Having PC crash issues

[Gunzilla]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post it, so please move it if it does not fit.
 
So, this is a trouble-shooting topic and i would love some feedback on my system.
 
The Problem
I recently bought a new motherboard and a new CPU, and a week after setting it up with my old system i started experiencing very weird crashes. The crashes only happen during gaming, and i have checked temperatures and work-load of the CPU (around 40 degrees C and 50% work-load in heavy gaming) and it does not seem to relate to the crash. The crash itself is one that requires a hard reset to fix, everything starts to stutter and to lagg, with a few seconds of smooth fps in between (like 15sec lagg, 3sec normal and repeat). The weird thing is that the sound also  stutters, but it plays in a sort of slowmotion way. Another weird aspect is that the crash itself seems to happen less and less the more i play games. For instance, in Path of Exile (a poorly optimized game) i crashed about 6 times in 1 and a half hour. But after a few days of weird crashes, i havent crashed once since, which is 2-3 weeks ago. CS:GO seems to constantly crash, but after a few weeks it seems that its only the game now, and not the entire PC (i do get a few 1sec stutters on the sound where it goes slo-mo lagg).

 

*Updated*

Now it seems my PC likes to restart once when i 'shut down' windows via the standard "mouse into corner and press shut down- button". That happened yesterday and the day before that too, but now it couldnt start, BSOD twice and i had to reset the system to the 7th December.

 

I also have this in my Device Manager, dispite having installed the CD that came with the motherboard and updated it via the internet (the PCI thing came this last reformat, it was not in any earlier iteration):

 

 
The unsuccessful solutions
So, I've tried to fix this in many ways. In total I'm up to about 5 reformats, 4 tinkerings with hardware and many many scan's from anti-virus and anti-malware software. I've tried to remove power supply to the CD-rom, I've removed extra USB plugs from the motherboard, I've moved the wire to the power supply from various plugs to another. I have of course installed the software for the motherboard multiple times, updated it aswell, and tried to get a driver specifically for the CPU in question from Intel's site.

 

The system

 

Peripherals:

 

Monitor 1: LG IPS Monitor IPS277L 1920x1080

Monitor 2: BENQ G2420HD 24" 1920x1080

Mouse: Deathadder

Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow 2013 Tournament Edition

Headset: Kingston Hyperx Cloud Black

Mousepad: Big ass Steelseries mat

 

PC specs:

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97P-D3

CPU: Intel i5 4690K (4.00ghz)

GPU: Geforce GTX 670 EVGA (2GB)

RAM: 2x2GB OCZ PC3-10666 1333MHZ

RAM: 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical PC3-10666 1333MHZ

HDD 1: Samsung 240GB SSD EVO

HDD 2: Old harddrive 240GB (ST3250820AS)

HDD 3: Old harddrive 240GB (ST3250820AS)

Power Supply: Silencer 610 EPS12V

Tower: CoolerMaster 690II (3 fans being used in the case)

Soundcard: I'm not sure, its definitely 5 years old and says SoundFX with blue lighting on it.

 

I'm using a legitimate windows 8 64bit licence. Most of it is around 5 years old (PSU, OCZ ram, harddrives are like 7 years) but the graphics card and SSD are about a year old, 

the CPU and motherboard are obviously somewhat a month old. My previous setup was a Q9550 processor and an ASUS P5P43TD PRO. I'm also running 2 screens, which my old setup never complained about.

 

The conclusion

I'm pretty fed up with the problem right now, and the next step for me is to try and remove the SoundFX soundcard but other than that im pretty sure I'll be investing 200$ in a new power supply. If that doesn't work, then I think I will buy a new graphics card I guess, and the children won't get any presents this christmas... Not that I have any, but I will be poor

 

*Updated*

After having removed the soundcard and unplugging some stuff in the PC, I will try to borrow a new graphics card and some new rams, to see if that makes a change. After that i might borrow a power supply to see if that is the issue, since i dont really feel like using 200$ on a power supply if that is not the issue... Time will tell, this issue is really random.

 

Any help you guys can give would be really appreciated!

[Sushicat89]

For the "Other devices problem" install your MOBO driver as well as the chipset driver and see how it goes

[snert98]

maybe this one should belong in "troubleshooting" 

but i think you sould do right click/properties/divice numbers(idk english word im dutch) and google the vin_###### number 

[Darkswormlv]

The first thing that comes to mind is different ram sticks, you should usually use the same brand and model, it might be that causing the problem, but i doubt it., Still it is worth checking, just check the ram sticks in pairs, see if the problem persists.

The second idea is that your cpu might be causing it, try returning it to the stock frequency and test it, maybe your voltages arent stable.

 

What kind of crashes are you having? BSOD's? include screenshot if you find it could have some useful info!

Have you altered yor pc config before this started occuring?

Edited December 9, 2014 by Darkswormlv

[Gunzilla]

The first thing that comes to mind is different ram sticks, you should usually use the same brand and model, it might be that causing the problem, but i doubt it., Still it is worth checking, just check the ram sticks in pairs, see if the problem persists.

The second idea is that your cpu might be causing it, try returning it to the stock frequency and test it, maybe your voltages arent stable.

 

What kind of crashes are you having? BSOD's? include screenshot if you find it could have some useful info!

Have you altered yor pc config before this started occuring?

I don't overclock anything, everything is running at standard frequencies. Literally the only thing I have done is install the hardware and install the software via the CD (and update via the software, and internet). The computer never shows a BSOD and there is absolutely nothing to show, since it is just my computer stuttering and lagging with a few seconds (4ish) of normal use. I have tried leaving in this state for a few hours to see if it changes, but nothing. I have however begun to got "display driver stopped working and recovered" messages whilst the crash was still happening (still had to hard reset).

[thorpj]

I don't overclock anything, everything is running at standard frequencies. Literally the only thing I have done is install the hardware and install the software via the CD (and update via the software, and internet). The computer never shows a BSOD and there is absolutely nothing to show, since it is just my computer stuttering and lagging with a few seconds (4ish) of normal use. I have tried leaving in this state for a few hours to see if it changes, but nothing. I have however begun to got "display driver stopped working and recovered" messages whilst the crash was still happening (still had to hard reset).

Having different kinds of RAM in your system can cause a number of problems, potentially causing the crashes.

 

On a side note, do you try to play your music through steam while playing? This could be causing the crashes, but is unlikely.

[Gunzilla]

Having different kinds of RAM in your system can cause a number of problems, potentially causing the crashes.

 

On a side note, do you try to play your music through steam while playing? This could be causing the crashes, but is unlikely.

I have rotated my rams around, trying both the old alone, the new alone and moving them from one pair to another pair of sockets in the motherboard.

 

I usually have skype runnning whilst playing games, sometimes youtube but the crashes have occured whilst neither have been playing.

 

Removing the sound card and plugging out the CDrom drive did nothing to stop the crashes.

[Darkswormlv]

I don't overclock anything, everything is running at standard frequencies. Literally the only thing I have done is install the hardware and install the software via the CD (and update via the software, and internet). The computer never shows a BSOD and there is absolutely nothing to show, since it is just my computer stuttering and lagging with a few seconds (4ish) of normal use. I have tried leaving in this state for a few hours to see if it changes, but nothing. I have however begun to got "display driver stopped working and recovered" messages whilst the crash was still happening (still had to hard reset).

This definately sounds like a GPU problem.

Try removing your gpu and running off the integrated graphics on your intel chip.

If the problem has dissapeared, heres a few things you can try:

1. try putting your gpu back in but in a different pcie slot
2. get an older driver from nvidia
3. stress test your gpu and monitor the temperature and check if your gpu fan speed is auto-adjusting.

If it still does the same thing then its probably something to do with the motherboard, although I am pretty certain that your GPU has something to do with this.

 

Edit: you said you havent overlocked anything but in the post you wrote:

 

CPU: Intel i5 4690K (4.00ghz)

and the stock frequency for this chip is 3.5GHz, so please clarify or check in your bios if you are not sure at what frequency your CPU is running at, as this might change the problem solving process.

 

Edit2: what kind of a beast PSU are you going to buy for 200$? (im just interested lol)

Edited December 13, 2014 by Darkswormlv