Games Crashing Computer

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
B

brads2012

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
45
1
10,530
Hey guys,

Last year I built a brand new gaming PC and everything was fine, however recently there has been a problem when playing hardware intensive games.
The game would start fine, but then a few minutes in it would start spontaneously stuttering for a second, every 30-60 seconds or so. After a few minutes of this, the sound would cut out for a few seconds at random intervals as well (even when the game wasn't stuttering). After a few minutes of this, my screens would flicker (like I was changing resolution or minimizing and then maximizing the game) and then after another few minutes my game would either crash to desktop, or my computer would completely freeze (no bluescreen or anything, just freeze until I hold the power button for 3 seconds. Restart did not work when it was frozen)

I replaced my graphics card with 2 GTX 760s as I assumed this was the problem (and I was planning on upgrading anyway when the 700s came out) but this has not fixed the issue. I was on Windows 8 when the issue started, so I went back to Windows 7 (After 9 months I still prefer Win7 anyway) but again this did not help and the same issue occurs. I don't know where to start in my troubleshooting process, and would be more than happy to try anything you guys throw at me if it could possibly resolve my problem.

Hardware is as follows:

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU: Intel i7 3770K @ stock 3.5ghz
RAM: 16gb (4x4) Corsair Vengeance @1333mhz
GPU: 2x MSI GTX 760 TwinFrozr in SLI
Mobo: AsRock z77 Extreme 9
PSU: OCZ ZX 850w
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 256gb (my games and OS are installed on this one)
HDD: WD Caviar Green 3.5TB
Monitor 1: Acer GD245HQ 23" @120hz
Monitor 2: BenQ GL2440 24" @60hz
Primary Sound: Razer Magalodon USB 7.1 headset

All parts were purchased brand new on May 2012, except the graphics cards which were purchased last month.

Games this happens on: (all high end games I have tried)
Tomb Raider 2013
Metro Last Light
Sleeping Dogs
Far Cry 3
Skyrim

Games it doesn't happen on:
Rogue Legacy
League of Legends

I am able to replace parts if necessary, however would prefer not to as I am not the richest man in the world.
Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
MC_K7
A few things you could try:

- Did you monitor your temperatures?

- Did you check for a BIOS update?

- Reset CMOS battery?

- Check for firmware updates for other components as well (especially the SSD).

- Check for latest drivers for all components (not just the GPU).

- You could remove SLI, and try just one of each card at a time. One of the two could be defective.

- When you say you went back to Win 7, I presume you did a "clean" install?


Start with this and we'll see after if this still don't fix your issue.
Sort by date Sort by votes
MC_K7

MC_K7

Distinguished
Aug 31, 2008
1,908
0
20,460
A few things you could try:

- Did you monitor your temperatures?

- Did you check for a BIOS update?

- Reset CMOS battery?

- Check for firmware updates for other components as well (especially the SSD).

- Check for latest drivers for all components (not just the GPU).

- You could remove SLI, and try just one of each card at a time. One of the two could be defective.

- When you say you went back to Win 7, I presume you did a "clean" install?


Start with this and we'll see after if this still don't fix your issue.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
B

brads2012

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
45
1
10,530
Thanks for the reply guys.
I updated all the firmware (even the SSD which was a pain) and updated all drivers.
I ran OCCT (thanks for telling me about this, will never uninstall) and ran the PSU test, which errored almost instantly after the 1 min idle time.

http://i.imgur.com/L5x0Ve5.png

Would this mean I need a better cooling solution for my CPU? I am currently using the stock fan which came with it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J_E_D_70

J_E_D_70

Splendid
Mar 21, 2012
7,294
59
30,290
What is your ambient air temp? You should be idling much lower than that and not get higher than about 70-75C on any of the cores under load. Seems to be the stock cooler is either not attached properly (check all four push pins) or the fan isn't spinning (easy to visually verify that part).

Might have to get a tube of thermal paste as well and reapply - Tuniq TX-3 is one of the best I think.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

brads2012

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
45
1
10,530


Room temperature is around 25C
I got a self contained CPU water cooler today, since I was going to get one anyway but completely forgot. Temperatures are now down to 30-60C at max load.
This has made the games smoother, however it is still doing the same thing where it randomly minimizes and can't be reopened, then crashes.
When I run memtest, I'm assuming I can't use my computer at the same time?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

brads2012

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
45
1
10,530


BIOS is at latest P1.90 version
Updated all drivers
Temperatures were all fine except the CPU which I fixed
Clean install which completed with no problems
Testing different GPU configs todays

When you say reset CMOS battery, this involves pressing the Reset CMOS button at the back of my PC right? (Where my inputs are)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MC_K7

MC_K7

Distinguished
Aug 31, 2008
1,908
0
20,460


No I meant physically removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard, but if you have a button that does the same I don't know it depends on your board, check your manual. What it will do is reset BIOS to factory default in case you changed a setting in there that is causing your PC to crash, like it will undo any overclock, etc...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

brads2012

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
45
1
10,530
Thanks everyone for your help.

After extensive troubleshooting and advice/help from ko888, I have finally figured out what the issue was.
It seems there was a power connection on my motherboard for SLI setups, which I ignored assuming it was for quad SLI setups only, as it wasn't mentioned in the manual at all. I thought it was best to leave it alone as I wasn't sure what it'd do. After plugging that into the PSU, the problem occurred a lot less frequently.
Then I tried changing the PCI-E setup, and it turns out one of the slots is faulty. I had to sacrifice two 16x lanes, to make it two 8x lanes, as the layout was 16/0/16/0 and the 3rd slot was the corrupt one.

So I am now sitting with my SLI setup at x8 with 0 problems at all. I have not noticed a drop in frame rates at all, so I am happy.

*NOTE*
I found out the reasons it wasn't happening on the low-end graphics games mentioned in the OP, was because those games only used one card. Having MSI Afterburning open during gameplay showed me this, so that is the only logical explanation why I was only crashing when both cards were being used.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom