grey screen crashes when playing the lightest of video games.

mrfalme1 · Oct 9, 2017

I have been having a problem recently where my pc will crash to a grey screen. it used to have wild flickering before i reinstalled my gpu drivers, but now it just straight up crashes. my computer specs:
GPU- AMD RADEON R9 270X
CPU- AMD FX6300 6-core CPU
RAM- 8GB
HDD- 2tb (have been having other problems like dpc latency with this for a while beforehand)
MOBO- GA-78LMT-USB3

I have already tried reinstalling my gpu drivers, still to no avail. It also just happened pretty much out of the blue. I didnt mess with the computer beforehand. I have already checked with GPU Z and my GPU temps never overheat even though the gpu load reaches 100%, which i'm not sure if thats normal.

Darkbreeze · Oct 9, 2017

Power supply model? How old is the power supply? Have you tried a different graphics card?

mrfalme1 · Oct 9, 2017

The PSU is a seasonic s12ii 620 bronze., about 3 years old, haven't tried a new gpu because i dont have an extra on hand

Darkbreeze · Oct 9, 2017

If you know anybody with a card you could borrow for the sake of eliminating that as the problem, might be a good place to start.

That's a decent PSU aside from being a group regulated unit, but it could still be developing issues. Really sounds a lot more like a graphics card issue though.

I know you say you've reinstalled the drivers, but have you performed a FULL clean install using the DDU? If you have not, I'd start there.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html

Without doubt the drive could be the culprit too since you've indicated other issues with it. A faulty drive can pretty much replicate almost any software fault or hardware failure if the device that's calling driver data is trying to pull from a bad sector on the drive or if the drive is simply unable to comply with a data request.

mrfalme1 · Oct 9, 2017

I did a ddu install for sure, but i could try again with an older version of the drivers just in case.

if that fails, i'll try to get someone to lend me a gpu and get back to you with results

Darkbreeze · Oct 9, 2017

May not even be the GPU to blame, but I'd make sure by eliminating that specific card anyhow.

Could be something else, so if it turns out that the problem still exists even with another card installed, then scroll down to the HWinfo section at the following link and post screenshots of the "sensors only" readings at both idle and under a load.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2583515/basic-troubleshooting-layman.html

mrfalme1 · Oct 12, 2017

I got you the screenshots, sorry for taking a while because i thought i had it working when i ddu installed the drivers. I cant take an under load picture because the computer crashes by the time that happens.

https://imgur.com/a/zE3Bj

Also i ran a chkdsk and there were no bad sectors

Darkbreeze · Oct 13, 2017

Not seeing anything there that jumps out at me.

Have you had this system apart and back together anytime recently?

Here's an idea. That motherboard has integrated graphics. Try removing the graphics card from the motherboard and connecting your monitors to the motherboard VGA or DVI outputs. If the problem is gone then I think it's probable that the card is to blame. If the problem remains then clearly it's something else and we'll have to look at some other options.

mrfalme1 · Oct 13, 2017

would just disabling the amd drivers work too? i dont want to mess with wires and what not

Darkbreeze · Oct 13, 2017

No. You need to remove the card from the motherboard to determine if that's what's causing problems, or at least put it high on the list of probable causes. If it's still installed in the motherboard, even with nothing connected to it, it will still cause issues if there's a problem with it. Or at least it can.

You need to get it out of the system and connect the monitor(s) to the integrated motherboard outputs. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you can't be bothered to mess with disconnecting a few wires and taking one screw out, then finding and fixing your issue can't be too important.

It will take ten minutes of your time, tops.

mrfalme1 · Oct 13, 2017

I booted up the computer with integrated graphics, and it didn't crash for me but that could have been because i couldnt boot up anything with high graphics on steam

I also did something another person suggested which is to turn on verifier, and reboot the computer. It crashed, so i turned it off and checked the whocrashed logs. i will post them here

crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\101317-47346-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmdag.sys (0xFFFFF8800489D471)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFFA8009D91650, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8800489D471, 0x0)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmdag.sys
product: ATI Radeon Family
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmdag.sys (ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

i'm pretty sure this means it's a driver problem, which is good considering i dont have to replace any parts, but i'm not sure where to go from here

Darkbreeze · Oct 13, 2017

If doing a clean driver install using the DDU didn't clear up the problem then it's either not a graphics card driver issue or it's a conflict with something else in the windows operating system or another application.

However, the fact that the crashes are gone after removing the graphics card is rather telling as to there being an issue with either the graphics card or the power supply not being able to handle the graphics card power draw.

Considering the 270x is a fairly low draw card and you have a decent power supply that's plenty large enough to handle that card it makes the psu being at fault unlikely, but not impossible. Even the best of power supplies can and so fail, especially over time.

I see two choices. A clean install of windows followed by a clean install of the GPU card drivers, and try it to see if the problem remains, or a different graphics card that's at least as powerful as the 270x, so you can see if that cleans up the problem.

There are a lot of different things that can trigger specific crash logs that are not actually related to what was detected, only that whatever the problem with also caused an ADDITIONAL problem with that device, so then THAT device triggers a dump. Based on that dump though it would seem to be an AMD driver causing the problem. SO, you can do a clean install of windows and reinstall everything and hopefully that clears up the problem, or you can try running the DDU again and reinstalling the drivers. You may even have to try a few different versions of the GPU card driver to find one it likes, running the DDU between attempts every time to make sure nothing is left behind from the previous driver installation.

Also, if you've ever had an Nvidia card installed, be sure to run the DDU again choosing the Nvidia option at the beginning of the wipe to make sure nothing from that is causing a conflict. And when you run the DDU normally, make sure you are choosing the AMD option as there are three options in there. Nvidia, AMD and Intel.

mrfalme1 · Oct 14, 2017

I'm pretty sure i deduced what the problem with my grey screen was. it's probably because my psu is failing and can't supply enough power when my gpu switches from 300 mhz to 1050 mhz when not considered idle (i.e. playing video games)

I know this because i used furmark to test it with gpu-z open and when my computer realized it wasn't idle and switched from 300 to 1050 it started flickering like it does before it crashes.

I think this means that i have to get a new psu, but thanks for the help though I really appreciate it!

Darkbreeze · Oct 14, 2017

No problem. Do me and yourself a favor, when you get ready to buy a new PSU, let's talk about options so we can make sure you get the best unit available for the amount of money you're willing to put into it. Consider that the PSU is the MOST important component in the system, because if the PSU isn't working right, and making good clean power available, then NOTHING else can work right or at it's maximum potential either.

There are a lot of mediocre and even dangerous power supplies out there and just as a baseline for comparison, staying with something in the top two tiers at the following link is a good idea, however not every model is listed on there so determining the quality of unlisted models might take a bit more work, which we don't mind doing. Model number, not brand or even series, is always the key, because there can be substantial differences even between different models within the same series.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Darkbreeze · Oct 15, 2017

Actually, that EVGA 750 G2 that you PM'd me about IS listed on the tier list, and it's a very good power supply. In fact, it's the exact same unit that I'm running in my current build.

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