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Graphics freak out when playing certain games, forced to restart computer

3K views 19 replies 3 participants last post by  Athreon 
#1 ·
I've spent a good amount of time trying to solve this problem, but unfortunately to no avail. Here's to hoping you wonderful people can help me out!

The issue is that, when I play certain games, they just absolutely freak out and crash. What'll happen is that I'll be playing, and suddenly everything on the screen will stretch and distort, while the sound makes that really loud stuttering that I can only assume is a sound being repeated over and over again. The game crashes, and when I get back o the desktop, Steam is messed up. If I have a chatbox open, all the test flashes green and pink, and the main store page is all messed up, with everything out of place and flashing. I usually can't open other programs, as they crash when I try. The only way to fix it is restarting my computer, and it goes back to normal.

The odd thing about this is the lack of consistency of this error. It can happen immediately, or an hour into playing. The issue happens extremely rarely in Skyrim (Graphics maxed), but I got it frequently when playing Terraria full-screen in multiplayer. Just to be safe, however, I'll list the games that I can remember having this issue with, and how frequently it would cause it to crash.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2: even at lowest settings, I can't get through a single multiplayer map without it crashing.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine: Varying lengths of time it takes to crash.

Just Cause 2: VERY inconsistent. Sometimes over an hour of play, sometimes immediately.

ESO: Tamriel Unlimited: Also inconsistent. I've played for hours, and other times I've logged in to crash immediately. Changing graphics settings didn't change anything.

Metro: Last Light: Surprisingly, takes a significant amount of time before crashing, most of the time.

Skyrim: Almost never suffers this crash.

Batman: Arkham Origins: Almost never suffers this crash.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Takes a significant amount of time to crash.

Mass Effect 2: Don't know if I've ever had this crash.

So, those are the examples that came to mind, but there are other games. If need be, I'll create a fuller list.

Now, I've run a lot of tests already, with no results. My driver is updated, Memtest showed no errors with four passes, Graphics is not overheating (GPU never gets over 75C), and Windows is updated.

My card is fully capable of running these games smoothly, even after I underclocked it back to the original card's settings. (It was factory overclocked.)

Here's my specs from Speccy

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/VKj13kh7dWhn670l1pkOW3l

Any ideas? Any help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!
 
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#2 ·
Hi and welcome to TSG.

My first thoughts based on your description is it sounds like a possible failing GPU.

A few questions to start off with:

1) What is the exact make, model, wattage and approximate age of your power supply (PSU)? Your voltages look OK in Speccy but it could be a problem when its under load.

2) What software are you using to monitor temps etc (I assume Speccy as you posted a report, but just checking)?

Your not quite up to date on the GPU drivers, there were a new set released about 2 weeks ago (v353.62, your running v353.30 according to Speccy) , however I don't think that is the problem, worth trying though.

Do you have access to any known working GPU you can swap out to test with? It doesn't have to be a gaming card, just something you can use that will at least start the games up and run them, even at low settings?
 
#3 ·
Hey, thanks for the reply. It's a bit embarrassing, but I figured out the problem. When I was checking the power supply for the info you asked for, I had a bit of a hunch. So, I unplugged my backup battery, which regulated the power my comp received, and plugged my comp into the wall directly. Played the games, and surprise! No crash. Thus far, at least. I'll keep the thread open a little while longer before I mark it as solved, just in case. Thanks for the help!
 
#5 ·
Hm, unfortunately, it seemed to be a false alarm. This computer has an agonizing habit of working swell for a time after I think I fixed the problem, and then going right back to it's old self.

In response to your previous question, here are my answers about the power supply:

Make: Corsair
Model: CMPSU-750TX
Wattage: 750w
Age: We've had it for 5-6 years, and bought it new.

I used both MSI Afterburner and Speccy to monitor temp, and they seemed to be consistent with each other.

And yeah, a bit embarrassing about that driver. Got it updated.

I appreciate the help.
 
#6 ·
Corsair TX Model PSUs were good units (they don't do them anymore I don't think), I have used a fair few of them and not had any problems. However, 5-6 years is getting a bit aged :)

Do you have access to any other, known working GPU you can test with to try and ascertain if there is a fault with the GPU itself?

Are all components running at stock speeds, i.e. no overclocking?
 
#7 ·
I am afraid that the only other graphics card available is both horribly incapable, and integrated.

As for the clocking, I've actually used Afterburner to underclock everything, even though it was overclocked originally. no difference, it seems.
 
#8 ·
Using integrated graphics is still viable for testing and to help diagnosis, as long as it can run the games (or at least some of them) to some degree, even with low frame rates.

What this help to identify, potentially, is if the fault is related to the GPU / PSU or some other element. If the problem persists with the integrated graphics then you can safely say it is not the GPU at fault. If the problem goes then there is increased likelihood of a GPU problem or possibly PSU.
 
#19 ·
It does, but the x4 940 specifically is not listed in the CPU support list, therefore it has not been tested on that board. Just because other CPUs which are very similar in the same series does not guarantee that they all will unfortunately. I am not saying that is the problem, however it is a variable that could be contributing.

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3038
 
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