Constant TDR events

[elementary]

Howdy folks. I recently purchased a maximus vii along with a new cpu to finally replace the last components of the PC I originally built 6 years ago. After installing the new components, I get continuous TDR events (Timeout Detection & Recovery). The second post of this link
gives a pretty good explanation of what they are, but essentially while doing certain things my monitor will flash to black for a few seconds, after which they turn back on and an error message stating "Display driver AMD driver has stopped responding and has recovered" pops up. As that link explains, TDR events are a feature introduced in Vista that allows the OS to try and recover from a video timeout so that the system does not crash to a bluescreen. The issue is that the videocard is not responding as expected.

I get continuous (every few seconds) TDR events when: viewing twitch videos, browsing imgur, watching netflix (a TDR while fullscreened causes a BSOD), looking at the steam frontpage, and occasionally seemingly at random while sitting at my desktop or browsing gmail. I never get TDR's while playing games, oddly, and I've spent hours playing Civ 5, Saints Row 3 and Tomb Raider lately to verify that. I just got a TDR while writing this post, with nothing else running in the background, for example.

The post I linked lists five most common reasons for TDR's:
1. Poor cooling
Looking at SpeedFan to check CPU temps and MSI Afterburner to check GPU temps, my CPU sits around 20C and my GPU around 45C. These numbers do not seem out of the ordinary to me at all.

2. Problems with the power supply
This seems like a possible culprit. My PSU is quite old, though I've never had any problems with it before

3. Overclock Issues
Nothing is OC'ed in my system atm

4. Bad System memory or incorrect memory timings
I've yet to test my memory with Memtest or some equivalent, but I can try that soon

5. Defective PC Components
Perhaps the Maximum VII is defective? Since the mobo is brand new and everything functioned fine before, I view this as a likely culprit which is why I'm posting here

The post also suggests testing:

6. Software
I'm getting TDR's under lots of contexts, so this isn't the issue

7. General System Performance
Again, I haven't stress tested my machine, but I can do so

8. Video Drivers
I tried both downgrading the AMD drivers and the most recent beta version, with no luck

9. Check the device manager for problem devices
There aren't any problem devices shown in the device manager

10. Poor Connections
This is also a possible culprit. I currently have the machine assembled caseless, with the GPU (which is relatively heavy) sitting vertically. It's possible the card is tilting and causing the issue. But why don't I get TDR errors while playing games then?

11. OC'ing / UC'ing
Not doing either of these

12. Windows Power Management
Not a laptop, so no battery

13. Power Supply
My PSU is rated for 1000W, which should be plenty for my build.

14. Video Card
I've yet to try swapping out the GPU, but the card was working perfectly until I installed the maximus VII

My specs are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K
Mobo: Maximus VII
Graphics: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7970
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Disk: SAMSUNG 840 256GB
Power: 1000W Antec
OS: Windows 7 x64

The power supply is 6 years old, everything else is ~1.5 years old or less.

Sorry for the super long post, but I want to avoid RMA'ing the mobo if at all possible. I'll try out some of the possible solutions I mentioned here, but does anyone have any experience with this? It's kind of driving me crazy not to be able to watch streams or netflix, and it's making me really regret upgrading.

Thanks a ton!

elementary

[jab383]

HI, elementary, and welcome

That's quite a thorough list of possibilities to check. The PSU and RAM are definite points to test. Performance in games would indicate good RAM.

You're right that 1000W PSU should be plenty for that rig. There is a little problem with PSU that are not "Haswell qualified" in that they can overvolt and glitch when loaded as lightly as a Haswell runs when idling and/or sleeping. An upgrade there could be in order. Look for one with a single 12 volt rail that says "Haswell qualified" or "Haswell ready."

There is one other wild suggestion. Even though you are not overclocking anything, the CPU may need a voltage adjustment. The PCIe3 bus is driven by the CPU System Agent that has to keep up with the GPU stepping up from PCIe1 at idle to PCIe3 at load. The constant PCIe3 load in games is not the problem, its the transition. You can try to set Vccsa in BIOS to around 1.0 to 1.1 volts. Use a manual setting so the voltage doesn't adapt - you want it there at the time of a speed transition, not reacting afterward. I use 1.05 volts 24/7 for Vccsa.

Jeff

[chevell65]

I didn't see this mentioned but have you tried updating the bios? The latest bios talks about stability enhancements etc. The latest is the 1104 which is working well for me. The USB update process is really easy.