Win 7 Crash on Startup (Graphics card problem?)

JoePurple · 26 Jan 2012

Hey,

Just a quick update. I went out and got some thermal paste and thermal cleaner and a couple of compressed air cans and gave my GPU and CPU a VERY thorough clean, took them to pieces, reattached heatsinks, etc. The PC worked OK for a few mins. again, and then crashed! I then decided it might be worth trying to underclock my PC, and using Rivatuner, I have now got it working again, to an extent.

Firstly, I notched both Mem. and Video frequencies down 100mhz, this worked for about 10 mins. until I tested the settings with a video and then it crashed. I then took them down another 100mhz each and tried a low intensity game, again, kept crashing. I have now taken both settings down several hundred mhz, (to about 100mhz over the lowest limit) and touchwood, my system seems a lot more stable now. I can play my game in 'low' graphics mode and films run OK.

SO, my question now, is what does this mean for my graphics card? Does having to underclock it to make it work mean it's on the way out etc please? My temps seem fine and I'm guessing a full Windows reinstall won't help so I guess my card is just randomly failing and on it's way out. It still seems very odd though that it works fine in other resolutions, (and now when underclocked). Is there an explanation for this? Many thanks for your help writhziden, if I get time I'll try and make my PC crash and get a log with HWINFO and post it tomorrow too. Just in case there's a way to get my graphics card working properly again. :)

profdlp · 26 Jan 2012

It may not tell you anything you don't already know, but this might be worth checking out:

NVIDIA/AMD Video Card - Test with OCCT

JoePurple · 27 Jan 2012

Hi, thanks for that tip profdlp. I hadn't actuallly heard of that programme, but I have now run it and attached the dump files. As far as I can make out, in the first min. of the test, my GPU temps jumped from 65 at idle to 85 in seconds and then kept climbing. It's always been OK before and I've got adequeate cooling in my case, so again, is that a sign my GPU is on it's way out?

I don't know if this is an error, but I also noticed that OCCT claimed that Rivatuner had underclocked my CPU, not my GPU?? I'm sure I set it to GPU though, so perhaps that's a bug? If it's not a bug, is it possible that my CPU is the issue? Many thanks for anyone who can help me decipher the graphs.

PS I stopped the test after 2 mins. to avoid my PC crashing again, but it had already claimed there had been something like 1100 errors! I hope that's OK. Also, would it be worth upping my fan speed to try to keep temps. lower?

writhziden · 27 Jan 2012

Did you get a new crash since the last one you uploaded? If so, it may help to have a look and see if it yields any new information.

JoePurple · 27 Jan 2012

Hi writhziden,

I have had loads of crashes since the last one I uploaded, always because I was trying to run my computer at normal settings. I have now given up and just use my GPU underclocked by about 30%, this seems to keep the system stable. I'm probably going to order a HD6850 from Amazon tomorrow. I've also run all the tests profdlp recommended and I'm including all the graph files that resulted. The CPU tests ran without error, and so did the GPU Memtest, however the GPU: OCCT test crashed my PC inside of a min. and so did the Power Supply test. I don't know how to interpret those results, but I'm guessing since only parts of my GPU are working properly now, it's basically worn out. If anyone else has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. Many thanks to all who have posted. :)

JoePurple · 27 Jan 2012

Hi all,

I've just been using my PC for the last few hours playing a very low graphics intensive game. It worked fine, so eventually I put the settings on Rivatuner back to defaults, and went back to the game, and sure enough it crashed again, in the usual way. I ran that BSOD programme recommended in the sticky and have zipped all the files that came with it in the hopes that writhziden can make sense of them again please. Again, I couldn't convert it into a HTML file because when I opened 'performance monitor report' it said something like 'programme was unable to load' and listed about 8 things, and when I got past that there weren't any reports available again, as far as I could see.

Anyway, hopefully this dump report will confirm what the problem is. Many thanks again for the help. :)

writhziden · 27 Jan 2012

Code:

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [K:\BSODDmpFiles\JoePurple\Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2\012612-26223-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (4 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 7600.16841.amd64fre.win7_gdr.110622-1503
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`02009000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`02246e70
Debug session time: Thu Jan 26 02:58:09.192 2012 (GMT-7)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:40.284
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
.....................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
....
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa8004cd7028, f2000040, 800}

Probably caused by : hardware

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (124)
A fatal hardware error has occurred. Parameter 1 identifies the type of error
source that reported the error. Parameter 2 holds the address of the
WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure that describes the error conditon.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000000, Machine Check Exception
Arg2: fffffa8004cd7028, Address of the WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure.
Arg3: 00000000f2000040, High order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.
Arg4: 0000000000000800, Low order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.

Debugging Details:
------------------


BUGCHECK_STR:  0x124_GenuineIntel

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  f

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff800`01f46a98 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: hardware

IMAGE_NAME:  hardware

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  0

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_BUS

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_BUS

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

You have now had a 0x116 and a 0x124. This means you are having hardware problems, and they may very well be due to the graphics card or the motherboard slot that the graphics card uses. I forgot to mention they could also be due to the PSU. Thanks for pointing that out, profdlp. For more information on 0x124, further reading: Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try

After going through the steps in that thread, if you continue to have instability running Windows, use HWINFO and track your temperatures during the following tests.

Use FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net to test the graphics card GPU. Then use the |MG| Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116 Download to test your graphics card memory.
Run Hardware - Stress Test With Prime95 to determine any hardware problems. Run all three tests for a few hours each. If you get errors, stop the test and post back here.

profdlp · 27 Jan 2012

If I were in your shoes I would try the following:

1) Mess around with different drivers. Lots of video card troubles are magically cured by finding the right driver - even if it's an older version. Even if it doesn't work it costs nothing to try.

2) Your PSU might be letting you down. Do you have a spare computer (or a really accommodating friend with a good computer) to pop the card into? Lots of freezing/rebooting/BSOD problems are magically cured by getting a better PSU. ("Better" meaning either more powerful than what you currently have, or more stable than what you currently have.)

3) Sounds goofy, but have you actually seen the video card's fan ramp up in speed when the card is under load? The fan on my video card is only running around 20% of full capacity right now, as I am just on the Internet. When I put a serious load on it I can actually hear the sucker speeding up - and I am half deaf.

I'm not an expert, but when you mentioned the "1100 errors" business it makes me think that either the card is defective, or something else (video driver, cooling, or the power supply) is keeping it from working right. If I knew the fan on the card was working like it should and it did the same thing in another computer which didn't have similar video problems and also had a good PSU then I would have to conclude that it was the card itself. What I would be careful of is ordering a new card, then finding out that my problems were due to one of the other problems listed above. This would be especially bad if it was a failing PSU since you'd then have to spend even more money on top of what the new card cost you. :)

EDIT: writhziden makes a good point about the motherboard being a potential source of the problem, too. :)

profdlp · 27 Jan 2012

writhziden said:

...I forgot to mention they could also be due to the PSU. Thanks for pointing that out, profdlp....

EDIT: writhziden makes a good point about the motherboard being a potential source of the problem, too. :)

Two heads are better than one. My edit was to reflect your catching the motherboard as a potential culprit. Between the two of us I think we got it covered.

JoePurple · 02 Feb 2012

Hi guys,

Just wanted to finish my thread and let you know that I ordered a new HD 6850 and my PC now works again. I figured that given my PC was working fine before and my GPU worked still when underclocked that it was on its way out, and I guess it was. My system's working nicely again, (for now, lol!) Shame I had to spend a chunk of change I don't really have, but needs must and all that. Thanks again to all those who posted on my thread. :)

Win 7 Crash on Startup (Graphics card problem?)

Problem Solved