Computer Failing

[Deoxiribonucleic]

My computer's been failing for months now, and I don't have the slightest idea why. It fails most often when:
I alt-tab out of a game
I'm running a Minecraft Server
(Uncommonly) When the game I'm playing is switching maps

Again, I have no Idea why it's failing, I've tried:
Installing all necessary drivers,
Sending my graphics card back to get a refurbished one
Replacing my RAM
Replacing my Power Supply

When the computer fails, it shows one color in the background with vertical stripes downward (all the same color) on DVI, or one color if I'm using HDMI

If anyone has the slightest idea what the problem would be, I'd be very grateful to know the answer.
Thanks in advance.

 

[austinwillis81]

Post you pc specs

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

Sorry, slipped my mind.

i5-2500k with Hyper212 Plus fan
Asus P8P67 Pro (B3)
(x2) 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600
MSi Hawk HD6870
OCZ 120GB SATA III SSD
500GB Western Digital HDD
Crappy Asus DVD Drive
OCZ 700W Power Supply

I had my CPU Overclocked for sometime with the preset OC on the Motherboard, but I have it at it's default now.
Graphics card hasn't been overclocked since I received it.

 

[clutchc]

Let's eliminate software issues first. Run CCleaner and do the Clean and Registry both. See how much it finds in the way of registry errors and conflicting junk to remove. If it finds a lot of junk files and reg errors, run it again until it finds nothing.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

You could also uninstall the gfx driver and then run Driver Sweeper in Safe Mode. Have it remove any AMD/ATI and Nvidia graphics driver remnants it finds. Re-boot and install the latest driver for your card and O/S.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4266-driver-sweeper.html

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

I had re-installed windows from scratch 2 days before posting this, and with a clean install, the problem remained.
I Installed all the drivers, did a CCleaner clean, and still had the problem (There were no graphic driver remnants because I just installed windows again).
Now that I think about it, it did slip my mind that I've been through some blackouts without a UPS. My bad..
If it's likely not software, how would I go about testing everything?

Didn't mention it before, don't know if it's useful information, but I'm running Windows 7 (64bit)

 

[clutchc]

Sometimes power outages are accompanied by voltage surges or spikes depending on what causes the outage. Were you plugged in to a good quality surge protector when you weren't using your UPS? Since you already replaced the PSU, I would consider the gfx card next. Temporarily try another card if you can get one. See if the problem still persists. (Since that board has no video ports, you can't use the i5's graphics)

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

I had my 6870, which I returned for a refurbished 6870, and also have my 5670. I have the same problem with all three.

The motherboard has its own anti-surge protection, and I'm almost certain I had a surge protector, but it on a power strip, and that power strip was cheap.

Found a diagnostic tool for the mobo, going to try that out overnight.

 

[clutchc]

What diagnostic tool would that be?

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

Asus PC Diagnostics Tool 1.12

It has:

Auto test:
-Cmos
-Cpu
-Serial Port
-RTC
-1394
-USB
-PCIe

Stress Test:
-CPU
-Memory
-Video Module

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

Diagnostic test showed no problems with anything on the stress test, nor auto test from the looks of it.
Any ideas based on the crashes as to what it could be?

 

[clutchc]

Are you powering the PSU via a UPS or surge protector at present?
Btw, I'm not sure that stress test would catch all the motherboard issues that could be affecting you, but it's a start.

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

Yes, I bought a UPS on black friday, although before that, I hadn't used one.
I agree, I didn't think the stress test would show much, FurMark and 3DMark made my Graphics card's fan waaay louder

I've installed windows on my hard drive, gonna try running the server to see if it's the SSD, afterwards, I'll see if I can get another hard drive from my dad to see if using a different storage drive alone fixes the issue.

 

[clutchc]

I just scrolled back up... I totally missed the fact that you had a SSD. Did you clean install Win7 to the SSD?
You may want to try the system with the SSD removed and another clean install of Win7 to the formatted HDD. Just as a test to see if the problem is related to improper SSD O/S installation/optimization. I always follow these tutorials when installing Win7 to a SSD to avoid some of the less obvious pitfalls.
1) http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds
or
2) http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html

 

[Deoxiribonucleic]

Well, I think that solved the problem! I have been doing clean installs, but never did any optimization, just formatted from the drive selection part of the windows installation disk.

Just in case though, I'm going to continue pushing the computer until I'm positive the problem's solved, but regardless, thank you very much for all the help, I really do appreciate it!

Edit: It just crashed :/
The work on the SSD seemed to slow it down, but it's still present.