PC Crashing during Games / Video, GPU or PSU?

[paramourx.ka]

Hi guys, need help diagnosing an issue I'm having with my Pc.

I have had both my GPU and PSU for around 3 years now, and recently my Pc has been freezing pretty consistenly when watching videos (YouTube) or Gaming.

What happens is, I get multiple stutters which causes the audio to buzz and the image to freeze for around half a second. These happen 4-5 times a minute, and it seems any one of them can cause the display to cut out. Once this happens, its as if the monitor has been disconnected, saying "No input found." From here I need to do a hard reset of my Pc.

The sound of the game or video usually continues, and sometimes I can still hear and communicate with my friends in discord, although the voice chat does become unresponsive after around a minute or two.

Do I need to suck it up and get a new GPU? Or could it be power supply related?

I have ruled out any overheating issues and my PSU is enough to power all of the components.

Any help would be massively appreciated.

 

[Aeacus]

It's hard to diagnose what is causing the stutters and freezing since it can be either software (Windows itself or some incompatible driver) or hardware (bad MoBo, RAM, CPU or GPU). But what i can say first off is that it isn't your PSU. Since if it were your PSU which is acting up, you won't see stutters/freezing but instant reboot or shutdown.

I'll try to help you to find the culprit or at least, narrow the selection down.

First off, what's your system's full specs? Including PSU make and model (or part number).

2nd, to see if your hardware is acting up, do the Userbenchmark test and post the results link here,
link: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Software

Do note that the low performance of any component (e.g GPU) can be also due to the bad software and not because your component itself is going bad.

 

[paramourx.ka]

Sorry i'm not ignoring this, i've been away over the weekend.
I'll do all the above suggestions and post my specs tomorrow after work. Thanks for offering your help

 

[paramourx.ka]

I cant even get past the boot process now before the display cuts out as mentioned above.

Specs:
Windows 7
i7-2600k
8GB RAM
nvidia 760 ti

(psu I cant get to right now, but its a 500W XFX Power supply. If you need the actual model please let me know)

Forgot to mention in my original post that I have updated the GPU drivers twice since this first happened

 

[Aeacus]

As far as PSU goes, only 500W unit in XFX lineup is the XT series. While designed by Seasonic, it's actually manufactured under contract by Hydance which is a venture owned by Seasonic. PSUs made by Hydance are generally low quality units since there are a lot of cost cutting. For example, XFX TS lineup has much higher build quality since those are made by Seasonic itself.

Your build is quite old and it's likely that CPU or MoBo has died on you. Without the ability to boot into Windows, there's not much you can do. Though, there are few things left to try:
1. Remove your dedicated GPU and plug your monitor directly to the MoBo, to rule out if it's GPU issue or not.
2. Reseat your RAM to a different RAM slot. Or remove one stick if you have 2x 4GB. It can be a RAM issue too.

These two above are only things you can do without spending money. While you can reseat your CPU too, i don't think it would be any help.
But if you need to get your old hardware running, there are further steps to do:
1. Buy or borrow 2nd set of RAM to rule out if your original RAM is faulty.
2. Buy or borrow 2nd CPU that is compatible with your MoBo, to rule out if your original CPU is dead or not.

Do note that even if you get new RAM and CPU, your PC may still not work if it's the MoBo that died. At this point, you'd still need to replace MoBo and get a new Win license.

Since you have quite an old hardware in use, i don't suggest that you spend your money on old 2nd gen CPU and DDR3 RAM. Better use your money to buy a new up-to-the-date PC. For new PC, you could go with completely new build or when you like to save quite a bit of money, you only need new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo and Win license. The rest you can re-use from your old build. Though, i'd throw in a new PSU too since XFX XT series PSUs aren't good quality.

E.g this cheap combo, provided that your PC case fits ATX sized MoBo:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($128.49 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial - 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit ($109.99 @ B&H)
Total: $492.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-20 15:38 EST-0500

CPU comparison too: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i3-8100-vs-Intel-Core-i7-2600K/3942vs621

 

[paramourx.ka]

I'll keep all of that in mind, thanks.

Just another question though: if I use the integrated graphics and remove my Gpu, then it seems to work without issues, is it then safe to say the GPU was the problem?

I cant really afford to replace the whole Pc at the moment as i'll be buying a house in the next month or so. But if a new GPU does the job for the time being, i'd be able to try that.

 

[Aeacus]

If your PC boots up just fine with integrated graphics then yes, it's safe to say that your GPU was the culprit. Though, don't get your hopes up since i've seen plenty of builds that have the same issue as yours (unable to boot) and in most cases, the MoBo is the culprit.

 

[paramourx.ka]

It is quite intermittant. Sometimes it boots fine, sometimes the display cuts out as i've mentioned before I can even log into Windows.

I'll try using intergrated graphics tonight and see how it goes. Thanks again for the help