Random Lockups While Gaming

[maenos]

Bought a Dell 8900 late 2015. Upgraded to GTX 970 and new PSU. From the beginning, I would have very random game lockups. Games would simply freeze. No BSOD, no sounds, just a frozen screen - forcing a hard reboot. Game settings or intensity of scene are unrelated. Games will freeze under light or heavy load. Sometimes after two hours, sometimes after 30 minutes. Sometimes a week of playing goes by with no problems. And the freezing is only with games. Never with anything else, including video.

So I finally RMAd the video card a few months ago. EVGA sent back a GTX 1070. Nice upgrade. Same problem. So I replaced/upgraded the PSU. Same problem.

I've run tests on RAM, CPU and GPU. All come back fine. I monitor heat - GPU never goes above 68c. CPU temps are fine. Running an i7 6700, 16GB RAM, Corsair 750w Bronze. Windows 10, 64bit.

Just stumped. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[deustroop]

There appears to be no O/C, that the memory is run in spec (DDR4-1866/2133) and I take it there was no issue before the upgrades. My first question is whether you have tried gaming with the on board gpu ?

 

[maenos]

There appears to be no O/C, that the memory is run in spec (DDR4-1866/2133) and I take it there was no issue before the upgrades. My first question is whether you have tried gaming with the on board gpu ?

Thanks, yes, not O/C, DDR4. I switched out the GPU and PSU almost immediately when I received the computer. I have tried gaming with on board GPU for about a week and a half. No lockups. That doesn't guarantee there wouldn't have been - both the 970 and 1070 have occasionally gone as long as a week without a lockup, yet it's pretty rare. If I had to guess, I would say the on board GPU does not have the same problem.

 

[deustroop]

Can you try the video card in another slot , say the x4 ( I don't see an x8) ? Be slow but will it freeze ?

 

[daveybrat]

Have you made sure the bios is completely up to date? You can download it from Dell's support site.

 

[maenos]

Can you try the video card in another slot , say the x4 ( I don't see an x8) ? Be slow but will it freeze ?

Hmm, unless I'm missing something, there's only one slot the video card will physically fit in on this motherboard.

 

[deustroop]

Hmm, unless I'm missing something, there's only one slot the video card will physically fit in on this motherboard.

My bad, you're right, only one pcie bracket for that card. I'm trying to isolate the problem as game video. I am thinking the pcie socket may be bad. How to check that ?

 

[Ketchup]

What power supply?

 

[maenos]

What power supply?

Corsair 750w Bronze. First was an EVGA 650w Bronze.

 

[maenos]

My bad, you're right, only one pcie bracket for that card. I'm trying to isolate the problem as game video. I am thinking the pcie socket may be bad. How to check that ?

Great question. Yet the card passed FurMark without issue. Is that a reliably enough test to rule out a bad PCIE?

 

[maenos]

Have you made sure the bios is completely up to date? You can download it from Dell's support site.

Thanks - yes, have updated BIOS from Dell's site. All drivers are up to date as far as I can tell.

 

[deustroop]

There is also looking at monitor/cables and considering an electrical short. Can you game for a while with the board outside the case ?

 

[deustroop]

You have an nvidia card. There are problems with that display driver failing and then recovering . I have the issue with the 970, the effect being that the web browser intermittently loses the graphics and must be restarted, and the latest find on my issue is in the event viewer/custom views/administrative events where, on the failure, the event recorded says
"Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." This issue arose here only after the Creative Update.
There are many others, over recent windows versions, with that failure but usually the effect is along the lines of your problem.( I no longer game.)
I have not found a solution.

 

[maenos]

You have an nvidia card. There are problems with that display driver failing and then recovering . I have the issue with the 970, the effect being that the web browser intermittently loses the graphics and must be restarted, and the latest find on my issue is in the event viewer/custom views/administrative events where, on the failure, the event recorded says
"Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." This issue arose here only after the Creative Update.
There are many others, over recent windows versions, with that failure but usually the effect is along the lines of your problem.( I no longer game.)
I have not found a solution.

Thanks for all the help. I've been monitoring Event Viewer since I started have these problems back in early 2016. Nothing seems related. No display driver error messages, etc. It's a real head scratcher. Is it probable I'm dealing with a bad motherboard? Even though I have no other issues besides with games?

 

[maenos]

There is also looking at monitor/cables and considering an electrical short. Can you game for a while with the board outside the case ?

I wouldn't think it's the monitor or monitor cables, as the computer itself locks up. Electrical short - maybe, although the computer is rock solid outside of games. Are you thinking maybe an electrical short in the computer power cord itself? Or something on the motherboard?

 

[deustroop]

I would return the board to Dell for replacement and if it is not returnable, then take it to a shop if you can find one with experience in such problems, thinking its pcie specific; I do think the board is finito, somehow, in displaying 3 D video perhaps due to an electrical short.
Yet I find it odd in the extreme that a frozen OS will leave no record of the problem in the Event Viewer. That is even more unnerving. We are stepping into another realm now, so I gotta ask, What Games Are You Playing ?

 

[maenos]

I would return the board to Dell for replacement and if it is not returnable, then take it to a shop if you can find one with experience in such problems, thinking its pcie specific; I do think the board is finito, somehow, in displaying 3 D video perhaps due to an electrical short.
Yet I find it odd in the extreme that a frozen OS will leave no record of the problem in the Event Viewer. That is even more unnerving. We are stepping into another realm now, so I gotta ask, What Games Are You Playing ?

I'm not too into gaming, yet I do play WoW, had played the Witcher, and messed with the Rift for a while. In all three cases I've had lockups