BSOD playing Mass Effect

abrown1501

Beta member
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Location
Canada
I have been having very frustrating problems since I upgraded my motherboard last summer. I'll post my computer components after I describe what the problem is and what I have done. I know people also often ask for the code you receive after getting a BSOD, but I don't really know how to do that – instruction would be helpful.

After playing Mass Effect 1, 2 or 3, for about 5-10 minutes my computer freezes up and I get the little blue frown (I believe this is BSOD for windows 8?). There is usually some text under it, but the display goes out of whack and it's difficult to read. I have not tried any other graphically-intense games, but I have Skyrim that I could install if somebody thinks that information would be useful.

This also happens after playing Age of Empires 2 on Game Ranger, but usually after a longer period of play time. I've gotten it a couple of times after watching a long, high res video too, but not consistently.

This all started happening after I upgraded my motherboard, and when I put my old motherboard back in, problems went away, so I thought it was faulty and returned it for another of the same model. I also made sure only to use the screw holes specific for my motherboard in my case. Problem still happened.

It should also be noted that when I removed my CPU from my old motherboard, that the thermal paste stuck it so securely that when I removed the heat sink, the CPU came with it, without unlocking it from the motherboard. Some pins were bent but I managed to straighten them.

I assumed it was an overheating issue (note that when I point a desk fan at the ventilation in the case, it seems to prevent the crashes). My case is pretty dust free, so I thought it was a faulty PSU and I was seeing symptoms because my new motherboard was drawing more power than my old one. I replaced the CPU (was 750watt – PSU1, replaced with a 620watt – PSU2 but better brand). Problem still happened.

I made sure to clean the dust from inside my video card with a compressed air canister and got and applied new thermal paste to the CPU.

After all this, I still get the same issues. So I thought maybe it was a faulty video card, and upgraded. First time I played I didn't get any issues. I only played for a few minutes, though I thought it was longer than 10 (not positive). I also managed to finish a couple of 1.5 hour age of empire games with no issues. I tried playing Mass Effect 1 though, and 5ish minutes in – blue frowny face.
Also note that between the first Mass Effect trial and the second, I installed Daemon Tools Lite, I;ve heard that can cause some weird issues?

I've got 2 monitors going, so I had a temp monitor (HWMonitor) going on the other screen and managed to catch a graphics card temp of 52 Celsius just before the crash. My idle temperatures are as follows.

CPU: 42 Celsius
Mainboard: 29 Celsius
Hard Drive: 26 Celsius
Video Card: 34 Celsius

I think that's about everything. I would REALLY appreciate any other ideas. If you need any more information please explain how I can get it for you!
I sincerely thank you for reading this far!

PARTS

Windows 8, 64 bit

PSU 1 – Rosewill 750 watt
Newegg.ca - Rosewill Xtreme Series RX750-S-B 750W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Compatible with Core i7, i5 Power Supply

PSU 2 – SeaSonic 620 watt
Newegg.ca - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Video Card 1 – Radeon 6870, 1Gb, 256-bit
Newegg.ca - SAPPHIRE FleX 100314FLEX Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Video Card 2 – Radeon 7850, 2Gb, 256-bit
Newegg.ca - SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Motherboard 1 – BioStar A870U3 AM3, 125 watt
Newegg.ca - BIOSTAR A870U3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Motherboard 2 – ASUS M5A99X EVO
Newegg.ca - ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Case – IN WIN Dragon Rider 3x120mm, 1x220mm fans
Newegg.ca - IN WIN Dragon Rider Black 1.0 - 0.8mm SECC Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

CPU – AMD Phenom II X6 1100t
Newegg.ca - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBGRBOX

Hard Drive – 1.5TB, 5900RM, 6GbpS
Newegg.ca - Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

RAM – 2x4Gb DDR3
Newegg.ca - Team Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model TED38192M1066C7DC

Keyboard – Black Widow Ultimate
Newegg.ca - RAZER Black USB Wired BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Mouse – Tt eSports Theron 5600dpi
Newegg.ca - Tt eSPORTS THERON Mouse

Monitor 1 – ASUS 24” via HDMI cable
Newegg.ca - ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 (might not be exact, but very similar.

Monitor 2 – Hanns G 20” via DVI cable.
Newegg.ca - Hanns·G HZ201DPB Black 20" 5ms WideScreen LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 X-Contrast 15,000:1 (1,000:1)
 
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