Random BSoD - Need help with some ideas

[Wyre]

OK, so I uninstalled my old Radeon HD 7850. Removed the drivers, ran the driver cleaner, and installed my new Gigabyte R9 290x.

 

Gaming runs well but occasionally the system locks up and blue screens. So after troubleshooting everything I was unable to locate what was causing the blue screens.

 

After much troubleshooting I switched the fans on the Gigabyte R9 290x to Uber mode so that it wouldnt get so hot.

 

That seemed to help at first - but, I am still getting random restarts.

 

Since I couldn't find what was causing the issues I went ahead and wiped my SSD, and reinstalled Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit OEM back on the SSD.

 

I am still getting random lockups and BSoDs.

 

Can anyone think of what may be causing these issues?

[Juganog]

What does the BSoD say? could be ram allocation problems or something

[Wyre]

It just blinks the BSoD for less than a second when it BSoDs... otherwise it just locks up, and the screen pixilates.

 

I ran Valley Benchmark for nearly 2 hours without a failure... so, I am at a loss. Maybe it is just the card is bad.

[TheKDub]

It just blinks the BSoD for less than a second when it BSoDs... otherwise it just locks up, and the screen pixilates.

 

I ran Valley Benchmark for nearly 2 hours without a failure... so, I am at a loss. Maybe it is just the card is bad.

 

Download BlueScreenView or something like that (Forgot the name of it) and see what the bsod error was caused by.

[Astralify]

Well, your PSU is pretty good, but it could be defective. I would suggest recording your screen with a camera to catch the BSoD when it happens. The last PC that I was trobleshooting had a similar problem (fast BSoD), and it was caused by a faulty ram. So try swapping your ram sticks to find if they are causing it. It could also be the GPU itself. Also, since you've upgraded to a more powerfull GPU, you will also be putting more stress on your other components, mainly the CPU, so if your overclock is not stable it could also cause this. Try lowering your overclock.

[N3rot0xin]

Check the power connections to the GPU to make sure they're firmly attatched. If they are, resetting the CMOS may also be of help. Before you do that, check your windows event viewer for anything in the "Last Hour" after you reboot from a bsod. Does it do this when idle or just in games?

[Wyre]

From BlueScreenViewer   Looks like it is the Driver....... Or the card

 

Filename: atikmdag.sys

Address In Stack: atikmdag.sys+28ece

From Adress: fffff880`0f044000

To Adress: fffff880`0ff54000

Size: 0x00f10000

Time Stamp: 0x53508a3c

Time String: 4/17/2014 9:13:16 PM

 

This BSoD happens in game, out of game, playing videos, or just sitting there at idle.

 

System worked perfectly with the Radeon 7850...

[Astralify]

Well, that narrows it down to the GPU and/or driver. BTW, is it something like this? >

[N3rot0xin]

Try running this tool: http://www.wagnardmobile.com/DDU/ . It thoroughly removes left over driver files and registry entries that cause instability issues. Also, the latest driver version for AMD is 14.4, If you have older drivers saved or you are relying on the horrible Windows autodetect, that could be your problem. 

 

14.4: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows%207%20-%2064 (For windows 7 64bit)

[Wyre]

Well, that narrows it down to the GPU and/or driver. BTW, is it something like this? >

 

Looks a lot like that...

 

I am running on a fresh install of windows with 14.4 drivers.

 

I found a thread on another site that showed how to expand the .sy_ file from the driver package into a .sys file for the System32/drivers folder... So I replaced the file and rebooted back into windows about 15 minutes ago. So far everything has been good.

 

Only time will tell if that fixed anything. Video card temps have been getting pretty high, I have a new case coming in the mail tomorrow. That should solve the temperature issues.

 

I really hate to replace my current case, as I really like it a lot. The Silverstone FT03 is a beautiful case... But, t doesnt have the greatest air flow.

 

The Corsair Air 240 has a LOT more air flow... also ordered 4 x AF120 fans, and 2x SP120 fans to put into the case.

[Wyre]

So I just finished an installation of Windows 8.1 Pro (One good thing about 24Hr Wal-Mart) and the system seems stable. Just spent the last 2 hours setting Windows 8 up - it doesnt seem too bad after putting a start menu back into it, and gutting the "Metro UI" out of it... Running Skyrim for a bit to see if it is stable.

[9justinas9]

try underclock everything on deflout voltage cpu 300mhz below deflout gpu 200mhz below and ram 1066 if it still crashes try using diffrent ram dimm or use one at a time oh and also check your ram timings

[Wyre]

I think everything is fixed! I just ran this machine through everything that would have made it crash in the past (including running a video on the secondary monitor while gaming for 2 hours... System ran perfectly.

[Wyre]

2 Days without a BSoD or a lockup.... I guess that the R9 290 doesnt like Windows 7...