PSU or GPU issues on new build

[fonz]

I recently built this computer early last month (first build), and it ran great. I was able to run FarCry 3 on ultra without any noticeable FPS issues, and I could run DOTA2 on all max around 250 FPS. Recently I've been having an issue while playing DOTA2 (could be other games, but I haven't been playing anything else) where my display driver would crash and my PC would immediately restart or I'd be forced to restart it manually (network drivers crashing too?).. Anyways, I've run GPU-Z and noticed that in pretty much any game, everything maxes out, from power comsumption to GPU load. I'm not very keen on hardware, and I'm wondering if this is an issue with my video card, or my PSU?

As you can see below, the spikes in the graph are from me alt-tabbing, trying to get a screenshot of everything maxed

Edit: It's worth noting that the most FPS I can pull from DOTA2 now is around 90-110

 

[Widjaja]

Hi fonz welcome to TPU.

It appears the PSU is not under any stress looking at your system specs but I also do not know the reputation of the brand.
The graphics card appears to be well within the thermal threshold.

Do you have another hard driver you could install windows on to along with affected games and see if it is a software issue?

 

[fonz]

I don't believe it's software, I seem to be the only person with this issue and it runs fine on my other computers. The thing that puts up a red flag to me is the PC restarting while running DOTA2, I have computers with half the specs of this one that can run it full settings no problem, and this wasn't an issue before maybe about a week or two ago.

Also, if my GPU is pulling 100% TDP power consumption, what does that mean?

 

[brispuss]

I was initially thinking of software issue(s) also.

Video drivers corrupted? Registry corrupted?

Corruption due to malware?

It may not hurt to run good anti-malware (Emsisoft Anti-Malware) and registry (ccleaner) scanners to see if there are software issues.

Could also try completely uninstalling the video drivers and then reinstalling them.

On the hardware side. The PSU may be faulty. Is it possible to swap out the PSU with a known good one?

If still having problems, then try swapping out the video card with a known good one.

Problems still? Test the RAM using Memtest; allow at least three full passes of testing to determine if the memory is faulty. Or swap out memory with known good memory.

Problems still? This suggests there may be an issue with the motherboard. If possible swap out the motherboard with a known good one.

 

[syeef]

but I also do not know the reputation of the brand.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76276

 

[Widjaja]

If the GPU is running fine on other systems then we can rule out the GPU
The PSU is not fantastic in reputation but it's not like this PSU is getting utilized to anywhere near close to it's potential due to your system specs.

100% GPU TDP means your GPU is currently very active and is requiring power draw.
Even though the abbreviation may seem to be more to do with temperatures.

Since you have other PCs to run your GTX 660 on you should also check the usage while in idle on the other systems.

I remember someone mentioning bitcoin malware which does utilize the GPU.

I personally suggest using Malwarebytes and your anti-virus but there maybe newer better malware scanners out there.

 

[Geofrancis]

Can you run prime 95 And furmark together for a while without it crashing? Or do you have a multimeter to check the 12v rail while under load?

 

[fonz]

Ran a furmark burn-in while running prime95 and no crashes, error, warnings, nada. Furmark scores were pretty close to what they say I should have gotten. At this point I'm willing to just chalk it up to a software issue, and while thinking about it I did neglect the fact that sometimes I'd crash immediately upon entering game, before the GPU even has a chance to warm up.