I might have just borked my new PC build

So I decided to build a new PC (for the second time ever) and I got all the components and put them together (like you do). I then started installing Windows 8 only to find that the machine was freezing up mid-install at different points every time. I'm not even sure where to start trouble shooting this as I'm really just a computer building dabbler and not a true tech head.

Here's the component list:
Gigabyte GAZ77 D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 Motherboard
Intel Core i7 - 3770 processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler
2x 8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws x Series RAM
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
Corsair Force GT 240GB Solit State Harddrive
Asus Black Blu-Ray Drive
Seasonic x750W Power supply
EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Video card
Rosewill RNX-N250PC2 wireless-N Adapter

Is there a conflict I'm not aware of? Did I screw up on the install process somewhere? Is there something in the BIOS I need to change? Help!

Sometimes you get a dud. I believe the most common time for electronics to fail is soon after purchase.
I'm not seeing any glaring incompatibility there. Try it with a linux live CD and try some troubleshooting.

I remember someone here saying they needed the latest version of the MB bios to get windows 8 installed so maybe check on that?

Dr.Ghastly wrote:

I remember someone here saying they needed the latest version of the MB bios to get windows 8 installed so maybe check on that?

This

How do I update my MB BIOS without an OS to get on the interwebs?

Another computer and a USB stick, typically.

Certis wrote:

Another computer and a USB stick, typically.

Yep this

Well, I downloaded updated BIOS for my MB and tried a new install only to have it freeze again mid way through.

What are the chances I did something physically wrong with the set up? Should I try re-seating my CPU cooler? or my processor?

Did you manually set your memory times in the bios?

But, yeah, make sure all your ram is in properly. Can't hurt you reseat the CPU.

Strip out all the ram, but one stick. If it's still busted try another stick and do on. Might be a bad stick of ram.

Also, make sure in BIOS you have your HD's set to AHCI.

After doing the RAM tests, you might try to install to the 1TB HD as a test (don't complete registration).

Echoing the others, but yeah in my experience a majority of random freezing issues with new computer builds are either a) bad stick of RAM, or b) RAM of the right speed and size for your motherboard, but which your motherboard doesn't actually claim it's compatible with (ie, you go to the motherboard manufacturer's site, find your exact motherboard model, and find a link to a list of compatible RAM makes and models). I would definitely check that out first.

Download the Memtest86 ISO, burn it to cd and boot from it to test memory.

OK, done some testing and I think it's probably the RAM.

I re-seated both sticks of RAM and tested, froze. Checked the RAM speeds in BIOS running at 1333 Mhz. Tried each stick in DDR3 slot 1 froze both times. Swapped both sticks form DDR3 slots 1 & 3 to slots 2 & 4, it worked! Ran for about 15 minutes, long enough to download chrome and the latest drivers for my video card, then froze!

So is there a sure-fire test to know if the sticks are bad before I try to return them?

The easiest way would be to put another stick of RAM in the machine and see if it runs without freezing. I can't think of a way to specifically point at the memory as the cause of a freeze though. But as Khoram said, if your system is freezing randomly, memory is the most likely cause. If you ordered the memory from NewEgg, you almost definitely have a 30 day no-questions return policy. So either RMA the memory with them, or alternately, do as I did and order new memory immediately and return your current set for a refund in the packaging the new set arrives in. That will shorten the time to having a working system if the memory is in fact the problem and save you from having to sort out something to ship the return in (though for memory you can just use a padded envelope).

You could also put one in at a time and run memtest of some kind (like Gumbie suggested). Any stick that doesn't pass the test gets RMAed. If none out of 4 pass... well you may have a different issue. If it's an off brand RAM maker though you could still RMA them and try something from a reliable company that your motherboard docs say is guaranteed to be compatible.

AmazingZoidberg wrote:

So is there a sure-fire test to know if the sticks are bad before I try to return them?

See my reply 4 posts up and test one stick at a time.

What are the chances the sticks of RAM are the problem but they still pass the memtest? Probably not great right? I spent several hours today running memtest on both individual sticks then on both of them running together. All three tests passed. Looking at the motherboard compatibility I found that my exact model was not listed the corresponding model number in 4 GB rather than 8GB was. I don't entirely think it's a compatibility issue but I'm going to purchase some RAM that is actually on the list next time to be sure. I also just plugged in my HDD rather than my SSD but I don't want to start the OS install system just to have to re-install it to another SSD if that's the problem.

I'm thinking of trying to install a Linux OS to the SSD to see if that freezes up as well, then replacing the SSD. Any suggestions?

OK, so I was just reading about Linux Live CD's (thanks for the suggestion scratched) and I'm downloading an ISO for Ubuntu now. I've played with it before and it has the option to install or boot from the disc. In the process I also came across some discussion of memtest86+ and the blogger suggested running it for 8 hours at a time. Did I not run it long enough to find a potential problem since I stopped on each stick after the first PASS was tallied?

AmazingZoidberg wrote:

What are the chances the sticks of RAM are the problem but they still pass the memtest?

It's possible. With my recent PC build the machine had tons of trouble booting cold (it would power cycle 15 times before posting), but once running passed memory tests with flying colors. Replacing the memory fixed the problem. Hangs are a bit different, but I figured it was worth noting that memory issues can produce all sorts of weird effects.

Quick update.

I loaded an Ubuntu live disk and installed flash and have been browsing the web and running video for the last hour or so with absolutely no hitches.

I'm beginning to think that this is not a RAM thing. I'll run a memtest overnight just to be sure though. It's probably not the MB or CPU either.

So I'm starting to think it might be the SSD. I burned a disk of parted magic to run a secure erase of the SSD (the prefered method according to Corsair's website). I followed the instructons but when I tried to run the program it would just go to a blank screen and spit out the disk rather than going to a GUI. I'm not sure what's going on here.

I'm gonna do some more tests tomorrow after work.

MannishBoy wrote:

Also, make sure in BIOS you have your HD's set to AHCI.

Have you done this? Just making sure you didn't miss it. You can end up with some weird behavior from SSD's if you don't do it.

did you update your SSD's firmware to the latest?

Thin_J wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

Also, make sure in BIOS you have your HD's set to AHCI.

Have you done this? Just making sure you didn't miss it. You can end up with some weird behavior from SSD's if you don't do it.

I did. Right after updating the MB BIOS.

TheGameguru wrote:

did you update your SSD's firmware to the latest?

Nope. guess I have something else to do after work today.

Anytime you get (this goes for everyone) a new SSD.. first thing you should do is flash it to the latest firmware.. in some case the flashes are destructive.

OK, so I started looking into firmware updates for my SSD and found out that it is not necessarily compatible with Windows 8. I got the SSD months ago when it was on sale and before I knew this build was going to be a Win 8 build so I suppose I can forgive myself for overlooking that little tidbit. The last firmware update was apparently in August and makes no note of windows 8 compatibility. I'm going to try to flash the firmware and see if it just happens to help (I'm not overly hopeful) and then start looking into a new Win 8 compatible SSD.

well, ubuntu won't let me run the program that flashes the SSD firmware, and I can't get Windows 8 to load at all at the moment, and I can't install windows 8 onto my HDD because the product key has already been used!

I'm gonna go bash my head against a wall, it will be marginally less painful.

usually theres a boot image you can make for flashing SSD's

TheGameguru wrote:

usually theres a boot image you can make for flashing SSD's

This is how I did my Intel drive a while back.

TheGameguru wrote:

Anytime you get (this goes for everyone) a new SSD.. first thing you should do is flash it to the latest firmware.. in some case the flashes are destructive.

Agree with this. I got one of those SSDs with an old firmware that had the 5200 hour test bug... at around 5200 hours of use, it would go into 1 hour test modes. So my build worked fine and everything looked good for the 1st year of use, then my computer would regularly BSOD. Took quite a while to track that one down

Everything I've found about the Corsair firmware update provides a .zip file with a .exe for a windows based updater and a bunch of files ending on .vic (which I've never seen before).

More importantly since I bought a "System builder" version of Windows 8 it's permanently connected to my SSD since I've already used the product key. I've heard tell that you can contact Microsoft tech support and they can provide you with a code to transfer to a different drive, but that was in the context of a boxed copy, not an OEM "system builder" copy.

Anyone have any experience transferring windows from one drive to another?

I reinstalled Windows 7 on a different PC recently, and the process they sent me through to get a new product key was really weird. I got to some screen in the registration process where they had me call a telephone number and read off this huge serial number to an automated system, and that gave me my new product key. It's been long enough that I don't recall whether the version I have is an OEM or a full copy though. But all I did was try to register online and then follow the error resolution steps presented to me when my key was rejected.