# Computer freeze w/ colored squares



## Logar_Ithme (Apr 22, 2011)

Hi everyone!

I am looking to resolve a very annoying problem. For the past 2 weeks, my computer has randomly started to freeze. The screen gets stuck on whatever I was doing and colored squares appear around. The squares are of colors, like red, purple, green, etc.

The problem mostly arises when I play games. I confirmed that it happens when I play League of Legends, Bulletstorm, Rise of Immortals and especially Portal 2, making that game about unplayable. However, the freeze sometimes happen when I'm doing nothing or just surfing the web.

My searches so far has been vain. The only related subjects I found was about HD TV and that the PSU might be dying. Mine is a Corsair 750W, so I find it unlikely. A memory test confirmed that the RAM is not responsible of the problem.

Here are the specs :
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Intel Quad-Core i7 @2.67 Ghz
3x 2GB OCZ DDR3 RAM (9-9-9-7 I think or something like that)
XFX Radeon 4870
Corsair PSU 750W

I'd like to point that I used to have heat issues in the past, but I had someone clean the case and maximise air flow.

Thank you all for your input in this situation!


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## Markgg88 (Jan 7, 2011)

It's unlikely to be the PSU however no one is perfect. It could also be the video card going out. Test the VRAM on the card with MemtestCL. If any errors are found then the RAM on the video card is fried.

We still can't rule out overheating so check the temps with GPU-Z.


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## Daifne (Mar 28, 2011)

I would also try reinstalling the video drivers before doing anything hardware related. It could just be a corrupted driver.


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## Logar_Ithme (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello.

The problem I had with my system was indeed heat again. I removed the possibility of faulty drivers since I had formated the same day that I posted here.

After reinstalling a program to see temperature, I discovered my GPU was at 80 Celsius _when doing nothing_. During gameplay, the temperature would easily rise to 95-100 and more.
I cleaned thoroughly the fans, added two more and did some minor things to help air flow. Right now, my card idles at 70 and barely go above 90 anymore. My work is temporary, but it's working.

Thank you for your replies. I guess I should have been more careful before discarding overheating.


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