PC crashes over and over

A

AppleZa

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Hi all,

I hope this is not a duplicate.

Currently I having a problem with my Desktop PC where my screen will show blocks like a checker board
now either the screen freezes or a popup appears stating the graphic drivers have failed or windows will swap
to use the motherboard graphics.
This only happens when I play videos or games and sometimes using the web browser. This issue has happened
when I was using Windows 7 so I thought it might be the drivers so I uninstalled and re-installed the drivers,
this did not work. So I upgraded to a clean install of windows 8 with the latest drivers etc... and this
did not work.

I have been reading other tech forums to find out the problem and the following were said :
-Vaulty Ram
-Change CPU voltage
-BIOS settings
-Graphic card needs to be replaced
-Power supply issues

My current rig :

Asus Mobo P8p76 pro
12 gig GSkill Ripjaws
2600k cpu
2x1 tb hard drive
60 gig ssd (OS is on here)
850w antec psu
ATI 6970 2gig

Anyone else having this issue?
 
Last edited:
AppleZa said:
Hi all,

I hope this is not a duplicate.

Currently I having a problem with my Desktop PC where my screen will show blocks like a checker board
now either the screen freezes or a popup appears stating the graphic drivers have failed or windows will swap
to use the motherboard graphics.
This only happens when I play videos or games and sometimes using the web browser. This issue has happened
when I was using Windows 7 so I thought it might be the drivers so I uninstalled and re-installed the drivers,
this did not work. So I upgraded to a clean install of windows 8 with the latest drivers etc... and this
did not work.

I have been reading other tech forums to find out the problem and the following were said :
-Vaulty Ram
-Change CPU voltage
-BIOS settings
-Graphic card needs to be replaced
-Power supply issues

My current rig :

Asus Mobo P8p76 pro
12 gig GSkill Ripjaws
2600k cpu
2x1 tb hard drive
60 gig ssd (OS is on here)
850w antec psu

Anyone else having this issue?
Click to expand...

[sarcasm]Yes, pc problems are like aids[/sarcasm]

Anyway. It's your graphics card overheating, or it's shot to bits already. Check that the graphics card fan is spinning as required or remove it completely and test with only your onboard graphics.

You will most likely have to replace the card if the fan does spin. If it doesn't have a fan and only a heatsink you can try to remove the heatsink and clean the GPU and apply new thermal paste.
 
teraside said:
[sarcasm]Yes, pc problems are like aids[/sarcasm]

Anyway. It's your graphics card overheating, or it's shot to bits already. Check that the graphics card fan is spinning as required or remove it completely and test with only your onboard graphics.

You will most likely have to replace the card if the fan does spin. If it doesn't have a fan and only a heatsink you can try to remove the heatsink and clean the GPU and apply new thermal paste.
Click to expand...

Agree, also add another fan to the case, ideally one blowing air onto the graphics card.

Artifacting (blocks on screen) is a very very bad sign, but could be easily remedied.
1) Check cooling in case (is the PC case hot or warm when you put your hand on it?)
2) Check that the fan spins on the Graphics Card
3) Check clearance around the card - the best cooling solution on the world won't work if air can't get to it!
4) Clean out the dust and goggas inside the case (and please use a can of compressed air only!)
5) Test your system with MB graphics only if problem persists (worst case - your graphics card is dead)

If the card is new take it to the shop where you bought it and have the dudes test it. State your system specs and the problems displayed. The card might be a dud. If it is, and you still have the slips, you score a new card!!!
 
I have been running the pc for little under a year and everything has been working fine until now.
It seems like the problem is getting worse everytime I use it. These blocks will only happen when I was playing a game, but now it will occur when I am trying to watch media.

I did a recent clean inside the pc, but I will check if every component is plugged in correctly, before replacing the graphics card I want to try and explore every other cheaper option available.

When I get home today I am going to test the Ram modules one by one and use the software and I will post a update on this.
 
Is it not under warranty if used "little under a year"? Take it back to the supplier and get them to check it out first if still under warranty.
 
What graphics card is it? I was having similar problems with my new Sapphire Radeon HD7750 from September last year until i updated to latest drivers last week, No crashes since the last update.
 
The graphic card is a 6970 (I have edited my post to include the graphic card now). The products are not under warrenty cause I bought the pc from a friend. The thing is I have got the latest drivers from the AMD site installed under a fresh install of windows 8. So I don't think the drivers are the issue since this has happened to me when I was using windows 7.
 
Last edited:
Ok lets say the worst comes and the card dies. What would be a good alternative card to buy?
 
Apple, what teraside said. It sounds like your graphics card is either overheating or dying.

Get this: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html to monitor your temperature.
And this: http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Start HWMonitor and run furmark to see if the graphics card (or any other component) is overheating.
If you see temps shooting past 75C and weird blocky things appear, then it's most definitely heat problems.

Alternative card could be the AMD 7870 or the Nvidia 660ti, which provides similar performance to the 6970
 
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