[SOLVED] PC crashing while playing games and watching videos - bad motherboard?

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TheSanto321

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I'll start by listing my specs

Mobo: P7H55-M PRO
CPU: Intel Core i5 760 2.8 GHz (no OC)
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 650 SC 1GB
RAM: 2x4 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1600MHz & 2x2 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 700W
HD: WD Black 1TB

Ever since July when I upgraded every part in my computer besides the motherboard, it has been acting very strangely. At first, it was hard crashing in almost all of my games (i.e.,League of Legends, Mirror's Edge, BF3, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare) and I would be forced to reboot by pushing the button on my tower. Although, I would receive a TDR more often than a crash.

I took to google to find possible solutions to my problems, and I was led to believe that it was actually a driver issue with the Nvidia drivers that were newer than 314.22 (I was running 320.49 at the time). So I installed 314.22 with high hopes, only to find my issues still occuring. My dad recommended that I should take it to the local Canada's Computers (tech store) and have them try to find the problem. I did just that, and about 4 days later, the workers there called me and said that they were not able to solve the issue, since they tested all of my hardware and said it was completely fine. I tried all sorts of solutions afterwards but I'll list them below.

I was out of ideas, and still am today. But now, the problem has only gotten bigger, now my PC will get a TDR while watching youtube videos, hard crash when I'm watching live streams on twitch in HD and even while surfing the internet! I have no idea what to do now, a couple of days ago I ran memtest86 to check my ram and no errors were found. I seriously doubt anything else in my PC is defective besides my motherboard since it is pretty old. Can anyone shed some light on this?

List of stuff I've already tried:
- Installed older Nvidia display drivers (314.22, 306.97)
- Ran memtest86, no errors
- Checked ram timings (everything is normal)
- Set power management mode in Nvidia Control Panel to "Prefer maximum performance"
- Set my gpu clock to 1058MHz (stock clock) instead of 1202MHz (factory OC)
- Increased fan speed of my gpu
- Tested my gpu in a different PC, works just fine
- Even tried reinstalling Windows
- Reformatted hard drive
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, I'll add more if I remember them.
 
Solution
That's what I was thinking. There was an old post that matched the OPs problem and it seemed to be a bad PSU. Damaged his GPU.

I added a link to Western Digital HD scan tool.

TheSanto321

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My temps are just fine, cpu idles at 45c and goes up to about 62c while playing games. Gpu idles at about 28c and goes up to around 48c-53c while gaming.



As for my hard drive, I reformatted it and all so I guess we can rule that one out.
 

TheSanto321

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Oh I see, how exactly would I be able to check my hard drive for errors?

 

crookedmouth

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You could just use windows built in error checking. Start - Computer - Right-Click Hardrive - Properties - Tools - Error Checking

Edit: Here's Western Digital's Tool
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=3&lang=en

Is that a brand new Thermaltake TR2? Those were getting some very very bad reviews and were said to even damage computers. I think the new ones fixed it. Any way you could borrow a different PSU?
 

TheSanto321

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Alright, I'll try that in the morning, and yes the TR2 is pretty new, I can borrow my dad's just to test it out.
 

TheSanto321

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Ok so what you guys are saying is I should test my hard drive first with the link given to me by crookedmouth, and if no errors are reported then that means it's probably my PSU? And yeah, my dad's pretty chill when it comes to lending pc parts and stuff lol
 

TheSanto321

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Well I tried out an extended test with the tool from Western Digital and got a pass with no errors. Also, my dad said he'll lend me his psu some time this week, not sure which day though. I'll update after I try out his psu.
 

TheSanto321

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Well guys, my problem is finally solved. Yesterday my dad came over and we switched the psu's. I was still getting errors and whatnot. So we decided to switch the motherboards to see what would happen. Once we finished that, I was able to play my games with no issues at all! My dad assumed that it could've been a bad pci-e slot in my motherboard and there wasn't another one to try out. Now all I have to do is buy a new motherboard.
Anyways, thanks for your help, it really helped me!
 
G

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I have exactly the same problem right now :p i tried everything you said and it still happens.I have finally came up to a solution by searching everywhere :D The only thing you can do is to change your Mobo or GPU.Here's how it is:Some GPU chips are not compatible with some Mobo chipsets.The thing is your GPU isn't really compatible with your Mobo,there is still a chance that what i'm saying is wrong so give it a little more search but this is the most likely problem.I recommend you to change your GPU as changing a motherboard will mess more things up. I hope i helped you
 
G

Guest

Guest

I have exactly the same problem right now :p i tried everything you said and it still happens.I have finally came up to a solution by searching everywhere :D The only thing you can do is to change your Mobo or GPU.Here's how it is:Some GPU chips are not compatible with some Mobo chipsets.The thing is your GPU isn't really compatible with your Mobo,there is still a chance that what i'm saying is wrong so give it a little more search but this is the most likely problem.I recommend you to change your GPU as changing a motherboard will mess more things up. I hope i helped you
 
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