Before I get started, I just simply want to say THANK YOU in advance to anyone with the patience and kindness to actually read through this and attempt to help me. This is probably one of the most bizarre PC issue stories you'll ever see on this forum, and I know it may be a headache to figure out. So again, if you're kind and patient enough to actually try and help me out here - thanks.
This issue has been reoccurring over the past 8 months or so, and so my rig specifications have changed. I will update them with the story, which is broken up into 3 different points in time...
ISSUE #1: July 2013
Rig at the time:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor 3.60 GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB
System: 64-bit
Power Supply: Coolermaster 500
GPU: Nvidia (don't recall model, but it's irrelevant)
What happened: Playing a game whenever suddenly my screen gets some weird artifacting and freezes. From this point on, any time I play any sort of video game that isn't Diablo 2, my PC either freezes or I get BSoD. Eventually, however, my PC crashes again while playing a Diablo 2 cinematic. This time, when I restart my PC, the entire screen is covered in weird artifacts, and Windows will no longer even boot up. As I try multiple times to boot up windows, my monitor eventually stops even picking up a signal, leaving me with no display.
My friend comes over, we remove my GPU, and everything starts working properly again. He puts my GPU into his computer to see if it does the same thing to his computer, and it does. We figure that the GPU is just old (I had gotten it used off of a friend) and that simply getting a new GPU will surely fix the issue.
I buy a new GPU, and everything now seems to be fine, other than that the DVI cable gives me no signal, so I have to use a VGA converter to get any monitor display. But other than that, everything is back to being great.
Until...
ISSUE# 2: February 2014
Rig at the time:
Same as in ISSUE 1, but with a new GPU (AMD HD 7770)
I'm playing Diablo 3, and I get the "grey screen of death" (grey screen with vertical lines running through it). I have to do a hard restart. Everything reboots fine. My wife begins watching a tv show in VLC... screen goes black. Have to do a hard restart again. This time, the strange artifacts are back, and once again, my monitor is having issues, often times not even receiving any signal. Once again, removing the GPU fixes the issues.
At this point... I figure that the issue is obviously not faulty GPU's. I decide that it is either my Motherboard, or my Power Supply. After talking with several different friends who are pretty tech savvy, we decide that, based on the issues that I've had, it's likely an issue with my Power Supply. My friend once again puts my new GPU into his PC, and alas, it does the same thing to his PC (artifacting, trouble starting up windows, etc.).
It sucks, because despite the fact that the issue isn't the GPU itself, my new GPU is again fried, and I realize I will have to buy both another GPU AND another power supply.
So I go and buy:
GPU: XFX R7 260x
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600w
I install the new GPU and PSU and fire up a game of League of Legends. No issue. I then fire up Diablo 3, and within a few minutes...
ISSUE #3: March 6 2014
Within a few minutes of having Diablo 3 running, my monitor shuts off. I alt+tab and I hear the game music stop. This is a good thing, I figure, because it means that my PC didn't crash or BSoD, it just simply lost it's monitor display.
I do a hard restart - my monitor display fails to come back, and my PC also fails to boot up, causing it to automatically restart again.
I switch from DVI port 1 on my GPU to DVI port 2. This causes my display to return. I then switch back to DVI port 1 to see if it's still failing - but alas, this time it returns my display.
So... HOPING that this was just a fluke and that I'm not still having issues, I fire up a tv show. About 15 minutes into the show, my screen goes black and I get nothing but static noise. I do a hard restart. DVI port 1 again isn't giving any display, so I switch back to port 2 again. I'm hoping and praying that when my computer restarts I don't have artifacts again (means that my GPU that just arrived in the mail today is already dead like the last 2). Fortunately, windows boots up fine and there are no artifacts.
So that brings us to...
The present: At this point, I am pretty much beginning to feel hopeless. Here are a few very important points:
- I have uninstalled all previous video card drivers and checked multiple times to ensure that my current AMD drivers are completely up to date.
- I have been moderating my temperature and I know for a fact that this is not an issue with overheating - my temps have been nearly 100% ideal. - - I've dropped money on three GPU's and a brand new power supply... and still, the same issues.
- What initiated the issues all three times was playing Diablo. This seems important to me, b/c I figure that there is something about the game making my PC work extra hard that is pushing whatever the root issue is over the edge. On paper, though, all of my specs are absolutely MORE than enough to handle a game like Diablo 3 (after all, I was able to play it for months without these issues ever happening).
However, once my PC crashes once, I can no longer do ANYTHING gaming or video-watching related without a crash. And I'm afraid that if I push it and have another crash, it could end up being the crash that will, once again, destroy my graphics card. And based off of the symptoms I've been having, it seems unlikely that my motherboard could be the cause, either.
I'm really lost at this point. I've dropped hundreds of $$$ into this issue and it isn't fixing it. I'm close to just completely building a new rig... but at this point, I've replaced so much that I'd really like to make my current one work. If anyone has had similar issues and/or thinks they can figure out what is going on here, I can't put into words how grateful I'd be.
This issue has been reoccurring over the past 8 months or so, and so my rig specifications have changed. I will update them with the story, which is broken up into 3 different points in time...
ISSUE #1: July 2013
Rig at the time:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor 3.60 GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB
System: 64-bit
Power Supply: Coolermaster 500
GPU: Nvidia (don't recall model, but it's irrelevant)
What happened: Playing a game whenever suddenly my screen gets some weird artifacting and freezes. From this point on, any time I play any sort of video game that isn't Diablo 2, my PC either freezes or I get BSoD. Eventually, however, my PC crashes again while playing a Diablo 2 cinematic. This time, when I restart my PC, the entire screen is covered in weird artifacts, and Windows will no longer even boot up. As I try multiple times to boot up windows, my monitor eventually stops even picking up a signal, leaving me with no display.
My friend comes over, we remove my GPU, and everything starts working properly again. He puts my GPU into his computer to see if it does the same thing to his computer, and it does. We figure that the GPU is just old (I had gotten it used off of a friend) and that simply getting a new GPU will surely fix the issue.
I buy a new GPU, and everything now seems to be fine, other than that the DVI cable gives me no signal, so I have to use a VGA converter to get any monitor display. But other than that, everything is back to being great.
Until...
ISSUE# 2: February 2014
Rig at the time:
Same as in ISSUE 1, but with a new GPU (AMD HD 7770)
I'm playing Diablo 3, and I get the "grey screen of death" (grey screen with vertical lines running through it). I have to do a hard restart. Everything reboots fine. My wife begins watching a tv show in VLC... screen goes black. Have to do a hard restart again. This time, the strange artifacts are back, and once again, my monitor is having issues, often times not even receiving any signal. Once again, removing the GPU fixes the issues.
At this point... I figure that the issue is obviously not faulty GPU's. I decide that it is either my Motherboard, or my Power Supply. After talking with several different friends who are pretty tech savvy, we decide that, based on the issues that I've had, it's likely an issue with my Power Supply. My friend once again puts my new GPU into his PC, and alas, it does the same thing to his PC (artifacting, trouble starting up windows, etc.).
It sucks, because despite the fact that the issue isn't the GPU itself, my new GPU is again fried, and I realize I will have to buy both another GPU AND another power supply.
So I go and buy:
GPU: XFX R7 260x
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 600w
I install the new GPU and PSU and fire up a game of League of Legends. No issue. I then fire up Diablo 3, and within a few minutes...
ISSUE #3: March 6 2014
Within a few minutes of having Diablo 3 running, my monitor shuts off. I alt+tab and I hear the game music stop. This is a good thing, I figure, because it means that my PC didn't crash or BSoD, it just simply lost it's monitor display.
I do a hard restart - my monitor display fails to come back, and my PC also fails to boot up, causing it to automatically restart again.
I switch from DVI port 1 on my GPU to DVI port 2. This causes my display to return. I then switch back to DVI port 1 to see if it's still failing - but alas, this time it returns my display.
So... HOPING that this was just a fluke and that I'm not still having issues, I fire up a tv show. About 15 minutes into the show, my screen goes black and I get nothing but static noise. I do a hard restart. DVI port 1 again isn't giving any display, so I switch back to port 2 again. I'm hoping and praying that when my computer restarts I don't have artifacts again (means that my GPU that just arrived in the mail today is already dead like the last 2). Fortunately, windows boots up fine and there are no artifacts.
So that brings us to...
The present: At this point, I am pretty much beginning to feel hopeless. Here are a few very important points:
- I have uninstalled all previous video card drivers and checked multiple times to ensure that my current AMD drivers are completely up to date.
- I have been moderating my temperature and I know for a fact that this is not an issue with overheating - my temps have been nearly 100% ideal. - - I've dropped money on three GPU's and a brand new power supply... and still, the same issues.
- What initiated the issues all three times was playing Diablo. This seems important to me, b/c I figure that there is something about the game making my PC work extra hard that is pushing whatever the root issue is over the edge. On paper, though, all of my specs are absolutely MORE than enough to handle a game like Diablo 3 (after all, I was able to play it for months without these issues ever happening).
However, once my PC crashes once, I can no longer do ANYTHING gaming or video-watching related without a crash. And I'm afraid that if I push it and have another crash, it could end up being the crash that will, once again, destroy my graphics card. And based off of the symptoms I've been having, it seems unlikely that my motherboard could be the cause, either.
I'm really lost at this point. I've dropped hundreds of $$$ into this issue and it isn't fixing it. I'm close to just completely building a new rig... but at this point, I've replaced so much that I'd really like to make my current one work. If anyone has had similar issues and/or thinks they can figure out what is going on here, I can't put into words how grateful I'd be.
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