Random Reboots and Display Driver Stopped Responding

Atreides94 · Feb 3, 2015

To Preface everything before going into finer details:
My build
Motherboard-ASUS|M5A78L-M/USB3
CPU-AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor
Harddrive-Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
RAM-G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
PSU-Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
GPU-Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card

So basically I just ordered all the parts for and compiled my very first computer! It was all very exciting and I was cautious, patient and tentative with all my purchases. I checked with a lot of people to make sure that the build was sound and that I wouldn't have any problems going into it. I have a roommate who has been able to help me through the physical building process and to our knowledge everything is plugged in correctly. With all of that said, within a few hours of getting everything up and running after installing Windows 8.1 OS the computer started doing this thing every 40 minutes or so where it would complete a full reboot. I didn't know what to think of it because it had only happened twice at this point and all my core temperatures were in the safe zones. Now a couple days later, it seems that with any game running, sometimes even just random tasks on the computer it will crash and in the Event Viewer it will say WHEA Logged Event ID 20 in addition to Kernel-41 Critical error with a variety of error messages and bugchecks. One thing I have noticed is that if I continue to try to run anything it will increase in frequency and decrease the time in between reboots. Sporadically throughout all of this my screen will go black and then a few seconds later I get a pop-up telling me that the "Display driver has stopped responded but has recovered..." etc. My roommate and I have been troubleshooting for the past two days and have probably spent the greater part of 12 hours doing so. We have run Memtest, removed and re-inserted the RAM, uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, reinstalled the operating system and many other things. We did remove the graphics card and all the problems stopped occuring. This obviously points to something being incompatible or simply a defective GPU in general. I wanted to get a consensus from a learned community before I decided to RMA the GPU back to the company.

Darkbreeze · Feb 3, 2015

You should have checked here first, not with "people". The Corsair CX series units are not recommended for use with gaming cards. They are too problematic with anything beyond mainstream and office machines. Plus, the R9 290 calls for a 650w unit, minimum, especially if the CPU or GPU are overclocked, in which case your power consumption will be much higher.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

Why we don't use CX units in gaming machines (Scroll down the thread until the CX units are addressed):

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list/page-20.html

It may be that you have a card issue, but it's much more likely that you have a grossly underpowered PSU since the CX series units can't continuously output anywhere near the rated peak capacity AND even if it did you would still fall short of the recommended minimum. You want a Tier 2B or higher unit of at least 650w from the following guide and honestly for the 290, especially if you are or plan to overclock ANYTHING, I'd go with something like the EVGA G2 series 750w unit.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

I'd try all of the solutions at the following link first, followed by replacement of the PSU if nothing there helps.:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2492424/laymans-simple-guide-solving-graphics-card-issues.html

Atreides94 · Feb 3, 2015

Thank you very much! I had intended to post here after I finished my build and before I ordered it but I was told by several people on the /r/buildapc that what I had would work. Obviously the people who answered me were either wrong or misinformed.

Darkbreeze · Feb 3, 2015

Just not as well informed, which I guess is kinda the same as being wrong. Either way, that's the direction I'd go in first. Trying to determine what else might be faulty is next to impossible if you don't have adequate power supply. I'd stick to units of 650-750w made by Seasonic, XFX, Antec or EVGA that are listed at the Tier 2B or higher position on the above linked to list.

If you still have an issue after replacing the unit, let us know and we'll help sort it out.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

Darkbreeze :

So I just got the new PSU, and within 10 minutes of having everything hooked up it made a lot buzzing sound and, you called it, rebooted. Help please.
Edit: I bought the EVGA Supernova 750W B2 that you had recommended.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

Can you determine, likely by getting the side panel off and powering up, then waiting, exactly where the buzzing noise is coming from. Pretty doubtful it would be the PSU since it's new AND was doing it before. Make sure all case fans, CPU fan, GPU fans and PSU fan are all spinning freely with no binding or hitting anything. Also, make sure you don't have the PSU on it's economy setting. Read the manual for that.

In fact, double check ALL of these points, just to make sure something isn't a little bit loose, not fully seated etc.:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

Try disconnecting the hard drive then powering up and go into the BIOS and then let it sit, to see if it does it with the drive disconnected.

Try using only a single stick of RAM in the slot designated for single module operation. If it still does it, try the other stick.

Make sure you have the monitor connected to the GPU outputs only, since that board has onboard integrated graphics, you don't want the GPU installed AND be connected to the motherboard graphics.

Also, try removing the GPU and connecting the monitor to the onboard graphics of the motherboard to see if perhaps you have a problem with the GPU.

If possible, try running Seatools for windows on the hard drive to see if it has issues. Run the short drive self test and long generic.

Make certain you have the CPU fan connected to the primary CPU fan header, and not one of the chassis or system fan headers. If you're using large four pin molex adapter for ANY fans, don't. Use the motherboard headers or a controller.

If you have the computer plugged into a power strip, get rid of the power strip and plug directly into the wall socket, or try another, higher quality power strip.

There's not much that can buzz on a computer. Fans, hard drives and the power supply or possibly coil whine on graphics cards are the only things that come to mind aside from the system speaker. If you don't have a system speaker connected to the motherboard, connect one, that way you can hear any beep codes that might be present during boot.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

To clarify, I'm using an HDTV as a monitor currently and I am 99% sure the sound is coming from its speakers. I will run all of these diagnostics when I get home though. Also, I have run just the onboard graphics with no problems so it very well might be the GPU but I will also check all of the other things you were talking about.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

Sounds good.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

I just did the clean install using DDU going to see if that works, I will keep editing this specific post every time there is a trial/error.
Edit: Clean install did nada. Next up: going through that long list. Everything was A-ok on the list. One of the original things that I tried was removing and leaving only one stick of RAM in, and my roommate and I switched it around to several sockets and it still does the same thing. Tried unplugging the harddisk and letting it sit in BIOS but the issue did not arise. It seems the only ways to get a repeat performance of the LBOD-"Loud buzz of death" is by opening an application/game. One curious thing about this is that while it does only occur when I open a game and start playing, it seems that once it occurs once and post reboot the LBOD will occur in much greater frequency up until the point where it started doing it even if I was just surfing the web. I don't know if that information is helpful or not, just an observation that I made. The HDTV is only plugged into the GPU. Is it possible that using the TV is the issue, or perhaps the HDMI cable I'm using could be the culprit for any of this? I will try the Seatools next.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

Ok bud. Let me know what you find. Make sure while doing those steps, if one thing fails to solve the issue, you put it back before moving to the next step. I know that seems like "duh", but you'd be surprised what some people do if you're not clear about procedure.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

Alright, I've done all the diagnostic checks that I could find on this page and it's still happening, unfortunately.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

I think I'd RMA the GPU at this point then. It would be helpful if you were able to try it with another monitor or using DVI or VGA rather than HDMI, to see if it makes any difference. Maybe try a different HDMI cable or a different HDMI port on your tv if there is one.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

Make sure in your bios the default setting for display is PCI and not PEG.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

Darkbreeze :

I can ask my roommate to let me try the GPU in his rig but I don't know if he'll let me haha. But I can try a different cable and possibly use something besides HDMI. I'll do those things before I let you know that I'm RMAing it.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Where do I do that? I can't find it.

Darkbreeze · Feb 6, 2015

You need to make sure you're in the advanced view, not the EZ mode view, of the BIOS. On the Advanced Menu, in the Chipset sub menu, there is a setting called Internal graphics. Set this to any setting where GFX0 is the first listed item. GFX0 is the PCIex16 slot as primary.

Also make sure your memory is set to the correct speed and voltage. You can check this under the Advanced Menu>Jumperfree configuration>memory clock mode. If the reported specs do not match your memory module specs, you can change from auto to manual and manually configure the correct memory settings. Incorrect memory settings can make all kinds of weird failures happen.

Atreides94 · Feb 6, 2015

Darkbreeze :

I have checked and all of these things are A-OK. To be clear, I have tried everything on this page in order to fix this. I also had my roommate and I switch our graphics cards and both of our computers ran completely fine, even with incorrect drivers. This all leads me to believe that it has something to do with the way my motherboard and my graphics card interact. I'm quite sure that no parts are malfunctioning as they all work alone or with other systems. The only problem that seems to arise is when you combine my 290 with my mobo. If it would help you to figure this out I can start posting pictures of what it looks like inside but I can confidently say no parts themselves are broken or fried.

Let me know when you can!

Darkbreeze · Feb 7, 2015

What is your BIOS version? You can either check IN the BIOS, or you can go to administrative tools, system information, and the BIOS version should be listed in the information there.

Darkbreeze · Feb 7, 2015

If your version is older than version 2001, install the new version. The last three BIOS versions were ALL related to system stability and might just be the issue. You can download the firmware here:

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/M5A78LMUSB3/HelpDesk_Download/

You can find the information on updating the bios manually on the ASUS website or google your motherboard model number plus update bios for a tutorial, or, I can find one for you. Don't rely on any automatic update utilities as they are often wrong.

Atreides94 · Feb 7, 2015

Darkbreeze :

I believe it's version 02.61? It says Version 2001 at the top but that sounds silly.

Darkbreeze · Feb 7, 2015

No, not silly. If it says version 2001, then it's the most recent version and is not the issue.

Atreides94 · Feb 7, 2015

Alright well after booting up this afternoon and trying to do a few things the damn thing doesn't recognize my ethernet cord, and at this point this is where I draw the line. My graphics card isn't defective, the PSU is brand new and recommended by you, the CPU seems to be working correctly and my RAM seems fine. With all that said, fuck this motherboard I'm sending it back because I can refund it but I can't refund the GPU. The further along we get with this the more it seems that the compatibility between the Mobo and the GPU is the issue, as my roommates much more expensive and even OLDER, yes like 2 years old, mobo worked completely fine with it. Hopefully within the next week I can get back to you when my new Mobo gets in and leave a nice happy message at the bottom of this post exclaiming "Nothing is wrong, it booted up and is running great! Thanks for the help, bye!" I'm going to update this tomorrow when I shop for the new mobo and check with you guys to make sure its a viable option for a replacement. I'm planning on getting something a bit beefier so we don't run into this problem again. If you think that I'm wrong with this please let me know, I won't be RMAing the old PSU and Mobo until Monday, I'm just absurdly fed up with all the issues cropping up.

Random Reboots and Display Driver Stopped Responding

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