Starcraft 2 lockup black screen

[suprattarga]

Alright I am officially out of ideas, I have been playing Starcraft 2 since it came out (about 2 to 4 times a week) about 2 and a half weeks ago my computer locked up (black screen) and had to reset. After testing everything I decided just to build a new computer. So new build is listed below

Anyway the issue I am having is whenever I play a game (anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes) the system locks up displays a black screen and I have to restart the computer, I have no idea what it could be please help.

Side note; not sure if this is an issue but Starcraft 2 does not "recognize my system" so everything is set to medium or low settings (aside from the GPU which defaults to the highest settings).

OCZ agility 3 120 GB- SSD
ASrock Z77 Extreme4 - MOBO
8 GB DDR 3 Patriot Gamer Series 1600 - RAM
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - Processor
Hyper 212 - heat sink
GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 - GPU
Thermaltake 850 watt Modular - PSU
^new build
Tests I've done

8 passes on memory using memtest86
3 passes using furmark
2 passes using intel burnin test
2 passes using furmark and intel burnin test
3 power supplies
Complete new install of windows starcraft and all programs
Power supply tester
Frame cap limit and settings set to medium

I am having the same issues as i did with my old build see below

Gigabyte lga 775 - mobo
Adata SSD 120 GB - SSD
8 GB ram kingston hyper x / swapped with corsair 8 gb - RAM
Thermaltake 850 watt modular - PSU
Zalman heat sink
4870 crossfired with 4890 (asus and XFX) - GPU
Intel core 2 quad 2.8 (if i remember correctly)- Processor
^Old build

 

[suprattarga]

Forgot to mention temperatures never got above 66c running 3 120 mm fans and 120 mm cpu fan

 

[AntiZig]

Starcraft 2 does not "recognize my system" so everything is set to medium or low settings (aside from the GPU which defaults to the highest settings).

I'm confused by this. so lets take it apart:
1. starcraft doesn't recognize your system, this would be the case if you don't have appropriate drivers installed for your hardware
2. everything is set to medium low but gpu set to high, I don't even know how to begin interpreting that. Can you please elaborate? The video game settings are pretty uniform in terms of graphics settings that depend on your hardware, so having different settings except for GPU just sounds like a stupid statement.

Ok, now coming back to solving your issue, have you checked your temps?

when you say you went through 3 PSUs what does that mean? were they all thermaltake or some other manufacturers? if other, which ones then? In general thermaltake is not the best in PSU market. Reason I'm pointing this out is it's the only component that seems to be common between your two builds.

Any other common factors between the two builds that you can think of but failed to mention so far would help too.

 

[suprattarga]

Starcraft 2 does not "recognize my system" so everything is set to medium or low settings (aside from the GPU which defaults to the highest settings).

I'm confused by this. so lets take it apart:
1. starcraft doesn't recognize your system, this would be the case if you don't have appropriate drivers installed for your hardware
2. everything is set to medium low but gpu set to high, I don't even know how to begin interpreting that. Can you please elaborate? The video game settings are pretty uniform in terms of graphics settings that depend on your hardware, so having different settings except for GPU just sounds like a stupid statement.

Ok, now coming back to solving your issue, have you checked your temps?

when you say you went through 3 PSUs what does that mean? were they all thermaltake or some other manufacturers? if other, which ones then? In general thermaltake is not the best in PSU market. Reason I'm pointing this out is it's the only component that seems to be common between your two builds.

Any other common factors between the two builds that you can think of but failed to mention so far would help too.

Me and my brother have built a fair amount of computers and have extra "test" parts. To answer the PSU question I have tested the system using a 550 watt ocz 650 watt Antec and my 850 watt therm, (which is how we ruled out the issue of it being the power supply) also used a power supply tester on it and everything checked out.

1. I ran the mobo disc and installed all the drivers, installed the video card drivers I have a small feeling this has to do with part of the issue i am having.

2. Yes the error reads something along the lines of starcraft was unable to identify your system so everything is displayed as medium or low or off, hovering over each item tells me what part of the computer it relies on, however the two categories that require gpu usage are set to the highest settings by default, strange i know. However when I installed oblivion 4 it detected everything and defaulted to ultra high

Temperatures never get higher than 66c

 

[AntiZig]

well, lastly then is anything overclocked? undo the overclock if it is.

if not, then your hardware is fine and your drivers are fine; you've eliminated the possibility of game install corruption when you reinstalled windows so that's out. I've got no more ideas

 

[suprattarga]

Just tried another power supply same issue made it to about 10 minutes / starting to think it has more and more to do with starcraft ("not detecting" my equipment) any thoughts on how to fix this?

 

[suprattarga]

well, lastly then is anything overclocked? undo the overclock if it is.

if not, then your hardware is fine and your drivers are fine; you've eliminated the possibility of game install corruption when you reinstalled windows so that's out. I've got no more ideas

Nothing is overclocked, made another strange development, starcraft seems to work fine as long as i'm not playing a party game. If you guys think of anything let me know I am out of ideas but appreciate the help.

 

[AntiZig]

party game as in online? check the drivers for your network card and the cable. Also check whether SC2 needs runtime libraries (virtual c++ RTL, java, .net framework, etc) and update those.

 

[suprattarga]

Yes but only in private party games, I recently swapped out the cable and port on the network, (haven't had a chance to test it just yet, I will today) I'll have to look into the other choices.

 

[suprattarga]

update game works fine using onboard video crashes using video card 7850 swapped it out for a new one today still having issue thoughts ideas?

 

[markymark6]

Im having the same problem.

All new system,
Same GPU - Gigabyte HD7850 OC
Same processor - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
G-skill Sniper 8Gb ram
Asus P8Z77-V-Pro MB
Corsair TX750 PSU
Corsair Force Series 3 120Gb SSD

I have tried everything. No overclocks. Doing another burn in of the gpu now, 45 min @ 64 degrees C. Seems fine. But still random crashes in starcraft 2. Either black screen or grey screen with lines. Underclocked the card and it didn't help. The only thing that helps is increasing fan speed to 100% but even then it still dies after an hour of playing.
Tested the thermal cutout of the card, decreased fan speed and did a burn test. Got up to 75 degrees C fine. It doesn't get above 64 playing starcraft but still crashes.
Was going to take the card back but don't know how to prove it unless they play starcraft to test it.
Diablo 3 plays fine on max settings.
My system should play the game fine, I don't know whats wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[markymark6]

Also used on board graphics and it worked without problems.
I have a Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 case so everything else is cool. MB runs at about 22 degrees C and CPU doesn't get over 35 degrees C with a Kuhler H20 620.
I have re-installed the drivers, memory checks, SSD check, Starcraft 2 - repair run... im out of ideas.
Could it be the card not compatible with starcraft?

 

[AntiZig]

I'm going to fancy a guess and say it's a driver problem

 

[suprattarga]

Also used on board graphics and it worked without problems.
I have a Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 case so everything else is cool. MB runs at about 22 degrees C and CPU doesn't get over 35 degrees C with a Kuhler H20 620.
I have re-installed the drivers, memory checks, SSD check, Starcraft 2 - repair run... im out of ideas.
Could it be the card not compatible with starcraft?

Under the graphic setting for your computer does it register the hardware / what are your suggested play settings?
"We are unable to determine optimum graphics settings. Please adjust settings manually"


Think thats next on my list, started playing oblivion again and it is still crashing /getting hung up. I am swapping out video cards today with (a known good card) 4870 or so i think, I will let you know if it helps, also ATI/AMD have a "BETA" driver download available that is suppose to fix the games, didn't work for mine however, past that I'm thinking AntiZig is on to something going to go back remove drivers and utilities heard that virtu mvp sometimes can cause issues so i am going to try to remove that, (prob won't get around to it until later this week) I'll let you guys know what i find out

 

[markymark6]

At the moment it is suggesting i play on medium settings, which is crap. I has told me "We are unable to determine optimum graphics settings. Please adjust settings manually" a few times though. I have tried all different settings and it still crashes.

I just re-flashed the bios from here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=21968212
I also updated catalyst to version 12.6
I just did another burn in test and it was ok. Going to try and play for a bit now and see how it goes.
I think this might be the problem though:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/737-27116RadeonSeries-ATIKMDAGhasstoppedrespondingerrormessages.aspx
It tried to crash one time and i went back to windows just before it froze and saw this msg “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered”, it obviously doesn't recover though.
I've done everything it says to fix it though.
Im gonna see if it happens again tonight and if it does i'll take it to the shop where i purchased all the parts from. Its all only 5 days old.

 

[markymark6]

So just played for a while. Put it on extreme settings and 10 min in it crashed, im still getting between 80 and 140 FPS too. Right after i burned it in for 30 min without any issues again.
I dropped it down high settings and it worked for 2 games without a problem, the GPU sits at about 60-80% usage. I also put the fan up to 100%.
I think its a driver/TDR issue. The driver and windows are not compatible at the moment.
Emailed gigabyte about. I'll keep you updated

 

[suprattarga]

I'm going to fancy a guess and say it's a driver problem

Alright I am 98% sure this issue is figured out. Let my brother fiddle with it (more of a tech head than I am). There where some old remaining drivers left, updated the bios and rearranged some settings. I will see if he can write up alittle more detailed issue about this.

He let it run (SC2) over night (about 5 hours or so) says it made it through fine, (there was a error on the score screen, but we think that just be due to how long the game was). Which is good we are suppose to play some tonight I will return with a update about what happens (normally play 2 games with 4 ~ 6 people so it'll be a good final test). If I am still having issues may just swap it out for a GTX570 or GTX560ti. Either way I'll let you guys know. Thanks again.

 

[suprattarga]

No luck still crashes out of starcraft, ran with on board worked perfectly, so my solution will be taking it back and getting an nividia I have officially given up on ati/amd fixing this

 

[markymark6]

I'm taking my system into the shop where i got the parts this afternoon. What replacement card will you get for around the same price?

 

[markymark6]

Took my computer into the computer shop for them to take a look at it. Don't know if they will replace it if its just a driver issue. Sucks spending 1500 on a computer that won't play the game i want. Haven't heard anything from gigabyte yet. Not sure what other card to get if they say i can swap. Nvidia seems to have much less driver issues so i might get at 570 or 560 ti.

 

[suprattarga]

yea thats exactly what I'm going to get, hoping the micro center by me has the MSI Twin Frozr the more i look into the 78XX series by amd/ati the more I'm seeing driver issues I'll let you know how it works out

 

[suprattarga]

I'm going to fancy a guess and say it's a driver problem

That's what it was threw in the GTX560ti runs like a dream easy install played 5+ games with no crashing my system is back to 100%. Thanks to everyone who commented, was surprised I've always had good luck with amd/ati cards until this time now I'm an Nvidia fan.

 

[suprattarga]

Best answer selected by suprattarga.

 

[markymark6]

Just got my computer back and they said it was a faulty card. The guy that tested it wasn't there so i don't know what was wrong. Got a replacement card and just played starcraft 2 for an hour max setting without a crash. Hopefully its all good now.
Thank you all for the help

 

[suprattarga]

Just got my computer back and they said it was a faulty card. The guy that tested it wasn't there so i don't know what was wrong. Got a replacement card and just played starcraft 2 for an hour max setting without a crash. Hopefully its all good now.
Thank you all for the help

Be sure to run it for 2 hours (against a computer) tech everything up and cap up. I thought I had mine fixed did a 2-3 hour game (very big map) and it crashed out.