[CrypticCynic]

So basically my problem is that my computer will crash to a black screen seemingly at random. My monitor goes completely black/blank while still receiving a signal and my computer becomes completely unresponsive even though my hdd indicator light flashes as normal and all fans stay at current speed and I can open and close my cd drive. This has NEVER happened while gaming, I can play Battlefield 4 or any other game literally for hours on end and not have a problem. The crashes only happen while I'm streaming video from Youtube or while the computer is just sitting at the desktop or if I'm reading an article online or something. My point is that it's not gaming related and never happens under any type of load which is odd.

 

I monitor my temps as well and both my processor and gpu never go above 55-60c even at 100 percent load so it's not an overheating issue as far as I can tell. If I'm watching a video before the crash occurs sometimes the audio will continue to play as normal, other times it will loop for about 5 seconds or it will just cut out at the exact moment the screen goes black. I have tried to hook up a different monitor will the same results so my monitor is fine. 

 

I have unplugged everything inside my case and taken out every piece of hardware and re-seated it and plugged it all back in again with no changes. I have the latest drivers for GPU installed and as far as I know my other drivers are up to date, not entirely sure how to check though. Like I said in the beginning the crashes seem to happen completely at random. Sometimes I can go days or weeks without issue other times though it happens numerous times a day and the only way to get my pc back is to hard reset it, it will not restart on its own no matter how long I leave it sit.

 

Most of the time when these occur it will leave a dump file in either the Minidump folder or in the Livekernalreports folder but the vast majority of the dump files are located in the Livekernalreports file. When I attempt to bug check the dump file it tells me that it was probably caused by a graphics card tdr timeout and mentions atikmpag.sys. So I figure its either my graphics card driver that is faulty or its the gpu itself.

 

I'm really at a loss for what to do to resolve this issue and I apologize for the lengthy post but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible to get the best solutions. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

My specs:

Windows 7

Radeon R7 260x gpu

AMD FX-6300 processor

Gigabyte 970A-DSP3 AM3+ motherboard

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Patriot Vengeance 8GB RAM

Corsair CX500 PSU 

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GdayCrypticCynic,   

In the past couple of months, had two members with your MB with almost identicl issues, RAM turned out to be the major problem.   There are also quite a number of reviews on Newegg, this MB, similar issues.

To rule out the RAM, please download the portable ver. and test,  > http://rog.asus.com/...g-motherboards/

[iammykyl]

GdayCrypticCynic,   

In the past couple of months, had two members with your MB with almost identicl issues, RAM turned out to be the major problem.   There are also quite a number of reviews on Newegg, this MB, similar issues.

To rule out the RAM, please download the portable ver. and test,  > http://rog.asus.com/...g-motherboards/

[CrypticCynic]

Good afternoon iammykyl thanks for the reply. I downloaded memtest and ran it over night for ten hours straight completing 6 passes with no errors and it didn't crash :/

[iammykyl]

bThanks for the update.  You may already know "how to" when instructions are given but I try to make them as clear as possible for novices who may read the topic later looking for answers. 

 

Please ensure you have your important Data backed up.   Set a manual Restore Point before every step. 

Download GPU Drivers/software for your card from the manufacturers web site, (no Beta ones)   Save to the Desktop.

Download and run this uninstaller. > http://www.guru3d.co...r_download.html

Install the downloaded driver/software from the Desktop. 

 

Run sfc /scannow 3 times, only upload a log if repairs cannot be made, > http://answers.micro...2c-695b60477a93

 

Check Drivers, must be run in IE, > http://www.intel.com.../support/detect

 

Run sfc /scannow Again.

 

Download and test the GPU memory > http://www.majorgeek...tress_test.html

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Download to the desktop, do not run yet. >http://www.sysnative...apps/SFCFix.exe