Anyone ever hear of something like this? - Overclock.net

Rook_ · 03-24-09

Hey all, I posted a similar topic in the Motherboard forum a few days ago, but I think I've narrowed down my problem to the GPU.

My computer is my sig rig, and it seems to want to randomly reboot while playing certain games, and not others (older ones).

TL;DR Version;

My PC wants to randomly reboot while playing certain higher end games, I believe it to be the GPU. Memtest checks good, swapped the PSU, checks good. Updated drivers, BIOS, cranked up GPU fan speed, intel burn test blah blah blah, everything passes.

Has anyone ever heard of an issue like this with a GPU?

Detailed Version;

Games that don't crash:

World of Warcraft
Day of Defeat
Counter-Strike 1.6

Games that do:

Left 4 Dead
Call of Duty 4
Tomb Raider Underworld
F.E.A.R. 2

I did however get World of Warcraft to crash after I overclocked the card with RivaTuner. Also by "crash" I mean reboot, and yes I've tried to go into boot menu and "Disable Restart on System Failure", it just reboots regardless.

I thought this was a PSU issue, so I went out and bought a Corsair 850TX, same problems. Motherboard, got an ASUS P5Q Deluxe, same problem, RAM, got some Corsair Dominator DDR21066, same problem.

It seems bizarre but I have a strong feeling it must be the GPU. I doubt I would have two PSU's from two different manufacturers that have the same exact issue.

Has anyone ever heard of an issue like this with a video card? If I decide to replace it, I'm considering either a GTX 260 216 or a GTX 285 (eVGA), can't make my mind up, 285 seems a bit pricey, but I'll be getting a Q9650 pretty soon, and I don't want my 260 216 to bottleneck it, I don't know if it would.

PR1M3R · 03-24-09

Try different drivers.

Vlasov_581 · 03-24-09

and the gpu is at default clocks?

addies · 03-24-09

Have you ran an artifact scan with ati tool at stock speeds? If it artifacts during that then you know that it's your gpu for sure.

Rook_ · 03-24-09

Tried new drivers, old drivers, beta drivers, custom drivers.

Card is now at stock speed, the only reason I overclocked was to see if it in fact was the card, and sure enough while overclocked, crashed even on the games it didn't usually crash in.

I haven't run the ATiTool test, I will next time I'm in front of it, but I did run a program I found called "Video Card Stress Test", it's basically two 3d pictures of earth spinning, and it does quite a number on the GPU, seemed to run that fine at stock speeds, when overclocked, I did have an artifact very quickly, but that couild be caused by a bad overclock. At stock speeds it ran all night.

I also tried uninstalling PhsyX, I heard awhile back it was causing issues for some people.

Also, if it isn't the GPU, what in the world could it be? The only thing I have in my PC atm other than what's listed in my sig-rig is a Linskys Wireless NIC card, I ordered a more up to date and nicer Wireless-N card a few days ago so I could upgrade to Vista x64.

Could a GPU have the ability to reboot a computer when it failed somehow? I didn't think it could especially with "Disable Reboot on System Failure". I figure it would blue screen, not just reboot.

brettjv · 03-24-09

I would try using RT to underclock the GPU by a nice margin, like 20%, and see if the problem goes away. At least, if it does, you can be pretty dang sure it's video card related, somehow. And by that, I mean, you'll know it's hardware, rather than software, so you can at least have a better idea of what you're up against here and not be flailing in the dark, replacing parts, re-installing windows and drivers and all that rot.

If that doesn't fix it, then a driver sweep, in safe mode, if you've not done so, is a good idea. As is re-installing your DirectX, as those files can get corrupted.

Obviously, a re-install of one or two of the games that have crashed is also a good idea. Game files can get corrupted by crashes for sure.

Lastly, you might try a fresh install of Windows ...

PR1M3R · 03-24-09

Fresh install of windows would be the next step for me, after trying what has been recommended here.

Puscifer · 03-24-09

Are you checking your cards temps? Its seems like a GPU issue and its only happening in the game thats stress the GPU the most, so it could possibly be overheating. Download hardware monitor or GPU-z or something and make sure the temps aren't getting too high.

Rook_ · 03-24-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by brettjv

I would try using RT to underclock the GPU by a nice margin, like 20%, and see if the problem goes away. At least, if it does, you can be pretty dang sure it's video card related, somehow. And by that, I mean, you'll know it's hardware, rather than software, so you can at least have a better idea of what you're up against here and not be flailing in the dark, replacing parts, re-installing windows and drivers and all that rot.

If that doesn't fix it, then a driver sweep, in safe mode, if you've not done so, is a good idea. As is re-installing your DirectX, as those files can get corrupted.

Obviously, a re-install of one or two of the games that have crashed is also a good idea. Game files can get corrupted by crashes for sure.

Lastly, you might try a fresh install of Windows ...

Underclocked about 10% at first, then to max unclock, seemed to last longer while underclocked, but it can be very random at times.

I honestly don't think it's a game install, or DirectX, here's why.

Saturday morning, bought Tomb Raider off Steam, it wanted to install DirectX played it for about ~30 minutes, reboot.

Saturday night, bought FEAR2, installed it and it's own DirectX, ~30 minutes computer rebooted.

So thats two brand new installed games which both installed DirectX9, I honestly think that rules out that.

It's just so random, I was playing CoD4 sunday night for 5 minutes, I got a restart, got back in and played for 2 hours without a reboot. Seems like a PSU issue, because of the randomness of it, but it can't be.

I will try a fresh Windows install, though this one is pretty fresh (about a month old, still haven't installed all the programs I want haha).

I have a copy of Vista Ultimate x64 I was originally going to use for this build, but unfortunately my Linksys Wireless NIC card didn't have 64bit drivers, so I had to buy a new one with 64bit support.

I will try a fresh Windows install and see what happens this weekend, if it's not that, I'll wait for a payday and pick up a new GPU. If it's not that, I'll wait until my friend gets his tax return so he can buy my old computer so I can buy a Q9650, and if it's not that, I'll sell the computer to buy some rope and hang myself.

Edit: Yes I checked the temps, was my first attempt at troubleshooting this problem, seemed like an overheating issue for sure. I cranked the fan speed up to 80%, the card idles at 38c IIRC and doesn't go past 70c under any conditions.

PR1M3R · 03-24-09

mmmmmm...... Rope.......

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Anyone ever hear of something like this?

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