Graphics Card Issues

[Thatcrashingguy]

Hello,
A few months ago I purchased a new ASUS Radeon R7 240 to replace my older ATI Radeon HD 3650. I installed the card without any problems. 6 Days later I started to receive crashes and various other unpleasant random restarts. These BSOD's seemed to be linked to the display drivers, so I uninstalled all of the drivers, took out the card, and re-installed everything. Another 6 days passed and it came back. This repeated several times. I was frustrated, so I removed the card and purchased an EVGA GeForce GT 730. I Installed all the latest drivers, used Driver Sweeper to remove all other drivers, made sure the card was in fine, and started to go about my daily work. The first day was great, and I thought the problem was resolved. The next day I booted up machine and it was working flawlessly, until I started to play a few games. The computer now crashes just like it did with my previous card. This time I decided to test the RAM and see if it was bad. I used Windows Memory Diagnostic and it came up with no errors. I was going to use memtest86 but I am having difficulty with it rejecting my media. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Got another BSOD:

On Sun 9/6/2015 5:18:10 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\090615-17281-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: win32kbase.sys (win32kbase+0x4003F)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF961FDDD003F, 0xFFFFD001905E1320, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\win32kbase.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Base Win32k Kernel Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sun 9/6/2015 5:18:10 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: win32kbase.sys (win32kbase+0x4003F)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF961FDDD003F, 0xFFFFD001905E1320, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\win32kbase.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Base Win32k Kernel Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Might want to reinstall the motherboard chipset drivers too. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go to your motherboard product page and reinstall all the relevant hardware drivers. The system may just be worn out though.

Might want to run the DDU again as the bugcheck code 0x3B returns this probable cause:

Cause

This error has been linked to excessive paged pool usage and may occur due to user-mode graphics drivers crossing over and passing bad data to the kernel code.




http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

While not every 9 year old component is assured to be failing, it certainly becomes more prominently possible at that age. Memory tends to last longer than motherboards, so I'd probably be inclined to believe, if it IS a hardware issue at this point, that it's the motherboard rather than the RAM, but it could be either one really, or neither. I really doubt the memory would cause a random restart in most cases, generally it would just cause errors, but it certainly CAN cause just about anything if one of the modules is failing entirely.

This might be a good time to upgrade. You'll have a hard time finding a motherboard or DDR2 memory that isn't used, and is priced at anything reasonable for hardware that old at this point in time. I'd think a new CPU, motherboard and RAM would be a much better option than replacing major components that are as old as yours are. I don't know what your financial situation is like, but this might be a good option without going overboard and you'll gain considerable performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($166.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $285.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 13:23 EDT-0400

Ya I will probably get that stuff hopefully this week. I will reinstall the chipset drivers and see if that fixes anything, I will re-run the DDU tool also. If the issues still persist I will get the new motherboard, RAM and CPU. I guess I could re-use the GPU and PSU? How exactly would I install the motherboard? would I have to do some stuff and get chipsets, or is that already pre-installed? and also, would the new motherboard need a new case? Sorry for the ignorance. Another thing. I assume the mentioned products above come from the U.S. and that I will have to pay duty (Canada), something that hits my wallet every time. Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Since you're in Canada it IS going to be more expensive, so I'd probably go like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.75 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.00 @ NCIX)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.85 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $393.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 21:04 EDT-0400


It's a micro-ATX board so it should fit most cases, even OEM versions like HP and similar manufacturers. Most those prebuilt systems use micro ATX mid tower cases. Might not hurt to double check your model though. You can reuse your new PSU and your GPU card, no worries there. In fact, you shouldn't need to change anything else except swap out the motherboard, cpu and ram.


Watch and use parts 1, 2 and 3 of the following video, and it should give you all you need to know in order to do the swap since a motherboard and cpu swap is essentially similar to doing a complete new build. If you need to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Ok so I have done some digging around I found a few items that fit my budget (i5 is too expensive at the moment) and possibly a motherboard (not sure I might stick with your suggestion). Here is my list:
Motherboard: ASUS Micro ATX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboard B85M-G R2.0
Memory: Patriot Signature DDR3 8GB (2x4 GB) CL9 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) 240-pin DDR3 Desktop Memory Kit with Heatshields PSD38G1600KH
Processor:Intel Core i3-4170 Dual-Core Processor
Socket LGA1150, 3.70Ghz, 3MB L3 Cache, 22nm
Gen4 (BX80646I34170) OR Intel Pentium G3440 Dual-Core Processor
Socket LGA1150, 3.30Ghz, 3MB L3 Cache, 22nm
Gen4 (BX80646G3440)
Its kind of how my budget works, It seems like it would be a good setup for me. I am leaning towards the Core i3 because it does perform better, supports more instruction sets, and has a few other decent things. But the pentium is much cheaper right now. But before I make any purchases I would like your comments.
Both the Memory and Motherboard are from Amazon.ca
The processors are both from Canada Computers.
Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't want the B85M-G, it's a low quality board and is likely to experience issues from heat when used with a gaming card.

I don't recommend Patriot memory either. I personally have had too many issues using it on builds and a high rate of needing to RMA modules.

This is about as far down the totem pole as you want to go, and if there's any way to accommodate an i5 it would be a much wiser decision, but if you have to go with the i3, at least you know with this setup you can upgrade to an i5, i7 or E3 Xeon later and gain some additional performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($144.49 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($98.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($57.85 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $301.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-07 13:11 EDT-0400

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Got it. I will order the memory and motherboard, but I know a place where I can pick up the I3-4170. I hope to have all the parts by this Saturday and have it assembled by Sunday. Although, I did re-install the chipsets for my current motherboard, and all is doing quite well. I am still going to get the new parts though, as this setup is getting old.
Thank you for your help

 

[Darkbreeze]

No problem. My pleasure. Good luck and if you have any questions with the new build don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

For those who are having similar issues, try re-installing the Chipset drivers. It worked for me. Im only getting new parts because its out of date and needs replacement.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nice. Glad it worked out so you didn't have to wait at least. Don't forget to go to the product page for your new motherboard once you do the upgrade and manually go through the process of upgrading all the drivers using the manufacturer supplied drivers, after you have completed the new Windows 10 install, which I seriously recommend doing again since you'll have different core hardware. You can try to ride the current installation, but the potential for issues, as you've seen, is high.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

I have a question actually. Would it be possible to Sysprep my HDD? I was just wondering, because It would be nice to ride this install. If it cannot be done, I will just do a clean installation.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would do a clean install. You can ride the current installation if you're going Intel to Intel, or AMD to AMD, and in most cases be fine since the chipset drivers are generally either the same or similar enough to not cause any major issues, but occasionally there can be incompatibilities with drivers or resource allocations amongst OTHER hardware components. It's really your call. If this installation is fairly fresh, you might go ahead and just do the upgrades and boot, and see what happens. There really shouldn't be any preparations that need to be made as long as you remember to go to the motherboard product page on the manufacturers website and install any relevant drivers for the onboard audio, networking, storage controllers and maybe the chipset, but you'll want to do that anyhow, even if you do a clean install.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

I will try to boot from this install since it is only a few weeks old, and I'm also going from Intel to Intel. I also have another question: To install the new chipset drivers, audio, network etc. would I have to boot into windows in order to download and install them? or is it more of a download-to-USB-and-install-later kind of thing?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Either way is ok.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

So, it turns out only my RAM has arrived, the motherboard and processor are still on the way, both expected by Wednesday. I have a question regarding the HDD once again. Would it be mandatory to do a sysprep, or is it just a take-out-and-put-in-new-pc kind of thing?

 

[Darkbreeze]

You should not need to do any kind of sysprep. Just remove your old motherboard, cpu and ram, install the new ones, reinstall the GPU card and reconnect everything, and boot. It will either work or it won't, and there may be some automatic updating of drivers that happens over the first few sessions, but I'd really recommend going to the motherboard product page and installing all the relevant drivers once you're in windows.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Ok, thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure, no problem at all.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Alright, so I put my new parts in a few days ago. The performance gain was incredible. I can run most if not all of my games at higher settings. I can listen to my music, do my work, and play my games without restarts or BSoD's. I am very satisfied. It was worth the couple hundred bucks. Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Very nice. So glad to hear it worked out. Upgrades are fun.

 

[Thatcrashingguy]

Yes, they are fun.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Take it easy crashingguy.