Lotta problems, no idea to a solution

[David Kelley]

So, let me start by saying that I have run several virus/malware/spyware scanners, such as AVG and CCleaner. I have run 2 full defrags on my hard drive, and have uninstalled any and all suspicious programs. I have also updated my drivers.

Now then, here is my problem: Games/programs such as Hearthstone, League of Legends, on the Resource Monitor will periodically stop responding (lasting .3 seconds and happens every half second) and will sometimes flash black rapidly. I do not understand why this is happening, and need desperate assistance.

 

[glamdringfh]

Hi David,

Let's see if we can narrow down the possibilities! Would you be kind enough to provide us with as much detail as you can about your current PC?

-What is your CPU?
-What is your motherboard?
-What is your graphics card?
-What is your power supply?
-What is your operating system (ex. Windows 10)
-Is this a PC you have recently built yourself?
-How long has this been happening to you?

It certainly sounds like you could be having hardware not software issues, so knowing a bit more about your rig will help us narrow things down.

 

[David Kelley]

CPU: Intel i5 4430 @ 3.00 ghz
MB: ASUS sabertooth z87
GPU: Nvidia GTX 760
Power: Not sure, its a 500w Rosewell
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Pc was built by me, 1 year or so ago.
This is very recent, last week it started up.

 

[David Kelley]

Hi David,

Let's see if we can narrow down the possibilities! Would you be kind enough to provide us with as much detail as you can about your current PC?

-What is your CPU?
-What is your motherboard?
-What is your graphics card?
-What is your power supply?
-What is your operating system (ex. Windows 10)
-Is this a PC you have recently built yourself?
-How long has this been happening to you?

It certainly sounds like you could be having hardware not software issues, so knowing a bit more about your rig will help us narrow things down.

CPU: Intel i5 4430 @ 3.00 ghz
MB: ASUS sabertooth z87
GPU: Nvidia GTX 760
Power: Not sure, its a 500w Rosewell
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Pc was built by me, 1 year or so ago.
This is very recent, last week it started up.

 

[glamdringfh]

The screen going black and then flashing sounds to me like could be one of three things:

1) You graphics card might be going bad
2) Your PSU (power supply) might be going bad
3) Your RAM might be going bad (also, do you happen to know what RAM you have?)

-You could easily start by testing the RAM (if you have more than 1 stick). Take one of the sticks out and try running your games. You might need to lower the specs a bit if you are going down to 4GB, but test each card out indiviually to make sure one of them isn't failing on you.

If both sticks of RAM display the same problem individually then we'll know to move onto other steps in diagnosing your hardware.

 

[David Kelley]

The screen going black and then flashing sounds to me like could be one of three things:

1) You graphics card might be going bad
2) Your PSU (power supply) might be going bad
3) Your RAM might be going bad (also, do you happen to know what RAM you have?)

-You could easily start by testing the RAM (if you have more than 1 stick). Take one of the sticks out and try running your games. You might need to lower the specs a bit if you are going down to 4GB, but test each card out indiviually to make sure one of them isn't failing on you.

If both sticks of RAM display the same problem individually then we'll know to move onto other steps in diagnosing your hardware.

Both sticks by themselves still presented the problem.

 

[glamdringfh]

I'd next look at your graphics card.

Try disconnecting your graphics card and going over to integrated graphics. I've read some people have successfully played Hearthstone with integrated graphics, so I'd try running that (on lower specs if possible) and seeing if the blackouts still occur. If everything plays fine then it's probably your graphics card.

 

[David Kelley]

I'd next look at your graphics card.

Try disconnecting your graphics card and going over to integrated graphics. I've read some people have successfully played Hearthstone with integrated graphics, so I'd try running that (on lower specs if possible) and seeing if the blackouts still occur. If everything plays fine then it's probably your graphics card.

Honestly, I thankfully still got blackouts 😛 It was an expensive card. I am trying to update drivers for the mother board now. Anything else that could be causing my problem if the drivers arn't it?

 

[glamdringfh]

Good! We're slowly whittling things down now.

I personally suspect your power supply. Unfortunately there really isn't a good way to diagnose a power supply so you'de need to either borrow one if you can or order a new one.

Before jumping to the PSU conclusion though, there is one last diagnostic test you can run. Still with your graphics card uninstalled:

-Download and run Prime95. This is really a CPU test, but it will stress your system and if the blackouts occur again you will be able to see if it was your CPU not able to handle the software or if the instability was from somewhere else (like your PSU).

Link to Prime95: http://www.mersenne.org/download/#stresstest

Hopefully that will be the last test we need to run before narrowing things down to a decision.

A Rosewill PSU isn't always a high-quailty component (they have some bad lines), so that would be what I would choose to replace before I moved on to the motherboard as you have a good motherboard.

 

[David Kelley]

Good! We're slowly whittling things down now.

I personally suspect your power supply. Unfortunately there really isn't a good way to diagnose a power supply so you'de need to either borrow one if you can or order a new one.

Before jumping to the PSU conclusion though, there is one last diagnostic test you can run. Still with your graphics card uninstalled:

-Download and run Prime95. This is really a CPU test, but it will stress your system and if the blackouts occur again you will be able to see if it was your CPU not able to handle the software or if the instability was from somewhere else (like your PSU).

Link to Prime95: http://www.mersenne.org/download/#stresstest

Hopefully that will be the last test we need to run before narrowing things down to a decision.

A Rosewill PSU isn't always a high-quailty component (they have some bad lines), so that would be what I would choose to replace before I moved on to the motherboard as you have a good motherboard.

Tested the hell out of the cpu, still better then the avg scores, so it is likely the power supply. Got any good recomendations for a new PSU? 😀

 

[glamdringfh]

Sure can. Mostly it depends on your budget, but I would start by looking at one of these two:

1) EVGA 220-G2-0550-Y1 80 PLUS GOLD 550W ($90) : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438053

- Fully modular for great cable management
- 7 year warranty
- Tier 1 PSU with verified high-quality components
- 80+ Gold for rock solid power management

2) XFX TS Series P1550SXXB9 550W ($70): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

- Non-modular
- 5 year warranty
- Tier 2 PSU, still has verified high-quality components
- 80+ Bronze for perfectly good power management

Either of those two would sit you in good stead. If those are still too pricey I've posted a link below to a great Tom's article on currently tested PSU's. You'll want to ideally stick to choosing between tier 1 and tier 2 PSU's, but if your budget cannot allow it then look into tier 3. Avoid tier 4.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Hope you can find one you like!

 

[David Kelley]

Sure can. Mostly it depends on your budget, but I would start by looking at one of these two:

1) EVGA 220-G2-0550-Y1 80 PLUS GOLD 550W ($90) : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438053

- Fully modular for great cable management
- 7 year warranty
- Tier 1 PSU with verified high-quality components
- 80+ Gold for rock solid power management

2) XFX TS Series P1550SXXB9 550W ($70): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

- Non-modular
- 5 year warranty
- Tier 2 PSU, still has verified high-quality components
- 80+ Bronze for perfectly good power management

Either of those two would sit you in good stead. If those are still too pricey I've posted a link below to a great Tom's article on currently tested PSU's. You'll want to ideally stick to choosing between tier 1 and tier 2 PSU's, but if your budget cannot allow it then look into tier 3. Avoid tier 4.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Hope you can find one you like!

Just so you know, I ran the computer in safe mode just too see, and the blackouts stopped happening :/ Not so sure its hardware now.

 

[KingDingDong]

You are receiving excellent advise here so feel free to reject my suggestion.

Do you have a spare HHD you could install your OS on? Disconnect your current drives and perform a clean install, update and see if it still happens. This could eleimate the possibility of a software issue before you spend money on parts or tearing apart your build.

 

[glamdringfh]

Changing out our hard drive would be a good idea, but if you have time before you do I'd run a diagnositc tool to see if you current drive has any bad sectors.

Here's a good free HDD diagnostic tool: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Still, if safe mode fixed the problem then there could very well not be anything wrong with the drive either and we'd need to re-focus on software. Sorry for the drawn-out process David, this one is taking awhile to track down.

 

[David Kelley]

Changing out our hard drive would be a good idea, but if you have time before you do I'd run a diagnositc tool to see if you current drive has any bad sectors.

Here's a good free HDD diagnostic tool: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Still, if safe mode fixed the problem then there could very well not be anything wrong with the drive either and we'd need to re-focus on software. Sorry for the drawn-out process David, this one is taking awhile to track down.

It says the Health is good.

 

[David Kelley]

Changing out our hard drive would be a good idea, but if you have time before you do I'd run a diagnositc tool to see if you current drive has any bad sectors.

Here's a good free HDD diagnostic tool: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Still, if safe mode fixed the problem then there could very well not be anything wrong with the drive either and we'd need to re-focus on software. Sorry for the drawn-out process David, this one is taking awhile to track down.

The diagnostic tool said the health was good, not sure where to go from here.

 

[glamdringfh]

I'm honestly fairly perplexed as well. I know if it were me I would probably try a fresh install of Windows next, though I didn't previously recommend it because I'm still not sure where the problem lies.

If safemode seems to fix the error then it sure sounds like there is a software related issue somewhere (such as with drivers, though again, they worked in safemode).

I was hoping another member of the forums would have been able to chime in at this point, so hopefully that might still happen. If no other remedy is suggested then installing Windows fresh might be your best next course of action.

 

[glamdringfh]

Also David, as the problem really isn't solved it would be best to click the 'unselect current solution' tag from the post above. That way it will allow other members to see in the thread list that this is still an unsolved issue.

 

[David Kelley]

Also David, as the problem really isn't solved it would be best to click the 'unselect current solution' tag from the post above. That way it will allow other members to see in the thread list that this is still an unsolved issue.

It wont let me unselect the answer :/

 

[glamdringfh]

I just did.

 

[David Kelley]

bump

 

[glamdringfh]

Hey David,

You might want to start a new thread at this point. Start with the description you posted above, as well as all the detailed specs of your rig. Be sure to link this thread somewhere in the body for people who want to catch up on everything that has been tried so far.