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BSOD When Playing Games

slippy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Toronto
Hi,



First of all, my computer:
  • Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 rev 2.0
  • AMD Athlon II X3 440
  • Kingston ValueRam DDR3-1333 4x1GB
  • EVGA GTS 450 1GB
  • Western Digital Blue 500GB
  • Corsair CX500
Everything is running at stock. I encounter BSODs when playing games (Arkham Asylum/StarCraft 2/Sims 3), which are different each time. The computer works fine for internet browsing. I had this problem months ago and RMA-ed my motherboard. The computer worked fine for a little while, but then I started getting BSODs again. Here is what I've tried:
  • Replaced my video card, hard drive and power supply.
  • Formatted my hard drive and did a fresh install of Windows 7.
  • Updated all my drivers and have done Windows updates.
  • I still have my original RAM, but it has passed Memtest86+ for 3 passes.
I believe it's my motherboard again; I'm not sure what they actually fixed, if anything, the first time I RMA-ed. Here's a summary of my BSODs using BlueScreenView:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Thanks!

EDIT - TEST RESULTS

  • OCCT - GPU: MEMTEST - 50 passes: test completed without errors
  • OCCT - GPU: OCCT - FAILED!
  • memtest86+ - 7 passes - 7 hrs 52 mins - 0 errors
  • Motherboard BIOS updated to F5a
  • Video card driver is at 266.58
 
Last edited:

draemn

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Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,672
Location
Fort St. John, BC
Is your mobo firmware updated? That can sometimes make a world of difference. Also, when you download your mobo firmware, download the file twice and use Md5Check to make sure the files are identical (i.e. you didn't get corrupted files).

If that doesn't help:

I hate suggesting the time consuming process of stress testing, but I will...

Get OCCT and run both GPU tests that it offers... you will want to run at least 50 memory passes and 1.5h of GPU testing (more if you have the time). Then, I'd suggest stress testing your memory (RAM) for at least 3 hours. Last, I'd stress the CPU with the prime 95 blend for at least 5 hours if you haven't already found a defective part.
 

slippy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Toronto
I used Gigabyte's @Bios software that automatically downloads and upgrades the BIOS. I just tried using it again and it said that I'm already at the current version.

Thanks, I'll look into those other tests.
 

draemn

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,672
Location
Fort St. John, BC
EEEK! Lol, just because you use @Bios doesn't mean much... @Bios is a flaky at best and may cause problems (even if your firmware updated properly)... Download like I suggested and use QFlash (really simple, just put the firmware files on a USB drive (note, you need to extract the firmware from the file you download off their website).
 

KaptCrunch

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Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
4,382
Location
Ontario
I used Gigabyte's @Bios software that automatically downloads and upgrades the BIOS. I just tried using it again and it said that I'm already at the current version.

Thanks, I'll look into those other tests.

current F5a

read bios and follow instuctions

video drivers 266.58

ram timings 8-8-8-24 rated timings @ 1.50 volts
 
Last edited:

odis172

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
672
Location
Ottawa, ON
Although your ram passes memory tests, it may still be flaky.
Try using 2 x 1GB sticks, if no change, try the other two.

Also what are you temperatures like?
I would suggest you run prime95, and furmark, to stress the cpu and video card.
While they are running, monitor the temperatures with hwmonitor by cpuid. Record the maximum temperatures they reach, and if they can run for two hours without freezing up.

Let me know how it goes after you do this
 

slippy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Toronto
So I have tried various suggestions, and apparently it's looking like it's my video card and not my motherboard :eek:

I ran OCCT - GPU: OCCT test twice (once at default resolution and once at 1680 x 1050 - my resolution) and both times my computer restarted. I've started running StarCraft 2 at lower graphic settings and so far no crashes. I'll monitor my video card temp next time I try the test.
 

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