30 replies to this topic

[Mr.Kotte]

Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 2.66GHz (not OCd)
Asus P5B-Premium
4GB RAM
Geforce GTX 660Ti (2GB)
250GB+250GB+750GB+1TB HDD (no ssd... yet!)
Windows 7 64-bit
1x LG Flatron IPS231 (1080p monitor)


I've been able, since I got my GPU upgrade, to run the game with 30-80 fps on mid/high settings easily. A couple of days ago, it all changed. What did I do? NOTHING. I was booting up my computer from hibernation (as I do every day) to find out my hibernation file (some sys file) got corrupt. I thought "OK fine I'll just have to start windows normally then". So I did, the computer started fine after some hassle with BIOS not starting from the correct harddrive. Easily changed, all my stuff is back. Great, or so I thought.
I attempted to start a youtube video in 720p. Audio is completely stuttering now and so is the video. I lower resolution to 240p. Same thing.
I start GW2. I am now unable to get more then 14 fps with "best-preformance" settings.

Being a computer major and a long time PC user, I naturally did "the usual". Here's what I did, approx the same order (can't remember the exact order):

*Uninstall / Reinstall Flash
*Uninstall / Reinstall Graphics drivers (checked so I have the latest)
*Uninstall / Reinstall DirectX 11
*Reinstalled GW2 from scratch. (please don't make me download everything again)

No changes. So I went a step further.

*Uninstall / Reinstall Audio drivers
*Reset processor changes in registry (I had them all unparked, I returned them to default aka all parked)
*Updated Windows fully

No changes. Now I'm angry.

*Reset windows to the day I got my new GPU (the 660Ti).

STILL NO *ING CHANGES.

*Replaced RAM with old 2GB stick from older computer
*Replaced GPU with old GPU (ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB)
*Removed unnecessary HDDs

IT. IS. STILL. NOT. WORKING.

I'm on the verge of just wiping everything and just starting completely over.

Any last ideas before I do? How can I make this work? Did I miss anything?

Any input or ideas are welcome.
Attatching my dxdiag for the ones interested, though I'm close to 100% this is not the issue.

My theory?
The HDD is dying. That's the only logical explanation. It's the only device apart from the MB that is still in the damn can. Either that or a corrupted Windows as stated previously.

Attached Files

•  DxDiag.txt   38.04K   7 downloads

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 30 November 2012 - 05:05 PM.

[Mustache Mayhem]

can restore the system to a previous state with system restore- it's in the control panel under system > system protection.. I'd try open the command box in admin and type sfc /scannow

that might fix your problem if it's software.. hardware you'll have to narrow it down- you check your oc and make sure nothing has changed?

Edited by Mustache Mayhem, 30 November 2012 - 05:14 PM.

[Velicia]

Have you removed the corrupted file?
http://helpdeskgeek....e-hiberfil-sys/

Could be that its still sat on your HD screwing up other write/read commands.

[Mr.Kotte]

Mustache Mayhem, on 30 November 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

can restore the system to a previous state with system restore- it's in the control panel under system > system protection.. I'd try open the command box in admin and type sfc /scannow

that might fix your problem if it's software.. hardware you'll have to narrow it down- you check your oc and make sure nothing has changed?

1. Tried system restore already. Didnt work.
2. Tried sfc /scannow got this: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.".
3. Neved OCd anything so it's all good.

Velicia, on 30 November 2012 - 05:21 PM, said:

Have you removed the corrupted file?
http://helpdeskgeek....e-hiberfil-sys/

Could be that its still sat on your HD screwing up other write/read commands.

Did this, will reboot and check.

EDIT: No luck. Still working terrible.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 30 November 2012 - 06:20 PM.

[Vysander]

Given all you've done, it sounds very much like corruption with the OS. Have you checked the event logs or tried running procmon to see what is hanging?

Is your processor being fully taxed when the stuttering begins?

[Mr.Kotte]

Vysander, on 30 November 2012 - 06:58 PM, said:

Given all you've done, it sounds very much like corruption with the OS. Have you checked the event logs or tried running procmon to see what is hanging?

Is your processor being fully taxed when the stuttering begins?

The processor maxed out at 88% when I tried a 1080p flash video. It usually maxes when I play GW2.
Nothing relevant turns up on either procmon/taskmgr or in the eventlogs.

[Vysander]

Starting to reach a bit with this, but did you try the GPU in a different PCI slot?

Typically the machine wouldn't start if it was a bad slot, but not many more options other then a reload.

I also notice in your DXDiag that most of you nvidia drivers were installed on 11-22-2012 (im assuming when you uninstalled/reinstalled) However, you seem to still have drivers that were installed on 10-10-2012.... I really dont think that would cause an issue like this... but you might want to make sure that all traces of the old drivers are gone.

Edited by Vysander, 30 November 2012 - 07:51 PM.

[Norn Osprey]

Mr.Kotte, on 30 November 2012 - 05:04 PM, said:

I was booting up my computer from hibernation (as I do every day) to find out my hibernation file (some sys file) got corrupt.

My theory?
The HDD is dying. That's the only logical explanation. It's the only device apart from the MB that is still in the damn can. Either that or a corrupted Windows as stated previously.

Usually, software just doesn't become bad without outside help. If you didn't update a driver somewhere, it sounds like a hardware issue causing a software issue.

Having a corrupt Hiber file is -very- bad sign. In my experience, that sounds like RAM (you swapped but did run a MemTest ?), board (unlikely), driver (unlikely as you didn't update anything), HDD.

First thing I would do is an extensive test of your RAM. You need to know if the modules and the slots themselves are working properly. Having bad RAM or slots will corrupt your data and that data gets written back to your HDD which will corrupt your apps, OS and games. I would let it complete 4 or 5 passes so that the RAM is warmed up. Sometimes, as the connections warm up, the modules still start failing.

Second, I would do a low level data check on the drive. Currently, I know of only one program that can do this, SpinRite. This program is different than Check disk, which checks file structures. SpinRite looks at the data on the HDD at the bit level, checking for bad sectors. If bad sectors are found, it will attempt the move the data and spare in a sector. If you get and run SpinRite, its not free because it does not have a demo, pay -special- attention to the screen that lists errors. If any number on this page is counting up, your drive has issues. The higher the numbers go, the more concerned you should be.

If this is a laptop, then HDDs die much sooner than big tower/desktop PCs. This is because HDDs run much much hotter inside a cramped laptop with no air flow. Manufacturers say, that every 10C above the recommended temp, shortens the drives life by half.

Is this a PC? Look at the motherboards capacitors. Many manufactures will put inexpensive electrolytic caps on the board (gamer boards are more expensive and have better, longer lasting caps -- as do server boards).  Look for a flatten top on the caps. If any are starting to mound up / look rounded / curved, it means they are becoming a resistor. As the resistance grows, they get hotter and expand more. Eventually, it doesn't take long after this starts, they will not longer function as a cap and damage can be done to your board. This could also allow data to get corrupted if its in the HDD or RAM subsystem.

Lastly, check your CPU's heatsink assembly. If this is a PC and you have access to a shop vac, awesome! Does the top of the heatsink look like a dryer sheet? If so, vacuum out as much of that dust and lint as possible. Be especially careful with the fan blades. CPUs will usually slow down to avoid overheating and damage however, I have cleaned CPU heatsinks that have fixed what seemed to be serious issues.

Bonus stage: Check your video cards cooling system as well. A bit of vacuuming gentle air blowing can help clean out a dusty cooler assembly.

Wrap up. I would;
1. Run a MemTest on the system RAM.  Win7 has one built in but you can download and burn an ISO from -- http://www.memtest.org/

2. Run SpinRite on the HDD, if possible. This may not be an option for you as you may not have access to it and may not want to buy it.

3. While the RAM is being tested, I could look over the CPU heatsink to see if it is clean and dust free (don't forget about your video card as well).

4. While the RAM is being tested, I would look over the capacitors on the board (caps on video cards go bad to, but very infrequently).

Send me a PM after this because I will never remember where this thread was at.

EDIT: Spelling mistakes.

Edited by Norn Osprey, 30 November 2012 - 08:18 PM.

[Mr.Kotte]

Vysander, on 30 November 2012 - 07:44 PM, said:

Starting to reach a bit with this, but did you try the GPU in a different PCI slot?

Typically the machine wouldn't start if it was a bad slot, but not many more options other then a reload.

I also notice in your DXDiag that most of you nvidia drivers were installed on 11-22-2012 (im assuming when you uninstalled/reinstalled) However, you seem to still have drivers that were installed on 10-10-2012.... I really dont think that would cause an issue like this... but you might want to make sure that all traces of the old drivers are gone.

The dxdiag shows that the driver/file was compiled/released 11-22-2012/10-10-2012. I installed it today.
The GPU is in the same slot it always is where it can run x16.

Norn Osprey, on 30 November 2012 - 08:10 PM, said:

-snip-

Wrap up. I would;
1. Run a MemTest on the system RAM.  Win7 has one built in but you can download and burn an ISO from -- http://www.memtest.org/

2. Run SpinRite on the HDD, if possible. This may not be an option for you as you may not have access to it and may not want to buy it.

3. While the RAM is being tested, I could look over the CPU heatsink to see if it is clean and dust free (don't forget about your video card as well).

4. While the RAM is being tested, I would look over the capacitors on the board (caps on video cards go bad to, but very infrequently).

Send me a PM after this because I will never remember where this thread was at.

EDIT: Spelling mistakes.

1. I will do this tomorrow! Its getting late.
2. Any linux alternatives? I can easily boot up on a live cd and do what I need to from there.
3. I cleaned the computer when I put in the new GPU about 3-5 weeks ago. It should not be any dust but I'll check again.
4. Aight.

I should add I have the possibility to swap slots for the RAM sticks, if needed. Both of them.
The videocard is usually running idle on ~30C and when I'm gaming it goes up to about 55C so thats not an issue. Average PC temperature would be around 40C.
This is not a laptop.

EDIT: My beautysleep is over, I'm now running MemTest which I'll let run for about 6 hours so it can complete 11-12 passes.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 01 December 2012 - 10:21 AM.

[Zerk2012]

Could be your ISP or your connection.
Scan your HDD for bad sectors then fresh install of windows and the game. Memtest will show nothing.

Edited by Zerk2012, 01 December 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[Mr.Kotte]

Zerk2012, on 01 December 2012 - 05:48 PM, said:

Could be your ISP or your connection.
Scan your HDD for bad sectors then fresh install of windows and the game. Memtest will show nothing.

1. Bad ISP would not cause hiberfil to crash, nor would my processor be on 88% on a 1080p flash video. A poor connection would only affect the buffering speed, which there's no problem with.
2. Any good FREE low level scanner you know of? chkdsk doesn't really do all that well. I'm an avid Linux user so either of these OS's works. I know dd can do a low-level clone but can it check/fix bad sectors?

I can add that chkdsk doesn't give me any trouble at all. All clear.

[Mr.Kotte]

OK, an update, prepare to get your minds violated.
MemTest: Nothing wrong. I went through 10 passes without any errors at all.
For hiberfil corruption, I think we can safely say that the HDD I'm using is dying, BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE!

I booted up GPU-Z just as a precaution, and what did I find? My GPU is running on x1 instead of x4/8/16. Yeah, just that. Now, after some extensive googling, I've come up with the following solutions: (partial source: http://www.techarp.c....aspx?artno=522)
*Disable PEG x1 - Well yeah, it was disabled in the first place. Tried the good old "turn it on then off", didnt work.
*NB Vcore to 1.45 or less (from auto) - Didnt work.
*Over/underclock PCIe - Didnt work.
*PCI Sync to auto - Already at auto, tried manual but rolled back, since there was no change.
*PEG Link Mode to normal - Doesnt exist on my MB.
*Diffrent PCIe slot - not an option, I have no more x16 slots.
*Clean the slot/card - Done, still x1. Used both canned air and my lungs.
*With PCIe selector, set x8 x8 instead of x16 x1 - No such thing for me as "PCIe selector". Cannot force x8 x8.
*OC CPU base freq to 201 from 200 - Didnt work.

I promised a violated mind, didn't I? Here we go:
I booted computer, GPU-Z shows x1. I put computer in hibernation, boot it up. Now, GPU-Z shows x2.

I don't even know..

With x2 I get no lag at all with a 1080p video, but still not as good FPS with GW2 as I had when it was running x16. I know for sure it was running x16 when I first put it in because the first thing I did when I put the new GPU in was to check.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 01 December 2012 - 11:06 PM.

[Zerk2012]

I would call Asus support or post/search on their fourms. I've seem that problem somewhere but forget the cure.

EDIT found this on your motherboard.
http://www.techpower...ead.php?t=68412

Edited by Zerk2012, 01 December 2012 - 11:38 PM.

[Mustache Mayhem]

reminds of of the 680i issues.. the mosfets would overheat and cause all kinds of drama

I always had to take apart the board and retim the sinks including the southbridge.. they used to use this pink stuff and half the time they missed one or two.. back then when those boards were being made- foxconn was producing them.. you opened up anything from foxconn even your video cards and it looked like a little kid sat on the assembly like with a tube of toothpaste.. sometimes up to half of the gpu would be bare too

you could try and remove the battery from the bios and see if that works.. it sounds like the mb- the core 2 boards had a lot of prep involved in keeping longevity.. most people don't run them today because they didn't prep the board (which were ticking time bombs compared to the systems today) and issues like yours eventually caused an upgrade.. I still run a rig in my home lan from 2008 but it's heavily modified

having said that it's probably something like broken solder.. you could fix with a heat gun.. turning a rig on and off is really not good for it either.. solder heats and cools and eventually breaks.. I run my rigs 24/7 and they've all lasted years even oc'd balls to the wall

you could try a re-tim of the mosfets and north/southbridge sinks.. hit it with a heatgun if that doesn't work

Edited by Mustache Mayhem, 02 December 2012 - 02:52 AM.

[Quaker]

It could simply be that something broke.

One thing you might try is to reset your BIOS back to default settings. You can either use the hardware method (which should be documented in your motherboard manual) or enter the BIOS and select "load defaults". After that you'd need to redo any changes you had made to the BIOS. There can be all sorts of relatively obscure settings in the BIOS which can make things unstable if they are set incorrectly.
I've even had cases where resetting the BIOS appeared to make no changes, but things worked afterwards.

And, of course, given how many things you've tried, it may now be simplest to start with "format C:" and see how it goes from there.

Edited by Quaker, 02 December 2012 - 04:50 PM.

[Mr.Kotte]

Thanks for all input! Before I start fiddling around with replacing/resoldering parts, I want to make sure its not just software.
Also, the only change I've done to BIOS is to make sure I have "Memory Remapping" enabled so I can take advantage of all my 4GB RAM. Resetting it and restoring my settings takes a matter of seconds.

Here's an update:
I've been messing around with BIOS, including completely resetting CMOS. Now my computer is running x2 from a normal boot and not just from hibernation. Still no luck on x4/8/16.

I also installed the latest drivers for the chipset (via intel) which had no effect on the MB.

I'm starting to think its either because of the PSU or the MB. I've had similar effects with my previous GPU (Radeon HD 4870) where it went down to x1, but it went back to x4 by itself. Anyway, borrowing some tools from a friend on tuesday (probably) so I can check the PSU properly but at this point I'm almost certain that there's something up with the MB. Not sure what else to do, since I don't understand the weird flash program in BIOS. It refuses to even check for devices which contain my new rom..

EDIT: Before anyone sais "ohh its a power saving feature" ITS NOT. The GPU takes 100% load when GW2 is running and should (if power saving features worked) go up to atleast x4, which it doesnt. I have also disabled anything that is to do with powersaving.

EDIT2: Also, here's screens:


I have also rolled back to 306.97 driver which is WHQL.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 02 December 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[Mustache Mayhem]

you could take it out the case and boot with the minimum hardware to narrow it down some.. that would eliminate any grounding issues too.. intel chipsets were a lot better than nvidia- thing with nvidia remember was even if you reset the bios- it still kept information if you didn't pull the battery.. that info ever get corrupted you would end up with a headache until you physically removed the battery to reset.. intel didn't have those issues thankfully

(it's not unheard of for the little brother dropping his matchbox cars into a case and the little metal parts falling behind the mb causing a short)

or here's another scenario.. you get home late- you boot from hibernation and your tired.. you accidentally kick the case causing bad sectors on the hd

board makers and repair rely on these scenarios to keep things moving.. laptop screens and inverter replacement is pretty lucrative these days too =] the heat gun can reflow broken solder though.. I've fixed parts destined for the trash like that.. just make sure you don't move the board for around 20 mins after to let the solder cool and foil off any plastic parts

[Velicia]

Did you rule out over heating on the CPU/GPU?

I had a problem with GW2 maxing out my CPU (i5 760 quad) but hardly touching my GPU, turned out I had a broken retention arm on the heat sink. Thing is, I never noticed any problems with my computer before GW2, but the arm must have been broken for nearly half a year!

After trying all sorts of crap, flashing bios, upgrading bios, installing/uninstall drivers, booting into safe mode and removing old drivers, reducing voltage and clocks for CPU and anything else you can think of, after getting a new heat sink works ace.

Do you have access to a spare HDD, even one from another PC, whack it in a try it, should give you an easy deduction as to either HDD or MB.

[Quaker]

I can't see any way way in which the PSU could relate to the PCIe slots switching lanes.

[Mr.Kotte]

Just came back from the airport. I noticed something... weird.
Booting up the computer from hibernation, I checked in GPU-Z, and it was running x1. I put it back in hibernation and booted it up again, now its x2, but I noticed something strange both times.
Keep my previous GPU-Z picture in mind:

New:

See the difference? I have not touched ANYTHING since I took that picture last night. Hell, I havn't even rebooted the PC! For those who can't see it, look at "Driver Version". Its running different "ForceWare". I'm going to attempt to clean out the driver even more and do another reinstall. I'm currently using CCleaner to wipe the driver, should I be using something else?

Havn't had the time to work anything on it today, but I'll probably get my hands on tools to check the PSU with tomorrow. Not sure if I'll attempt to make a clean Windows installation before christmas since I'm hoping to get that SSD I've been longing for

Velicia, on 03 December 2012 - 09:08 AM, said:

Did you rule out over heating on the CPU/GPU?

I had a problem with GW2 maxing out my CPU (i5 760 quad) but hardly touching my GPU, turned out I had a broken retention arm on the heat sink. Thing is, I never noticed any problems with my computer before GW2, but the arm must have been broken for nearly half a year!

After trying all sorts of crap, flashing bios, upgrading bios, installing/uninstall drivers, booting into safe mode and removing old drivers, reducing voltage and clocks for CPU and anything else you can think of, after getting a new heat sink works ace.

Do you have access to a spare HDD, even one from another PC, whack it in a try it, should give you an easy deduction as to either HDD or MB.

I have ruled out overheating. First of all, the overall room temperature since I got the new GPU has gone down with almost 10C to ~22C. Secondly, I ran the benchmark tool "3DMark11" to get the temperature up after which SpeedFan showed that the GPU was on about 55C. I had the chassi opened and measured with a thermometer which gave me about 49C. I couldn't get the sensor to touch the chip but that is to me that is "close enough". If the thermometer would've displayed 60-70C+ I would be worried.

Weirdly enough, 3DMark11 said that my computer is "running as it should". I thought it could've been maybe that GPU-Z was wrong so I downloaded CPU-Z which unfortunately reports the same. The card is running on x2 but should run on x16.

A little note:
I started my computer from hibernation today, and GPU-Z showed x1. I put it back into hibernation and booted it again, this time GPU-Z showed x2.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 03 December 2012 - 10:01 PM.

[Lord Sojar]

So, you set power link management in Windows to full performance yes?  Keep in mind, PCIe power link management in the BIOS also causes the PCIe channels to drop down normally, so that's normal behavior.  Check GPUz WHILE you're running a 1080p Youtube video and while playing GW2.  

If that's the case, then this is likely a power lock feature that has gone haywire.  

You may have a corrupt Windows power entry as well.   I've heard of this issue with AMD's ZeroCore technology, and it was a long persistent bug until 12.8... but with nVidia Kepler GPUs?  This is new.  

Also, CCleaner is out of date.  Use Driver Fusion to eliminate the entries.  

I'm fairly sure this is 1 of three things though.

• Corrupt motherboard BIOS
  
• Corrupt Windows power scaling protocol
  
• Faulty link power management settings for the PCIe

You can easily check 3.  Also, when checking that, verify that S3 wake is enabled in the BIOS.

[Mustache Mayhem]

you could at minimum eliminate grounding as an issue by removing everything off the board but the video card and one stick of ram at a time- and your primary hd, ps.. booting off a table out of the case.. doing that eliminates a lot when trying to narrow down hardware.. I'd redo the tim while it's out too.. might as well

this isn't a software issue from the sounds of it.. you try booting a linux live cd? there's also a utility called harddrive sentinel that will let you see the status of your hd and give an estimate of how long it has to live.. nice little program- gives everything including past errors and what smart has to say about it

this is basic procedure though.. take it out the case and boot with the mins- you can narrow down hardware like that.. it's rarely the cpu- those things are tanks.. you could short circuit everything on the 5v rail and start a fire.. stick the cpu into another board and it's good =]

[Mr.Kotte]

Lord Sojar, on 03 December 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

So, you set power link management in Windows to full performance yes?  Keep in mind, PCIe power link management in the BIOS also causes the PCIe channels to drop down normally, so that's normal behavior.  Check GPUz WHILE you're running a 1080p Youtube video and while playing GW2.  

If that's the case, then this is likely a power lock feature that has gone haywire.  

You may have a corrupt Windows power entry as well.   I've heard of this issue with AMD's ZeroCore technology, and it was a long persistent bug until 12.8... but with nVidia Kepler GPUs?  This is new.  

Also, CCleaner is out of date.  Use Driver Fusion to eliminate the entries.  

I'm fairly sure this is 1 of three things though.

• Corrupt motherboard BIOS
  
  
• Corrupt Windows power scaling protocol
  
  
• Faulty link power management settings for the PCIe

You can easily check 3.  Also, when checking that, verify that S3 wake is enabled in the BIOS.

Yes, I'm using the "high preformance" profile. I double checked so that PCIe power saving thing is off.
I have checked GPU-Z when running only GW2. It sais I'm still on x2, while MSI Afterburner shows that my GPU is on 99-100% load. If I run any video (not even 1080p) while playing GW2 the video stutters like I experienced before I got it up to x2.
Will try Driver Fusion to clean later today.

1. I just re-flashed with the latest BIOS available. No change. (my fault for using a NTFS memstick and thinking BIOS would see that previously )
2. So a clean Windows install would solve it if this is the case.
3. I'll check. It's for sure not in Windows so I'll dig around in BIOS to see if I can find anything like this. If memory serves, there's no "S3 wake" on this PCs BIOS.

Mustache Mayhem, on 04 December 2012 - 02:49 AM, said:

you could at minimum eliminate grounding as an issue by removing everything off the board but the video card and one stick of ram at a time- and your primary hd, ps.. booting off a table out of the case.. doing that eliminates a lot when trying to narrow down hardware.. I'd redo the tim while it's out too.. might as well

this isn't a software issue from the sounds of it.. you try booting a linux live cd? there's also a utility called harddrive sentinel that will let you see the status of your hd and give an estimate of how long it has to live.. nice little program- gives everything including past errors and what smart has to say about it

this is basic procedure though.. take it out the case and boot with the mins- you can narrow down hardware like that.. it's rarely the cpu- those things are tanks.. you could short circuit everything on the 5v rail and start a fire.. stick the cpu into another board and it's good =]

In my experience, if there's a shorted circuit, the computer would not boot. Hell, on one if my previous rigs, which had neon lighs inside, the button to turn the lighs on short circuited and the computer refused to do anything. I can try to boot from the floor with bare minimum but seeing as the computer is booting fine, is the chance really that big for it to be a short circuit? I doubt it.

Last time I booted into Linux with a live cd was to backup everything (when I couldnt get it to boot on windows as described in the first post) befoer I realized I had to change back which hdd it should boot from
I'll boot it into Ubuntu (which is the linux dist I'm using) and check for "Harddrive Sentinel". Thanks

Also, "I'd redo the tim while it's out too" - What do you mean with "tim"?



EDIT: I should add that I've reset CMOS completely (took the battery out). I did it this saturday (2-dec), but there was no positive change. No changes aside from me having to redo my settings in BIOS which makes it clear it really did reset.

UPDATE: My computer completely spontaneously crashed today. I left it unattended for maybe 3 hours and when I came back, a similar bug to my first post had occured. I was stuck on "Grub Rescue" (old loader) which indicated that my harddisks had changed places again. It didnt boot from the proper device, just like in the first post. I swapped them around in BIOS and booted windows again. This is getting weirder and weirder.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 04 December 2012 - 02:11 PM.

[Lord Sojar]

At this point, it's safe to say that your hardware is faulty.  My guess is, considering how systemic the issues are, that you have a faulty motherboard and the northbridge controller has just bit the dust, so to speak.  

Might be time to invest in a new motherboard + CPU + RAM combination.  Not sure where abouts you live, but if you have a MicroCenter near you, use that.  Otherwise, Amazon/Newegg that stuff if you're US based.   NCIX if localized EU.

[Mr.Kotte]

It appears I've been too optimistic about my Windows installation. Just an hour ago, windows refused to even boot. It got completely stuck, refusing to work.
I decided it was time.
I'm just about to reinstall windows now. Before formatting the disk in linux, I noticed a hella lot of flags on the disk, so it was probably time, lol! Warnings here, errors there, that sort of thing.

Figured if the computer starts running bad from this clean install before christmas, its probably the MB.

Lord Sojar, on 04 December 2012 - 03:45 PM, said:

At this point, it's safe to say that your hardware is faulty.  My guess is, considering how systemic the issues are, that you have a faulty motherboard and the northbridge controller has just bit the dust, so to speak.  

Might be time to invest in a new motherboard + CPU + RAM combination.  Not sure where abouts you live, but if you have a MicroCenter near you, use that.  Otherwise, Amazon/Newegg that stuff if you're US based.   NCIX if localized EU.

I'm from Sweden.
Yeah, I've been looking at:
http://www.dustinhom...ider_SiteSeeker
Which contains:

• INTEL CORE I5 3570K 3.4GHZ 6MB S-1155 IVY
  
• ASUS P8Z77-V LE PLUS Z77 S-1155 ATX IVY
  
• CORSAIR 8GB DDR3 XMS3 PC12800 1600MHZ (2X4GB)

Which looks pretty neat.

UPDATE:
Good and bad news. The computer still starts! (thats the good news). Bad news is my GPU is still only running on x2 :S

UPDATE2:
Oh yeah its doing the same thing as before the reinstall. Windows is completely locked up and refuses to do anything. I installed on a different HDD then previously, so there's no chance its the HDD. The one I installed to hasn't been used for a good year or two and is basically new. All my bets are on the MB now, I honestly cannot see any other piece that would cause a complete meltdown like this. Not even the PSU.
Dammit, now I have to buy the most expensive christmas present for myself with money I don't have. Bleh.

Edited by Mr.Kotte, 05 December 2012 - 01:15 PM.

[Lord Sojar]

Mr.Kotte, on 04 December 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

It appears I've been too optimistic about my Windows installation. Just an hour ago, windows refused to even boot. It got completely stuck, refusing to work.
I decided it was time.
I'm just about to reinstall windows now. Before formatting the disk in linux, I noticed a hella lot of flags on the disk, so it was probably time, lol! Warnings here, errors there, that sort of thing.

Figured if the computer starts running bad from this clean install before christmas, its probably the MB.


I'm from Sweden.
Yeah, I've been looking at:
http://www.dustinhom...ider_SiteSeeker
Which contains:

• INTEL CORE I5 3570K 3.4GHZ 6MB S-1155 IVY
  
• ASUS P8Z77-V LE PLUS Z77 S-1155 ATX IVY
  
• CORSAIR 8GB DDR3 XMS3 PC12800 1600MHZ (2X4GB)

Which looks pretty neat.

UPDATE:
Good and bad news. The computer still starts! (thats the good news). Bad news is my GPU is still only running on x2 :S

UPDATE2:
Oh yeah its doing the same thing as before the reinstall. Windows is completely locked up and refuses to do anything. I installed on a different HDD then previously, so there's no chance its the HDD. The one I installed to hasn't been used for a good year or two and is basically new. All my bets are on the MB now, I honestly cannot see any other piece that would cause a complete meltdown like this. Not even the PSU.
Dammit, now I have to buy the most expensive christmas present for myself with money I don't have. Bleh.

As I said, it's the northbridge on your motherboard.  Luckily, with the forced upgrade you'll have to do, GW2 will run FAR better and your GTX 660 Ti won't bottleneck your CPU anymore.   Overall, that system will certainly perform better on all levels.   Just sorry that it had to happen due to costs      

Hope everything works out bud!

[Mr.Kotte]

Lord Sojar, on 05 December 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

As I said, it's the northbridge on your motherboard.  Luckily, with the forced upgrade you'll have to do, GW2 will run FAR better and your GTX 660 Ti won't bottleneck your CPU anymore.   Overall, that system will certainly perform better on all levels.   Just sorry that it had to happen due to costs  

Hope everything works out bud!

Thanks and thanks to everyone else who's helped me!

Also, a computer locking up spontaneously has got to be the most frustrating thing ever.

Atleast I've got GW2 on my piece-of-wood-only-for-programming-laptop where I atleast can TP stuff. Its got 1GHz dual core and integrated graphics and 2GB RAM. Who needs double digit framerates, am I right?

Happy Holidays everyone!

[Mr.Kotte]

While this thread if officially sort of "solved", here's an update:
No new mobo yet! I did manage to get the computer acctually booting Windows now with some HW tweaks (don't ask, it looks shit) but I'm still getting spontaneous crashes. I had the PC running for maybe 9 hours today before the screen turning completely white and my headphones started screaming almost giving me a heartattack. This is the first time the screen turned white so I guess this is new data? Anyways I was fidding around with the hardware and I decided to swap the cards around. I swapped back to my previous card again, but this time into the black slot (PCIEx16_2) where I got the same results as previously. GPU-Z reports PCIe 1.1 x2.

Here comes the real update, so fasten your seatbelt.
I swapped back to my 660ti and booted windows, which installed some windows drivers. Out of curiosity, I ran GPU-Z, and this shows up:

Thats right! PCIe 3.0! This is surprising, since my motherboard only supports PCIe 2.0. Oh the joy of broken hardware.
Just read an article older BIOS may work so I'm gonna try it now, for shits and giggles I suppose

Also, GW2 launcher is completely stuck on the pre-download screen. The one before you can login. Its stuck there at 0kb/s and refuses to continue. I've seen this issue around here and this could be the cause of it! Taskmgr reports the launcher uses 0% of the processor.


Anyway

Don't reply, I'm merely adding additional information in case anyone gets similar errors in the future.

[Mr.Kotte]

Another update, and possibly a topic of discussion:

Could it be the PSU? Honestly.

My computer is crashing diffrently now, its going to a solid color during certain paths in games (mostly GW2). I tried Fractals for the first time in weeks and it crashed after maybe 2 minutes. Screen turns to a solid color, sound loops (sometimes) and the only way to kill it with a hard reset (dat power button).
Here's HWMonitor and Event Log:

(Ignore AUX, its always 119C. Been stuck like that since I got the computer, I also don't believe it would still be there after going to 238C )


(Critical @ Kernel-power is me hard-resetting with power button, marked the error I think it is, which after a quick google can be fixed, but wouldnt cause my crash)

Any ideas? Planning on checking the PSU tomorrow with hardware tools, but HWMonitor is showing that its working as it should?


The GPU not getting enough power would mean it cannot run as fast, which would cause the MB to "underclock" the bus?

If I clock the GPU with MSI Afterburner, I can get the voltage up to like 1.047V, and since its Kepler-architecture, I'm not setting any max-voltage. Its supposed to take care of that itself.... Right?


A little note: If I plug in the ATI Radeon 4870 512MB it runs at PCIE 1.1 x1/2/4 (goes up and down, just like with my 660ti, boot from hibernation changes the speed from x1, 2 and 4. With the 660 only x1 and x2).

[mackeh]

Mr.Kotte, on 30 November 2012 - 05:04 PM, said:

I've been able, since I got my GPU upgrade, to run the game with 30-80 fps on mid/high settings easily. A couple of days ago, it all changed. What did I do? NOTHING.

You're not alone my friend .. I am having the exact same issues. The game is frankly unplayable right now.