BSoD while gaming, but fine while doing anything else!

Hello Seveners - I am posting this on behalf of a friend, so hopefully you can help him out! :).

My friend has been dealing with a problem now since the middle of March. His system gets a BSoD when he games. It doesn't happen directly (on idle, browsing, etc.), but when he runs most GPU-intensive games, he BSoDs.

The SYS files that supposedly have caused the BSoD are:

atikmpag.sys <----- Most commonly
dxgkrnl.sys <----- What shows up upon reviewing the DMP file.



Current steps taken:

*Searched the forums for a solution. There are many attemptable resolutions, which I have tried and failed.

*We've tried to remove the drivers and install the latest update to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2.

*We have tried to reinstall the OS. He is currently running (a legitimate copy of) Windows 7 Ultimate (64x)

*We have opened up my computer and removed all the dust from the motherboard, graphic card and CPU.

*Updated all other drivers for other devices.

System Specs:

OS:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit

CPU:
AMD FX-6100 (6 core 3.9 GHz @ Turbo).

Motherboard:
ASUSTek M5A97 EVO R2.0 (Socket 942).

RAM:
8GB of DDR3 running at 722 (Overclocked to 1444) MHz (Corsair MX3).

Graphics Card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2

If you could give us a hand, that would be great! The DMP is in the ZIP file attached.

From what I can see in the dump file I am more inclined towards a GPU failure rather than a display driver failure.

Stress test your graphics card with Furmark

I recommend running it for around 30 minutes

   Warning

Furmark will increase the temperature of your GPU rapidly so keep and eye on your temperatures

Post back the results.

Code:

BugCheck 116, {fffffa80077662b0, fffff88002d16efc, 0, 2}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmpag.sys ( atikmpag+8efc)

The 3rd parameter shows the type of error code for the last failed operation.
As you can see the 3rd parameter is null.

Code:

5: kd> !error 0
Error code: (Win32) 0 (0) - The operation completed successfully.

I can't see it being flagged in the raw stack and no suspicious functions, or not from what I can see.

So from what I can see here the display driver isn't doing anything it shouldn't, only reporting that the graphics card isn't responding.

So yes I believe stress testing the GPU is the way forward.

Thedoctor44 said:

From what I can see in the dump file I am more inclined towards a GPU failure rather than a display driver failure.

Stress test your graphics card with Furmark

I recommend running it for around 30 minutes

   Warning

Furmark will increase the temperature of your GPU rapidly so keep and eye on your temperatures

Post back the results.

Code:

BugCheck 116, {fffffa80077662b0, fffff88002d16efc, 0, 2}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmpag.sys ( atikmpag+8efc)

The 3rd parameter shows the type of error code for the last failed operation.
As you can see the 3rd parameter is null.

Code:

5: kd> !error 0
Error code: (Win32) 0 (0) - The operation completed successfully.

I can't see it being flagged in the raw stack and no suspicious functions, or not from what I can see.

So from what I can see here the display driver isn't doing anything it shouldn't, only reporting that the graphics card isn't responding.

So yes I believe stress testing the GPU is the way forward.

Cheers, Doc!

I will do this ASAP and give you the results once it's done. No idea how long it will be, as I am waiting on my friend to respond, but hopefully it won't be too long :)

No problem :)

Once you reply we'll go from there depending on the outcome.

Doc, it will not even run Furmark for 5 seconds. Upon trying to use it (as I am accustomed to Furmark) it BSoD'ed again. I think anything GPU intensive is likely to BSoD it again...

Extremely strong indication to a faulty GPU.
Does he have another graphics card he can use?

Thedoctor44 said:

Extremely strong indication to a faulty GPU.
Does he have another graphics card he can use?

Sorry about the late reply. After diagnostics, we have determined it is the GPU on its way out. It's had a good run! Thanks :).

It sounded like the GPU.

Anymore issues let me know :)