AMD 7870k OS crash when installing video drivers

[Trompochi]

Hello guys, a friend just bought new parts for his new build and is having problems when installing video drivers so he asked me for help with this... The system never crashes while the video drivers arent installed, this happens on windows 10 and 8.1.

System specs:

AMD 7870k
Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H
Patriot 2x4gb 2133mhz
Samsung 850 evo 250gb
stock cooler
Thermaltake 700w (the one I was using on my system before upgrading to the enermax)

So far what I've tried is this:

-Make sure ram is running at the rated 2133mhz(set profile to XMP)
-Set the ram to lower speed(1866 and 1600mhz)
-Move ram to the other 2 slots(always using same color slots)
-only use 1 stick of ram
-check cpu temps in bios (50c after letting it sit in the bios for a few mins)
-reapply thermal paste(cleaning old one first, temps didnt change)
-check cpu for bent pins(all are fine)
-use different driver versions(crimson driver, catalyst 15, 800mb+ gpu/chipset installer from gigabyte site)
-different drivers were used in both win10 and 8.1 fresh installs
-make sure bios is set to AHCI mode
-make sure latest bios version is installed
-increase ram voltage slightly(vendor says 1.5v is the required voltage, but all the other 2133mhz kits I see ask for 1.65v....
-use a different PSU
-install windows 7

When I tried catalyst 15, the installer actually got to the Install Successful window, then system crashed, after booting back to windows there wasnt any signs of catalyst drivers installed on the system... sometimes after trying driver install and system crashes it cant even get past the Welcome window again so I have to reinstall windows. At one point after a crash that actually let me get back to windows I opened event viewer and it had "Event ID 41, Kernel Power", I searched for possible fixes for that, but so far the only thing I can try is using my enermax PSU.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Can't see RAM voltage causing this, PSU, possible but because it only happens when you install drivers I would be inclined to say that the APU may be faulty, specifically the GPU portion as you have tried several different drivers and all result in the same thing.

Have you looked in event viewer to see details of what is generated with the crashes?

Edit: Few people here pointing to the PSU for similar error and as you can test another in it, wont hurt to do that. Still if it is that, it's odd it would only happen when you install drivers...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/46250-63-random-restarts-critical-kernel-power-event-task

 

[Frick]

The likely problem is the GPU in that APU.

 

[PCGamerDR]

Check if you have "Force iGPU" setting in the bios enabled(enable if it's not) and if bios version is "F5e" or better. Also try disabling sleep mode before installing the drivers.

 

[pbm86]

I also think you should check your BIOS version. You should also check your motherboard revision. Latest version for revision 3.0 is F5e. Latest revision for revision 4.0 is FB. You should install the latest appropriate for you revision as older BIOS versions do not support 7870K.

 

[Deleted member 67555]

Put the memory at 1333 while installing the drivers...make sure you have the latest BIOS and make sure everything is at stock.

 

[Trompochi]

Yep, this is using bios FB, so its revision 4.0. I changed the igpu settings on bios, also set the windows 8 setting to Legacy only instead UEFI, I tried to use UEFI once on my system and all it gave me were problems... Sleep stuff disabled on windows, installed crimson drivers and after the install completed, system crashed again... Setting the ram to 1333 didnt help :-(

This is what gpuz reports right after installing windows and even after the failed driver installs:

 

[Trompochi]

installed windows 7 and installed catalyst drivers, no crash at all, rebooted computer and the video adapter still says "generic blah blah"... not AMD R7... then I tried the 800mb installer from gigabyte, after that finished installing, system crashed again.

 

[Deleted member 67555]

installed windows 7 and installed catalyst drivers, no crash at all, rebooted computer and the video adapter still says "generic blah blah"... not AMD R7... then I tried the 800mb installer from gigabyte, after that finished installing, system crashed again.

I installed the 800mb pack from Gigabyte first then rebooted then installed the Crimson drivers with my 7850k...but something tells me that won't work for you...something is wrong.
GPU-Z has everything right except the R7 stuff...that's wierd

 

[Trompochi]

My friend will borrow an APU from a cousin to test it in his mobo, I told him to try his 7870k on the cousin's mobo too, but he might need to update bios for that... I'll update this thread once he gets back to me with the results. Thanks guys for trying to help me fix this.

 

[Trompochi]

Update: different cpu on that mobo and a fresh windows install does the same thing, crashes during drivers install, we tested both ram sticks on my system just in case, ram works fine...

Now the thing is, we are in dominican republic and the parts were bought on Amazon, shipping the board back to USA for RMA would cost USD$54(stupid customs), and he bought the thing for $53..... Similar boards are around $100 here in DR. For us buying online can save us a lot of money, but then when a part needs to be shipped back it sucks...

 

[Aquinus]

Did you run DDU to remove all remnants of the broken driver installations before trying again?

Also, what APU do you have exactly? You mentioned all of your specs minus the model of the APU.
I didn't see it in the title, a 7870k.

 

[PCGamerDR]

Sry guys i feel like i have to ,

Para mi el problema viene siendo el bios ya que me pasó basicamente lo mismo cuando compre mi cpu/mobo, sin actualizarle el bios si me encontraba la parte del cpu en sí pero la iGPU si me parecia asi como te sale(Microsoft basic adapter) despues de actualizar se me arregló todo, por eso todos hemos estado firmes sober el bios update. Y si probaste en otro board debes asegurarte que ese tambien tengo el mejor bios posible .

Y si no dile al comprador que se eche tres veces pa 'tra en la playa pa' que se quite la sal XD.

 

[Trompochi]

PCGamerDR the board came with the latest bios version (FB for rev 4.0), not sure if reflashing the same bios would fix anything, but I can tell my friend to try that, since we're out of options right now.

 

[PCGamerDR]

PCGamerDR the board came with the latest bios version (FB for rev 4.0), not sure if reflashing the same bios would fix anything, but I can tell my friend to try that, since we're out of options right now.

Perhaps re-flashing the latest one and/or trying a previous version with the cpu support before sending it back :X, gotta love our customs xD.

 

[Trompochi]

Reflashing the bios didnt help, same crash during drivers install, my friend decided to buy a different mobo in a few days...

 

[Trompochi]

Did you run DDU to remove all remnants of the broken driver installations before trying again?

Also, what APU do you have exactly? You mentioned all of your specs minus the model of the APU.
I didn't see it in the title, a 7870k.

Aquinus 99% of the time it was a fresh windows install, because almost everytime we tried to install drivers and OS crashed, it couldnt get back to desktop again, it was instant crash after the "Welcome" screen.