Solved Graphics Card causing BSOD

[masstec]

Hello,
I recently purchased parts for a new computer i built myself.
I have successfully installed windows 7 64bit on it and is running perfectly. I can do almost anything on my computer that isn't graphically demanding I.E. watch videos, browse the web, download files, etc:
But whenever i attempt to run any games, my computer instantly freezes and gives me a BSOD. The game will last about 2-4 minutes before crashing. I have a feeling that it is my graphics card that is giving me this BSOD because when i removed it and booted with the on-board graphics card, the games all ran and didn't crash. I have re-installed drivers, updated drivers, and moved the card to different slots, but all to no avail.
Any help or ideas is great appreciated.
By the way the card is an Nvidia GTX 660
Thank you for your time,
Masstec

 

[Arc]

fffff880`032783a8  fffff880`0490ec66Unable to load image \??\C:\Windows\system32\Drivers\SYMEVENT64x86.SYS, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for SYMEVENT64x86.SYS
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for SYMEVENT64x86.SYS
 SYMEVENT64x86+0x19c66

Description here: Driver Reference Table - SYMEVENT64x86.SYS.

Uninstall Norton and all Symentec products using Norton Removal tool.
Use Microsoft Security Essentials as your antivirus with windows inbuilt firewall, and free MBAM as the on demand scanner.

Download and install those, and then run full system scans with both of them, one by one.

You should not have installed all those motherboard manufacturer's programs.

Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology    Public:Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology    Public
Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology\ASM106x SATA Driver
Start Menu\Programs\ASRock Utility
Start Menu\Programs\ASRock Utility\ASRock eXtreme Tuner
Start Menu\Programs\ASRock Utility\InstantBoot
Start Menu\Programs\ASRock Utility\SmartConnect

And this one, too.

Start Menu\Programs\EVGA\EVGA OC Scanner X

Better you uninstall those.

Free up the startup.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type “msconfig (without quotes), click the resulting link. It will open the System Configuration window.
3. Select the “Startup” tab.
4. Deselect all items other than the antivirus.
5. Apply > OK
6. Accept the restart.

Apply the latest version of nVidia display driver. That one you have installed is kinda old.
You may download it directly, from our forum link http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/602-latest-nvidia-forceware-video-drivers-windows-7-a.html; or you may opt for the Option 2 of Drivers- Download NVIDIA Drivers for “Automatically find drivers for my NVIDIA products” (it requires java installed).

Let us know the result.

You may be astonished, but all the dumps indicating to some HDD fault, associated with Norton mainly. There is no clue of a graphics related fault, as far as I have seen

 

[Britton30]

Arc, these two are needed for SATA III and USB 3.0, I think. A reinstall may be in order for them.

Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology    Public:Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology    Public
Start Menu\Programs\Asmedia Technology\ASM106x SATA Driver

You can run this to check your GPU:
Some hardware tests to run.

Graphics card:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html#post866972

 

[Arc]

Are those drivers must, Gary? Asking, as I dont have that efficiency on those things that you have, and I always keep asking you

Seeing 8 crashes within a very short period, and all are storage related, I thought removal of those drivers might minimize the risk there.

 

[masstec]

Well Arc the reason i thought it was a graphics card related issue was because when i took it out and tried running these programs i had 0 issues with the onboard card. currently installing the 2 programs u recommended and the nvidia drivers. ill let you know the results shortly

 

[Arc]

If this is a graphics related crash, this thread will add some more information in my knowledge Earlier I have never noticed a stop 0xF4 caused by graphics. So it makes me highly interested.

Edit: just noticed .... you need to install Service Pack 1.
Learn how to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Service Pack Center - Microsoft Windows

Edit again: You said it is a custom built, right? and the system says ....

BiosVendor = American Megatrends Inc.
BiosVersion = P1.60
BiosReleaseDate = 12/06/2012
[COLOR=Red][B]SystemManufacturer = To Be Filled By O.E.M.[/B][/COLOR]
SystemProductName = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
SystemFamily = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
SystemVersion = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
SystemSKU = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
BaseBoardManufacturer = ASRock
BaseBoardProduct = Z77 Pro4
BaseBoardVersion =

Explain it please?

 

[masstec]

what do you mean explain it? do you want my system specs? I also just installed 128 updates with the windows updater. does that include service pack 1 or do i still need to install that?

 

[Arc]

I got the explanation from another person.

And I guess SP1 should be installed separately, if it is not installed via Windows update. To make it sure, press the windows button and Pause\Break button simultaneously .... Does it show SP1 installed? if not, install it separately.

 

[masstec]

OK. Something REALLY wierd just happened. I did everything that you told me to. I tried to run planetside 2, and as soon as i started moving, the game froze, the game exited BY ITSELF (no error or anything), and this is what was really strange: My windows went from having the aero effect to a windows XP style start menu and bar, and it was as if i lost all of my priveleges on my computer and so did the anti-virus and all other programs. it said that it couldn't detect any speakers that are plugged in, which they were and were still playing music. I couldn't open up internet explorer because it was not a valid application. I couldn't access windows security essentials (it would open and close in .1 seconds). I couldn't open task manager. and the strangest thing is that i didn't get a blue screen, it was like this until i had to reboot my computer. I'm going to run my computer with the on-board video card for a while to see if i can get any similar results.

 

[Britton30]

Are those drivers must, Gary? Asking, as I dont have that efficiency on those things that you have, and I always keep asking you

Seeing 8 crashes within a very short period, and all are storage related, I thought removal of those drivers might minimize the risk there.

Yes I think they are needed for a SATA III drive to work and for USB 3.0 ports to function. A chkdsk /f may be in order.

SystemManufacturer = To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Will show up on any home built system, mine says the same thing, it's ok.

@masstek, did you do post #3?

 

[masstec]

@Britton30 Whats #3?

OK guys i found that disabling shadows and reducing the multi-sampling down from 16x to 8x prevents the crash for the most part (lasts about 3-4 hours) in World of Warcraft and in League of legends. In planet side 2, i reduced all settings to low and reduced rendering quality to 50% and it ran smoothly without a crash. I believe now that the shadows were a part of the problem, and if any fixes are available for that any help would be appreciated. If no fixes are available i will take the card back to micro center and just hot-swap it for a different card.

Btw something i forgot to add is that my card is factory super clocked (I'm assuming that means that it is overclocked already.) and if this changed anything or if there is a way to undo the overclock please let me know because i don't need it to be overclocked yet.

 

[Britton30]

You can run this to check your GPU:
Some hardware tests to run.

Graphics card:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html#post866972

@Britton30 Whats #3?

This.

 

[masstec]

Guys i replaced my power supply and all problems are fixed, i guess my old one just wasn't providing enough juice for the cpu and video card together. Thank you to everybody who helped.

 

[Britton30]

Good news everyone! Thanks for letting us know mate.