» Tue May 07, 2013 4:21 am I purchased a XFX HD 7850 2GB in January to replace my old EVGA 9800 GTX+ 512MB GPU that was burnt out while playing Skyrim, and I've experienced BSOD issues with Skyrim since then. I've been trying to resolve the issue for 4 months and now I am at my wits end, because while I use to think BSODs were always driver or hardware related, in this case it seems to be Skyrim-specific. I'll document what I've done so far to try and 'troubleshoot' this problem and how I arrived at this conclusion, in the hopes that someone might have come across something that might help shed light on this. It's a long one, so here goes.
My specs:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
Mobo: EVGA 750i SLI FTW
PSU: OCZ GXS 600W
GPU: XFX HD 7850 2GB
OS: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit
RAM: 4GB
The BSODs started shortly after I installed the new GPU, and it's always the same TDRx116 error:
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x116_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys
It would happen:
1) during Skyrim, after 10 - 45 minutes of play.
2) after I quit Skyrim, and launch Firefox.
3) I could go days without seeing a BSOD, then it would happen persistently for a couple of days, then I could again go days to a week without see a BSOD before getting hit with persistent BSODs. The cycle continues.
The symptom: I would see artifacting on the entire screen for about 2 - 5 seconds, sometimes I can still pull up the game menu (which, strangely, was perfectly visible) and make a save, before the BSOD occurs (in even rarer cases, the save would actually work).
At first, I naturally thought it was an issue with the Catalyst driver or a bad GPU. So I (clean) installed and tested other Catalyst driver versions, stress tested the GPU with Furmark and MSI Kombuster, and used MSI Afterburner/HWInfo to monitor the GPU and CPU temperature in game to see if they were overheating. I even posted my Windows crash dump to a few sites to solicit help in reading them. I uploaded a bunch of logs, was told to update my BIOS, to which I could only reply that my BIOS is in fact the latest version even though it's dated from 2009, because my motherboard is so old. Many 'general suggestions' were offered, but none of them helped to resolve the BSODs.
Finally, when I couldn't resolve the issue, I RMA the card to XFX. They tested it, and said they found no problems with the card, but that they would send me a replacement GPU regardless. But after I installed the replacement GPU, I started experiencing the same BSOD (with the same error message) again.
Here is where the story takes a strange turn: I got really frustrated, so I decided I would install another game to try and see if the BSOD was 'Skyrim-specific.' I installed 'Assassin's Creed 3' (which was actually stressing my system more than Skyrim), and sure enough, I finished it over the span of 2 weeks and did not see one single BSOD. As soon as I resumed playing Skyrim after 2 weeks--bang, same cycle of BSOD frequency and error message. I was completely mind-boggled.
Just to recap, here are all the things I've done to try and address the BSODs:
- tried every version of Catalyst driver ('stable' release as well as beta) from 13.1 to 13.5 beta 2 (that's the latest).
- flashed BIOS to the latest I could find for the 750i SLI (from 2009) and updated all drivers where necessary (chipset and audio).
- installed MSI Afterburner/HWInfo to monitor my GPU and CPU temperature during Skyrim (all within normal parameters).
- Furmark 3D and MSI Kombuster to stress test the GPU (both the one I purchased and the replacement from XFX).
- tested RAM sticks using MemTest (8 passes with no errors).
- got a power supply tester from a friend to test my PSU to make sure it was not failing.
- RMA the GPU, tested by manufacturer who said there was nothing wrong with the card, but they sent me a replacement GPU anyway.
- completely reinstalled Skyrim/mods.
- took an air duster and vacuumed my PC case (several times in the span of the 4 months).
- constructed a make-shift shrine to the Nine Divines on a shelf in my bedroom closet.
I think I've pretty much exhausted everything short of reinstalling my OS (and I think I'd rather just stop playing Skyrim than reinstall the OS). If this was a driver/hardware issue, I can't see how BSODs with TDR errors would be specific to Skyrim but not other games (but apparently it is). I just don't get it.
