PC is crashing, but stress test results are normal, cannot pin down which hardware is causing it.

[isurvivorz]

I've been having this one specific issue with my computer that I could not pin down which hardware has been causing it, it is quite random, and has happened at least 4~5 times already.

 

During a game session, my computer would froze for a few seconds, and a black screen would followed, but instead of any black screen, my monitor switches off and report that no signal is detect, like when my PC is powered off. However, fans, lights, peripherals are still working just fine, and I can even control the game, I can hear the sounds and everything, indicating the game is still running. I have to force restart the PC.

 

Whenever this happens, I check my GPU and it seems the fans are not spinning, my conclusion is that GPU stopped work and the fans stopped spinning. Though through 3DMark Demo Firestrike, the GPU pulled through the whole benchmark without encountering any issues. Temperatures on CPU, GPU and case are all under control and well within the safety limits.

 

I also ran CPU test using IntelBurnTest, 10 run, Very High preset, and results are stable. Here are the snapshots of the test results: http://imgur.com/a/DzmVP. (They're also available in the attachment below)

 

 

My specs are as followed:

 

* CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K. Non-OC, never OC before.

* Heatsink: CM Hyper 212

* GPU: Single ASUS STRIX GTX970. Non-OC, never OC before.

* MOBO: GIGABYTE Z97X-UD3H

* PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W

* Case: Fractal Design R5

* OS: Windows 8.1

 

 

The games that caused this issue so far are GTA5 (where this issue started happening) and now Witcher 3.

 

 

I cannot nail down which hardware is causing the issues, all my drivers are up to date (353.30 NVIDIA, as of July 13, 2015), I even uninstalled and reinstalled a fresh install of the GPU driver, no luck. I'm not even sure if this is hardware or software related.

 

Please help....

 

 

EDIT: Here's an error I found in Event Viewer that has the time recorded line up with the crashes, might be this is the report of the crashes.

The description for Event ID 13 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.


If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.


The following information was included with the event: 


>\Device\UVMLiteProcess1
>Graphics Exception: *ESR 0x404490=0x80000001* or *MISSING_MACRO_DATA* or *EXTRA_MACRO_DATA*

[Nonco]

@isurvivorz Sounds like it could be your GPU.

 

Try taking it out, and using onboard graphics and run the same tests. See if you still get the issue.

[masterj6]

run the system without the gpu and tell me back if the problem occurs

[Snickerzz]

Do you ever get the message "nvidia display driver has crashed and has recovered"?

[isurvivorz]

@isurvivorz Sounds like it could be your GPU.

 

Try taking it out, and using onboard graphics and run the same tests. See if you still get the issue.

 

 

run the system without the gpu and tell me back if the problem occurs

I've been suspecting that it is the GPU, but tests results for it seems normal, so now I suspect both the GPU and the PSU, maybe the PSU isn't feeding enough power or something to the GPU, causing it to crash. Also, when I run GTA 5 and Witcher 3, I set the power consumption to prefer max, but I also set that to ARMA 3 and the game run just fine without causing any issues.

 

I'll try that, and will let you guys know. Though how would I test it? Since the onboard GPU probably won't be powerful enough to even launch the games, and tests seems to prove nothing. and I forgot to mention that there are no pattern to this, it just happens and I donno when it will happen or how to cause it to happen.

 

 

Do you ever get the message "nvidia display driver has crashed and has recovered"?

 

I did once or twice before, but not recently.

[Nonco]

I've been suspecting that it is the GPU, but tests results for it seems normal, so now I suspect both the GPU and the PSU, maybe the PSU isn't feeding enough power or something to the GPU, causing it to crash. Also, when I run GTA 5 and Witcher 3, I set the power consumption to prefer max, but I also set that to ARMA 3 and the game run just fine without causing any issues.

 

I'll try that, and will let you guys know. Though how would I test it? Since the onboard GPU probably won't be powerful enough to even launch the games, and tests seems to prove nothing. and I forgot to mention that there are no pattern to this, it just happens and I donno when it will happen or how to cause it to happen.

 

I did once or twice before, but not recently.

 

Its most likely your GPU.

 

Your PSU is quite a well made one, so unless if something was really wrong with it, its most likely your GPU.

[masterj6]

BTW If your gunna stress test at least stress test for an hour or so

but this seems to be a common problem with gtx970 and gta5

https://support.rock...-Freezing-Issue

[Arcanekitten]

 

I've been having this one specific issue with my computer that I could not pin down which hardware has been causing it, it is quite random, and has happened at least 4~5 times already.

 

During a game session, my computer would froze for a few seconds, and a black screen would followed, but instead of any black screen, my monitor switches off and report that no signal is detect, like when my PC is powered off. However, fans, lights, peripherals are still working just fine, and I can even control the game, I can hear the sounds and everything, indicating the game is still running. I have to force restart the PC.

 

Whenever this happens, I check my GPU and it seems the fans are not spinning, my conclusion is that GPU stopped work and the fans stopped spinning. Though through 3DMark Demo Firestrike, the GPU pulled through the whole benchmark without encountering any issues. Temperatures on CPU, GPU and case are all under control and well within the safety limits.

 

I also ran CPU test using IntelBurnTest, 10 run, Very High preset, and results are stable. Here are the snapshots of the test results: http://imgur.com/a/DzmVP. (They're also available in the attachment below)

 

 

My specs are as followed:

 

* CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K. Non-OC, never OC before.

* Heatsink: CM Hyper 212

* GPU: Single ASUS STRIX GTX970. Non-OC, never OC before.

* MOBO: GIGABYTE Z97X-UD3H

* PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W

* Case: Fractal Design R5

* OS: Windows 8.1

 

 

The games that caused this issue so far are GTA5 (where this issue started happening) and now Witcher 3.

 

 

I cannot nail down which hardware is causing the issues, all my drivers are up to date (353.30 NVIDIA, as of July 13, 2015), I even uninstalled and reinstalled a fresh install of the GPU driver, no luck. I'm not even sure if this is hardware or software related.

 

Please help....

 

it has something to do with graphics so either the driver which it probable isn't since you reinstalled them and then the gpu try using your pc with a other one or onboard graphics if the issue disappears its your gpu

[Arcanekitten]

 

BTW If your gunna stress test at least stress test for an hour or so

but this seems to be a common problem with gtx970 and gta5

https://support.rock...-Freezing-Issue

 

yeah but he also has it with witcher 3 which is a Great optimized game

[don_svetlio]

Check all the PCIe cables, make sure they are well connected. If possible, try with a different GPU. It does seem like it's the culprit but it's better to be sure before going through a process of RMAing anything.

[isurvivorz]

Thanks for all the feedback, I'll try to see if I can borrow a different GPU and test it out, thought as I mentioned, this problem has no particular pattern or trigger so I cannot just cause it to happen.

 

Using the onboard GPU will be the last resort since it won't be able to run GTA or Witcher, I doubt. So I will report back whenever I have anything new.

[ManIkWeet]

The latest NVIDIA drivers are unstable, I've personally downgraded to 350 (the GTA V one) and have not experienced issues ever since.

 

With the latest drivers my screen would randomly go black, return a little bit later. Even when playing video or 2d games (Terraria). Since the downgrade everything is perfectly fine again...

[don_svetlio]

The latest NVIDIA drivers are unstable, I've personally downgraded to 350 (the GTA V one) and have not experienced issues ever since.

 

With the latest drivers my screen would randomly go black, return a little bit later. Even when playing video or 2d games (Terraria). Since the downgrade everything is perfectly fine again...

That's probably cause your card is a Kepler GPU. The new drivers are know to "Fuck over" the 600 and 700 cards since the 900 series apparently needed help cause people were still happy with a slightly older gen GPU. Thus, nerf the new cards, break them so people buy our stuff. Go Nvidia.

[ManIkWeet]

That's probably cause your card is a Kepler GPU. The new drivers are know to "Fuck over" the 600 and 700 cards since the 900 series apparently needed help cause people were still happy with a slightly older gen GPU. Thus, nerf the new cards, break them so people buy our stuff. Go Nvidia.

Yes, GTX 780 here, I heard those rumours, and for me they appear to be true. Pretty sad NVIDIA, pretty sad.

 

This is what happens when a company has no competition people!

[isurvivorz]

The latest NVIDIA drivers are unstable, I've personally downgraded to 350 (the GTA V one) and have not experienced issues ever since.

 

With the latest drivers my screen would randomly go black, return a little bit later. Even when playing video or 2d games (Terraria). Since the downgrade everything is perfectly fine again...

 

 

That's probably cause your card is a Kepler GPU. The new drivers are know to "Fuck over" the 600 and 700 cards since the 900 series apparently needed help cause people were still happy with a slightly older gen GPU. Thus, nerf the new cards, break them so people buy our stuff. Go Nvidia.

 

 

Yes, GTX 780 here, I heard those rumours, and for me they appear to be true. Pretty sad NVIDIA, pretty sad.

 

This is what happens when a company has no competition people!

 

I guess I'll try to downgrade to 350 to see if it fixes anything. I do recall this didn't happen when I first got my card, it started happening a month or 2 after GTA5 release on PC, and it just keep coming back once in a while from there.

 

 

 

This is what happens when a company has no competition people!

Well, AMD is back, and they brought big guns...

 

 

I also updated the OP, added an Event Viewer error, I checked Event Viewer and see a bunch of ERROR reports that have the time recorded line up with the crashes, so it might be related, though I am unsure.

[don_svetlio]

OP, question. Do the fans stop spinning before the crash or after? If before then it might be 2 faulty fans causing the GPU to overheat (and people say only AMD do that hur hur).
I am not sure how possible it might be but still worth checking. Try to get it to crash again I guess and watch the fans if you have not yet. If they stop a min or two before crash then it's surely a heat issue.

[isurvivorz]

OP, question. Do the fans stop spinning before the crash or after? If before then it might be 2 faulty fans causing the GPU to overheat (and people say only AMD do that hur hur).

I am not sure how possible it might be but still worth checking. Try to get it to crash again I guess and watch the fans if you have not yet. If they stop a min or two before crash then it's surely a heat issue.

 

No, MSI Afterburner log show no sign of fan RPM sudden drop when it shouldn't be, and temps for the card are always below 75C, the hottest the card ever got was at 73C. So I don't think this is caused by overheating issues.

 

Also I found out that there are multiple posts popping up on NVIDIA forum reporting similar issues to this, so I guess its safe to assume this is a software issue now...hopefully...crossed my fingers...