[AniDanny]

Not actually sure if this is a hardware or software issue, so I'll just post it here.

When I'm gaming, my video card will just crash at random, usually anywhere from 1-30 minutes after starting up a game. Sometimes it won't crash at all, but most of the time it does. The screen will freeze, the audio will stutter, then either the screen goes a solid color and the sound buzzes, or the monitor reverts to "looking for input", as though it doesn't realize my computer is still plugged in. Sometimes in the latter case, an alt+tab can minimize the game and I can kill it from the task manager, but more often than not it freezes my computer and I have to reset.

This happens to me fairly regularly in most of the games I play (TF2, L4D, L4D2, Portal, Indigo Prophecy, Mirror's Edge), and I really don't know if it's an issue of the card overheating, or having trouble with Windows 7, or having trouble with Steam, or any of a number of other things it could be. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try, because I don't even know where to begin troubleshooting. Thanks!

[Advertisements]

Remove the side of the PC case which is furthest from the motherboard, to expose all the components.

Set up a desk-fan and aim it towards the open case but be sensible about how near you place it and how fast you have it running because we don't want it to cause undue turbulance and blow something out of place!

Run your PC like that for a while and see what happens. If there are no problems with the PC when it's running like that, it's an even bet you have an overheating issue.

Do not touch anything inside the case while the side is off and it's powered on!

Edited by phillipcorcoran, 10 July 2010 - 06:24 AM.

[phillipcorcoran]

Remove the side of the PC case which is furthest from the motherboard, to expose all the components.

Set up a desk-fan and aim it towards the open case but be sensible about how near you place it and how fast you have it running because we don't want it to cause undue turbulance and blow something out of place!

Run your PC like that for a while and see what happens. If there are no problems with the PC when it's running like that, it's an even bet you have an overheating issue.

Do not touch anything inside the case while the side is off and it's powered on!

Edited by phillipcorcoran, 10 July 2010 - 06:24 AM.

[phillpower2]

In addition to the suggestion made by phillipcorcoran take the opportunity
to clean out the inside of the case (if you havn`t already) take anti static
precautions 1st by touching a bare metal part of the case, on powering up
check that all internal fans are running, down load & run gpu-z to check out
the gfx card http://download.cnet...4-10788513.html

[AniDanny]

I cleaned the case out less than a week ago, so it should be fine. I ran GPU-Z and it was running at about 40C. Launched TF2, and it crashed upon reaching 45C. Restarted, tried again. TF2 was running fine, so I launched GPU-Z again, and it was 50C. When I alt+tabbed back, though, TF2 crashed again, but didn't crash the whole computer. I got an error message in the taskbar that said "device driver AMD has stopped responding and has successfully recovered".

Edit: It gave me an error report upon startup. Not sure if this will be helpful at all, but here it is regardless:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 124
BCP1: 0000000000000000
BCP2: FFFFFA80050088F8
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\071010-16250-01.dmp
C:\Users\Dan\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-26906-0.sysdata.xml

Edited by AniDanny, 10 July 2010 - 12:28 PM.

[phillpower2]

When did this issue begin, was it before or after you cleaned out the case.
Have you tried uninstalling & then reinstalling the gfx card drivers or
removing the gfx card & blowing out the slot (dust gets everywhere & causes chaos)
Please post your MB details.
Download & run this for BSOD messages http://www.nirsoft.n...creen_view.html

[AniDanny]

Began when I first got this video card (several months ago). My old one was having different issues, so I bought a new one. The new one didn't work at all, so I RMA'd it (which cost $20). The second new one worked once in a while, so I decided that was good enough, because I didn't want to end up spending hundreds of dollars getting new cards until I finally got one that worked properly. May just be that the card is defective and nothing I do will fix it.

I've not tried reinstalling the drivers - I've had trouble finding them anywhere online. I'll try dusting out the slot later and let you know if that does anything.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130098 This is the motherboard I'm using.

[phillpower2]

Ive got a Sapphire HD2400 pro myself & when I 1st purchased it there were some issues,
& the only way to fix it was by downloading the drivers from Sapphire not ATI.
http://www.sapphiret...s...&key=HD5770
Here are some other links to look at should the above not work;
http://www.techpower...024.091002.html
http://support.amd.c...t912Hotfix.aspx
http://developer.amd...es/default.aspx

[AniDanny]

The drivers I was using were from the CD that came with the video card. I downloaded the one from http://support.amd.c.....4-Bit Edition (full software suite) and it gave this error message after trying to install:


-UI
07/10/10 20:02:06
install




ATI Radeon Graphics Processor
ATI Technologies Inc

0x68b8
0x1002
0x2543
0x1002
0x030000
0x00



ATI Technologies Inc

0xaa58
0x1002
0xaa58
0x1002
0x040300
0x00




ATI Catalyst Install Manager

3.0.762.0
20


ATI Display Driver

8.702.0.0000
90


Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable

9.0.30729.4148
7




Catalyst Control Center
Succeed
2010.0527.1242.20909
150


ATI Catalyst Install Manager
Succeed
3.0.778.0
20


The Lord of the Rings FREE Trial
Succeed
1.00.0000
1


ATI Display Driver
Fail
8.741.0.0000
90


HDMI/DP Audio Driver
Succeed
7.11.0.7706
1


Communication Opt-in
Succeed
3.00.0000
1


AMD Drag and Drop Transcoding
Succeed
2.00.0000
1


Hardware information
Existing packages
Packages for install
Packages for uninstall
Other detected devices
Error messages
Name
Manufacturer
Chip type
Device ID
Other hardware
Download packages
Success
Fail
Vendor ID
Class Code
Revision ID
Subsystem ID
Subsystem vendor ID
Catalyst™ Install Manager
Installation Report
Final Status:
Version of Item:
Size:
Mbytes

Driver Install: the installation failed

[AniDanny]

Just got Just Cause 2, and it worked for about an hour, and now keeps crashing at a certain cutscene. Not sure if there are any further suggestions, since the new drivers don't seem to have fixed anything.

[AniDanny]

Skipped the cutscene. The game now freezes when I load it up about 90% of the time, and will play fine the other 10%.

Decided to try putting the video card into my second PCI slot. My computer doesn't even realize there's a video card attached now. Maybe the problem is a faulty motherboard? Anyone know how to test this theory, short of shelling out $200 for a new mobo?

[phillpower2]

Try clearing the CMOS by removing the silver CR2032 MB battery for a few moments
and then try it in the other slot, on booting up after this make sure you reset
the time and date in the BIOS and then save and exit.
Too early to say if it is the MB, other possible culprits are the card itself, psu,
ram or heat, I cannot help with the W7 possibility as I have not used it but if it
is responsible I could only imagine it to be a driver issue.

[AniDanny]

You're a witch. Perform a little black magic, have me remove and replace a battery, and suddenly EVERYTHING WORKS PERFECTLY? That's not science, it's witchcraft.

So yeah, second video card slot is not only reading, but working fine. Booted up JC2 and it worked on the first try. Cranked all the settings up to near-max, and it's still working. I'll let you know if anything else goes wrong, but for now... we'll call it fixed, I suppose? Thanks!

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update and I hope it all works out ok for you and please let us know.

[AniDanny]

Bah, scratch that. I think I just got lucky with JC2 working that time. It's back to crashing most of the time... but my second video card port is still working, so... I guess we've made some progress. Any more ideas for troubleshooting?

[phillpower2]

There could still be a couple of culprits causing this so can you provide us with some further information,
what brand and model psu are you using, 32 or 64bit W7 (for drivers options) and what are your Ram details?
Download and run Speedfan from the attached link and attach a screenshot of the results to your next reply,
this will allow some temps and voltages to be checked.
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php