Repeated Screen Flickering/Crashes, PLEASE HELP! :)

[samlarz13]

Ok, upfront here is a list of my hardware

NZXT Phantom mid tower
Intel i5 3570k processor
ASRock Z77 Pro 4m motherboard
8GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM
Gigabyte AMD Radeon hd 7970 GHz edition GPU
Corsair builder series 750w power supply
1TB Seagate hybrid drive

So this is my first PC that I have built and one of my close friends who has built several mid to high end computers helped me along the way. I built it back in the first week of October and primarily use it for gaming. When I first got it there were no visable issues. However, within the first couple weeks I started noticing some strange graphical problems. Sometimes the screen would flicker just slightly but typically only while I was playing a game (some of which weren't even highly demanding: League of Legends). I believe it may have crashed once or twice and in a desperate attempt to fix the problem before it got worse I returned the motherboard and GPU for identical parts thinking there may be defected parts. This fixed the issue for a short while and then I started noticing it would happen again and more frequently now. Thinking that my computer was being underpowered I traded my previously smaller power supply (600w) for the larger one I have now (750w). Again, I saw immediate improvement but it later regressed to its previous state. Lastly I tried doing a fresh install of the operating system (windows 8.0) and it worked fine for some time. Recently the issue has come up again leading me to believe that it has nothing to do with the drivers or operating system but its still a hardware issue. I have tried moving the GPU to other pci-e slots and resetting it in the same one. Sometimes this works but not always. Yesterday I was playing Battlefield 4 (which since it's release has ran fine at maxed quality) and it crashed somewhere around 8 times. Even after rebooting. Sometimes it would just go to a black screen other times a brightly colored one such as orange or a sandy red color. But only once or twice has it blue screened. Now, even if I am on my desktop or in the internet browser I will get sporadic screen flickering and eventually my computer will crap its pants and crash again. I've somehow managed to get into a couple servers on bf4, and once i'm in game I do not notice any graphical issues aside from a random crash occasionally but I was able to play for a couple hours today without any problems. The loading screen flickers constantly and once I get into the game itself is fine. What the heck is going on with my computer and how can I easily fix this?

 

[Mossiac]

One thing I will suggest is to flush the RAM. Power down PC, unplug from the wall and press the power button for about 10 seconds and then press power button say ten times and that's it.

Other than that (which in theory should flush the GPU as well but I'm not sure) I would say that there is an issue with the GPU. Possibly CPU.

That is an interesting problem though.

Mossiac

 

[IAntDemo]

Flush the ram?

Just goto prefetch folder and delete everything inside will flush the ram.

Not heard of that way before.

Anyway, you sure the GPU Temps are not just getting to high?

Download www.almico.com/speedfan449.exe

Open and then it should give your temps and GPU temp, next to that maybe turn the fan upto 55%

 

[Mossiac]

Well I did wonderful what the prefetch was for and BK recommends that way of flushing the RAM all the time. The extra 10 second thing drain power from the caps that might remain.

Mossiac

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Computer Forums mobile app

 

[jmacavali]

I've heard several memebers here recommend pushing the power button in when the computer is unplugged. I think it originated from as an idea to drain the caps in case they would still have power. I personally think it's silly, but I do recommend to people to unplug the power cord if their computer isn't starting as that will fix it a lot of the times. However, I don't think it has anything to do with "flushing the ram" - I don't even think that's a thing.


As for this post, it seems that even with a new board and gpu there are still the same issues. First thought was power, but you took care of that as well. This leads me to a couple of other thoughts:

1. Drivers? Maybe they aren't made for Win8 or it's auto-updating it or something.
2. Temps (as already mentioned).

 

[IAntDemo]

People make me laugh JMac we seem to share the exact same thoughts although the difference is you don't need to unplug anything, just delete everything in the prefetch folder does the job, that keeps everything you open in a folder, which is of course collected by the memory.

 

[Mossiac]

Oh. I didn't think this did anything for the RAM but I have seen it suggested and no one has said anything about it being wrong. Maybe I just misunderstood what was happening the last couple of times I saw this. Or maybe even got me wires crossed.

I will say going back to the problem at hand, temps didn't cross my mind so as said maybe that is worth looking at.

Mossiac

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Computer Forums mobile app

 

[jmacavali]

People make me laugh JMac we seem to share the exact same thoughts although the difference is you don't need to unplug anything, just delete everything in the prefetch folder does the job, that keeps everything you open in a folder, which is of course collected by the memory.

Just for the record, I only do an unplug when the computer powers on but doesn't actully boot. It can/does fix that problem sometimes (just yesterday on one of my computers at work).

 

[IAntDemo]

Ok well it must seem the word is sending a confusing message across.

 

[iPwn]

The "flush the ram" thing started with me.

It is entirely possible for faulty code, or even malicious code to take up residence inside/on RAM. The ONLY WAY [ that is available to Windows users] to clear any and all information from those DIMMs is to remove all available electricity as it is flash memory, and only holds information while it has a power source. Turning off the computer doesn't remove the power source, nor does simply unplugging it as there are many capacitors on the motherboard that will provide a steady stream of power to the RAM in the event a steady source is not available.
Invoking the boot process by pressing the power button will draw all power from the capacitors first. Without a source to replenish, all electricity stored on the board will be depleted, causing the RAM to lose its source, and therefore losing all information stored in it.
The 'press it many times' is not necessarily needed. In fact, you can drain the electricity by simply pressing it once. I just press it a bunch of times because I'm weird like that and so I tell others to be weird like me.

re: Delete Prefetch

"Cleaning the Prefetch folder in Windows XP/Vista is a Myth and will reduce performance. The Prefetch folder is self cleaning at 128 entries by Windows. When the 128 limit is reached Windows will keep the 32 most used prefetch files. Cleaning the folder before this will cripple Windows load and all application load times. The Prefetch folder is not a cache. Prefetch files are NOT loaded at Windows startup and unused files do absolutely nothing but take up a ridiculously small amount of disk space. The folder is rarely over 5 MB. Prefetch (.pf) files are merely REFERENCED when an Application loads so Windows can optimally load the application to RAM. There is NO negative performance hit from Prefetching. All recommendations to clean the folder or tweak Windows Prefetching in ANY way are Myths and spread by those who do not understand how Windows Prefetching works."

source

@OP, sorry to hijack the thread... had to clear that up.

Re: Your issue
You need to get the details of the blue screen. Follow the below steps to stop Windows from automatically rebooting.

Press (keyboard) Windows Key + X
Click System
(Left Hand Side) Advanced System Settings
(Tab) Advanced
(Under Startup and Recovery) Settings
(Under System Failure) Uncheck "Automatically Restart"

The next time you get a blue screen, note the bottom line where is states 'search online for this error:'...

What is the error listed?