Help diagnose my computer's freezing issue

StevenTheMathGuy

Reputable
Aug 11, 2014
4
0
4,520
I built myself a new computer earlier this year. When I first built it, I was playing a lot of Dark Souls and watching streaming videos, and I encountered no issues. A few weeks after I built it, I tried playing Farcry 3: Blood Dragon and it happened for the first time: A short, highpitched sound comes over my headphones, the screen freezes on whatever image it is currently displaying, and accepts no mouse+keyboard input. This freeze reliably happens in many different games, such as Dark Souls 2+GeDoSaTo+GEM (~30 minutes), Star Citizen (~5 minutes), Witcher 2 (~10 minutes), or Borderlands 2 (~8 minutes). It also happens outside of gaming, though with a much lower frequency.

I immediately suspected my graphics card. I borrowed an Asus GTX 660 ti DirectCUII from a coworker, went home during lunch, played ~30 minutes of the Witcher 2, and then returned the borrowed card. That seemed like a clear indictment of my graphics card.

I logged my temperatures, and my GPU never went above 62. I tried reverting to earlier drivers, but to no avail. I used Asus GPU Tweak to underclock my GPU, which did increase the time I could play before it freezes. I did some research and saw many reports of the Asus GTX 780 ti DirectCU II OC having problems with OCP/OVP. I RMA'd my card to Asus (which still hasn't returned), and I ordered a new one from Amazon. Then the new one had the same problem. I immediately returned it to Amazon, and they shipped me a new one. That one had the same issue. I read online about using an OCP/OVP disabler from KingpinCooling to fix the problem. I tried it, but it did not fix my problem. But it started seeming improbable that I'd get 3 bad cards in a row.

A couple days ago, I thought that it might be the OCP/OVP on the PSU that's cutting it out. I was using two 6+2 connectors to power the graphics card. I used two 2x6 pin to 8 pin converters, thus now using four 6 pin connectors to power my GPU. This seemed to fix the problem entirely. I was able to play Star Citizen's AC: Vaduul Swarm through wave 18 (when I quit, no freeze), whereas before I never made it past wave 4. I could play Dark Souls 2 for hours with no crashes. Then I was looking at my PSU and wondered what would happen if I switched its fan mode from "Normal" to "Hybrid". After playing Dark Souls 2 for ~10-15 minutes, it had the same freeze that I experienced before. Returning the fan mode to "Normal" fixed it.

It seemed everything was going well, and that I'd finally addressed the problem. I took yesterday off from work to celebrate, and spent the whole day gaming (mostly playing Dark Souls 2 and Star Citizen) with no problems. After a long day of almost nonstop gaming, I started up Borderlands 2. After playing for ~5 minutes, the freeze happened. I kept doing a hard reboot and trying different things, running the Disable.exe, changing the seating of the graphics card, replacing the power cables.

Relevant links:
My computer specs: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9LJQK8 (though, I only have one graphics card in it at the moment)
Via Speccy: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/5lf0Zsk1i2nT8vNnsbZ8gtS
My 3DMark: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3572415
My GPU-Z log leading up to a freeze: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B272VczsphYrZmFSNzRQaTZleVk/edit
 

Serhat Hicyilmaz

Reputable
Aug 19, 2014
32
0
4,540
i have the same problem like you . first i thought its about my rams i tested them they are ok. Then i thought its about my psu i changed my psu to 450 to 650 w newer one . i played 3 days with no problem then its started again. then i thought its about my HDD ( tehy were 7 year age) yesterday i bought a SSD they are good now (i hope so) tomoorrow i bought a CPU cooler i try to use it too.. But my main thought is the problem is CPU or Motherboard. if u have warranty use it . wishes u could solve your problem. And u can check your Voltages on your motherboard or cpu.
 

Serhat Hicyilmaz

Reputable
Aug 19, 2014
32
0
4,540
i dont think ur problem is PSU but u can try ur bet on PSU :) i bet the problem is Motherboard or at rams u can check memtes86 or with Windows memory diagnostic tools. i talked with Asus Turkey ( thats my mother board firm ) when i talked with my freze problem to them they just said ur Moba will have problem and send it to RMA . so i bought a MSI A88x-G45 tomorrow im getting it :) wishes to problem is at my mainboard . but this freezing problem have too many scale. it will be ur ram it will be your Motherboard it will be PSU it will be Memories. it will be damaged Hard Disk drives god helps us its a too dark problem.