PC Completely Freezes when watching TV or Video through MediaPortal (1 Viewer)

[mm1352000]

Brand new I built it a few months ago but only just got around to setting it up as a HTPC.

Okay. If you ask me, this makes the hardware issue theory more plausible.

Not tried the stress testing can you recommend a program?

Sure.
I'd try:

• memtest for memory http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm
  
• prime95 for CPU http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/
• Furmark for GPU http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Make sure to run coretemp, speedfan or similar to monitor temperatures and ensure things don't get out of control. Don't want to destroy your hardware in the process of testing it!

Will this narrow down the hardware if it is hardware related?

Yes. As above: use the right tools to test each critical piece of hardware. The tools should tell you if they detect a problem.

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

Brand new I built it a few months ago but only just got around to setting it up as a HTPC.

Okay. If you ask me, this makes the hardware issue theory more plausible.

Not tried the stress testing can you recommend a program?

Sure.
I'd try:

• memtest for memory http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm
  
• prime95 for CPU http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/
• Furmark for GPU http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Make sure to run coretemp, speedfan or similar to monitor temperatures and ensure things don't get out of control. Don't want to destroy your hardware in the process of testing it!

Will this narrow down the hardware if it is hardware related?

Yes. As above: use the right tools to test each critical piece of hardware. The tools should tell you if they detect a problem.

Again thanks for everyone's help I am going to work on this over the weekend.

I actually found this earlier relating to my mobo http://www.overclock.net/t/1384992/the-ga-f2a75m-d3h-rev1-0-rev-1-1-thread

I have since turned off auto settings and set them to be very low and BBC Two HD has been running for about 20 minutes so far (improvement) so will see how I go with that I might drop Gigabyte an email as well.

I will also give them tests a go this weekend, I should have them done by Monday as I have got quite a bit on.

Should I continue to use this forum even though it seems like it is not a MediaPortal?

Cheers
Chris

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again Chris

Should I continue to use this forum even though it seems like it is not a MediaPortal?

I guess that would be a question for moderators. Personally I don't mind. I'm hopefully that you'll be able to confirm/identify the problem, find a good solution and that other people can learn from your experience.

mm

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

Ok well lowering everything and disabling various settings worked last night the video playback at times was stuttering but I think that was because of how low I had the settings.

I have dropped an email to the motherboard manufacturer so I will see what they get back to me with.

Just out of curiosity could it be the PSU is not powerful enough? It is a 360w and I am wondering if I have lowered the settings in the BIOS it will therefore be drawing less power?

I do have a 430w PSU in another machine I could try out.

Thanks again

 

[Owlsroost]

Just out of curiosity could it be the PSU is not powerful enough? It is a 360w and I am wondering if I have lowered the settings in the BIOS it will therefore be drawing less power?

It's probably OK (if it's a decent brand), but you can't judge a PSU just by the nominal power rating - a good, conservatively rated 300w PSU might actually behave better than a 'no name' 500w one in a real world system.....

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

Well I swapped the PSU and still experienced the same problem so I am going to take out one memory stick tomorrow and then swap with the other if the problem persists to try and rule out memory

The PSU's is a seasonic which had good reviews

Cheers

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

Just a quick update Gigabyte said to remove the TV tuner, I am currently playing a moving through MP on default BIOS settings so as they were originally and it seems ok.

I will keep playing movies to see if it crashes again.

If it doesn't I am going to try the TV Tuner in a different slot.

Cheers

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

OK think I have narrowed it down now to the memory, I have gone down to one stick and it is working fine. I am convinced though that if I was to swap the sticks that would work as well it is just when they are together.

I will confirm this later on in the week.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks for the update.
Is it possible your motherboard is not supplying the correct/specified voltage to the memory?
Alternatively, are you 100% sure you've mounted it correctly and in the right slots? Mobo manuals usually specify which pair of slots to use for dual channel memory kits.

 

[ChrisJoBarney]

I will try mounting them both again and I am also going to run memtest on them on there own.

I didn't know they had to be in specific slots but it seems I had them in the correct ones anyway as the manual states for best config place them in DDR3_1 & DDR3_2 which they originally were.

I will also check the voltage, I think this might be the case to be honest as it is set to Auto by default.

Might take me all week to do the above with work and other commitments (dog walking!) but I will let you know as soon as possible.

Again thanks for your help.