Alienware Area-51 R6 Random Freezes

Hi Eddie,

Try running a built in Hardware diagnostics to check for hardware issues and get back with the results.

Kindly find the steps below to perform the hardware diagnostics.

Turn the computer off >restart the computer.

At the Dell logo screen, start tapping the F12 key a few times until you see the ‘One Time Boot Menu’ appear.

At the one time boot menu, press the down arrow key to highlight ‘Diagnostic’, and then press Enter to begin the PSA diagnostics. If the test fails, please make a note of any error codes listed. You can also refer to the link below.

http://dell.to/OUGnqT

Hi Eddie,

I am sorry about the previous message. Please run the online diagnostics from the below link to check for hardware issues.

http://dell.to/We70YO

Also try to do a clean boot. Please follow the steps mentioned in the below link.

http://bit.ly/12PfxI

Hi Harish,

Thank you for the reply.  I've attempted accessing the ePSA several times now, and it doesn't seem to start.  This is an older system.  Is it possible that it doesn't have that option in the BIOS?

I'll try a few more times to be sure, but is there another troubleshooting path we can try?

Eddie

I am able to access BIOS by pressing 'DEL' at startup.  There I can modify boot order, but built in diagnostics is not among the options I can choose.

Harish,

I have also already attempted Dell's online diagnostics without success.  I chose Full Diagnostic and agree to the EULA.  Dell System Detect is downloaded and installed.  After several minutes of "Gathering Information....Please Wait....," it attempts to install AlienAutopsy and says "searching for updates."  Then it will say "Requirements for download: This software package is not designed for use with this machine type.

I've not attempted the clean boot procedure.  I will give it a try now and report back.

Eddie

Hi Eddie,

Try pressing the FN+Power together to initiate the Built in Diagnostics.

Harish,

This is a desktop unit.  Unless I misunderstand your suggestion, it wouldn't apply here as there are no FN keys on the generic keyboard I'm using.  

Eddie

Sounds like an Alienware legacy (or Pre-Dell) unit.

Does it actually say "Dell" anywhere in BIOS? I kinda doubt it.

One of the first steps in determining a course of action in trouble-shooting a machine is to first determine exactly what machine you have.

Dell made Alienware desktops started shipping in Q4-2009. They had Intel i7 processors and Win7-64bit minimum.

Sounds like an Alienware legacy (or Pre-Dell) unit.   Does it actually say "Dell" anywhere in BIOS? I kinda doubt it.   One of the first steps in determining a course of action in trouble-shooting a machine is to first determine exactly what machine you have.   Dell made Alienware desktops started shipping in Q4-2009. They had Intel i7 processors and Win7-64bit minimum.

System freezing is usually caused by defective RAM.

RAM Testing: Run Memtest86+ v5.00 for ten passes to rule out faulty RAM. (You will need a USB Flash drive to install Memtest onto.)

I see your motherboard is also pretty hot, you should get that checked out asap.

@TTesla1856:

Thank you for your reply.  Yes, I do believe this to be a pre-Dell unit.  None of the Del diagnostics will work with it,  It has Phoenix BIOS 6.00 PG dated 9/12/2008, circa 2009 hardware as shown in my OP, and a Vista COA on the box.  Am I in the wrong forum?  I Googled my way here, and Alienware Club did sound like an appropriate place to seek guidance, but I'm starting to get the impression that this page is only for Dell units???

@morblore:

Thank you for the link.  But it appears to be a collection of links for troubleshooting info on various laptops.  This is a desktop unit. I'm not sure, but I think the model is called Area-51 R6.  It's in what I've seen refered to online as the P2 case.

@Sajin1337:

Thanks for your reply.  I have run a full battery of hardware diagnostics (Eurosoft, not Memtest) and all hardware passed.  I can run Memtest for a few hours if that's warranted, but like you, I suspect temperatures.  The temps I posted in my OP are at idle.  My go-to test for recreating the system freeze has been doing a large download. (Guildwars 2 game files.)  After a few minutes of downloading, the screen freezes.  At the time of freeze, the MOBO temperature will have risen to 86 C and video cards will be in the low 60's.

I further suspect hardware/heat now having done the clean boot procedure recommended by Harish M because the freeze still occurs when in "Clean Boot" with all nonessential services disabled.

I'm not sure how to proceed with troubleshooting the heat issue.  If indeed that's the root cause.  This thing has 4 case fans.  Plus water cooling on the CPU.  I can confirm that three fans are working by visual inspection, and the CPU is staying cool, so I assume the water cooling rig is OK.  The fourth fan is integrated into a removable side panel with a wireless contact that is broken when in remove the panel to take a look.

@Dell-Harish M:

I performed the clean boot procedure from the Microsoft Support you recommended.  The outcome was that the symptom still manifest itself with all nonessential services disabled and before I had added any back in.

Thanks again to all who've replied.

Eddie

@Sajin1337:   Thanks for your reply.  I have run a full battery of hardware diagnostics (Eurosoft, not Memtest) and all hardware passed.  I can run Memtest for a few hours if that's warranted, but like you, I suspect temperatures.  The temps I posted in my OP are at idle.  My go-to test for recreating the system freeze has been doing a large download. (Guildwars 2 game files.)  After a few minutes of downloading, the screen freezes.  At the time of freeze, the MOBO temperature will have risen to 86 C and video cards will be in the low 60's.   I further suspect hardware/heat now having done the clean boot procedure recommended by Harish M because the freeze still occurs when in "Clean Boot" with all nonessential services disabled.   I'm not sure how to proceed with troubleshooting the heat issue.  If indeed that's the root cause.  This thing has 4 case fans.  Plus water cooling on the CPU.  I can confirm that three fans are working by visual inspection, and the CPU is staying cool, so I assume the water cooling rig is OK.  The fourth fan is integrated into a removable side panel with a wireless contact that is broken when in remove the panel to take a look.

The temperature alone shouldn't be causing your system to freeze. The best way to correct the temp issue would be to replace all the fans in the system with new ones as some of your fans may not be working up to spec (decreasing the overall airflow within the case) and need replacement to restore the flow to normal, but even after replacing all the fans you could still be seeing high temps if your motherboard doesn't use active heatsinks on the north & southbridge chipsets. (http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/heatsink.htm) If your system does not use active heatsinks on the north & southbridge chipsets the best way to improve temps would be to replace all your case fans with higher CFM fans to improve case air flow, you could even buy some smaller fans to place directly on the passive heatsinks to help cool the north and southbridge chipsets. 

I'm still leaning toward defective RAM as the culprit so running memtest for ten passes is recommended. I see the system freezes when downloading large files. What happens when trying to download those same files while in safe mode with networking?

The only temp that might be a problem is this one: MOBO: alienware Area-51 R6    84C

Find out what sensor that is because it doesn't appear to be the CPU. Is the Chipset heatsink too-hot-to-touch?

There are better forums for Legacy AW ... Origin used to have a section. Intel Core2 machines are fine, but most are around 6 years old now ... a long time for PC gamers.

Thanks to both of you for sticking with me and for all the good input.

@Sajin1337:

Typically, when I click on the GuildWars2 desktop shortcut, a splash screen appears and asks for the user's login and it begins downloading the game files.  It indicates that there are over 200,00 files remaining to be downloaded.  It makes a little progress, then video freezes.  The behaviour was the same when I attempted the "Clean Boot" procedure that the Harish recommended.  But in safe mode, the GuildWars splash screen appears, but never asks for login credentials nor downloads any files at all.  It is unresponsive to attempts to close it.  When task manager is opened, GuildWars2 is shown to be "running," but if I force close it, Windows then reports that it is "not responding" and asks if I would like to wait or close.  I was able to download around 60MB of drivers for the system while in safemode, but I have done comparable downloads previously without failure too.

I've never done 10 passes with Memtest on anything, let alone a system with 10Gigs to test, but I'll start it in a few minutes before I hit the sack, and we'll see in the morning where we are.

By the way, I have removed the side panel I mentioned and replaced it with a big room fan.  This made no change in temperature readings.  I also powered the fan in the panel with a spare PSU I have here and it does run.

@Tesla1856:

I'm puzzled about that high temperature myself.  And cooling is an area that I lack experience in.  It'd be great if you can shed some more light.  Here are some more details that I've learned since my OP.

The info in my first post was from Speccy.  It just says "Motherboard Area-51 R6 85C" in its summary section.  And in the motherboard details only "System Temperature 85 C."

This is confirmed, but not clarified with CPUID HWMonitor where I have a reading designated "SYSTIN 85 C."  I don't know what that specifically refers to.  In fact, I was hoping someone here did.

These temperatures are immediately and consistently shown to be between 84C and 86C even if I power up and immediately turn on the testing software after the machine has been off for a while.  They do not ramp up to that temperature.

I believe this motherboard is EVGA Nforce 790i Ultra SLI.  It has a nice set of heat tubes and heatsink fins and even a fan on the chipset.  And I can comfortably touch any part of the cooling set up even after the rig has run for hours.

I have also installed Nvidia's own system monitor.  It gives no reading at 85C but does provide "System Temp 39C," "MCP Temp 60C," and readings between 32C and 45C for the four CPU cores.

Thanks again both of you for your expertise and persistence.

Eddie

PS:  Two items I forgot to include.

Thank you Tesla for the tip on the Origin Forum.  I'll head over there and have a look in the morning.

Also, because I figure somebody will get around to asking eventually:  The system owner claims he has not made any attempts at overclocking, but just to be sure, resetting BIOS to factory defaults was one of my earliest steps in this process.