(fixed)PC freezes/crashes only in games.

[Vesuska]

Hello,
I'm experiencing trouble with my computer. My computer is a new build, I made it around the week after Christmas (2011).
Here are the specs:
CPU: Intel i5 2500k @ 3.30GHz
Motherboard: Biostar h61ml
RAM:4GBx2 of DDR3 (I don't remember the manufacturer.)
GPU: Galaxy Geforce GTX 550 ti 1gb
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W

So on to my problem.
About a month or so ago I was playing World of Warcraft and I had changed to my browser to check something and changed back to WoW and suddenly my screen had turned pink and had weird purple lines in random places. I was curious as to what had happened and Googled it to see if anyone else had the problem too. I saw some people had the issue, but it had happened all the time to them and some people suggested it was loose cords. I checked my cords and it did not happen for a little while then one day it happened again when I changed tabs in my browser. After that I didn't have any problems until about a week ago. I had upgraded my driver for my graphics card to the new 301.42 one. The day after I did that suddenly the driver crashed and was recovered. I thought the driver was faulty so i reinstalled my older driver and nothing had happened for a few days, then suddenly while I was playing Age of Conan, my computer freezes and I am unable to exit the game or Ctr+Alt+Del/Alt+Tab to get out of the game. The only way I can get out is to restart my whole PC. Now this freezing happens all the time in games but it's usually random, and It only freezes after 20-30 mins of playing games. I'm not exactly sure what is causing my problem but I'm suspecting its my graphics card. If anyone has any help, please tell me I really want to fix this.

 

[simon12]

I had a similar problem ages ago which turned out to be unstable ran on the GPU.

 

[Vesuska]

I had a similar problem ages ago which turned out to be unstable ran on the GPU.

Okay, and by any chance did the audio make a buzzing sound when it was frozen?

 

[DM186]

Sound like with your first problems was a driver issue or your CPU is acting up. But now it sounds like your temps are to high. So are you monitoring your temps?

 

[Vesuska]

Sound like with your first problems was a driver issue or your CPU is acting up. But now it sounds like your temps are to high. So are you monitoring your temps?

Yes I am and they only go about 40-50c. I also turned off my pc after the crash and felt inside the case and the only thing that was warm was the GPU, and it was barely warm.

 

[simon12]

Okay, and by any chance did the audio make a buzzing sound when it was frozen?

Some times, what I found was that it would always do it at the same places in games. Like Shogun 2 I could sometimes play it for hours with no problem but when it crashed I would reboot and load the saved game and it would always crash at that same point. Also in Fallout 3 it would crash in certain rooms all the time but most of the game was not a problem. Note I was running 2 4870s in crossfire and found the problem only happened with 1 on the cardsd and not the other when I removed 1.
You only give 1 temperature what are you CPU & GPU load temperatures.
Also you can try running MEMtest to check the system RAM is OK & Prime 95 to check your CPU is stable.

 

[AntiZig]

I'd say this is most likely a GPU overheating issue. check that your fan is working and check the temperature readout while you're playing games

 

[RyQril]

use HWmonitor while gaming and prtscn and post it here
+1 AntiZig, get a tool to control your fan speed on high temps, its either the driver or the gpu fault.

 

[DM186]

If you want to monitor your temps and your fps all at the same time plus set a way point for your fan to increase as the temps rise and do all that with it on the screen so you can monitor as you play.

Then use this. It is called MSI Afterburner and you can preset your fan speeds so your fan will speed up faster as the temps do. You can watch your temps go up and down while playing your game.

I will also show you your frame rates (fps) and you will also be able to see how much of your GPU you are using. I use it every time I play a game. Also you can OC your GPU from it.

But before you OC it make sure you know what you are doing before you try it. If you don't know you could be getting a new GPU. Anyway here is the link and also it's user manual. I hope this helps and good luck to you.

I will also link a few other monitoring temps programs plus a burn in test or stress test to check your GPU and a memtest86+ to check your ram.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/images/Afterburner%20User%20Manual.pdf

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/browse.php?c=18

http://www.memtest.org/

 

[Vesuska]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for all your help. My issue was solved a few days ago when i did a clean install of the 304.48 beta driver. I tested it in games for a few days to be sure it was solved. Thanks again.

 

[DM186]

Well that is good news and pat your self on the back for fixing your own problem and hats off to yeah. The stuff I link to you are some good stuff to have so don't loose it you might need it some day. Cheers.