Video signal lost randomly, USB stops working

[urzu7]

So I never really had an issue with my computer till about 2 days ago when the video signal was randomly lost and the USB ports stopped functioning halfway through a video. All these happened while the computer was still running and everything seems fine in there. The only way to get it back running again would be to hard reset it and even then the problem will just surface at random points in time, particularly as soon as windows boots up. Booting into safe mode seems to not surface the issue and I have already downloaded the latest drivers for everything else.

Can anyone point me as to what may be causing it? I have read that it may be the RAM, GPU or PSU. My bet will be on my 6 year old Sapphire Radeon HD6970 failing but I don't want to replace it till I'm sure that's the only problem that needs to be fixed.

Your quick responses are greatly appreciated!

Setup
Mobo: Asus H87-PLUS
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6970
PSU: Thermaltake 750W
RAM: 16GB

 

[rvcjew]

Give furmark a shot to see if it locks up do to heat or a bad gpu (see if it shows artifacting). You should also get the UBCD in my signature and make a bootable cd or usb of it and run memtest86+ on it to test your ram.

Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark
RAM - Test with Memtest86+ (UBCD also has this tool and many others either way of getting it is fine)

Good luck.