PC Randomly Shuts Off During RAM Intensive Applications - Page 7

If possible, please test the card in another system or test another card in this system to rule out any possible hardware problem with the current system. Also test with a different power supply if possible.

Thank You,
EVGA Tech Support

When you installed the drivers, have you tried choosing the "Clean Install" option, which is available after the drivers uncompress by choosing "Custom/Advanced Install", and then checking the box to perform a clean installation?

If the problem persists, do you have any other games you can try testing with? As BF3 is quite new we have seen a number of issues with it. If the problem does not occurs in any other games or benchmarks then it is quite possibly just an issue with the game or some settings.

Then try testing the card with some free diagnostics programs we provide, I would recommend Precision to monitor the temperature of the card and then run a GPU stress test for about 30 minutes with OC Scanner. You will want to "Enable Scanner" and also go in the settings and 'Enable On Screen Info", then Validate Changes and "Start GPU Stress Test". Please let us know if this reports any artifacts/crashes/errors and the max temperature reached under load.

Regards,
EVGA

Sometimes we have seen where the HDMI audio drivers for card could conflict with the onboard audio drivers and cause issues. Could you please try the steps outlined in the following FAQ for disabling the HD audio device on the card, and see if this helps correct the issue?
http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmmain.aspx?faqid=59211

If you have not done so, I would recommend setting your memory timings, voltages and frequency manually in the BIOS and then retesting. You would just need to find the recommended settings from the manufacturer and go into the BIOS and set them manually (Typically found under Frequency/Voltage control and Memory Feature.) Once they are set up I would recommend to run memtest86+ (memtest.org) for a few full passes to ensure the RAM is working properly as the 500 series cards can be very sensitive to correct ram settings.

If you have further issues please feel free to email us back or call support anytime 24/7.

Regards,
EVGA

You are hitting the wire for power requirement, so that's entirely possible. Grounding is possible too, but unlikely. Drivers you've eliminated...Can you please go into your BIOS, and under PC health, hardware monitor, or system monitor, find and report the +12v reading and any fluctuations you see? Also, the memory test recommended around December 17th, have you tried that recently?

Regards,
EVGA

The voltages will not be adjustments but will be what the motherboard's monitors report the power supply is outputting on specific voltage rails. The power supply outputs 3 different voltages, 3.3v, 5v, and 12v. the video card uses the 12v to run. Due to the nature of electronics it is very hard to get the voltages to be dead on what they want to be so the ATX spec for the voltages are they have to be within +/-5% of what they are supposed to be. The previous tech wanted to verify if the 12v from the power supply is ok or outside of spec. If it is fluctuating more than .05v when the system is idling in the BIOS it could also indicate an issue with the power supply.

Nearly all motherboards have a place in the BIOS to see what the different voltages are running at as well as what voltages other parts of the motherboard are receiving. It will also normally show several temps of the system. It is usually under PC Health or Hardware Monitor but it may be under something else as it can vary depending on the motherboard maker. Unfornatualy we would only be able to say with certainty where it is in the BIOS in EVGA motherboards. If you are having difficulty finding it you may want to reference your Asus motherboard manual.

To get into the BIOS it is typically Del or F1, F10 but it can be other key commands when the system turns on depending on the motherboard maker. It typically says what key to press at the first screen you see either where it is counting the RAM or at the bottom of the screen. If you have a logo on the screen if you press Tab or Esc it will normally show the POST screen.

Regards,
EVGA

If it's not an issue with the power supply, then it's possibly software, memory, the PCI-E connector, or the monitor. The graphics card obviously is a possibility as well. Did you have another graphics card installed in the system before, if so, what kind, and did you uninstall it's display drivers before installing this card? Also, please try testing your memory using memtest86 from http://www.memtest.org/ additionally, reseat the graphics card as well as the monitor, making sure they're both seated and secured tightly. There is a known issue with conflicts caused by the HD audio device on 400/500 series cards. Please follow the steps in this FAQ to eliminate this. http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmmain.aspx?faqid=59211

Regards,
EVGA

If memory is causing the driver to trip, then it can be attributed to the audio device causing an issue now however agreeably, that would be more of a memory issue rather than the audio device itself. Please let us know the results of testing the memory so we know what's going on. Ideally, you want it to complete 5-6 passes.

Regards,
EVGA

Hi Brandon,

If you are getting errors it is an indicator that either a stick of RAM is bad or the memory controller on the CPU is bad. Try each stick alone in the system with Memtest86 and see if it happens with one stick. It would be rare that all of the sticks would fail at the same time.

Please contact us back with the results.

Regards,
EVGA

The issue could be related to the memory controller on the CPU, we'd recommend trying another CPU or testing your CPU in another system. That being said, is the issue exclusive to the Sims or other games as well? Unfortunately if it's just the Sims and After Effects what we can do is limited, you may want to go into the NVIDIA control panel and under SLI configuration select Activate All Displays, this might help.

Regards,
EVGA

Have you tried turning off sli in the Nvidia control panel and running the sims game? If you are unsure on how, go to Nvidia control panel and the setting will be under the "physix/sli configuration" tab. I would also suggest running the card under a benchmark and see how it does. Download a benchmark called "Heaven Benchmark" which you can find on Google, this will help you seeing how the card performs in a 3d scenario. Let us know what you report so that we can further assist you.

Thank you,

EVGA Tech Support

In general, crashes to desktop and BSODs can be caused by a number of issues but will usually be memory or software related. As you were having RAM issues previously, have you since tried testing the RAM modules individually, or setting the memory timings manually in the BIOS?

Then try testing the card with some free diagnostics programs we provide, I would recommend Precision to monitor the temperature of the card and then run a GPU stress test for about 30 minutes with OC Scanner. You will want to "Enable Scanner" and also go in the settings and 'Enable On Screen Info", then Validate Changes and "Start GPU Stress Test". Please let us know if this reports any artifacts/crashes/errors and the max temperature reached under load.

Regards,
EVGA

As you can imagine, this issue is quite perplexing. At this point is issue is likely software, do you have another hard drive you can install a test copy of Windows on to so we can isolate Windows as the source?

Regards,
EVGA