Handful of games (and google earth) crashing my computer?

[SilvioA]

I've had my computer (home-built) for nearly two months now. Since the beginning, every game I've thrown at it has run flawlessly at maximum settings and lightweight, general use is never a problem. However, for some strange reason, some of my games, and google earth, cause my computer to crash after 5-10mins of use. This crash isn't to desktop either, it's a completely system lock-up. I end up having to cold reboot. I've monitored my gpu temps and they're averaging at 42-53C, I haven't monitored my cpu yet though. I also ran memtest and found 0 errors with my ram. Any ideas what could be causing this? The games that lock up are Rage, Torchlight 2, Fligh Simulator X and Rust.

Specs:
MOBO: ASRock 990FX Extreme3
CPU: AMD FX 6350 (3.9ghz)
GPU: Asus Radeon R9270x DIRECT CU II TOP
PSU: Corsair cx600M 600W
RAM: 8gb GSkill RIpjaws (2x 4gb sticks)

 

[Beezy]

did you try windows built in check disk feature? no just a benchmark, it will actually scan for bad sectors on the HDD, then fix them

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Okay well we poked to see some problems occur and try to generate the problem through different methodologies. Based on these responses the current choices as follows:

1) Uninstall your video drivers, then download and run Driver Sweeper to really remove them (this is a critical difference!). Reboot and be in VGA mode most likely. Download the newest drivers (Beta at the bottom of the page I believe when you look at the list) and reinstall. Then test again.

2) if it still doesn't work, click the orb and run Windows Easy Transfer to a external drive. Download DBAN and wipe the drive clean. Do a clean install of Windows from DVD, then run all updates and options (except bing). Download and run SlimDrivers to install all updated drivers. Go to www.filehippo.com and download either AVAST! or AVG (Never use MSE it doesn't work as reliable as many other AV programs) DO NOT INSTALL anything else. Now watch Netflix, then try Google Earth, finally then install only one game at a time and TEST each one, then retest Netflix (different video) and Google Earth after each game install ( torchlight 2, flight simulator x, rust.) When all the games are installed having issue, Netflix and Google Earth are all working fine on a clean build, then try again with each other 'working game' by installing and testing Netflix / Google. Let see if there is something someone is installing that is messing things up for the others.

 

[SilvioA]

did you try windows built in check disk feature? no just a benchmark, it will actually scan for bad sectors on the HDD, then fix them

I tried the check disc feature last night and I just attempted playing torchlight 2 again and, although it took a bit longer to happen this time, it still crashed .

 

[SilvioA]

Okay well we poked to see some problems occur and try to generate the problem through different methodologies. Based on these responses the current choices as follows:

1) Uninstall your video drivers, then download and run Driver Sweeper to really remove them (this is a critical difference!). Reboot and be in VGA mode most likely. Download the newest drivers (Beta at the bottom of the page I believe when you look at the list) and reinstall. Then test again.

2) if it still doesn't work, click the orb and run Windows Easy Transfer to a external drive. Download DBAN and wipe the drive clean. Do a clean install of Windows from DVD, then run all updates and options (except bing). Download and run SlimDrivers to install all updated drivers. Go to www.filehippo.com and download either AVAST! or AVG (Never use MSE it doesn't work as reliable as many other AV programs) DO NOT INSTALL anything else. Now watch Netflix, then try Google Earth, finally then install only one game at a time and TEST each one, then retest Netflix (different video) and Google Earth after each game install ( torchlight 2, flight simulator x, rust.) When all the games are installed having issue, Netflix and Google Earth are all working fine on a clean build, then try again with each other 'working game' by installing and testing Netflix / Google. Let see if there is something someone is installing that is messing things up for the others.

Phew...alright, I'll get started on this list lol. I really appreciate the time you're taking. Just to be sure though, where would I go to properly uninstall my video drivers? Stupid question, I know. But I've tried doing it before via catalyst and I feel like I did it wrong. I should mention that when I did reinstall my video drivers, they weren't the beta version though either.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Click Orb, Control Panel, Programs, Uninstall a program. Always remember, since Vista they have included a extensive 'search' feature and help function. So pressing F1 (Help) will always bring up help and you can always type in what you want, it will search (like google) to the best / most common answers.

 

[SilvioA]

Click Orb, Control Panel, Programs, Uninstall a program. Always remember, since Vista they have included a extensive 'search' feature and help function. So pressing F1 (Help) will always bring up help and you can always type in what you want, it will search (like google) to the best / most common answers.

Right, that's what I usually do for programs, but I'm just a little apprehensive because the only program that has to do with amd is catalyst. I have programs by ASUS for my gpu, but I'm not sure if those should go as well? They're ASUS GPU Tweak and ASUS Product Register Program.

 

[SilvioA]

Click Orb, Control Panel, Programs, Uninstall a program. Always remember, since Vista they have included a extensive 'search' feature and help function. So pressing F1 (Help) will always bring up help and you can always type in what you want, it will search (like google) to the best / most common answers.

Well...I uninstalled my video drivers, restarted my computer in safe mode and ran DDU, wiped all the old drivers and rebooted again, downloaded the newest drivers and played torchlight. Surprisingly, the game played for much longer than it did before...but then, once again, it crashed. Crushing my soul along with it. I guess it's time to start the longer method.

 

[SilvioA]

Click Orb, Control Panel, Programs, Uninstall a program. Always remember, since Vista they have included a extensive 'search' feature and help function. So pressing F1 (Help) will always bring up help and you can always type in what you want, it will search (like google) to the best / most common answers.

I figured it out guys. It was Norton. It was causing interference with Steam games. I uninstalled it and downloaded AVG instead and everything is working properly now. Both you guys though, really truly appreciate the help and suggestions you gave me. I'm just upset the solution was so much simpler than what I made it to be.