***Scroll down for TL;DR version at end of post*****
Hi there. I've been posting this on a couple threads on a couple differant websites in an effort to help anyone who might have ran into this problem. I can't say it WILL work for you, but it DID work for me and I havn't seen it posted anywhere else.
Long story short-Computer started randomly rebooting and eventually would fail to post. I replaced my mainboard thinking I had a bad motherboard(which turned out not to be the case). Replaced PSU-which got me to boot. Finally changed out memory-turned out memtest would crash in less than 5 minutes with one particular module of a 2x8gb set. Memory RMA'd and backup memory from previous build(1x4gb DIMM of 1600mhz kingston with samsung memory chips) was installed.
This got me to where I could boot into windows and install my stuff. I ran prime 95 for 24hours on torture test to ensure CPU was good, along with a couple other benchmarks. Cpu is still good.
I would run boinc-seti at 95% gpu usage. Gpu check. Note I think this is a good test to try and locate HARDWARE issues-if the GPU is bad you'll notice it OUTSIDE of 3d programs as well as gaming.
GPU is a gigabyte GTX970-G1 gaming edition, approx 4 months old, at stock clock settings with latest nvidia drivers downloaded from nvidia website.
Anyway, upon trying to run World of Warcraft, or ANY other 3d program, my computer would blank screen and reboot, seemingly ALWAYS at the same time-approximately 5 minutes in, give or take a few seconds. I think this is clue number 1, as it allowed me to replicate the circumstances pretty consistantly.
I tried uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling my graphics drivers. No luck there. I flashed my bios to latest version on my ASUS p8z77-v LK motherboard(remember, this is a fresh board with stock settings) and installed intel chipset drivrers and ME. No luck.
I tried reinstalling windows 7 and reupdating all software. No luck. Ran the sfc /scannow, everything was fine. Redownloaded directx, and reinstalled. Everything was good on their end. Of course ran windows update 10 times(I've seen it asked before, but can we PLEASE get a SP2 release?) Still not working.
I was really pulling my hair out, I registered with gigabyte and prepared all my RMA information, and on one last ditch effort, I thought "Hmm, maybe the motherboard is defective". Stranger things have happened...i was reasonably sure the graphics card was good as I'd been playing with it for 4 months, but the motherboard was fresh out of the box, and could contain a manufacturing defect like a bad PCI-E socket, or even a bad trace somewhere.
I had a GTX 650 from a previous build laying around and decided to swap that in while I sent my GTX 970 back in for RMA. Then I thought I'd test the 650 to see if the same thing happened with a differant graphics card. Duh, right? Should have thought of this hours ago...
Sure enough I installed my 650, windows reverted to standard vga driver, and i reinstalled the geforce drivers. Ran furmark. Perfect. Ran WoW. Perfect.
I was really bummed cause I thought my GTX 970 was bad. But then I thought, hell let me swap it back in because that will confirm it.
I reinstalled my GTX 970, windows installed the standard driver again. Updated to GTX 970. Ran furmark and held my breath. It worked perfectly. Let it run all night. Ran WoW. Worked perfectly.
Problem solved.
I can't say this WILL work for you, but the problem definately appeared to be on the windows side of things.
TL;DR version-
Possible causes of the problem-
1)bad seat/motherboard(unlikely in my case as the GPU would run for hours at 95% utilization outside of 3d settings)
2)Something on window's end/direct x. Im not a tech guru but I have been working on computers for 20+ years. I have loved windows 7 and have never had a serious problem until the last month. Very possible one of the updates screwed something up.
3)Something on Nvidia's end. As I've read through dozens of forum posts with AMD users that had the same problem, I dont think this is the case.
Once again, the TL;DR solution for me-
Uninstall "bad" graphics card
install a known good graphics card
reboot windows and let it install default graphics driver, reinstall nvidia graphics card driver
(I tested here to see if there was any differance, and I'd advise you do the same to rule out the previous graphics card being defective)
uninstall known good graphics card and reinstall "bad" graphics card
reboot, reinstall nvidia graphics driver
play game/run benchmark to test
If you dont have a spare GPU laying around you might even consider buying a cheap one from a retailer, as you can get a cheap previous generation GPU for around 20 dollars, and it might be nice to have around for future diagnostice purposes. And yes I did try to just reseat the 970, but that won't cause windows to reinstall the drivers on it's side.
However, something I did not test is removing the GPU completely and booting into windows with the integrated graphics. You might try that if you do not have a spare GPU but I did not test it and cant comment on any results.
I hope this information helps somebody as this seems to be a problem without a very definitive solution. Windows is pretty good at fixing itself if we know how to manipulate it to do so from my experience. If all the other methods on this site and others fail you, I would try this as a last resort after confirming with sfc /scannow and dxdiag that your system files are all good and making sure you have the latest drivers from AMD/Nvidia, as well as running windows update and updating your bios/chipset drivers.
Above all, good luck guys!
I suggest you not to install unecesary drivers though because maybe you did one too much and it screws up the computer:/
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram