Crash diagnosis please

[Ryan0r]

Howdy all,

Your help with a frustrating issue i'm having if you please. I'm at a loss and this is the best place to come

I'm playing mostly GRID, Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum just now. When playing GRID or Batman for any more than 20 minutes, the PC crashes. Fallout hasn't done this yet. The crash freezes everything and the screen goes stripey - vertical black and [random colour] stripes. Audio normally goes into a "stuttering loop" of sorts when it crashes. Requires a hard-off. Never crashes when doing generic stuff like web, Office or Photoshop.

Doesn't seem to be temperatures, have ramped up the fans on the GPU to keep it about 40 degrees, and the CPU sits about the same (Artic HSF). Updated Catalysts to 9.9, gave me a little more time before crash, but still happened.

Specs:

Win XP SP3
Core2 Duo e7400 @ stock (2.8GHz)
2GB Crucial Ballistix (1066MHz)
ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA mobo
600w Hiper PSU
ATI HD4850 512MB XXX Edition


Any more details that you need, just ask

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Ryan0r]

Thanks buddy. Just tried those:

Tried FurMark, GPU never goes above 70 degrees (1440x900 8x MSAA), no crashes.

Tried CPU and mem stressing with ORTHOS, CPU doesn't go above 42 degrees, no crashes.

Not tried Memtest yet, is it bootable only?

 

[Ryan0r]

Sorry to resurrect this, but i'm still getting crashes despite replacing everything in my pc! The only common part throughout this is the graphics card.

I sent it back to OcUK and got a replacement (i think) one back. This took over a bloody month. Was still happening so i bought a new PSU, another motherboard (P5Q Pro Turbo) and more RAM (4GB XMS2). Still crashing! So it's not the memory or the PSU, which i suspected.

Current setup is now:
Core2 Duo e7400 (2.8GHz @ 3.2GHz)
4GB Corsair XMS2 (1066MHz, 2.1v)
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo
800w Thermaltake PSU
ATI HD4850 512MB XXX Edition (GPU 650, Mem 1050)

I can't get more than an hour's gaming done without it crashing and i've just been playing Borderlands and it crashed 4 times in an hour! I've spent hundreds upgrading and lots of time trying to suss this out, i really don't want to have to get a new gfx card.

Could it be a mismatch in the memory perhaps? FSB, memory clocks, voltages etc?

Your thoughts are appreciated gents.

 

[Ryan0r]

Thanks for your comments lads.

By way of an update, i downclocked the GPU from 650MHz to 625MHz, and i was able to run Borderlands solid for an hour a little while ago. Seems like it's a little too overclocked. Or i got a bad one.

Will post back with more info when i get peace to "test" it further


Oh, and Viper: the 2GB Ballistix is in my gf's mum and dad's PC now. Overkill, i know...

 

[Ryan0r]

It's already been RMA'd Only got it back a few days ago after it being away for a month.

The 25MHz downclock didn't impair performance too much, and it this is all it takes, then so be it. Annoying to have to do so on a factory overclocked special edition that should really be able to handle the clock, but i'll never get my money back (8 months old now).

I'll test with GRID and Batman tonight when i get home, if i get past 30 minutes on either it'll either be conclusive or a fluke/miracle. I'm hoping for the former.

 

[Ryan0r]

It was purchased from here!

I was told that all they're prepared to do was send it back to their supplier, who in turn sent it to XFX to test. They then passed it back up the chain and i got it a month later, still doing exactly the same. No idea if XFX swapped it or just sent it back after not replicating the fault - i wasn't told anything.

 

[Ryan0r]

The above is just a friendly heads up - as you're not allowed to talk 'shop' on the forums...

Yep, cheers - have seen grumblings regarding this on my travels. Are we allowed to discuss OcUK though?

In this particular case i would ask the retailer for the XFX reference number for the original return and then contact XFX directly using the retailer's reference number and work from there.

In doing this, you at least cut out the middle-men (retailer and supplier), speeding the process up, and you’ll also be able to steer the outcome more readily as you'll be in direct contact with XFX and know exactly what their report/outcome is.

The retailer should be pretty happy about this solution too as it's less hassle for them.

I'll see if OcUK will provide this information and try XFX directly.

Appreciate your help buddy, will update if i go down this route.

 

[Ryan0r]

Downclocked the GPU from 650MHz to 600MHz last night, ran Borderlands quite happily for a good 2 hour sesh without incident. Looks like i have my answer. Not sure i want to go to the lengths of sending it back and being without it for another month (or two!)

May contact XFX to find out what they think and whether they'd be prepared to replace it.

 

[Ryan0r]

Crashing's getting worse, so have been in contact with XFX directly. They suggested a few things to try (hotfix drivers) but just made it worse. They seem very unwilling to take it back and are basically telling me to return it to here and check with trading standards regarding the seller's obligations regarding faulty goods.

Both parties are pointing me to the other, i'm at the end of my tether; i just want it swapped - by either company - for a card that works, as in, does what it's supposed to!

Thoughts?

 

[Ryan0r]

Quick update on this:

XFX refused to touch it, said i had to deal with the retailer. OcUK ended up taking it back and very kindly swapped the 4850 for a 4870.

Delighted, and most importantly, no crashes!!

Thanks OcUK, faith restored. Also, XFX, although frustrating, were very helpful throughout, so i will not have a problem dealing with them in future.

And thanks for your interest Plec, appreciate it.