Some games crash & go to black screen, have to turn off computer

[Iggy]

Hi, I'm at the end of my rope here, so hoping someone might be able to help or has had similar issues.

Since yesterday, I've been getting crashes in several games (Company of Heroes 2, The Witness, Subnautica - I'm assuming others will be affected as well). Crashes occur after between 2 and 20 minutes of playtime, sometimes I can make it through several matches of CoH without any problems. What happens is I get a short sound bug (1-2 seconds) and the screen just goes black. The monitor gives me a "no connection" error message and there's nothing I can do. I can still talk to people on TeamSpeak, but have to turn off the computer eventually, as Ctrl+Alt+Del, Alt+F4 etc. do not do anything.

Here's a few things I have looked into:
- CPU/GPU temperatures are good
- game cache(s) verified, OK
- drivers are/were up to date
- last Windows 10 update was a while ago, problems only since yesterday
- re-installed graphics drivers
- turned off Windows Defender (someone had a similar issue where that helped)

My specs:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3 @ 3.30GHz Haswell-WS 22nm Technology
12.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz
ASRock B85 Pro4 (CPUSocket)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Palit Microsystems)
111GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 120GB (SSD)
1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20EURS-73TLHY0 (SATA)
PIONEER BD-RW BDR-208D

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, and thank you!

[The Giving One]

İlk olarak Iggy tarafından gönderildi:

Update: screen will now go black 1-2 seconds after boot, cannot do anything at all. Ordered a fresh CMOS battery as well, a friend reported having solved a similar problem by exchanging it.

This new symptom that you mentioned is quite a bit different than what we started with . Black screen and crashing in safe mode is surely a different problem and probably not a PSU issue, although it is still posssible of course.

The CMOS battery suggestion is not a bad idea, actually, as I have seen that in other cases as well. There was a thread in hardware and OS about this, and the CMOS battery seemed to be the fix for some.

I will try to find that thread and edit my post here, and add the link.

EDIT...Found it....I highly suggest you read this thread carefully.....

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/618460171318429760/

At one time, I was sure this would only prevent saving custom settings in BIOS, but apparently, I was wrong, according to that thread.

It seems that if improper settings are defaulted to due to a weak or dead CMOS batter, this can in fact cause boot issues. Especially since you said you had issues in safe mode.

But what troubles me with this theory, is that this all started with you being able to boot fine and even launch and play games for some time.

But again, the issues seem to have progressed into something more serious....and a battery that is slowly going dead would possibly explain this. It is logical.

[RobNO]

I also have 3/4 of my games crashing! What is going on?

[Iggy]

Update: have installed both a new CMOS battery and a Corsair CX750 PSU, both to no avail. The symptoms have worsened to a point where the monitor will no longer detect a signal even for a second, the computer sometimes switches off right after turning it on, sometimes it keeps going until I shut it down manually. GPU does not seem to be at fault as I get same results by connecting monitor to MoBo. Will exchange other hardware to see if I get results, starting with MoBo and CPU.

[Big †.Lacr Δ'不.]

Hola.

[Iggy]

Tried to turn on the PC again a few minutes ago as someone in the CMOS battery thread mentioned leaving the PC alone for a while with a fresh battery on the Mobo, then turning it back on. Mine came back on for 3-4 minutes, booting to Windows from the SSD, then not recognizing my HDD. Screen went black again.

Used the Mobo's jumper cap to clear CMOS, PC won't boot at all. Turns on, shuts down, restarts by itself, then I have to shut it down manually. Fresh Mobo compatible with CPU and RAM arriving tomorrow.

[The Giving One]

İlk olarak Iggy tarafından gönderildi:

Tried to turn on the PC again a few minutes ago as someone in the CMOS battery thread mentioned leaving the PC alone for a while with a fresh battery on the Mobo, then turning it back on. Mine came back on for 3-4 minutes, booting to Windows from the SSD, then not recognizing my HDD. Screen went black again.

Used the Mobo's jumper cap to clear CMOS, PC won't boot at all. Turns on, shuts down, restarts by itself, then I have to shut it down manually. Fresh Mobo compatible with CPU and RAM arriving tomorrow.

Thanks for the updates here and it really does sound as if you have had much more serious issues all along. The board could indeed be done.

If you want to further troubleshoot it, I would suggest a bench boot.

Take everything out of the case...everything. Place the board on a wooden surface such as a desk or other. Antistatic protection is recommended.

Then remove all hardware from the board except the CPU, CPU cooler, CPU fan, and 1 Stick of RAM in the primary slot/channel. Plug the PSU into the board as you normally would being sure to have all connections secure for that PSU.

Then, take a small screwdriver (be carefull) and jump the two pins that are for the power on button. The board should POST (power on self test)

If no, that suggest you do in fact have much more serious issues
(RAM, CPU, or motherboard) , although at this point, it seems you have almost replaced much of the hardware anyway.

"How to bench boot a motherboard"

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+bench+boot+a+motherboard+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[Iggy]

İlk olarak The Giving One tarafından gönderildi:

If no, that suggest you do in fact have much more serious issues
(RAM, CPU, or motherboard) , although at this point, it seems you have almost replaces much of the hardware anyway.

Yes, I thought it would pretty much have been narrowed down to these three, although I have already tested each of the 3 sticks of RAM individually by removing the other 2 - with no changes. At this point, I'm more or less assuming that it's the CPU or motherboard. If the board that arrives tomorrow doesn't work in the bench test for at least a few minutes straight, I think I might just get a CPU/Mobo/RAM upgrade and keep the new PSU as well to support a new GPU in 1-2 years' time.

Anyway, thanks for your continued support, will keep you posted!

[Iggy]

Bench test of new motherboard: Tried with and without GPU, tried all 3 RAM sticks and sometimes reset CMOS in between attempts, as one blog entry suggested this for RAM troubleshooting. Never got a signal from the monitor. Have confirmed that monitor and cables work fine.

Once or twice, I encountered the same issue as before where everything would shut down after a few seconds, then turn back on again. This leads me to believe that the CPU is dead. As far as I can tell, everything else should have been ruled out. Made the jump to DDR4 and ordered i5-7500 + MSI Intel B85M and 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM. Will keep 750W PSU as well to support future GPU upgrade.

Will post update once everything has arrived and I've had a chance to test everything.

[Iggy]

This is infuriating. I am now able to start up the PC properly, but only if I connect either HDMI or DVI to Mobo. Apparently, it was the GPU that was slowly dying, although at this point, I feel I am completely unable to say anything with certainty. What's weird is that HDMI/DVI to Mobo did NOT work while bench testing the old Mobo/CPU/RAM. So I think there might actually be more than one broken component. Am going to try bench testing the old components later just to be absolutely sure.

[The Giving One]

Wow, at thist point, it seems like you had a power surge there or something that maybe damaged multiple components or possibly heat damage over time with the other system ?

Are you using antistatic protection with these new components ?

Sorry for all your troubless there, indeed. And for any misleading I may have caused you here.

[Iggy]

Well, you couldn't have known how extensive the damage was going to be, I'm very grateful that you're even taking the time to offer me so much advice. I've bench tested the old board again, and can confirm that the monitor does not receive a signal. The same goes for the first replacement board, so the CPU will likely be the problem here, as I've read that even faulty or no RAM should not result in the mainboard failing to POST.

As for the new configuration, as soon as the GPU is introduced, it fails to boot properly or the screen receives no signal. The fans and lights on the GPU are working and the last few recorded temperatures were always around the 30 °C mark, so I guess it was only logical to not immediately suspect it.

[Iggy]

İlk olarak The Giving One tarafından gönderildi:

Are you using antistatic protection with these new components ?

Generally just touch the metal case before touching any of the hardware. From what I've read so far, it should be pretty unlikely that you damage your hardware with static electricity. Then again, if this mess has taught me anything, it's to keep an open mind about these things.

[Iggy]

So hey, you what's funny? I just remembered that the Xeon doesn't come with Intel HD graphics, so naturally I would never have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ a signal on my monitor... GPU is dead, that's it. Rest works fine. Am going to return all the stuff I bought in a few days once I'm sure everything works ok. Might even try the oven trick with the broken GPU because what have I got to lose. Anyway, thanks for all your help & suggestions and sorry for not realizing this earlier, might have saved you some trouble there.

[The Giving One]

İlk olarak Iggy tarafından gönderildi:

So hey, you what's funny? I just remembered that the Xeon doesn't come with Intel HD graphics, so naturally I would never have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ a signal on my monitor... GPU is dead, that's it. Rest works fine. Am going to return all the stuff I bought in a few days once I'm sure everything works ok. Might even try the oven trick with the broken GPU because what have I got to lose. Anyway, thanks for all your help & suggestions and sorry for not realizing this earlier, might have saved you some trouble there.

Very kind of you to follow suggestions from the community and keep reporting back on what you have done. It is really appreciated, and you deserve much credit for all that.

I have actually done the oven trick on an old ATI 4870 X 2 and it did in fact work. There is a bit of danger involved due to solder being heated up and giving off toxic fumes, so keep that in mind if you are unaware. In my case, the oven trick only lasted for a few months before the GPU died again, but it did fix my problem for a while.

Just don't tell your wife or parents or anyone else in the house you used the oven where they bake their favorite foods. LOL

Thanks again, and we hope to always help in the community when you have issues such as this.

[Iggy]

So I read a few other board posts/blogs, it seems most people have problems again shortly after baking their GPU. I just listed mine on eBay and kept the new one, seeing as even a faulty GPU still fetches a decent price. And I have to admit, the fume thing put me off the idea a bit as well. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help!