So I just built a PC with a friend and we can't figure out why it keeps crashing. I've listed the specs for the PC at the very end of the post.
When we first built the computer and turned it on we weren't getting any signal from the GPU to the monitor. The power was running fine to everything (fans spinning on GPU and case, lights on, etc... so we tried pulling everything out and putting it back in to see if it fixed it. We turned in on successfully and kept going.
We then installed the OS, Google Chrome, Steam, GPU Drivers from AMD website, CSGO (in that order).
Upon all the restarts necessary we started up CSGO and not 10 minutes into gameplay the game froze and there was a sound stutter like it was just playing the same note repeatedly very quickly. Opening the task manager was unresponsive so we were forced to do a hard-reboot. The game settings were on about as low as they should be set, so there shouldn't have been an issue. This has happened repeatedly in spite of trying the following steps to correct the problem:
Upon suggestion from the drivers website saying that CSGO has some problems, when we alt-tabbed out the screen went black and we were forced to reboot. Once we were able to unplug the HDMI cable and plug it directly into the GPU again and the screen came back.
We thought it might just be CSGO so we installed Skyrim and ran it for about 20 minutes before it froze the same way and forced a hard-reboot.
Our concern is that we think its a software issue based on the symptoms, but we can't seem to fix any of the problems with the basic software fixes. We even used the AMD provided uninstaller for the drivers to see if Windows wasn't removing them properly. We have seen posts about using a DDU, but we aren't sure if that is anything more than what we used from AMD.
Another minor symptom is that often when games start up the monitor will show the "HDMI Input" pop-up like you just switched inputs even though nothing was switched. Its things like that which make me think its software and not hardware, but I'm by no means an expert.
Our big questions are: what else could be causing the problem that we could fix? Or is it more likely a hardware issue? If that is the case, what piece is the likely culprit that we should return? Is updating BIOS of any use/safe? Is it possible that we accidentally turned on an overclocking feature without knowing and could that cause the problem?
We appreciate all the help because we're stumped and searching online has only seemed to give results that are very old and/or not applicable. Those ones that seemed to apply we've tried with no change.
Mobo: Asus H170 Pro [CSM]
CPU: i5-6500, 3.2 GHz 6MB cache, LGA 1151 (with stock cooling fan)
GPU: Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 Fury
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G1 650W
RAM: 2x4GB (8GB total) Crucial Ballistics
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda
OS: Win 10 Home x64
Monitor: Asus VG245 Gaming Monitor
When we first built the computer and turned it on we weren't getting any signal from the GPU to the monitor. The power was running fine to everything (fans spinning on GPU and case, lights on, etc... so we tried pulling everything out and putting it back in to see if it fixed it. We turned in on successfully and kept going.
We then installed the OS, Google Chrome, Steam, GPU Drivers from AMD website, CSGO (in that order).
Upon all the restarts necessary we started up CSGO and not 10 minutes into gameplay the game froze and there was a sound stutter like it was just playing the same note repeatedly very quickly. Opening the task manager was unresponsive so we were forced to do a hard-reboot. The game settings were on about as low as they should be set, so there shouldn't have been an issue. This has happened repeatedly in spite of trying the following steps to correct the problem:
-Running a Memory Diagnostics Test (with no problems found with RAM)
-Uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers (several times with appropriate reboots)
-Uninstalling and reinstalling the GPU
-Using the AMD Wattman Software to turn off all extra features as shown in some "Fix" videos
-Switching the HDMI cable
-Scanned the HDD for errors (none found)
-Disabled the Realtek Sound (as ADM comes with their own)
Upon suggestion from the drivers website saying that CSGO has some problems, when we alt-tabbed out the screen went black and we were forced to reboot. Once we were able to unplug the HDMI cable and plug it directly into the GPU again and the screen came back.
We thought it might just be CSGO so we installed Skyrim and ran it for about 20 minutes before it froze the same way and forced a hard-reboot.
Our concern is that we think its a software issue based on the symptoms, but we can't seem to fix any of the problems with the basic software fixes. We even used the AMD provided uninstaller for the drivers to see if Windows wasn't removing them properly. We have seen posts about using a DDU, but we aren't sure if that is anything more than what we used from AMD.
Another minor symptom is that often when games start up the monitor will show the "HDMI Input" pop-up like you just switched inputs even though nothing was switched. Its things like that which make me think its software and not hardware, but I'm by no means an expert.
Our big questions are: what else could be causing the problem that we could fix? Or is it more likely a hardware issue? If that is the case, what piece is the likely culprit that we should return? Is updating BIOS of any use/safe? Is it possible that we accidentally turned on an overclocking feature without knowing and could that cause the problem?
We appreciate all the help because we're stumped and searching online has only seemed to give results that are very old and/or not applicable. Those ones that seemed to apply we've tried with no change.
Mobo: Asus H170 Pro [CSM]
CPU: i5-6500, 3.2 GHz 6MB cache, LGA 1151 (with stock cooling fan)
GPU: Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 Fury
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G1 650W
RAM: 2x4GB (8GB total) Crucial Ballistics
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda
OS: Win 10 Home x64
Monitor: Asus VG245 Gaming Monitor
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