[SOLVED] GPU freezing the system

[25toLife]

I'm lost here. I have tried a lot of things to fix the problem but it seems like I have not found the solution yet. Here goes:

2 weeks ago I bought a replacement motherboard because I decided to upgrade to a Z chipset motherboard for OC purpose (in the future). After installing every component in the PC everything was running smoothly. I used DDU to cleanup the GPU drivers and reinstalled the latest ones. I wasn't able to play games due to some DX configuration error that kept popping up and causing the game to freeze, so I thought it would be best to do a clean install of Windows 10. Ever since doing a fresh install of the Windows I've experienced sporadic hanging/freezing. The windows would work fine for a while and would randomly freeze anytime. Tried reinstalling the Windows again, same issue. At first I suspected it was the RAMs, so I underclocked the frequency to 1333MHz, did Memtest on all the DIMMs individually and it showed no errors. Scanned the HDDs for bad sectors, they were none. So I thought it would be either the GPU or the Motherboard.

I removed the GPU from the system and the random freezing stopped. Used the pc for about 2 hours and left it on for the night, no freeze. Placed the GPU back in, same freezing issue arises again. I also tried placing the GPU in the other PCIe x16 slot (running on x8) and it hasn't crashed since then. I'm confused, which component seems to show the fault, either the GPU itself or the Motherboard? Here are my specs:

• Intel Core i5-3470 3.2 GHz
• Gigabyte GA-Z77-UD3H
• MSI R9 390 8GB GDDR5 512-Bit
• Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 PC3-12800
• Seagate BarraCuda ST3160815AS 160GB HDD (Windows)
• Seagate BarraCuda 1TB HDD
• Thermaltake Smart Standard 650W 80 PLUS Bronze ATX12V 2.3 PSU

Any help would do me great, thankyou

 

[PC Tailor]

It could also be the PSU as the Smart series are very poor quality TT PSUs.
If the GPU is inducing higher load the PSU could be faulting, and it is a common cause for crashes and freezes.

Only real way to find out is to swap the components or try them in different systems and see if the issue persists.
So you could try someone elses good quality, known working PSU and see if the issue persists.

Then also try your GPU in another system and see if the issue persists.
It's just eradicating which component is really causing the issue.

When you clean installed Windows, did you remove all other storage drives?

 

[25toLife]

It could also be the PSU as the Smart series are very poor quality TT PSUs.
If the GPU is inducing higher load the PSU could be faulting, and it is a common cause for crashes and freezes.

Only real way to find out is to swap the components or try them in different systems and see if the issue persists.
So you could try someone elses good quality, known working PSU and see if the issue persists.

Then also try your GPU in another system and see if the issue persists.
It's just eradicating which component is really causing the issue.

When you clean installed Windows, did you remove all other storage drives?

About the PSU, I thought so, too. I bought this with the GPU around 2.5 years ago. Had been working with the previous mobo (Intel DH77KC) without these crashes. At the moment I don't have any other high end PSU to test it with but I'll take the GPU to a friend's build to stress test and see if the problem persists. It's frustrating; not being able to pinpoint which component is failing.

At first I didn't. But when I clean installed the Windows the second time, I disconnected the 1TB drive. Is that related somehow?

 

[PC Tailor]

About the PSU, I thought so, too. I bought this with the GPU around 2.5 years ago. Had been working with the previous mobo (Intel DH77KC) without these crashes. At the moment I don't have any other high end PSU to test it with but I'll take the GPU to a friend's build to stress test and see if the problem persists. It's frustrating; not being able to pinpoint which component is failing.

At first I didn't. But when I clean installed the Windows the second time, I disconnected the 1TB drive. Is that related somehow?

Probably not, it could be related if you DIDN'T clean install windows and DIDN'T disconnect the other drive. Being as you did both, the best process for clean install was done.

Do you also have latest BIOS installed?

 

[25toLife]

Probably not, it could be related if you DIDN'T clean install windows and DIDN'T disconnect the other drive. Being as you did both, the best process for clean install was done.

Do you also have latest BIOS installed?

The BIOS is up to date. (F20e)

I used the GPU in the PCIe x8 slot, hasn't crashed once. Did render test, worked fine. So that tells me the GPU may be okay.

I put it back in the x16 slot, the random freezing/driver crash comes back. I guess the error narrows down to either the PSU, or a bad PCIe slot, but like before, I could be wrong as well.

EDIT: I fixed the freezing issue. Took the GPU out and cleaned all the dust and rust using the rubbing alcohol. Also cleaned the CPU. But now my PC shuts itself down whenever I run a stress test on the GPU or sometimes when I play a game. Event viewer shows the Kernel power error id 41 when it shuts down. Signs of a PSU going bad?