Computer Sluggish since new GPU

[Killaconor]

MoBo= M5A78L-M/USB3 CPU= AMD Phenom II X4 820 Processor 2.80GHz RAM= crucial ballistix 16g 4x=4g sticks PSU= Corsair 750w GPU= R9 290x MSI HDD= Western Digital 1Tb OS= Windows 8.1 x64

Hello, my brother recently purchased an R9 290X by MSI and installed it into his computer. It caused severe lag and intermittent restarting. When he installs his old Radeon HD 6850 it runs fine. At first we thought it was the drivers. So we updated to the newest "CCC 13.12" and the restarts and lag continued. Updated to the newest beta drivers 14.2. The restarts and lag continued. So we thought it was his PSU. We replaced it and the restarts and lag continued. We then would swap out his CPU with mine and start it. The restarts and lag continued. Swapped out the RAM with mine. The restarts and lag continued.Swapped out his GPU for my Radeon HD 7970. the restarts and lag stopped. We thought it was the MoBo since it was old and the drivers only went to 2010 for Windows 7. We replaced it and the restarts and lag continued. We wiped his HDD and made a fresh install of Windows 8. The lag and restarts ended. We updated Windows to 8.1 but whenever we were downloading and installing the updates it would take about an hour to do each set of 15 updates (total of about 89). We would have to "Update and restart" because we couldn't download the updates from the computers settings. After Windows 8.1 was installed the lag came back and we noticed that the "Disc" activity on the task manager would sometimes go to "90%" when idleing. At this point i think it's the HDD, but i want to make sure.

Before we send off the HDD we thought about swapping out the HDD with another one (Same Model) but it would still crash ( both hard and soft) so we put his old one back in and noticed that a crash (Whether "hard" or "soft") would occur every 10 minutes if YouTube had been watched on Firefox. So at this point i don't know what could be wrong. The temps run fine. Could it be a drivers issue? I downloaded "WhoCrashed" and ran it then this crash happened http://i.imgur.com/uvhwmPO.jpg Any ideas?

[Mo5]

Try it the other way around. Put his new GPU in your stable PC. It might be a dead card.

[RML Futuristics]

Try it the other way around. Put his new GPU in your stable PC. It might be a dead card.

Agreed that should be the first test, if his known good system was running fine before all this, test his card in your system, if the same result occurs you have your cause, if it runs fine, then something else is at work here.

 

Yours

 

Sir DrowHunter

[Killaconor]

Yeah, i'm currently using it and it's working fine.

[Mo5]

Yeah, i'm currently using it and it's working fine.

Try a different PSU

[Mr Velocity1577]

Check that you have the correct drivers installed. Also that GPU is bottle necking your CPU. I had a Phenom II x4 970 @3.5GHz and I had problems with Battlefield 4 with mine.

[Killaconor]

Try a different PSU

We bought an entirely new PSU and same issue.

 

Check that you have the correct drivers installed. Also that GPU is bottle necking your CPU. I had a Phenom II x4 970 @3.5GHz and I had problems with Battlefield 4 with mine.

uh, you mean the CPU is bottle-necking the GPU? That still doesn't fix the issue i posted this for but we've tried half a dozen drivers and none seem to fix the issue.

[Mr Velocity1577]

What HDD do you have in it? Include speed and transfer rates.

It is also a known issue with that card so it might just be the GPU it self thats the issue. It's believed to be a DirectX issue which AMD are trying to fix but don't have a fix for yet.

[Killaconor]

The GPU works fine in my computer so it's not a bad unit. My HDD is a Western Digital Caviar Black 1T http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

[hal9001]

Get a better CPU for that 290x. It is terribly bottlenecked. Try an 8350/4670k.

[Killaconor]

Get a better CPU for that 290x. It is terribly bottlenecked. Try an 8350/4670k.

Thank you for your suggestion but can you help me with my problem instead of telling me to get a better CPU?

[JLCitadel]

Thank you for your suggestion but can you help me with my problem instead of telling me to get a better CPU?

 

The people are saying the bottleneck is the CPU itself in his computer.

 

(not agreeing with them just re-stating what they said)

 

Do you two have different CPUs?

 

If yes, then that IS the problem, if not, what parts are different between the two of yours

[Killaconor]

The people are saying the bottleneck is the CPU itself in his computer.

 

(not agreeing with them just re-stating what they said)

 

Do you two have different CPUs?

 

If yes, then that IS the problem, if not, what parts are different between the two of yours

I posted in the original post that i swapped out the CPU with mine (Phenom ll x6 1090t BE) and the problem persisted. I'm currently using the GPU in my current rig with zero problems.

[JLCitadel]

I posted in the original post that i swapped out the CPU with mine (Phenom ll x6 1090t BE) and the problem persisted. I'm currently using the GPU in my current rig with zero problems.

 

Then it's the motherboard.

 

Try putting his CPU in your MOBO, and the GPU in. Then see if it works.

[Killaconor]

Then it's the motherboard.

 

Try putting his CPU in your MOBO, and the GPU in. Then see if it works.

We bought a new MoBo and tried what you mentioned. Worked fine when it was in my computer. At this point i'm thinking it's the HDD.

[Clarkey]

Thank you for your suggestion but can you help me with my problem instead of telling me to get a better CPU?

That is possibly helping you with your problem....

[Killaconor]

That is possibly helping you with your problem....

I stated in the original post that i tried it with a different ( better) CPU and the problem persisted.

[dragoon20005]

i believed its the mobo or the audio

 

since you have swap/replaced everything except that part

 

you running the onboard audio? drivers for the audio is updated?

[WyvernAbstracts]

Just swap and check every part lol, do it out of the case to make it easier. 

[Killaconor]

i believed its the mobo or the audio

 

since you have swap/replaced everything except that part

 

you running the onboard audio? drivers for the audio is updated?

 

Just swap and check every part lol, do it out of the case to make it easier. 

I have done all of those things with no fix found.

[WyvernAbstracts]

I have done all of those things with no fix found.

but you said it worked on your system? I meant swap out part with your system to see what component of his computer is bad. 

[Killaconor]

but you said it worked on your system? I meant swap out part with your system to see what component of his computer is bad. 

I stated in the original comment that i swapped out my CPU for his in his machine. I did the same for the RAM, my GPU, and the MoBo. everything has been put into a different machine but the HDD. we reformatted the HDD and reinstalled the OS but the issues persist.

[Mr Velocity1577]

I stated in the original comment that i swapped out my CPU for his in his machine. I did the same for the RAM, my GPU, and the MoBo. everything has been put into a different machine but the HDD. we reformatted the HDD and reinstalled the OS but the issues persist.

Match the HDD with yours then and see of it solves it.

[carolkarine]

Thank you for your suggestion but can you help me with my problem instead of telling me to get a better CPU?

The help is telling you that your Cpu is completely and totally inadequate for that gpu. Don't be an ass when the only solution is to FINISH your upgrade process. You're asking for a solution that doesn't exist outside a new processor.

[Mr Velocity1577]

The help is telling you that your Cpu is completely and totally inadequate for that gpu. Don't be an ass when the only solution is to FINISH your upgrade process. You're asking for a solution that doesn't exist outside a new processor.

^ this!

Also I whitnessed a bottleneck on a Phenom II x4 970 @3.7GHz (OC) with a GTX 660 Ti so the 2.8GHz won't be helping with a R9 290x that's for sure. A FX 8320 or FX 8350 is what it really needs to minimise bottleneck. Else an i7 because the GPU is to strong and overwhelms the current CPU setup you have.