Hey everyone,
First, let me post my specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600k (Sandy Bridge)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600MHz DDR3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (EVGA FTW model with backplate)
PSU: Corsair HX850
Primary (OS partition) SSD: Crucial M4 128GB SATA III SSD
Secondary (storage only) hard drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB HDD
Here's what's going on:
I built this computer back in 2012. Originally, I had an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card installed. The computer ran beautifully with no issues until mid-September of 2016. All of a sudden, my computer would randomly restart (no BSOD, it was like the power went out and came back on a couple seconds later) during graphically intense games. Games like Just Cause 3, Mass Effect 3, Saints Row IV, and others. The computer would never reboot unless I was doing something graphically intensive.
After a lot of various troubleshooting with Prime95, MemTest86, and FurMark, I narrowed the issue down to what I believed to be the graphics card, as FurMark wouldn't make it more than 10 seconds before my computer would restart, and Prime95/MemTest86 tested fine. It was not an overheating problem that I could see, given that the card never got warmer than 76C under load, and usually ran around 40C idle.
Since the card wasn't overheating, I wavered between blaming the graphics card and the PSU. To test the PSU, I removed the graphics card from the computer and hooked up my monitor to the onboard graphics port. I ran FurMark again and it ran for over 20 minutes with no issues. Games would play with no issues, albeit with terrible graphics. So I decided on replacing the graphics card. I believed that there was an issue with it that was beyond overheating - something that wasn't right with the internal workings of the card that caused the computer to just restart on high load. Maybe some sort of power issue with the card itself.
At the end of September, I purchased an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, which I received in early October. Once I installed this card, my computer ran perfectly again like it used to. No random reboots during gaming whatsoever. Until... a couple of days ago. The exact same problem came back. My computer started rebooting during graphically intense games again, and FurMark refused to run more than a minute.
I checked the GPU temps again and they were even cooler than the previous card. I was getting about 30C idle and 72C under load, so I still do not believe this is an overheating problem. Here are the troubleshooting steps I have tried so far, and each step had several testing measures done between them to see if they worked:
- Updated my NVIDIA graphics drivers to the most recent version.
- Updated my mobo BIOS to the most recent version.
- Moved the GTX 950 from the top-most PCI Express slot to the middle PCI Express slot.
- Changed the way my monitors connect to the GTX 950 (for example, going from DisplayPort to DVI).
- Examined the graphics card for any physical damage (I did not open the card up, I just looked in through the sides and looked at the back plate) - no damage was found.
Right now I am at a complete loss as to what could be going on. My next thought is that maybe it was the PSU all this time after all, but if that were the case, why would my brand new 950 be shutting down a month after I installed it? Shouldn't it have been doing it when I first got it, too? Did the PSU destroy my 950, or did my 950 just become faulty in the exact same way my 560 Ti did?
Does anyone here have any other ideas on what else I can try, or what else I can look at?
Thanks in advance!
First, let me post my specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600k (Sandy Bridge)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600MHz DDR3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (EVGA FTW model with backplate)
PSU: Corsair HX850
Primary (OS partition) SSD: Crucial M4 128GB SATA III SSD
Secondary (storage only) hard drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB HDD
Here's what's going on:
I built this computer back in 2012. Originally, I had an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card installed. The computer ran beautifully with no issues until mid-September of 2016. All of a sudden, my computer would randomly restart (no BSOD, it was like the power went out and came back on a couple seconds later) during graphically intense games. Games like Just Cause 3, Mass Effect 3, Saints Row IV, and others. The computer would never reboot unless I was doing something graphically intensive.
After a lot of various troubleshooting with Prime95, MemTest86, and FurMark, I narrowed the issue down to what I believed to be the graphics card, as FurMark wouldn't make it more than 10 seconds before my computer would restart, and Prime95/MemTest86 tested fine. It was not an overheating problem that I could see, given that the card never got warmer than 76C under load, and usually ran around 40C idle.
Since the card wasn't overheating, I wavered between blaming the graphics card and the PSU. To test the PSU, I removed the graphics card from the computer and hooked up my monitor to the onboard graphics port. I ran FurMark again and it ran for over 20 minutes with no issues. Games would play with no issues, albeit with terrible graphics. So I decided on replacing the graphics card. I believed that there was an issue with it that was beyond overheating - something that wasn't right with the internal workings of the card that caused the computer to just restart on high load. Maybe some sort of power issue with the card itself.
At the end of September, I purchased an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, which I received in early October. Once I installed this card, my computer ran perfectly again like it used to. No random reboots during gaming whatsoever. Until... a couple of days ago. The exact same problem came back. My computer started rebooting during graphically intense games again, and FurMark refused to run more than a minute.
I checked the GPU temps again and they were even cooler than the previous card. I was getting about 30C idle and 72C under load, so I still do not believe this is an overheating problem. Here are the troubleshooting steps I have tried so far, and each step had several testing measures done between them to see if they worked:
- Updated my NVIDIA graphics drivers to the most recent version.
- Updated my mobo BIOS to the most recent version.
- Moved the GTX 950 from the top-most PCI Express slot to the middle PCI Express slot.
- Changed the way my monitors connect to the GTX 950 (for example, going from DisplayPort to DVI).
- Examined the graphics card for any physical damage (I did not open the card up, I just looked in through the sides and looked at the back plate) - no damage was found.
Right now I am at a complete loss as to what could be going on. My next thought is that maybe it was the PSU all this time after all, but if that were the case, why would my brand new 950 be shutting down a month after I installed it? Shouldn't it have been doing it when I first got it, too? Did the PSU destroy my 950, or did my 950 just become faulty in the exact same way my 560 Ti did?
Does anyone here have any other ideas on what else I can try, or what else I can look at?
Thanks in advance!