Month old pc crashes and shows vertically striped screen

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

I build my own pc for the first time last month and it had been working perfectly. I bought a better cpu cooler after a few weeks because the stock cooler was way too loud with demanding games. Yesterday i bought battlefield 4 and started playing it. Everything maxed out and 60fps but when i play for like an hour or so the computer crashes. First its gives a low tone sound and then it shows a vertically striped screen. It happens with all my more demanding games now. I already checked if the pc wasn't overheating but the Cpu and GPU both never went over 70 degrees.

I hope you guys know what the problem is and hopefully how i can fix it.

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

What are you system specs? Specifically the psu

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Calnin :

PSU:CORSAIR CXM series CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100363L Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

Are you overclocking by chance?

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Calnin :

No im not overclocking. No reason to right now.
You have any ideas what i could be? i have read some articles about Gpu drivers causing this problem.

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

You could try and see if updating the drivers would solve it.

Ijack · Dec 30, 2013

Saphire do say that a 750W PSU is required for that card. That's probably overconservative but it may be that you are running right at the limit of your current PSU.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

I looked up some other builds that used this GPU and they where all using a 550 or even a 500W PSU and i posted my build on tomshardware forum and only thing i got back was that when i got a second GPU i needed to have a 750 PSU.

PS. I gave you Best solution by accident.. Is there a way to revert that?

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

I looked up some other builds that used this GPU and they where all using a 550 or even a 500W PSU and i posted my build on tomshardware forum and only thing i got back was that when i got a second GPU i needed to have a 750 PSU.

PS. I gave you Best solution by accident.. Is there a way to revert that?

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

But could that really be the reason to this problem? Is there a way to test this?

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

The only way really is to get a 750w psu and see if it solves it, i think.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Calnin :

I'm not just gonna buy a new PSU until i'm sure that is the problem. And the people on this forum even suggested this psu and gpu combination to me.

Ijack · Dec 30, 2013

Something that happens after a while of heavy usage, and seems to be getting worse, would indicate some hardware problem to me. I don't know how conservative the manufacturer's specifications are, but it is certainly one possibility. I would say that faulty card or m/b are unlikely and driver problem very unlikely. Insufficient power can cause unusual problems.

As already said, the only way you can know for sure is to try another PSY, but I realize that this is an expensive option which you want to leave as a last resort. Do any of your mates have a suitable PSU that they could lend you for testing.

(As fo the "best answer", you should be able to change this when you are satisfied that you have a solution. Or just PM a mod and ask them to reverse it.)

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

I cant think of anyone that i can "lend" a PSU from.
But do you really think the PSU is the problem? The people on tom's hardware said 550 was plenty because it is a good PSU and i also put this build on reddit/r/buildapc and they also said it was a good build. The idea from this build i got from the Part Picker when i looked up builds that used this GPU. This guy(http://pcpartpicker.com/b/GXq) uses almost the same build and doesn't seem to have the problems i have.
uses

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

I could be stupid for suggesting this... but... You could downclock your CPU a bit, I'm not sure how downclocking your CPU would affect the power consumption, but I know your computers performance will suffer.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Calnin :

I bought a 1000$ gaming pc and i cant even play bf4 on it? I'm not gonna downclock anything if it isn't necessary.
But if the problem would be that the PSU is bottlenecking wouldn't the pc crash from overheating? and i already said that the pc is keeping really good temperatures at maximum usage.

Ijack · Dec 30, 2013

How about ringing up your supplier and discussing this fault with them? They may decide it is a faulty card and allow you to RMA it.

I really can't tell you for sure whether the PSU is the problem or not. I merely pointed out the recommendations of the manufacturer of your video card. They may be completely wrong.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

I have 3 years of guarantee on all the components so. I was just hoping somebody knew a easy solution to this problem because it was really bugging me. Only can play less graphical games now and i specially bought this pc to finally play the really good looking games.

Calnin · Dec 30, 2013

HelloImclank :

It was just a suggestion for power consumption, I'm just saying it as a possiblity for lowering the power consumption, and seeing if the system would still crash. Otherwise you can take the RMA option. I'm just not sure if downclocking your CPU would really affect the power consumption at all.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

I just asked the guy i posted in the link and some other people if the GPU i have really needed 750W and they all said it doesn't need it. He even said it runs perfectly with a 520W PSU. Even with an overclocked CPU 550 would be enough. Im going to try a full driver sweep and reinstall all GPU drivers and test it out again.

Ijack · Dec 30, 2013

I think you are expecting things to be too easy. No-one here can give you a definitive answer as to what your problem is, just suggestions of possible causes and solutions. You seem to be rejecting each suggestion out of hand because it is not what you want to hear.

You have to do some work yourself. First thing you have to do it to use Google to see if anyone else has this problem. Surprise, surprise, it seem to be fairly common with these cards. Various threads give suggestions of things to try (one I read suggests that the voltage on the card may be too low, for example). But you have to try these things for yourself to see if any of them help in your case.

You are naturally frustrated that, having spent a lot of money, things aren't working as they should. That's a risk that you take when building your own system. And, at the risk of frustrating you further, I would have to say that it is probably more sensible to follow the recommendations of the manufacturers of the various components than those of anonymous strangers on Internet forums. That way, if you do have a problem, the manufacturer can't say "it's your fault, you haven't followed our recommendations". You say "I bought a 1000$ gaming pc", but the truth is you didn't. You bought a bunch of components that you thought were going to work together; it's possible that - somewhere - you were mistaken.

So try a few things like underclocking the CPU, bumping the GPU voltage up a little (but only a little!) and see if they make any difference. It may not be a long-term solution but at least it gives you some idea as to where the problem lies. Troubleshooting computer problems is not guaranteed to be an easy task. If you can't do it, or don't have spare parts to try swapping out, then ultimately it may be easier to take your computer to a repair shop that has these facilities. This is why many people are happier to buy a pre-assembled computer.

HelloImclank · Dec 30, 2013

Ijack :

I think you are expecting things to be too easy. No-one here can give you a definitive answer as to what your problem is, just suggestions of possible causes and solutions. You seem to be rejecting each suggestion out of hand because it is not what you want to hear.

You have to do some work yourself. First thing you have to do it to use Google to see if anyone else has this problem. Surprise, surprise, it seem to be fairly common with these cards. Various threads give suggestions of things to try (one I read suggests that the voltage on the card may be too low, for example). But you have to try these things for yourself to see if any of them help in your case.

You are naturally frustrated that, having spent a lot of money, things aren't working as they should. That's a risk that you take when building your own system. And, at the risk of frustrating you further, I would have to say that it is probably more sensible to follow the recommendations of the manufacturers of the various components than those of anonymous strangers on Internet forums. That way, if you do have a problem, the manufacturer can't say "it's your fault, you haven't followed our recommendations". You say "I bought a 1000$ gaming pc", but the truth is you didn't. You bought a bunch of components that you thought were going to work together; it's possible that - somewhere - you were mistaken.

So try a few things like underclocking the CPU, bumping the GPU voltage up a little (but only a little!) and see if they make any difference. It may not be a long-term solution but at least it gives you some idea as to where the problem lies. Troubleshooting computer problems is not guaranteed to be an easy task. If you can't do it, or don't have spare parts to try swapping out, then ultimately it may be easier to take your computer to a repair shop that has these facilities. This is why many people are happier to buy a pre-assembled computer.

I was "hoping" someone knew an easy solution. And i'm sorry if i came over a little frustrated or agitated but i just want to figure this out. I just get different information from multiple responders and i trust you i have looked up this problem on google but all that gives me is driver problems and corrupt hardware solutions. I will just test out if reinstalling all GPU drivers will get me any further.

Ijack · Dec 30, 2013

Well, here is the first hit for "r9 280 vertical lines" where it talks about upping the graphics memory voltage slightly - http://www.overclock.net/t/1438985/sapphire-vapor-x-r9-280x-oc-edition-grey-screen-in-bf4

It's not your exact model (I think), but close enough to be worth considering.

Month old pc crashes and shows vertically striped screen

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