Upgraded Graphics Crashing

[KerryLloyd]

I've been running SL without any issues for some time with an AMD A8 6600K APU and an R7 250 2GB graphics card. However, I have recently upgraded my graphics card to a GTX 960. Since then, SL will run for a few minutes then locks up for a few minutes, then either shows a white screen or closes and restarts itself.

I've double checked my drivers are up to date and even formatted my HDD and done a clean installation of Windows 10.  Not done much else with the PC since installing the card, but would anyone have any suggestions other than binning my new graphics card and going back to the R7?

 

[cykarushb]

Does this happen in any other game?

Couple things it could be, it might simply be the driver version, try using a slightly older driver version and see if that's any better. If it's a used card that hasn't been cleaned it might be thermal throttling and causing issues due to being too hot. It could be an outright faulty card, sometimes the voltage regulation modules on a GPU can fail and cause power fluctuation which would cause "sharp" artifacts (white screens, complete system shutdown, windows bluesceens).

It may also be a power issue, this may be a dumb thing to ask, but is it getting the power it needs? An R7 250 doesn't need any other power besides what the slot provides, but a 960 should have a 6 or 8 pin power connector. 

If it's not plugged in with that cable, it may still start, but as soon as it needs the extra wattage it would cause sharp artifacts.

If it is plugged in, which I presume it is, it may be the power supply being unable to either provide the needed wattage or it can't maintain it stably.

[animats]

For a stress test for the graphics system, load one of these Unreal Engine benchmarks. These are not games; just complex scenes which show what the game engine can do. You should be able to run at least the 2009 benchmark. If your system crashes on those, you have a hardware problem.

[KerryLloyd]

In answer to the questions above, it's a new card, and while I have not tested it to any great extent, I have run one other program without any issues, and it does have the 6 pin pci-e power connected. I've also replaced the 500w cheap power supply (which should have been able to handle it but went pop after two hours) with a Corsair 650w PSU which should be able to handle it no problem. I'm suspecting the card itself is more likely, though asked on here in case there is a known issue with the GTX 960 and SL viewers. Incidentally, it affects SL viewer AND Firestorm exactly the same way.

[KerryLloyd]

Update, now run the 2009 benchmark. Ran fine with the basic test, but crashed under the extreme test on the first attempt, completed on a second go. After some more research, looks like I bought a fake card.

Edited June 28, 2018 by KerryLloyd
addition

[Lillith Hapmouche]

In general, the idea of buying a 960 as a new product in 2018 wasn't good. If you had bought it second hand and for cheap... ok. But nowadays, you would have been fine with a GTX 1050ti, for example, or less for very light needs.

No idea what your "fake card" idea is based on, but the card may be broken or your old power supply might have broken it upon the crash.

[Paul Hexem]

Power supply or heat issues, is my guess.

Also, I agree that a 960 was a bad purchase in 2018.

[Quinn Lysette]

On 6/26/2018 at 1:07 PM, KerryLloyd said:

I've been running SL without any issues for some time with an AMD A8 6600K APU and an R7 250 2GB graphics card. However, I have recently upgraded my graphics card to a GTX 960. Since then, SL will run for a few minutes then locks up for a few minutes, then either shows a white screen or closes and restarts itself.

I've double checked my drivers are up to date and even formatted my HDD and done a clean installation of Windows 10.  Not done much else with the PC since installing the card, but would anyone have any suggestions other than binning my new graphics card and going back to the R7?

 

did you turn off all the spying crap microsoft has in windows 10 and check the power settings? cuz in 10 microsoft has it by default on power saver  you need to go in an set it up to high performance  then check the privacy settings cuz in the latest update microsft added tons of more spying crap alot in difrent sections to 

[KerryLloyd]

Having removed the heat sink from the GPU, the numbers on the GPU refer to a gts450 rather than a gtx960. There are also 4 2 gigabit ram chips on the board, again confirming it's a 1 GB gts450. Got a full refund without any quibbles.

[Lillith Hapmouche]

That's a surprise... that you got a refund, I mean. 

Well, a GTX 1050ti would still be a fine replacement. One of these versions, for example.

[Nalates Urriah]

No one mentioned it. But, the handy tools needed for checking out these types of problems are HWMonitor and GPU-Z. They take their information from the hardware. Makes it easy to diagnose of different problems.

[cykarushb]

Oof, Chinese gpu scams got ya

always remeber, if it seems too good to be true, it is.

the GTS 450 actually could do Ok with SL, it just needs to be reflashed as a 450

if you get your refund and keep the card, look up how to use nvflash to make it a GTS 450 again, keep it around as a spare

for now though, go find an actual card, an actual 960, 970, 1050ti, whatever, just make sure it's from an actual manufacturer and is properly priced

you should be able to find used 970's on eBay for like 200-240$