Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem

The Horror · 03-08-2009, 08:38 PM

I am stuck. Having tried everything I could think of, from now on I am only guessing.

The problem:

About a week ago I was playing CODWAW when the screen turned into a pink static mess. The computer became totally unresponsive and I was forced to hit the restart button. The next day the problem returned, only this time it was occuring every time I booted the computer with static filling my screen just before the desktop image appeared. Windows safe mode worked fine, and after 3-4 restarts windows booted up normally.

Virus and malware checkers came up clean. Hard drive, CPU and GPU temperatures appeared normal even during stress tests. Scan of the HDD revealed no bad sectors. MemTest came up clean. I opened up the computer and blew out as much dirt as I could with compressed air. The computer booted up normally after that.

Later that night I booted up the computer and the problem returned every start up once again. After several restarts I managed to get into windows in normal mode. From then on that night the computer would boot up ok, but would crash a few minutes into any graphics intensive game. I opened up my computer, popped out my RAM sticks, checked for dirt and reinserted them back in. Problem remained.

Fearing windows corruption I backed up much of my data and wiped the main drive. Reinstalled Vista, updated all hardware drivers and reinstalled EVE Online. Since then the computer has not crashed at all during startup. However it has been crashing when I either run EVE, or when I run video files on VLC media player. It does not crash when I run audio files on VLC media player. The crash happens within 1-2 seconds of turning on the video player, or of activating EVE Online. Furthermore I noticed that the keyboard appears to remain responsive - caps lock and num lock are activated on the keyboard display when the keys are pressed, though there is a delay of 0.5-1 second between key press and response. Because the crash to static coloured screen is finally now reproducible I took note of the time and triggered a crash by opening a video file on VLC. The error was induced at 9:14:00 plus or minus a second or two. The event log lists the following events:

Note: The ID 10 error occurs every time the computer is booted, regardless of whether the computer crashes or not during startup.

Time: 9:15:39
ID 6008: Event Log
The previous system shutdown at 9:13:59 PM on 3/8/2009 was unexpected.

Time: 9:15:42
ID 1101: Event Log
Audit events have been dropped by the transport. The real time backup file was corrupt due to improper shutdown.

Time: 9:15:40
ID 15016: HttpEvent
Unable to initialize the security package Kerberos for server side authentication. The data field contains the error number.

Time: 9:16:51
ID 10: WMI
Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.

The time of these events suggest to me that the event log is not detecting the cause of the error. There are also no registered hardware errors in the event viewer. At this point I fear that the problem may be with the graphics card, or maybe with the BIOS. I do not have a spare computer to salvage for parts, so I cant test individual components by swapping them out.

My computer details:

Mainboard: Asus Maximus Extreme
Chipset: Intel X38
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2666 MHz
Memory: 4096 MB (2x2048 DDR3-SDRAM)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Hard Disk: WDC (300 GB), WDC (750 GB)
Network Card: Marvell Semiconductor Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
600W PSU
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1 32-bit

I have not had a problem with this computer for almost a year now. The problem started only 1 week ago.

As I type this the problem seems to once again have vanished. Video files play perfectly on VLC, EVE loads up fine, no crashes during startup. The problem will return however, of that I am sure.

Since the only thing I can think of is to start buying new expensive components to swap out, I turn to you for help. What else can I do to exhaust all possibilities before spending an outrageous amount of money?

Mcninjaguy · 03-08-2009, 09:15 PM

your PSU is most likely the cause of this. its probably something generic. Your PSU has had too much strain on it. I think if you keep straining it it could take down a lot of the components in your comp.

you need a PSU like this one

Corsair 850w
Single rail @70A
$140
after rebate $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009

maybe a friend has a quality PSU you could borrow

timusacs · 03-08-2009, 09:17 PM

thanks for sharing! that's very useful !

The Horror · 03-08-2009, 09:24 PM

Thank for the help Mcninjaguy! I will pick up the PSU you recommended and give it a try.

Mcninjaguy · 03-08-2009, 09:37 PM

I'm really hoping that your PSU didn't fry your video card.

once you got the new PSU I can give you a bunch of programs to stress test your computer

The Horror · 03-10-2009, 08:54 PM

PSU is installed and purring smoothly. It was the first time I installed anything on a computer, so it was quite an interesting and stressful experience.

The coloured static problem seems to be gone for now as well which is nice. :) I dont know if it will return, and I have not yet tried my most graphics intensive games (ie. Crysis) but so far it seems a lot more stable than it was.

The monitor is now flickering occasionally though. Is this a sign that I didnt hook something up properly in that mess of cables?

Mcninjaguy · 03-10-2009, 09:14 PM

theres a 8 pin and a 6pin PCI-E power supply connector to the card are they plugged in?

is the monitor flickering during games or on the desktop?
maybe the monitor's Hz is too high

change it to 60hz or whatever is the native refresh rate for it

what was your your old PSU's name and brand by the way?

The Horror · 03-11-2009, 03:51 AM

The card has a 6 pin + an 8 pin power connection. The powerpack didnt have any 8 pin PCI-E connectors, but there were several 6 pin with an additional 2 pins hanging out near the plugs, so I figured it was designed that way for versatility. Went ahead and plugged in 6 pins and another 6+2.

The old PSU details: Thermaltake Toughpower 600W ATX 12V 2.2

Mcninjaguy · 03-11-2009, 08:55 AM

yea keep your old PSU its a nice one just not meant for your GTX 280

and you got it right for the 8 pin and the 6 pin connection

what about the flickering?

The Horror · 03-13-2009, 05:32 AM

Seems to be gone. Dont see any flickering anymore, everything runs smootly, machine purring very quietly. :)

Thanks again for the help Mcninjaguy. That problem gave me a lot of headaches for over a week, and I was truly exhausted with my possibilities.

Mcninjaguy · 03-13-2009, 05:58 AM

I'm so glad I could help

phew people are usually very resistant against replacing the PSu but not other components

The Horror · 03-13-2009, 09:42 PM

Hey, the problem appeared again.

I was running EVE Online. Switched windows to the client and the screen turned to static, exactly as it used to. This is the first time this has happened since I replaced the power supply. I cannot duplicate the problem, and everything is perfectly normal when running videos with vlc media player. Replacing the power supply helped in a dramatic way, but the problem appeared again this once which suggests that it will do so again.

I decided to download another Video Card Stress tester. This is the one I tried: http://freestone-group.com/video-car...ility-test.htm

Using Real Temp 3.0 I monitored the temperatures as the test ran. After 6 minutes GPU temp was stable at 85C - exactly what this review says it should be. Same temperature for GPU after running the benchmarking test for that application. Temperature of all four cores (CPU?) were hovering between 50-58. After I turned off the video card stability tester core temperatures kept going up to a peak of 62 in two of the cores, then decreased again.

The temperatures still seem ok to me. The crashes always used to happen straight away upon starting up an application, so I really dont think its a temperature issue.

Maybe I should run some of those other tests you mentioned?

dai · 03-13-2009, 11:59 PM

redo the paste on the cpu with some arctic silver

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Mcninjaguy · 03-14-2009, 03:50 AM

the GPU temps are pretty high

use rivatuner and change the fan speed to 70%
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

The Horror · 03-14-2009, 12:53 PM

Computer worked fine today while playing EVE. Switched it off for half an hour or so. Turned it back on, powered on EVE Online and problem struck once more straight away. Rebooted and loaded up RealTemp. GPU temp at 44C, cores between 36-45C. Cranked up fan to 70% with RivaTuner. Temp still looking good. Loaded up EVE and static madness again as soon as the game login screen came up. Keyboard was totally unresponsive to caps or num lock. Sound stuck in a loop.

Would the thermal paste on the CPU be a likely culprit?

edit: crash occurred again within 1 second of loading up a video file on VLC media player.

dai · 03-14-2009, 09:20 PM

those temp are ok that you just posted
but not if they are going higher on the cpu cores

have you done the psu

The Horror · 03-17-2009, 09:33 PM

I have moved the query to the Corsair support forums as I plan to be running checks on my RAM.

Thanks for the help guys.

03-08-2009, 08:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem I am stuck. Having tried everything I could think of, from now on I am only guessing. The problem: About a week ago I was playing CODWAW when the screen turned into a pink static mess. The computer became totally unresponsive and I was forced to hit the restart button. The next day the problem returned, only this time it was occuring every time I booted the computer with static filling my screen just before the desktop image appeared. Windows safe mode worked fine, and after 3-4 restarts windows booted up normally. Virus and malware checkers came up clean. Hard drive, CPU and GPU temperatures appeared normal even during stress tests. Scan of the HDD revealed no bad sectors. MemTest came up clean. I opened up the computer and blew out as much dirt as I could with compressed air. The computer booted up normally after that. Later that night I booted up the computer and the problem returned every start up once again. After several restarts I managed to get into windows in normal mode. From then on that night the computer would boot up ok, but would crash a few minutes into any graphics intensive game. I opened up my computer, popped out my RAM sticks, checked for dirt and reinserted them back in. Problem remained. Fearing windows corruption I backed up much of my data and wiped the main drive. Reinstalled Vista, updated all hardware drivers and reinstalled EVE Online. Since then the computer has not crashed at all during startup. However it has been crashing when I either run EVE, or when I run video files on VLC media player. It does not crash when I run audio files on VLC media player. The crash happens within 1-2 seconds of turning on the video player, or of activating EVE Online. Furthermore I noticed that the keyboard appears to remain responsive - caps lock and num lock are activated on the keyboard display when the keys are pressed, though there is a delay of 0.5-1 second between key press and response. Because the crash to static coloured screen is finally now reproducible I took note of the time and triggered a crash by opening a video file on VLC. The error was induced at 9:14:00 plus or minus a second or two. The event log lists the following events: Note: The ID 10 error occurs every time the computer is booted, regardless of whether the computer crashes or not during startup. Time: 9:15:39 ID 6008: Event Log The previous system shutdown at 9:13:59 PM on 3/8/2009 was unexpected. Time: 9:15:42 ID 1101: Event Log Audit events have been dropped by the transport. The real time backup file was corrupt due to improper shutdown. Time: 9:15:40 ID 15016: HttpEvent Unable to initialize the security package Kerberos for server side authentication. The data field contains the error number. Time: 9:16:51 ID 10: WMI Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected. The time of these events suggest to me that the event log is not detecting the cause of the error. There are also no registered hardware errors in the event viewer. At this point I fear that the problem may be with the graphics card, or maybe with the BIOS. I do not have a spare computer to salvage for parts, so I cant test individual components by swapping them out. My computer details: Mainboard: Asus Maximus Extreme Chipset: Intel X38 Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2666 MHz Memory: 4096 MB (2x2048 DDR3-SDRAM) Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 Hard Disk: WDC (300 GB), WDC (750 GB) Network Card: Marvell Semiconductor Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet 600W PSU Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1 32-bit I have not had a problem with this computer for almost a year now. The problem started only 1 week ago. As I type this the problem seems to once again have vanished. Video files play perfectly on VLC, EVE loads up fine, no crashes during startup. The problem will return however, of that I am sure. Since the only thing I can think of is to start buying new expensive components to swap out, I turn to you for help. What else can I do to exhaust all possibilities before spending an outrageous amount of money?

03-08-2009, 09:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem your PSU is most likely the cause of this. its probably something generic. Your PSU has had too much strain on it. I think if you keep straining it it could take down a lot of the components in your comp. you need a PSU like this one Corsair 850w Single rail @70A $140 after rebate $120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009 maybe a friend has a quality PSU you could borrow

03-08-2009, 09:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
timusacs Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem thanks for sharing! that's very useful !

03-08-2009, 09:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem Thank for the help Mcninjaguy! I will pick up the PSU you recommended and give it a try.

03-08-2009, 09:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem I'm really hoping that your PSU didn't fry your video card. once you got the new PSU I can give you a bunch of programs to stress test your computer

03-10-2009, 08:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem PSU is installed and purring smoothly. It was the first time I installed anything on a computer, so it was quite an interesting and stressful experience. The coloured static problem seems to be gone for now as well which is nice. :) I dont know if it will return, and I have not yet tried my most graphics intensive games (ie. Crysis) but so far it seems a lot more stable than it was. The monitor is now flickering occasionally though. Is this a sign that I didnt hook something up properly in that mess of cables?

03-10-2009, 09:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem theres a 8 pin and a 6pin PCI-E power supply connector to the card are they plugged in? is the monitor flickering during games or on the desktop? maybe the monitor's Hz is too high change it to 60hz or whatever is the native refresh rate for it what was your your old PSU's name and brand by the way?

03-11-2009, 03:51 AM	#8 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem The card has a 6 pin + an 8 pin power connection. The powerpack didnt have any 8 pin PCI-E connectors, but there were several 6 pin with an additional 2 pins hanging out near the plugs, so I figured it was designed that way for versatility. Went ahead and plugged in 6 pins and another 6+2. The old PSU details: Thermaltake Toughpower 600W ATX 12V 2.2

03-11-2009, 08:55 AM	#9 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem yea keep your old PSU its a nice one just not meant for your GTX 280 and you got it right for the 8 pin and the 6 pin connection what about the flickering?

03-13-2009, 05:32 AM	#10 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem Seems to be gone. Dont see any flickering anymore, everything runs smootly, machine purring very quietly. :) Thanks again for the help Mcninjaguy. That problem gave me a lot of headaches for over a week, and I was truly exhausted with my possibilities.

03-13-2009, 05:58 AM	#11 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem I'm so glad I could help phew people are usually very resistant against replacing the PSu but not other components

03-13-2009, 09:42 PM	#12 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem Hey, the problem appeared again. I was running EVE Online. Switched windows to the client and the screen turned to static, exactly as it used to. This is the first time this has happened since I replaced the power supply. I cannot duplicate the problem, and everything is perfectly normal when running videos with vlc media player. Replacing the power supply helped in a dramatic way, but the problem appeared again this once which suggests that it will do so again. I decided to download another Video Card Stress tester. This is the one I tried: http://freestone-group.com/video-car...ility-test.htm Using Real Temp 3.0 I monitored the temperatures as the test ran. After 6 minutes GPU temp was stable at 85C - exactly what this review says it should be. Same temperature for GPU after running the benchmarking test for that application. Temperature of all four cores (CPU?) were hovering between 50-58. After I turned off the video card stability tester core temperatures kept going up to a peak of 62 in two of the cores, then decreased again. The temperatures still seem ok to me. The crashes always used to happen straight away upon starting up an application, so I really dont think its a temperature issue. Maybe I should run some of those other tests you mentioned?

03-13-2009, 11:59 PM	#13 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,753 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem redo the paste on the cpu with some arctic silver http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm __________________

03-14-2009, 03:50 AM	#14 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem the GPU temps are pretty high use rivatuner and change the fan speed to 70% http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

03-14-2009, 12:53 PM	#15 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem Computer worked fine today while playing EVE. Switched it off for half an hour or so. Turned it back on, powered on EVE Online and problem struck once more straight away. Rebooted and loaded up RealTemp. GPU temp at 44C, cores between 36-45C. Cranked up fan to 70% with RivaTuner. Temp still looking good. Loaded up EVE and static madness again as soon as the game login screen came up. Keyboard was totally unresponsive to caps or num lock. Sound stuck in a loop. Would the thermal paste on the CPU be a likely culprit? edit: crash occurred again within 1 second of loading up a video file on VLC media player. Last edited by The Horror; 03-14-2009 at 12:57 PM.

03-14-2009, 09:20 PM	#16 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,753 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem those temp are ok that you just posted but not if they are going higher on the cpu cores have you done the psu __________________

03-17-2009, 09:33 PM	#17 (permalink)
The Horror Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: Vista SP1 32bit	Re: Possible 280 GTX graphics card problem I have moved the query to the Corsair support forums as I plan to be running checks on my RAM. Thanks for the help guys.