occurs far more often than any of the other issues, forces me to hold the power button which damages my computer, and lets face it, a $4,000 machine should NOT be freezing while playing a youtube video. If anyone here can help me with this problem I think I can tackle the others by myself.

[rthompson80819]

That's a nice machine.

I won't guarantee it's the source of your problems, but in general you shouldn't run two av programs at the same time.  It can cause some odd problems and slow downs.  I'd run McAfee until the free subscription runs out (some people don't like it but I used for years without any problems) then go to avast.

[Seekster]

Ok ill get rid of avast for now but I only recently added a second av program a few days ago, this freeze issue and the others have been going on for months.

[Spoiler]

I would call Dell.

You paid big money for this machine and should work. Call and have them fix it.

[Seekster]

I would call Dell.

You paid big money for this machine and should work. Call and have them fix it.

Do you mean call tech support or just their main number or what?

[prosportal]

Start here.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/contact_technical_support?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=hea&~ck=anavml

[Jairus]

try to uninstall and reinstall your audio drivers. http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1

[Seekster]

Ok so I spent the last day or so on the phone with dell support. Had to pay about $150.00 to have them walk me through partioning my hardrive and making a backup and then doing a system restore to factory. I got everything set back up and the problems were still there. I called back and the guy said there was a problem with my video drivers. He uninstalled them and reinstalled them and told me to install drivers from ATI now on and not automatically with windows updates.

The sound freeze problem at least appears to be gone (though I could be wrong) but I still get some random cases where the screen freezes or the computer turns itself off or the mouse and/or keyboard stop working.

[patio]

I would be taking advantage of the Warranty...Pronto.

[Seekster]

They told me they would call back on Tuesday and if I am still having problems, which I am (it doesn't seem to be as bad but its still giving me some random freezes and last night the sound loop problem did manifest again so for all I know its just going to get worse) then they would send someone over to replace my video card.

I am pretty pissed that I spent another $139.64 just to have a guy walk me through how to partition my harddrive and restore my computer and then have that not work but at least they were able to isolate the problem (at least I hope they did) and paying $4,139.64 to get a working computer beats paying $4,000.00 to get a computer that doesnt always work...then again they again I paid for a working video card so if they expect me to pay to replace it after I bought the warranty then they are just plain ripping me off.

What I thought was dumb was yesterday I played Dawn of War: Dark Crusade for several hours, no problems. I even reinstalled Fallout 3 which had given me more freezes and sound loops than any other game...I still got a few freezes but it was just the game, I could alt+ctrl+delete out of it with basically no problem, and no sound loop freezes so far. The only thing that gave me a sound loop yesterday was a bleeding youtube video of all things. So in short this machine can run a game that was built for an xp system, and a graphics heavy game adapted from the XBOX 360 without having the sound loop issue but it cant handle some guy's youtube video (actually that is not exactly true, I mean its random, I can play the exact same video again and it wont freeze the second time).

By the way is it usually better to manually download my driver updates from ATI instead of letting windows update get them automatically?

[milesrf]

If the videos are frequently pausing when you view them over the internet, mention how fast a connection to the internet you're using.  Too slow a connection at any point along the path to the source of that video can cause that problem, but you aren't likely to be able to change the speed anywhere except in your connection to your ISP.  Very seldom causes crashing, though.

Since you have a high-performance computer, you may want to look at this site to see several BOINC subprojects you could have it run for assorted non-profit projects when you aren't viewing videos:

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp

Click on the small pictures under the big picture to read about their current subprojects.

I've had my three computers connected there long enough to get several ruby badges.

[patio]

If the videos are frequently pausing when you view them over the internet, mention how fast a connection to the internet you're using.  Too slow a connection at any point along the path to the source of that video can cause that problem, but you aren't likely to be able to change the speed anywhere except in your connection to your ISP.  Very seldom causes crashing, though.

Since you have a high-performance computer, you may want to look at this site to see several BOINC subprojects you could have it run for assorted non-profit projects when you aren't viewing videos:

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp

Click on the small pictures under the big picture to read about their current subprojects.

I've had my three computers connected there long enough to get several ruby badges.

You only need to read the entire thread to determine it's not a connection issue...

Pay attention...

[Seekster]

Yeah its not a connection issue. The same freeze problem occurs when I am playing games offline. I am supposed to get a call from Dell this evening and I think we will talk about replacing my video card or something.

[patio]

I would be taking advantage of the Warranty...Pronto.

[Salmon Trout]

At the risk of making myself appear stupid, I have to confess that there is something here I am not getting. A person has a computer under warranty, and has to pay $150 (one hundred and fifty dollars!) to call their warranty support? And then another one hundred and thirty-nine dollars because the first call didn't lead to the problem being solved? Is that right? If so, I'm glad I live in a country with consumer protection laws!

[BC_Programmer]

At the risk of making myself appear stupid, I have to confess that there is something here I am not getting. A person has a computer under warranty, and has to pay $150 (one hundred and fifty dollars!) to call their warranty support? And then another one hundred and thirty-nine dollars because the first call didn't lead to the problem being solved? Is that right? If so, I'm glad I live in a country with consumer protection laws!

Actually, I was scratching my head about that when I first read it. If I ever dropped 4 grand on a machine that refused to work properly in the way that the OPs is I wouldn't be trying to fix it. As far as I'm concerned, at that point it's the Manufacturer's job to make sure that I'm satisfied. If they want an additional 150 dollars for me to have the "privilege" of that they can take the computer back and give me a refund and I'll find somebody more willing to take on the responsibility of making the customer satisfied that selling a product generally entails. This includes, you know, having warranties that aren't just words.

[Seekster]

At the risk of making myself appear stupid, I have to confess that there is something here I am not getting. A person has a computer under warranty, and has to pay $150 (one hundred and fifty dollars!) to call their warranty support? And then another one hundred and thirty-nine dollars because the first call didn't lead to the problem being solved? Is that right? If so, I'm glad I live in a country with consumer protection laws!

Er no I only had to pay $139 and that was for a service outside my warranty where they walk me through how to back up and restore my computer so that all the programs and files are where they are supposed to be. It saves time but I agree its overpriced.

What I am really ticked about is they never called me back yesterday. I will have to deal with them some other time and I am certainly not paying for them to replace my video card, I already paid for a working video card.

[Salmon Trout]

Er no I only had to pay $139

So what is this that I read?

Had to pay about $150.00 to have them walk me through partioning my hardrive and making a backup and then doing a system restore to factory

I spent another $139.64 just to have a guy walk me through how to partition my harddrive and restore my computer

On my planet that makes $289.64, which, moreover, I would not have spent!

How nice it must be to have piles of spending cash.

[BC_Programmer]

I already paid for a working video card.

Didn't you pay for a working computer, though, too?

[Seekster]

So what is this that I read?

On my planet that makes $289.64, which, moreover, I would not have spent!

How nice it must be to have piles of spending cash.

I was refering to the same single payment. The first time I just gave a rounded figure and the second time I just gave the whole figure.

I did pay for a working computer but this was a service where they walked me through a partition back up and instant restore. That part worked well and now I have a partion for backups in the future so I can't argue with them on that.

[Salmon Trout]

I have a partion for backups in the future so I can't argue with them on that.

So what are you complaining about?

[Seekster]

So what are you complaining about?

The fact that after all that the thing still freezes up randomly.

[2x3i5x]

Seekster,

what did the Dell tech support do for you (if anything)? you mentioned that you were gonna talk with them regarding your pc's problems, specifically video card replacement...

[BC_Programmer]

The fact that after all that the thing still freezes up randomly.

here's the thing. You paid 4 grand. they should have delivered the machine in working order. Wether they managed to scam you into believing that repartitioning the drives would somehow dissolve your issues is redundant.

they walked me through a partition back up and instant restore. That part worked well and now I have a partion for backups in the future so I can't argue with them on that.

There seems to be a bit of confusion here I think. If I bought a toaster that didn't work, I wouldn't be satisfied if their response to my inquiries was "well, here, let me walk you through setting up the different toast settings". because that is clearly wholly irrelevant to the issue (that the bloody thing doesn't work). Additionally, why did they make you go through all that? Did you ask them to take you through repartitioning your drive? Or did they somehow trick you into thinking it would fix the problem when it should be clear, at least to them, that it would not?


Basically what I'm seeing is somebody essentially being forced to forego their warranty by being sidebarred with irrelevant instructions by incompetent tech support that additionally has the gall to charge for the irrelevant sidebars. The fact that even after giving them four grand you still have to resort to coming here to fix what appear to be rather major defects in the hardware as it came configured from the factory should be reason enough to give pause.

[patio]

Actually i'm leaning towards ths whole scenario not being what we've been led to believe...
But's thats just me...

[mroilfield]

Actually i'm leaning towards ths whole scenario not being what we've been led to believe...
But's thats just me...

I would have to agree.

If they are are as concerned with their $4k machine as they sound why did they live with the problem for "months" before contacting Dell?

Since this mainly happens to be with games are these legit copies of the games, are they cracked, are they modded?

If I spent that much on a computer and it had this problem right out of the box I wouldn't wait so long to get in touch with the vendor.

[Seekster]

The problem was subtle at first and yes these are all legit copies. Really the whole problem is at worst a notable annoyance. Plus I spent the last few years in an abusive relationship with a bootcamped MacBook Pro that took an average of 30 minutes to start up Windows XP for some strange reason so I guess I am just used to stuff not working.

In any case Dell did not call me back like they said they would and I have really had it with their tech support. The good news is that I am now almost certain the video card is the main problem. The other day I encountered a variation of the sound freeze but this time the screen changed to several lines of small horizontal rectangles of different colors. I have never seen it do that before and it has never done it since but if that doesnt indicate some issue with the video card I don't know what does.

I intend to call up Dell as soon as I have a free day to waste on hold with them (so probably this weekend) and ask them politely to replace my video card. I will NOT pay for the video card. The main reason I am not raising a fuss about paying for the partion and restore was because I was dumb enough to pay them for it anyway (at least I didn't spend $250 for a year long plan like they wanted me to).

[Salmon Trout]

Moral of the tale, as of so many others like it ---

[2x3i5x]

Wondering if it would be better to contact the manufacturer of your graphics card if it's still got warranty attached to it, instead of going thru Dell. That is if you're certain that your graphics card is not working right and needs to be switched out.

[Cook]

It could be a video card incompatibility problem too or perhaps you don't have an ideal video card for the games you're running. Also, have you updated Windows 7? When I bought my gaming system I had problems downloading the Window 7 updates until I found out the update service was missing from my machine. Make sure your system is updating properly and get service pack 1 installed too.