Intense PC hangs with Graphics intensive applications

[ahabib]

My Intense PC with Intel Core i7-3517UE just arrived. Installed Ubuntu 12.04 and then installed XBMC (since I plan to use it as a media center PC). After 15 minutes or so. The Intense PC freezes while running XBMC. The only way to fix it is to do a hard reset.

Ok, maybe the open source drivers arent' doing the justice. I wiped out Ubuntu and installed Windows 7 Ultimate with Intense PC drivers found on fit-pc site. Installed XBMC on Windows 7. Exactly the same problem. It hangs while running XBMC.

Ok, maybe XBMC doesn't like Intense PC on Ubuntu & Windows 7. In order to check my theory, I installed a few old games (Need for Speed Undercover, Vegas Rainbow, Flight Simulator X etc.) and tried to play them for a few minutes under Windows 7. Boom, in 5 minutes the computer freezes again.

So I've witnessed exactly the same problem on Ubuntu & Windows. Hard to believe it's a drivers issue, since both OS use different drivers. Is it a hardware problem?

The machine does heat up a lot when the problem occurs.

I am running Intense PC with 16GB Ram & 100GB SSD. Has anyone else witness similar issue?

[gabrielh]

This is abnormal behavior.
Please do two of the following tests:
1. Please load a live Ubuntu distribution an let it ran for a while. Please check if your computer freezes runing the live version
2. Enter a BIOS menu and let it on for about a ten minutes. Check if the IntensePC freezes

Please post your results in this thread,

[ahabib]

I will post the results in a few hours.

However, please remember that the problem I mentioned occurs only when running graphics intensive applications. My IntensePC has Intel 4000HD integrated graphics, which is pretty decent and gives great performance for games and media center PC apps (until it hangs). I wonder if IntensePC went through enough heat dissipation testing using 3D games & graphics apps.

I am sure letting it sit on the bios screen or popping in Ubuntu live cd should not cause any problem since the computer will be idle and no heat issues should occur. I will post my results anyway in next few hours.

While I do that, I'd suggest someone in support team download trial versions of some new games and test it on Windows 7 (or Ubuntu), to verify IntensePC does not freeze up due to heat issues while processing heavy graphics apps and/or games.

[ahabib]

Ok here are the test results.

- Simple text based apps or light graphics apps does not hang the intense pc.
- I also ran a Windows Memory Diagnostic test, which came out clean. So I know memory is good. The Test took 20-30 minutes to run. The PC did NOT hang during the test.
- More disturbing news...I downloaded latest version of VLC player and played a 1080p Movie. The movie played for 25 minutes before the PC froze again. I am attaching the screen shots of how the screen looks right after PC hangs.

I can't think of anything else but to conclude that any GPU intensive program (3D games, 1080p movies etc.) cause the thermal issues on IntensePC, hence causing it to hang.

I wonder if other people are also experiencing similar issues while playing 1080p (1920x01080 progressive resolution) movies or 3D games.

A reminder that I conducted these tests on Windows 7 with latest updates and IntensePC drivers. I have a 100GB SSD (OCZ Brand) drive with 16GB (Corsair Dual Channel DDR3 SODIMM) memory.

I am really out of ideas at this point. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[gabrielh]

Thank you for providing detailed info. We haven't encounter such issue before. Our R&D team will investigate this issue, and I will update you with the results

[gabrielh]

This is an RMA case. I suggest you to initiate an RMA procedure. Please contact me by PM if you have any trouble.

Please accept my apologizes for any inconvenience caused you by this faulty unit.

[ahabib]

I'd like to provide an update on my experience.

As I had mentioned, I ordered a bare bones Intense PC with Core i7. I added my own SSD (OCZ Vertex 2 100GB) hard drive and my own 16GB memory (Corsair Dual Channel DDR3 SODIMM Memory CMSO16GX3M2A1333C9).

It turns out the locking up/ Machine freeze issue was caused by the memory modules. I am not sure why, but replacing the memory with Patriot brand fixes the problem.

I am not sure why, as if the memory is bad, the computer typically doesn't even boot. In my case, it worked fine for 20-30 minutes, longer if I didn't use heavy graphics apps. Even the Windows Memory Diagnostics tests passed without problems.

[gabrielh]

I appreciate your update. Can you please run a memtest to check your Corsair memory on IntensePC pro?

[ahabib]

I did...3 times with Corsair memory. It passed every time.

[ahabib]

I have another update. I decided to give faster memory a try. Since Intense PC Core i7 supports 1600Mhz speed memory. I bought and installed 16GB Corsair Vengeance (CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10) memory.

The machine runs fine....until I start running 3D games. The machine reboots after 10-20mins, depending on graphics intensity and how warm the unit gets.

I understand you guys have performed cpu tests under extreme temperatures, but have you run graphics intensive apps during those tests.

I am not sure if its' a brand issue (Corsair 1333Mhz or Corsair 1600Mhz) does cause the unit to hang or restart after a while (while only running intensive 3D apps).

Even though Patriot 1333Mhz DDR3 16GB memory is working for me for now, I am convinced the issue is related to heat not dissipating quickly from the unit, causing the unit to freeze or reboot while running graphics intensive apps.