Computer freezes/crashes when starting games

[gregory.c.guest]

Hi all,

I have been having this issue for a while now. Whenever I start up a game (usually Diablo 3, SC2, Steam) my computer crashes/freezes. The computer itself does not shut off, but the monitor displays several variations: grey screen, multi-color static screen, orange color, etc. The motherboard lights in the case are still visibly on and the fans seem to go up to 100% whirring like crazy (my PC normally makes hardly any noise, even when running games on ultra). I have to do a hard shutdown by holding the power button and then I can restart the PC without any issues, basically immediately.

History: Built the computer with all parts listed below 3 years ago with help of my younger bro and his friend. Never had any issues (except some minor artifacting, but googled it and saw that this issue plagued other people with my GPU). I can run most games on high/ultra with no problems.
I never overclock.

Recently, when this issue began, I cleaned out my computer (because I never had for 3 years, I know, stupid!) and it was filled with cat hair and dust. Took it to my IT guy at work and he used a supercharged, mechanical air compressor (not the cans) and we cleaned it real nice. This helped the problem a bit - at first my computer would have these random freezes/crashes when running Chrome or doing simple things. Now they only happen when starting something with major processing/graphical needs.

My specs are below:

ASUS R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-Bit G Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM Windows OS (UPGRADED TO 10)
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDR RAM
ASRock H97 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel H97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda   ST1000DM003 1TB 3.5" SATA3 Desktop Hard Drive Hard Drive (1TB)
Asus DRW 24b1ST Internal  UH7279      SATA DVD RW Drive    DVD/CD Drive
TP-LINK TL-WN881ND Wireless N300 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 300Mbps, Include Low-profile Bracket  Wireless Card
Rosewill Gaming E-ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Cases ARMOR-EVO Black  Case
XFX ProSeries Core Edition P1550SXXB9 550W 80Plus Bronze Active PFC Power Supply Power Supply
Intel Core i5 I5-4460 Haswell 3.2GHZ Processor LGA1150 6MB Cache Retail CPU
PNY XLR8 SSD9SC120GMDF-RB 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal SSD Drive 500MB/S Read 450MB/S Write SSD Drive (120GB)

Any help would be much appreciated. I ran a Memtest and the RAM has no issues. I have scoured forums and they seem to suggest a possible PSU, CPU, GPU, or MOBO issue. Also heard that "flashing the BIOS" may help, but IDK what that means and hesitant to try it myself. Also heard re-install of Windows 10 may be necessary.

Best,
Greg

 

[Calvin7]

Video card
System Requirement:
750 Watt or greater Power Supply (Suggestion)
2 x 8-pin AUX Power Connector

 

[R_1]

"Took it to my IT guy at work and he used a supercharged, mechanical air compressor"
I do not suggest using a compressor ever. unless the pressure is well regulated moisture and possibly oil will be blown all over the parts. if the pressure is unregulated the force can dislodge components, loosen connections, and other issues.
canned air is made for this, the output is filtered for moisture and oils and the pressure is non destructive.


download a copy of linux, I suggest mint with cinnamon, and a copy of rufus and a USB drive.
boot to the newly created drive and see if linux crashes on you. this is a test of the hardware, if it glitches here your indications are that the drivers and software in windows are good.
http://distrowatch.com/
http://rufus.akeo.ie/

rufus will make the USB bootable and extract the ISO to the thumb drive

the 280x is a rebranded hd 7970 and it does not require 750W. a quality 550W PSU should be fine. XFX is a good PSU. I do not trust a PSU outside of warranty though

 

[gregory.c.guest]

Video card
System Requirement:
750 Watt or greater Power Supply (Suggestion)
2 x 8-pin AUX Power Connector

Thanks Calvin, had no idea about this.
Build was sourced from Reddit/my bro and his friend.
Only thing is - how do you explain no issues for 3 years with this PSU? I have played hours and hours of games at ultra/high and never had issues, except minor artifacting as I mentioned before.

 

[gregory.c.guest]

"Took it to my IT guy at work and he used a supercharged, mechanical air compressor"
I do not suggest using a compressor ever. unless the pressure is well regulated moisture and possibly oil will be blown all over the parts. if the pressure is unregulated the force can dislodge components, loosen connections, and other issues.
canned air is made for this, the output is filtered for moisture and oils and the pressure is non destructive.


download a copy of linux, I suggest mint with cinnamon, and a copy of rufus and a USB drive.
boot to the newly created drive and see if linux crashes on you. this is a test of the hardware, if it glitches here your indications are that the drivers and software in windows are good.
http://distrowatch.com/
http://rufus.akeo.ie/

rufus will make the USB bootable and extract the ISO to the thumb drive

the 280x is a rebranded hd 7970 and it does not require 750W. a quality 550W PSU should be fine. XFX is a good PSU. I do not trust a PSU outside of warranty though

Thank you R_1
Glad you mentioned this, my IT guy told me the "compressed air cans are shit because they get too cold and can cause damage to the parts"
However, I did it outside with him and I didn't notice any water or oil on the parts afterwards, and I inspected it pretty well.
I also have read other posts where people say connections may loosen with this approach so I will go back and double check that.

Regarding the Rufus/Linux, I am not a pro, so dumb it down please... I download them to a USB drive and then boot? But how will I be able to access my applications/games from there? I'll try it but dont want to fuck it up. And you're saying that if I can boot the games fine from that drive, then the Windows needs to be reinstalled? Is that the issue? I am not clear on what you meant in the post.

 

[R_1]

download the linux .iso from distrowatch
download rufus
insert a USB drive that can be formatted, backup any data before proceeding
open rufus
click create bootable device using ISO and select the browse button and select the ISO you downloaded
verify the USB target is the right drive
hit start at the bottom and let rufus do its thing
when completed reboot the computer and boot to the USB drive. if it boots to windows enter the BIOS and select the USB as the first boot device.
linux mint with cinnamon is easy for a windows user to navigate and understand. mint should be the first in the distrowatch list.
linux will run from the USB and unless you intentionally change the files the hard drive will be untouched.

 

[gregory.c.guest]

download the linux .iso from distrowatch
download rufus
insert a USB drive that can be formatted, backup any data before proceeding
open rufus
click create bootable device using ISO and select the browse button and select the ISO you downloaded
verify the USB target is the right drive
hit start at the bottom and let rufus do its thing
when completed reboot the computer and boot to the USB drive. if it boots to windows enter the BIOS and select the USB as the first boot device.
linux mint with cinnamon is easy for a windows user to navigate and understand. mint should be the first in the distrowatch list.
linux will run from the USB and unless you intentionally change the files the hard drive will be untouched.

OK I am now in Linux. I've found the C drive with SC2 and D3 on it. But I can't seem to run the games, they require that I use an application to boot them but not sure how to set this up.
Any ideas?
Linux has been working fine and no issues, although I haven't been doing much (just file explorer)

 

[R_1]

the games installed to windows will not run under linux unless they are compiled and installed again under linux.
go online, youtube videos etc.

 

[gregory.c.guest]

"Took it to my IT guy at work and he used a supercharged, mechanical air compressor"
I do not suggest using a compressor ever. unless the pressure is well regulated moisture and possibly oil will be blown all over the parts. if the pressure is unregulated the force can dislodge components, loosen connections, and other issues.
canned air is made for this, the output is filtered for moisture and oils and the pressure is non destructive.


download a copy of linux, I suggest mint with cinnamon, and a copy of rufus and a USB drive.
boot to the newly created drive and see if linux crashes on you. this is a test of the hardware, if it glitches here your indications are that the drivers and software in windows are good.
http://distrowatch.com/
http://rufus.akeo.ie/

rufus will make the USB bootable and extract the ISO to the thumb drive

the 280x is a rebranded hd 7970 and it does not require 750W. a quality 550W PSU should be fine. XFX is a good PSU. I do not trust a PSU outside of warranty though

Thanks R_1
This helped me down the path to the solution. The issue was Windows 10. I had been thinking HW all along but was wrong.
Backed up my C drive, wiped it with a clean Windows reset and so far so good.