47 replies to this topic 1 votes

[kalizar]

I'm only getting the blue screen while playing games that are pretty graphically intense, so I'm thinking it's the video card. Stuff like counter-strike source, half-life, portal, etc seem to do fine. I don't remember the first game it happened in, but it seems like its happening more frequently.

When I play Diablo III, I can play for maybe an hour at most before the BSOD pops up and my computer restarts. Both the GPU and CPU temperatures are normal and stable. Drivers for GPU are up to date. Ran memtest86 with no errors. The game just gets choppy for 10-15 seconds, freezes, BSOD says hello, computer restarts.

Here are my specs:
CPU: i5 2500k 3.3Ghz
RAM: 16gb CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 1600
PSU: Rosewill 850w
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V
GPU: GIGABYTE HD6950 1GB GDDR5

What do you think is causing this? Is there any way I can upload some kind of error report so I can get a better idea? This is getting really frustrating!

TL;DR My computer BSOD's while playing games. Why?

[+CPressland]

Sounds like the GPU is overheating to be honest!

May not specifically be the GPU Core-Temperature, maybe the GDDR Memory.

Pop the case, get a regular desk fan, blow it in there, see if symptoms persist. While not exactly a particularly scientific experiment, it does yield results.

[Nebula2020]

Try removing the side of the case. Just to see if it helps.

I know you say the temps are normal and stable.

It sounds like a temp thing to me.

[simplezz]

Could be OS, drivers, or the GPU. If you have another Graphics card, give that a try. What is the error code / description for the BSOD?

[kalizar]

CPressland, on 17 May 2012 - 08:35, said:

Sounds like the GPU is overheating to be honest!

May not specifically be the GPU Core-Temperature, maybe the GDDR Memory.

Pop the case, get a regular desk fan, blow it in there, see if symptoms persist. While not exactly a particularly scientific experiment, it does yield results.

Nebula2020, on 17 May 2012 - 08:35, said:

Try removing the side of the case. Just to see if it helps.

I know you say the temps are normal and stable.

It sounds like a temp thing to me.

It really sounded like a temp thing to me as well. That's why I started switching back and forth between the game and my control center. I switched the fan speed to manual and jacked it up to like 80%. It sounded like a speedboat starting up, and it did cool it off a little bit, but it still stayed within normal range the entire time. Still got the BSOD.

I'll try to house fan thing. In the event that it IS overheating, what can I do to help cool this beast.

[kalizar]

simplezz, on 17 May 2012 - 08:44, said:

Could be OS, drivers, or the GPU. If you have another Graphics card, give that a try. What is the error code / description for the BSOD?

I don't really see an error code specifically like it does most of the time. It just says there was a critical error, bla bla bla, and then it says its doing a memory dump, then it restarts. I'll snap a pic if it does it again.

[Wakers]

Find a program called whocrashed? and run it. It will tell you what is causing the BSOD.

Also, removing the side of the case does not make things run cooler. It actually hinders air flow in most cases and will make things run a bit hotter.

I have the same card as you (only 6850) and mine never needs the fans much above 50%, despite being overclocked to heaven - I can almost guarantee that it is not overheating unless the airflow in your case is extremely poor. i.e. you have hot air from the processor going towards the GPU and hot air from the GPU going towards the processor.

[kalizar]

Wakers, on 17 May 2012 - 09:02, said:

Find a program called whocrashed? and run it. It will tell you what is causing the BSOD.

Also, removing the side of the case does not make things run cooler. It actually hinders air flow in most cases and will make things run a bit hotter.

I have the same card as you (only 6850) and mine never needs the fans much above 50%, despite being overclocked to heaven - I can almost guarantee that it is not overheating unless the airflow in your case is extremely poor. i.e. you have hot air from the processor going towards the GPU and hot air from the GPU going towards the processor.

Ok, that program is giving me this:
On Thu 5/17/2012 7:42:10 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\051712-12292-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7CC40)
Bugcheck code: 0xF4 (0x3, 0xFFFFFA800B9CC990, 0xFFFFFA800B9CCC70, 0xFFFFF800031818B0)
Error: CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

It's that same error for every time my computer has ever blue-screened. However, I have my case open, with a big fan blowing in there. I also turned of vsync and set shadows to low, and the combination of all of those things seems to have Diablo running just fine. No blue since the last time I posted.

So how do I fix ntoskrnl.exe is my next question I guess......

[Wakers]

Graphics drivers then, would be my first guess. Are they up to date?

Download a tool called driver cleaner, remove all graphics drivers, then reinstall the latest AMD drivers.

Have you got overdrive turned on? turn it off and return settings to what you would normally have them at.

[+remixedcat]

Remove drivers>reboot>driversweeper>reboot>reinstall drivers

[deadheadline]

Check if your power supply handles your Graphic card well and try chaning your FANs over the GPU.It sounds like a temperature fail for me.Also check if any program overclocks it too.

[simplezz]

A couple of questions:
1. Are you overclocking?
2. Are you manually setting dram timings / voltages?
3. When did this start happening? Recently? As soon as you put the machine together? After changing a component?
4. What BIOS settings are you using?

There are a few things you can do:
1. Run Prime95 to stress test your cpu independently of the GPU.
2. Run Memtest86 all the way though.
3. Run 3DMark test.
4. Load up a different OS, for example Ubuntu, and try running a game there. Does it BSOD on all games, or just high end ones?
5. You seem to have a lot of memory there. Try just 4GB.
6. If you changed hardware recently, Ι'd suggest resetting the bios to defaults.
7. Try updating your BIOS.

[CronicHazel]

I had a remarkably similar issue with faulty Radeon 5870

definitely try swapping out the graphic adapter for testing or look into your graphics drivers

[bjoswald]

Need to see the code to diagnose the problem.

[Wakers]

bjoswald, on 17 May 2012 - 19:24, said:

Need to see the code to diagnose the problem.

Try reading the thread. He's already posted the code.