Upgraded to a Gigabyte 9800GT, games freeze to black screen.

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

I got a 9800GT from Newegg recently and whenever I play a video game(L4D, Arma 2, TF2, Ghostbusters, CSS,etc) the game will freeze around 30-40 minutes and just display a black screen. I can not alt-tab or ctrl-alt-del and I have to do a HARD reboot by pressing the reboot button on the computer. I already tried uninstalling old drivers, installing new drivers, making sure the 6-pin connector is in the card. Can anyone help me solve this problem? 🙁

My specs are:
Intel Q6600
GIgabyte 9800GT
Windows XP 32-bit
4 GB of ram(well 3.5GB since I am using 32-bit Windows XP)
700W OCZ StealthXstream

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

Argy its a Galaxy 9800gt NOT a Gigabyte 9800gt. Also my Motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. Could a BIOS update fix my problem?

 

[gkay09]

One of the reasons can be that some component is getting overheated...Just check the temps of the CPU and the graphics card...

 

[hundredislandsboy]

USe GPU-Z and also Real Temp which will record your temps as you play games ans when the crashes occur, you can go back to see if there are hear issues.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

The temperature is fine. Just around 70C on load.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

USe GPU-Z and also Real Temp which will record your temps as you play games ans when the crashes occur, you can go back to see if there are hear issues.

I can not as when I am playing when it goes to a black screen the whole computer is frozen and I have to press the reboot button. My temperature is fine though when playing when it does not freeze.

 

[swifty_morgan]

And when you're rebooting you hit the del key to enter the bios where you can see the mother board and processor temps. .... pc health status....

and it's almost surely got to be a heat issue. Try pulling the side off the case before you start to play.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

I can not as when I am playing when it goes to a black screen the whole computer is frozen and I have to press the reboot button. My temperature is fine though when playing when it does not freeze.

You're telling me the temps as you read them after a crash. GPU temps cool off fast as soon as they come off full load. For example, they can drop from 84 to 74 within a second. Those temp monitors create a log file in the folder. You can set them to record the temps every 5 seconds. Even after a crash, you can read the file and see what the temps were. I still think your issues are heat related.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

btw, do you manually set the GPU fan prior to 3D gaming?

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

My fan is always on 100% actually.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Then, move on to the CPU and PSU which can both overheat and cause you crashes. Your PSU, if it's new, probably isn't the culprit.
Is your Q6600 running at stock speed? If not, what CPU cooler are you using?

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

I am using a ZALMAN 9500A Cooler.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

This is my error report after I go back to the desktop from rebooting.
Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078)

 

[swifty_morgan]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078

First thing I would do is uninstall the video driver from the control panel. Then I would go back a couple of driver versions and try again.
I recently had trouble with nvidias newest driver that was also windows 7 capable. I reverted back a driver and now no longer have the problem.

( if there is more than one thing under the nvidia drivers, only uninstall the driver for the video card. And while you're in the control panel remove the physics driver too. It will reinstall with the older driver. )

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078

First thing I would do is uninstall the video driver from the control panel. Then I would go back a couple of driver versions and try again.
I recently had trouble with nvidias newest driver that was also windows 7 capable. I reverted back a driver and now no longer have the problem.

( if there is more than one thing under the nvidia drivers, only uninstall the driver for the video card. And while you're in the control panel remove the physics driver too. It will reinstall with the older driver. )

Already tried it, the black screen of death still happens.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Does your system pass Prime95 overnight test or at least a few hours?

 

[swifty_morgan]

Excessive heat comes to mind. So does a bad processor. Did you try removing, cleaning and reapplying thermal paste and reinstalling the heat sink ? Did you try running with the side off ?

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

Excessive heat comes to mind. So does a bad processor. Did you try removing, cleaning and reapplying thermal paste and reinstalling the heat sink ? Did you try running with the side off ?

The CPU is actualy running very cool. 40C on idle and only about 60C on load.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

Does your system pass Prime95 overnight test or at least a few hours?

Yep it passes it 11-0.

 

[Mousemonkey]

When you uninstall the driver do you go through the system32 folder and delete nvidia's .dll files or do you rely on a sweeper program?

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Are you overclocking anything? If so, stop overclocking, play the games and see if the problem goes away. If you aren't overclocking the CPU, RAM, or GPU, then we can rule out instability from overclocking.

How old is your PSU? Too much dust caked inside can cause it to overheat and cut out.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

Are you overclocking anything? If so, stop overclocking, play the games and see if the problem goes away. If you aren't overclocking the CPU, RAM, or GPU, then we can rule out instability from overclocking.

How old is your PSU? Too much dust caked inside can cause it to overheat and cut out.

I am not overclocking. My PSU is about a year old.

 

[swifty_morgan]

And what happens when you put the old card back in ?

EDIT: have you tried removing the heat sink off the video card and seeing what's underneath ? And while you pull it off try replacing what's there with an after market thermal paste..... ? I had 1 or 2 video cards that had nearly nothing on them. Also, a thin or non existent thermal pad on the memory modules could be causing you a problem.

 

[Chunk3ym0nk3y]

And what happens when you put the old card back in ?

EDIT: have you tried removing the heat sink off the video card and seeing what's underneath ? And while you pull it off try replacing what's there with an after market thermal paste..... ? I had 1 or 2 video cards that had nearly nothing on them. Also, a thin or non existent thermal pad on the memory modules could be causing you a problem.

Bah just forget it I switched back to my 8800GT.