Hardware Issues - Graphics Card

[MattVid]

I have just built a new computer and am struggling getting this thing up and running. I have built some before this and never had any problems, but this one is giving me h3ll right now

Here is what I have:
AMD64 X@ 4400+ (stock cooler)
OCZ Gold DDR500 PC400 - 2x1GB
Enermax 535W PSU w/ Dual 12v rails
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe MoBo
eVGA 7800GTX 256MB PCI-E <---I think this is the problem
2x WD Caviar SE 16MB Cache 250GB drives (can't get these to RAID 0 correctly either)
NEC IDE DVD-R/CD-R Drive
Samsung Floppy Drive
Lian-Li Black Case

I first installed Windows XP Prof. 64-bit edition, and had it all set up in RAID 0 and it was working just fine, for about a day. Then as soon as I started installing some games (EQII and HL2/CS:S) I started experiencing major crashing. So, I figured it was probably a driver issue and reformatted. Now I am running Standard XP Professional (not 64-bit). I could also not get the RAID 0 working again after this, but my guess is it was a driver issue (needed to load the new ones off the site, but didn't yet). But everything seemed to work alright, until I again started up a game and I saw the crashing begin again. From the error reports it is pointing at the graphics driver, saying it is stuck in an infinite loop. I have tried 3 different drivers in 2 OS's and I am still getting major crashing. This crash makes the screen go black and the computer restarts, no blue screen that I have seen (though I have gotten a few during windows installation, but I seemed to have fixed that issue).

I also notice that the screen turns off and then on every time I start windows (just one time). This happened in both OS's and ALL THE TIME, which leads me to think it might be a graphics card issue (hardware, not software). I have sometimes not received the total crash and reboot and had games instead just freeze up completely, or throw some sort of error and crash to desktop. Also, now my computer starts crashing completely on windows start up, and I get the error that the graphics card is in some infinite loop (from error report off Microsoft site). And this is without running anything and just booting ... So I am pretty stumped atm There could be multiple problems, but I am starting to think it is hardware and not software with how many OS's and driver combos I have tried.

I am going to be calling eVGA when I get home tonight, but wanted to see if anyone here had any good ideas. Does this sound like a graphics card issue? I was thinking maybe the PSU, but, it should be able to handle it, I am not overclocking or anything and only have 1 graphics card.

EDIT: The more I think about it, it could be a bad motherboard too, with no BSOD on crashing, it just turns off totally. Main reason I think it is the Gfx card is because of the errors windows reports ... they point back to the nVidia driver. And when games CTD, I would think it would be the Gfx card and not the motherboard? Though the problems with RAID and installation of windows, the mobo would make more sense

Any help would be appreciated

 

[KGB]

Matt,

Welcome to the Forums! :beer:

You did get some blue screens during the Windows installation?
You also claimed that you fixed them?

How?

 

[MattVid]

You did get some blue screens during the Windows installation?

Well, I have done 2 OS installations. First the 64-bit XP then the Regular 32-bit XP

1) 64-bit XP Install
I had zero problems with the installation, everything worked fine. I had no blue screens, got into windows and started updating a few drivers off the site, was fine. Then I started playing a few games, were fine at first then I started getting freezing and crashing. Then, I can't remember if it was a driver, or what I did, but I rebooted and it wouldn't get into windows ever. It would blue screen 2-3 seconds into loading, and I could never see the error, went by too fast. Even safe mode it would crash at Mup.sys (I believe, but that is probably NOT the issue, as this happens often with mobo issues, just the last thing that was logged). And I was getting quite frustrated and I figure it was an XP 64 issue (all my friends said it was buggy and never worked for them). Sooo...

2) 32-bit XP Install
Even when installing I could never get the RAID drivers to work correctly. I had blue screens during the loading of drivers initially. First I thought this was a RAM issue, so I removed 1 stick and ran the set up, it got a little further, into formatting the disks. I swapped the RAM around and was getting no change, so I ruled that out, i think (personally, I think the POWER OFF of the computer "reset" it somehow and fixed this issue. Then the disks would format and keep crashing RIGHT after the point of formatting (both quick and normal formatting, did the same thing). I upgraded the BIOS and had the same issue with the RAID drivers, and sometimes they wouldn't even LOAD up off the disk, I have no clue ... Anyways, by that point I was steaming hot and gave up on the RAID idea for now and just did 2 separate drives. Without the drivers needing to be loaded, it seemed to work fine. Though during installation of windows, it BLUE SCREENed and crashed 1 time, but it rebooted and finished up with no errors. And now, in windows I get very, very random crashes (usually always happens within 5 minutes of boot up). These are not BSOD's, like before, just total reboots (as if I hit the reset button on the computer). So I checked the switch on my case, un-plugged it, made sure it was working, and I don't think that is the issue ... plugged in or not, it does the same things.

I have also changed the graphics card around between the two PCI slots, and I get the same results in both locations. I would personally think that a GFx card error would blue screen (please correct me if I am wrong) and not totally crash the computer (like a bad motherboard would do). Is this a reasonable assumption? Plus, all of the installation errors, and nVidia chipset issues, I would really think it was the board. I am torn because after every restart, I get the same reported errors, 1 in lassa.exe (I think that is the name), this happens occasionally, but every time, without a doubt I get one saying the nVidia driver is in an infinite loop. And in games (if I can start them up before it crashes) they CTD within first few minutes, or sometimes my comp just goes black (no BSOD, just black screen and then a reboot). This is already getting too long ... but I have tried A LOT of things. I am beginning to think maybe the mobo AND the GFx card are messed up, judging from the different types of errors ... but fix one and fix them all is usually the case ...

You also claimed that you fixed them? How?

Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly HOW I fixed a lot of them. In the 64-bit install, I fixed them by reformatting and installing xp 32-bit. Then in the 32-bit install, I thought it was the RAM, but after testing that, it was not. Then I tried updating the BIOS, little or no change, still crashing. Then I ditched the RAID/loading driver idea all together, and that fixed it. The one BSOD during install of XP 32-bit, I have no clue, it rebooted and went through the rest of the installation and was fine. Now, I get NO BSOD's, just a black screen followed by a reboot. Sorry for the long post, but there is definitely a lot going on here ...