Windows 7 Sapphire HD 4850 crashes and freezes computer

[LonestarHero]

The only OS I have ever used on the system is Windows 7 RC build 7100. I do not own any other 64-bit OS's.

Here are my system specs:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Processor: AMD Phenom II x3 720 Black Edition
Video Card: Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/VGA
RAM: 4 GB GSkill DDR3-1333
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 650GB
Power Supply: Corsair TX750W
Monitor: Acer X223W
Case: Antec Three Hundred

I just built my first computer a week ago and the video card always ends up crashing my computer. Typically I'm either playing World of Warcraft or watching a web video when the crash happens. If I'm not runing World of Warcraft or a video it doesn't crash. Ironically the Steam games (Team Fortress II and Day of Defeat: Source) have no problems with the GPU. The blue screen of doom says it is shutting down to avoid system damage. However I get plenty of freezes too where pressing numlock on the keyboard does nothing. I am only running one GPU and not CrossFiring.

To get back working I usually have to go to safe mode and system restore from a previous point, however the fix is never instant. Usually I'll try restarting the system for 45 minutes with no luck. Usually I turn off the comptuer for an hour or two and come back and Windows 7 boots right back up. Is that some sort of thermal issue (which would be strange as my system temp is around 37 C with the processor temp being 44 C with the four fans including the CPU cooler and GPU cooler)?

I run the latest drivers from AMD, but AMD even states that the Windows 7 drivers aren't endorsed by them.

I have considered flashing the BIOS on the Gigabyte motherboard, but I have yet to try flashing as the Mobo instruction manual disrourages it unless necissary. Apparently I have have the third BIOS edition (F3)out of four editions. Apparently the fourth is to get the quad core Phenom II 955 Black Edition CPU running above 800Mhz, which I don't own. I don't think a flash would be worth it, and pretty dangerous as I hear I'm not supposed to use Windows based programs to do flashes.

Link Removed

I thought I had a fix by reducing the resolution on my system a couple notches down from the maximum of 1680 x 1050 in Windows 7 and reducing the same resolution in World of Warcraft and by running in windowed mode. However there are still lockups.

Once again, here are my system specs:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Processor: AMD Phenom II x3 720 Black Edition
Video Card: Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/VGA
RAM: 4 GB GSkill DDR3-1333
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 650GB
Power Supply: Corsair TX750W
Monitor: Acer X223W
Case: Antec Three Hundred

Any enlightening ideas on my problem being due to Windows or the video card? Thanks in advance

 

[loathe]

Hi and welcome to windows7forums.

The first thing I do when I build a pc is run Link Removed for a couple of hours at least. This will stress test your hardware and tell you if your build is stable or not. Im assuming you are running your ram, cpu and gpu at standard clocks? ie you havent overclocked? Be sure to watch the temp using Link Removed due to 404 Error, you dont want it to go over 60 for an extended time.

Secondly Id probably update the BIOS just to be sure, it can be risky but just take your time, read your manual and double check everything. Its really not that hard, just put the ROM on a clean FAT32 formatted usb drive and there will be an option in your BIOS.

Just to make sure you have the 9.5 drivers from Ati found Link Removed. You could also try an earlier version 9.2 or 9.3.
Another thing, you put thermal grease between your cooler and cpu and spread it nice and even?
Make sure everything else is up to date including your game and sound drivers.

 

[LonestarHero]

Hi and welcome to windows7forums.

The first thing I do when I build a pc is run Prime95 for a couple of hours at least. This will stress test your hardware and tell you if your build is stable or not. Im assuming you are running your ram, cpu and gpu at standard clocks? ie you havent overclocked? Be sure to watch the temp using this, you dont want it to go over 60 for an extended time.

Secondly Id probably update the BIOS just to be sure, it can be risky but just take your time, read your manual and double check everything. Its really not that hard, just put the ROM on a clean FAT32 formatted usb drive and there will be an option in your BIOS.

Just to make sure you have the 9.5 drivers from Ati found here. You could also try an earlier version 9.2 or 9.3.
Another thing, you put thermal grease between your cooler and cpu and spread it nice and even?
Make sure everything else is up to date including your game and sound drivers.

Thank you for the gentle nudging into the world of stress tests and component monitoring.

Drivers are up to date and I ran Prime95 with no processor/RAM problems. I also installed the RivaTuner GPU monitor program with a gadget to monitor my GPU use when I ran Warcraft in windowed mode. Oddly enough this time, Warcraft ran fine. After my gaming session I ran a GPU stress test known as Furmark. It went fine the half hour I ran it with my temp not surpassing 75C. The CPU, Ram and GPU appear to be stable according to the stress tests. I still don't understand the conflicts. When I went to bed I ran HD Tune on the hard drive with no errors or bad sectors. Unfortuneatly the WD diagnostic software isn't Windows 7 friendly.

Is there a better way I could check for errors on the GPU, as I'm not convinced by my current batch of satisfactory GPU stress testing?

Currently with all the luck I have been having, I'm afraid to restart the system as Windows probably wouldn't restart smoothly.