Screen Freezing / Sound distorting / Computer crashing - Motherboard issue?

[Ellwind]

While playing some games after a while everything freezes up and the system restarts itself. I figured it was a graphics card issue but I've tried 3 different cards now and changing cards only fixes the problem for a few weeks or months before it comes back again. BUT playing without a graphics card and instead just using my processors integrated graphics doesn't cause any problems (other than the loss in performance).

I decided to switch to a different PCIe slot. Before switching I played for around 10 minutes before crashing. After switching I played for an hour without any problems.

I've tried other usual stuff, memtest came back clean, I've tried a bunch of different graphics drivers and sound drivers, and the card seems to sit at around 60-70 degrees before crashing. Unless I'm the unluckiest person on the planet I don't think I've gotten 3 faulty (brand new) cards in a row. So could it be an issue with the mother board, specifically that one PCIe slot? The slot I'm using now is only x8 so it's not an ideal solution. I also switched the power cables I was using when I swapped slots so I guess that could also be the issue. What else can I do to help diagnose the problem?

All comments appreciated,
thanks

GeForce GTX 680 (the other 2 cards were 670s)
Intel Core i5 3570k
Asus P8Z77-V mobo
8gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Corsair TX 750 PSU
Windows 7 64bit

 

[zeyuanfu]

Did you try changing the motherboard? The CPU?

 

[6R1M01R3]

It's a "BSOD" however without the blue screen part. If it is while gaming it could be a driver issue, not faulty hardware unless the GPU overheats.

 

[Ellwind]

Did you try changing the motherboard? The CPU?

Nope, and I don't really have the option to do so.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Did you try changing the motherboard? The CPU?

Nope, and I don't really have the option to do so.

Do you have a friend who has an extra CPU/mobo?

 

[Ellwind]

It's a "BSOD" however without the blue screen part. If it is while gaming it could be a driver issue, not faulty hardware unless the GPU overheats.

As far as I can tell the GPU isn't over heating. Sometimes when my game starts freezing up I can fix it if I quickly alt+tab, then it gives me a message saying my graphics driver failed but recovered. That doesn't really help me though, I've tried updating to the latest drivers and chip sets and when that didn't work I tried earlier versions but still no luck.

 

[Ellwind]

Did you try changing the motherboard? The CPU?

Nope, and I don't really have the option to do so.

Do you have a friend who has an extra CPU/mobo?

Afraid not

 

[6R1M01R3]

Clean install the OS and the drivers is a way to solve most driver issues, not pleasant if you didn't install your games in another partition though.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Clean install the OS and the drivers is a way to solve most driver issues, not pleasant if you didn't install your games in another partition though.

You could move the game files.

 

[tiny voices]

Did you try changing the motherboard? The CPU?

Nope, and I don't really have the option to do so.

Do you have a friend who has an extra CPU/mobo?

This is not a good idea right off the bat as he will have to reinstall Windows with a motherboard change.

 

[tiny voices]

What is the CPU load temp?

Also, that card will perform the same in an 8x or 16x Slot. No reason not to use one or the other.

 

[Ellwind]

What is the CPU load temp?

Also, that card will perform the same in an 8x or 16x Slot. No reason not to use one or the other.

Wow you're right, that's good to know, thanks. CPU load temp is around 50c, but that's with the GPU in the new slot, I'm not sure what the CPU temps were like when the system was crashing.

 

[tiny voices]

IS that the max temp for the CPU?

 

[Ellwind]

IS that the max temp for the CPU?

That should be well below max