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[Tankshell]

Hi guys.

I have been experiencing sporadic, non reproducible hard lock-ups whilst gaming recently (like for the last month or so), prior to that my PC has been running fine since I built it about 2.5 years ago. The only recent changes I have made are upgrading to Windows 8.1 (previously was on Windows 7) and upgrading my graphics card to an EVGA 780Ti SC (previously an EVGA 580 SC).

My rig:

ASUS P8P67 Pro (Rev B3) Motherboard, flashed to most recent firmware (3602)
Intel i5 2500k OC@4.5Ghz
8GB (2x4GB modules) Corsair Vengeance (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9)
EVGA GTX 780Ti SC
PSU: Coolermaster Real Power Pro 1000w (RS-A00-ESBA)
Windows 8.1(fresh install, i.e. did NOT upgrade over the top of Win 7)
Latest drivers for everything including ASUS chipset drivers, Nvidia drivers, sound drivers etc.

Things I have already tested:

• 24 hours of Prime95 Blend tests (no lockups or errors)
• 4 hours of Intel Burn test (no lockups or errors)
• 3 hours of MemTest86+ (4 complete passes, 0 errors)
• several runs of 3DMark at highest settings (no lockups)

My 2500K is overclocked to 4.5Ghz, voltage currently set at 1.300v (well within respectable boundaries for a 4.5Ghz OC) and is well cooled via a Coolermaster Hyper 212+. Temps never go above about 50c under full load, which is fine. It has been operating this way for the last couple of years without problem.

My memory is not overclocked.

My 780Ti is at factory clocks (ie overclocked by EVGA, but not by me). Using PrecisionX I can see that temps never go above about 70c under full load, which is fine also.

EDIT - since getting these lockups, I have stripped down and cleaned (compressed air) all the components of my PC, it is now a dust free zone. This doesn't seem to have helped the problem though.

The problems:

• yesterday I was playing Metro 2033, machine completely locked up twice over the period of a few hours. Not BSOD, just completely freezes with image of game on screen and completely unresponsive.
• last week I was plaing GRID 2, once again, machine completely hard locked in the same way as above, 3 times over the space of 2 days whilst playing.

Machine seems completely stable whilst not gaming, it has never locked up whilst just sitting on desktop or day-to-day activities i.e. browsing the web etc.

Things seem to be pointing towards the GPU, maybe bad drivers by Nvidia for the 780Ti under Windows 8.1? There are a LOT of people complaining on the official Nvidia forums about the newer drivers stability with 7xx series cards...so it does make me wonder if this is purely a driver issue. Is there a way to stress test GPU (other than 3DMark which I have already run) in a similar way to the CPU/RAM and/or rule out this being the issue?

Anyway, I'm out of ideas of what to try next. Any help much appreciated.

Thanks GAF.

 

[Gumbie]

Looks like you've covered most of your bases on troubleshooting. Only thing I would do different is maybe try another power supply.

 

[Foaloal]

Only thing I would do different is maybe try another power supply.

This seems like a decent thing to try, though it's not exactly easy since most people won't have multiple high wattage PSUs lying around.

The 780ti probably does draw a lot of power though, and if your power supply isn't a seasonic/equal brand (and even if it is) it's possible it's failing in some way.

I would also say your overclock could possibly still be unstable even in spite of the tests you ran, but I don't have experience with overclocking that high so I'm not particularly educated on how to check for an unstable overclock.

 

[Tankshell]

Have added details on my PSU to the original post. Maybe I'll try investing in a new one, can't do any harm, you never know.

Any recommendations for a replacement for my current 1000w one?

Thanks guys for your suggestions.

 

[Foaloal]

Have added details on my PSU to the original post. Maybe I'll try investing in a new one, can't do any harm, you never know.

Any recommendations for a replacement for my current 1000w one?

Thanks guys for your suggestions.

Hmm, your PSU seems to be good enough, it is at least 80 plus certified and has mostly good reviews on newegg.

Of course no matter how good a PSU is there's no guarantee it couldn't be faulty in some way.

This article seems like it could be relevant for your situation: The right way to stress-test an overclocked PC

 

[CreepingFear]

I have a similar setup to you. Same mobo, only a 2600k oced to 4.4ghz and an evga 780 Ti Classified. I'd have to guess it could be the power supply most likely.

Edit: Seasonic or Corsair. Can't go wrong with those 2 brands in my opinion.

 

[Tankshell]

Hmm, your PSU seems to be good enough, it is at least 80 plus certified and has mostly good reviews on newegg.

Of course no matter how good a PSU is there's no guarantee it couldn't be faulty in some way.

This article seems like it could be relevant for your situation: The right way to stress-test an overclocked PC

Thanks, I just read that article through, I will definitely try this out to see if it helps.

Somebody else recommended under clocking the stock EVGA SC overclock rates a bit... apparently their QA procedures on factory overclocks sometimes don't catch potential issues, so will try that and if it fixes the hard locks, will RMA the card.