Troubleshooting for constant crashes

[dennis23]

I went overseas for a while and when I came back, I reformatted my PC and upgraded it to Windows 10. However, after doing so, my PC constant crashed. Screens would just turn black, sound would stutter and I'd have to do a hard reset. There were no BSOD. This happened randomly regardless of which programs I was running, though I found that there were more occurrences when I'm on Youtube.

I decided to revert to Windows 7 but the issues are still happening. So I figured this must be a hardware issue (probably coz I didn't use the PC for like 6 months). I'm not too sure how to test things like GPU, CPU and Hdd. My full specs are as follow

Core i7 5960x
Asus X99-A
4 x 8gb RipjawsX F4-2400
Samsung 850 Evo 250GB
WD Green Caviar 2TB
WD Green Caviar 3TB
Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM
Gigabyte GTX1080
3 x Dell U2414H
Corsair RM850

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kracie17]

I went overseas for a while and when I came back, I reformatted my PC and upgraded it to Windows 10. However, after doing so, my PC constant crashed. Screens would just turn black, sound would stutter and I'd have to do a hard reset. There were no BSOD. This happened randomly regardless of which programs I was running, though I found that there were more occurrences when I'm on Youtube.

I decided to revert to Windows 7 but the issues are still happening. So I figured this must be a hardware issue (probably coz I didn't use the PC for like 6 months). I'm not too sure how to test things like GPU, CPU and Hdd. My full specs are as follow

Core i7 5960x
Asus X99-A
4 x 8gb RipjawsX F4-2400
Samsung 850 Evo 250GB
WD Green Caviar 2TB
WD Green Caviar 3TB
Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM
Gigabyte GTX1080
3 x Dell U2414H
Corsair RM850

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You might want to try removing all your other drives and only the OS remains connected. Also try resitting the ram. Hope this helps if not further diagnosing is needed..

 

[Kusanagi]

no magic formula for such issues

just need to troubleshoot the hell out of it

suggest you maintain a spreadsheet to keep track of what you’ve done

judging from your description though, i’d try a different PSU first to see if it fixes the issue

 

[addats]

unconnect everything, vacuum all the parts and install again. Like others suggest, put minimum parts first. 1 piece ram, 1 harddisk and use the on baord VGA

 

[Phen8210]

go download Aida64, run ram n cpu test..

hd tune for testing storage devices

gpu can run those benchmark kind.. plenty out there.

 

[Morugana]

I wonder if Pc never use for a long period of time will spoil eventually?

 

[tungsten2]

-Do memtest at least 1/2hr
-Run hdtune full error scan
-Download nirsoft BlueScreenView
-check event viewer , under System, filter errors only

Sent from 当断不断, 害人害己 using GAGT

 

[dennis23]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions everyone! So yesterday, I removed all of my HDD except OS but still got crashes. Previously I tried installing 2 older versions of Nvidia drivers but still got crashes but yesterday, I tried with a driver from Oct 2017 and surprisingly, the PC has not crashed. Even with all the HDDs reconnected, still no crashes. I'll run all the stress tests that you've suggested and see if I can get it to crash. I'll update again

 

[dennis23]

Okay, so an update. I've found out the following:

1) RAM and CPU are okay. I've run Memtest64 for 2 hours plus and no errors. There are no indications that the CPU has any error
2) The HDDs are okay as removing them do not affect the crashes
3) After installing the old driver from Oct 2017, the PC is no longer crashing. However, the screens are still turning off randomly and showing the error message "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version xxx.xx stopped responding and has successfully recovered". Sometimes the screens do not turn back on but I can tell that it did not crash as any sound would continue to be played, no issue.
4) Looking at the Event Viewer, the issues are clearly with the display driver. Here is a screenshot.

I will switch the OS driver for a spare driver that I have and install windows there. I can't test with onboard graphics because X99 chipset does not have onboard graphics. I'm still looking for a spare GPU to troubleshoot my current one. In the mean time, if you have any advice, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

[dennis23]

Here are the things that I've done so far:

1) Installed OS on a spare HDD and removed all other HDDs. Issue still occurred
2) Tried my GPU on a different PC. No issue there
3) Tried another GPU on my PC, also no issue

 

[Koenig168]

You can try installing Windows 1709 on the spare HDD and test. Remember to disconnect the LAN cable as you do not want Windows to update.

http://windowsiso.net/windows-10-iso/windows-10-creators-update-1709-download-build-16299-15/

 

[hlots123]

if u running monitoring s/w eg asus or corsair link, try uninstalling to test...

 

[Phen8210]

hmmm.......

 

[Phen8210]

try other gpu on your pc

 

[dennis23]

You can try installing Windows 1709 on the spare HDD and test. Remember to disconnect the LAN cable as you do not want Windows to update.

http://windowsiso.net/windows-10-iso/windows-10-creators-update-1709-download-build-16299-15/

I actually tried with Windows 7 which I know to be stable. It still had issue.

try other gpu on your pc

I did this and actually didn't have any issue.


Anyway, thanks everyone for your replies. Here's an update of the issue and hopefully it can help others with similar problem.

After removing HDDs, running Memtest64, running 3DMark tests and installing Windows 7 on a spare drive, I was still having the crashes.

I installed my GPU into another PC and surprisingly, there was no error. I ran 3DMark tests, also no error. (Previously, on my PC, I couldn't get past the 2nd stage of the test as the graphics driver would crash). Then I borrowed another GPU to install in my rig and also no error. Tried 3DMark, no error.

So then I reinstalled my GPU into my rig, with all the components, and so far, there has been no error at all. I've been playing game, running benchmarks, watching videos...etc No error whatsoever, even in the event viewer. What I am suspecting is that the error could have been due to an improper placement of the GPU onto the MB. Taking out the GPU and putting it back in must have solved that.

 

[Phen8210]

GPU fitting can be quite sensitive. Never screw the card in while its sagging. Best way is to lay the case flat for inexperienced builders.

 

[rezanilofer]

Good job. Seems like your driver got corrupted during the upgrade to windows 10. When you removed and switched the GPU, you deleted the corrupted driver in the process. And when you installed the old GPU again, it works perfectly.

Or at least that is my assessment of the situation. Thanks for the scenario.