New build system crash while gaming issue

[Aggie2000]

I am not sure if the is the correct category to post this question, but here is my situation. I finished a new build with the below listed components this weekend. I am running a clean install of Windows 7 64bit. Other than updates I have only made the following 2 changes to the system:

1. Disabled the Marvell Controller in BIOS - This was done to correct the Adaptor 1: no HDD detected issue before Windows starts
2. Disabled PLL Overvoltage in BIOS - This corrected the problem my system had from waking up form sleep properly

The problem I am not experiencing is while gaming. Right now I only have 2 games installed, COD: Black Ops and Star Wars the Force unleashed II. I cannot play either one of them for more than 10-15 minutes without the entire system crashing, not just the game but the whole system. When the system restarts itself I get the screen that Windows encountered a problem and asks what mode I want to start Windows in. When I start normally everything starts up fine. This has happened 4 times with SWTHU2 and 2 times with COD:BO. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the games as well as the GPU.

I don't know where to go from here. The only thing that comes to mind is that Windows 7 has DirectX 11 and my GPU is only rated for DirectX 10. Any help that give me a direction to head in would be greatly appreciated.

BTW: Both of these games ran completely fine on my old rig.

Motherboard: New Asus P8P67
CPU: New Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Existing Geforce GTX 260
HD: New Hitachi 500gb
RAM: New 8gb Crosshair DDR3 1600mhz
PSU: Existing 700w

 

[Aggie2000]

1. My RAM is designed to run at 1.65v and the BIOS is set at that. So no issue there.
2. Double checked to make sure the power connectors for the GPU were seated properly. No issue there.
3. Double checked that all the drivers for the motherboard were up to date and from the manufacturer not Microsoft. All correct.
4. Checked the temp of the HDD. Running at 38 C.
5. Cleared the CMOS and restarted. No Change.
6. Even tried running the games with only 1 stick of RAM at 4GB. No Change.

I talked to the tech support guys at my local Fry's and they suggested that the GPU may have gotten a static charge during the build and fails during gaming. If that were the case wouldn't I get a BSOD before the computer crashes? Either way, does anyone know of a good diagnostic tool that I could run to see if the GPU is crapped out?

 

[simple359]

So you get a reboot in the middle of gaming, with no forewarning at all? No artifacts or anything at all? What kind of crashing do you experience?
There was a thread here with a guy having a problem that sounds similar to yours, and it ended up most likely being a faulty PSU (not enough power). What is advertised on the PSU isn't always what it really pumps out. What brand and type of PSU do you have?
If you manage to rule out the PSU being a factor, i would suggest getting RivaTuner and monitor your GPU temp while you run a game or a graphics intensive application. It might just trip some failsafe if the temperature gets too high, but I am not sure.

 

[Aggie2000]

The PSU is a Coolermaster 700W. It should not a be a PSU issue as this PSU and GPU combo was working fine in my old PC.

To answer your question, yes the system reboots with no forewarning or anything else. I will try RivaTuner and see if it shows anything different than the other temp monitoring tools that I have tried.

Yesterday I ran the 3DMark benchmark tool the results met or exceeded the targeted results for my hardware. This test ran fine without a crash.

 

[simple359]

Well now that you mention that it is a coolermaster, I am more sure that it is a PSU issue.
I am quoting ko888 from that other thread:
"

Arzgania wrote :


my PSU is 600W CoolerMaster. It does have a pretty bad efficiency rating 70% but it provides enough ampage for the 12V rails for my graphics card.


ko888 wrote:

Sufficient amperage alone is not enough. The DC Output quality must also be good or it will cause system instability.

According to Hardware Secrets test review of the Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 600W (RS-600-PCAR-E3) on June 23, 2010, this power supply has poor voltage regulation. Bad voltage regulation can cause random BSODs, system resets and freezes.

Hardware Secrets' Conclusion : Quote :


Why manufacturers like Cooler Master are still carrying power supplies with fake wattages is a mystery to us. We know that this is a very low-end power supply, but this doesn’t give the manufacturer the right to lie. This unit should be labeled as a 450 W unit and sold for half of its price. Being labeled as a 600 W product and sold for USD 70, it is a complete rip-off.

If you pull more than 450 W from this product, it will offer real risk to your computer, plus it provides poor efficiency, between 69.2% and 77.6%. If you are looking for an inexpensive yet decent power supply, get an OCZ StealthXStream 500 W. It costs less than this Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus and presents better performance.

 

[davcon]

1. Memtest86+ your ram one stick at a time http://www.memtest.org/
2. Unistall Nvidia suite in add/remove programs
3. Download Driversweeper and run in safemode removing all Nvidia display drivers
http://phyxion.net/item/driver-sweeper.html
4.Re-install Nvidia drivers from website as Admin

 

[dhicks19]

Yes check your ram first and try deleting drivers totally and reinstalling

 

[Aggie2000]

Double checked the PSU after the response form simple359, and it's not a Coolermaster it's a Coolmax. I have read some reviews of it and apparently it's a very unstable unit. Even though it has not failed yet it might be a good idea to replace.

I will try running memtest86+ and uninstalling/re-installing my drivers this evening. Thanks for all the help so far. I check back in tomorrow.

 

[samrung]

I'm having almost the exact same problem that you're having.

My brand new rig:
Motherboard: New Asus P8P67 pro 3.0
CPU: New Intel i7 2600K
GPU: Existing Geforce GTX 460 SLI x2
HD: New 120GB SSD (on 6G), Hitachi 2TB (on 6G), Samsung BDR on Marvell
RAM: New G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
PSU: New Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified

Latest drivers.

My BLOPS hard crashes anywhere from 5-15 min. PC locks up stuck with a loud buzzing. Need to power off manually.

I don't think it's power cause I've run in safe mode and disabled SLI. No visual or audio probs before the crash. I've alt-tabbed to check temps and the GPU's have not been above high 50's.

I'll take the advice here and run some torture tests, but everything has cleared through the ASUS test utilities.

I'm thinking it may be the Realtek sound driver. I'm going to try disabling the sound and playing through.

 

[samrung]

Well after disabling sound, I played for far longer than I ever have before, but it still locked up. <sigh> In case it matters, that part I'm playing is in the SP campaign where you're trying to escape with Dr. Clarke.

FYI, Win 7 x64 clean install as well.

 

[Aggie2000]

I may have isolated my problem last night. The uninstall/reinstall of driver did not make a difference. I had tried this before, but not wiht the Driver Sweeper. I could not get the memtest86+ to run, so decided to tried testing the dimms again. Here were the results:

2 dimms = 10-15 min of game time before crash
dimm 1 = 5-10 min of game time
dimm 2 = unlimited game time

Maybe this whole time it was a bad dimm. I am going to return the RAM for new this evening and do the same test again. Hopefully this will solve the issue, if not I am going to replace the PSU.

 

[dhicks19]

sounds like a plan, had the same prob, was ram

 

[RoboTree]

I just put together my build about 3 weeks ago and had a similar problem. 10 - 15 mins into a game it'd freeze with a sound loop while playing any game i had installed.

I managed to fix the problem by enabling 'Hot Plug' for the controller my HDD was on. I have an ASUS P8P67 Pro B3, and i'm not sure if the BIOS is exactly the same as yours Aggie2000, but its in the Advanced mode in the BIOS, in the Advanced menu under SATA configuration.

I'd searched in a few forums, and I'm not sure why it works, but apparently it had helped a few other people as well. Haven't had a freeze since.

 

[Aggie2000]

Well got the new RAM and I am getting the same results as before.

2 dimms = 10-15 min of game time before crash
dimm 1 = 5-10 min of game time
dimm 2 = unlimited game time

I find it highly improbable, but not impossible, that 2 separate RAM kits have a failed dimm. I might need to try harder to run the Memtest86+ or test the PSU.

I tried to run Prime95 last night and the system crashed the same way as it does in game within 1-2 minutes of the tests initializing. This was using the same dimm configuration as above. What could that be pointing to?

RoboTree I will try your suggestion of enabling "Hot Plug" in the BIOS for my HDD and see what happens. Any suggestions from anyone else?

 

[Aggie2000]

Tried the enabling "Hot Plug" for my HDD and did not see a difference.

I did find something in the BIOS when trying to change the DRAM profile from SPD to XMP. The frequency was manually set to something like 6032mhz and the specs for my RAM say 800mhz at 1600. I changed this to AUTO and was able to run Prime95. I will run Memtest tonight to see if there are any errors there.

 

[Aggie2000]

Best answer selected by aggie2000.