Video driver crashes regardless of card.

[popcornjake]

So almost two months ago I bought this system:

Intel i7 950 @ 3.06ghz
Thermaltake Contac-29 CPU cooler
Coolermaster GX650W PSU
GIGABYTE ATI 5850 1GB
GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R Motherboard
6GB (3x2GB) 1600mhz G-Skill DDR3 RAM

In all respects it is fine, it runs at good temps, takes overclocks like a champ, produces quality framerates - though in some games and with some internet flash players I will consistently get crashes the cause of which I cannot determine.

The crash is always the same in game, though I have gotten twice now whilst the computer was idling and not in use - the screen freezes up and a sound is produced which sounds something like a BZZZZZZ, a constant buzz (like a rapid beeping which almost blends to one sound) which will continue until I turn the machine off. It however does not happen in all games, so far it has only really been prevalent in Call of Duty 4 and Medal of Honor - which is peculiar because Black Ops and Bad Company 2 do not crash in the same fashion, even though they run on the same engines.

When using in-browser flash players (youtube etc) I will occasionally get an error telling me that the "video driver has stopped responding and has recovered" - the screen will flash black for a second and the flash video I had open will be a solid shade of green. I'm pretty sure this same thing is happening when in-game, though in that instance it is enough to crash the system.

The problem does not however seem to be my 5850, I chucked in my 4670 and got the same crash in Call of Duty 4 after about the right amount of time (usually between 10-30 minutes, though sometimes sooner). I'd never had problems with the 4670 before.

I've tried different PCI-E slots, different drivers, different BIOS's, with and without CPU/GPU overclocks, different fan-speeds, anything and everything I've thought of. All my drivers are up to date for on-board peripherals (audio etc).

After many hours of intense googling I have yet to find the source of the problem. I really want to get this fixed, so if anybody can help me with this I will make you my wife/husband and love you for eternity etc etc.

[Gary]

I have had problems with my video card crashing and sometimes giving me that error when I try to watch youtube videos. I fixed the problem by right clicking the video(any flash object should work) and selecting settings, under that you should see something called "Hardware Acceleration" checked, un-check it. I haven't had it crash like that since.



Hope that helps.

[cz_squishy]

Is your hard drive made by HP? My dad's computer would make that sound and freeze up, couldn't play videos or download anything, and crashed unless you started the computer, shut it down from the power strip, then started it back up every time. Turns out his hard drive failed after a few months.

[popcornjake]

Running games from my second HDD (which is identical to the first and a whole year older) I get no issues at all - that must mean that my brand new 500GB (admittedly dirt cheap) Seagate HDD is on the way out, I will have to grab a new one for back-ups/booting off. Turning off hardware acceleration on the in-browser flash player also seems to have worked.


The help was excellent, thank you very much to both of you. Interlopers is great.

[Gary]

Glad I could help.