Hello all,
 
I am Poljert from the Netherlands. And I could really use your help! I try to explain it in the best english I've got.
 
I'm having some problems and I think it has to do with faulty vram.
 
First a few specs:
Intel Core i3 7100 processor
Asrock Z270m pro4 motherboard
8 GB Corsair vengeance memory (1 x 8GB)
Be Quiet 350 watt power supply
EVGA GTX 1060 sc 3 GB
 
 
The problem:
I used to play GTA V. And a few weeks ago i wanted to have a go again, but the game did not start properly. Got stuck on the loading screen. Also the game Tomb Raider did not work anymore - game crashed while loading.
 
So I started to get suspicious. Because both games did work properly!
 
When GTA V crashes, the screen turns black. Nothing seems to work anymore. Not ctrl + alt + del / ctrl + shift + esc / alt + f4 / alt + tab. Only a hard reboot works at that moment.
 
 
Searching a solution:
I tried a couple of things to sort out what the problem could be.
 
I ran Memtest86 to ensure the problem was not related to faulty memory. Test passed, not an error. So that should be good. I even changed the module to another slot to see if there was any difference, but no.
 
I reinstalled the game, I modded a couple of files so I thought maybe the game was corrupted, or at lease one of the files. Still the same problem.
 
I updated the nvidia drivers to the latest version. Still the same problem.
 
I removed the nvidia drivers and installed an older version, 388.13 is no on my system. I know this one used to work in the past. But this did not solve anything.
 
I swapped the GTX 1060 to another pcie slot to ensure the slot it self was not causing any trouble. But still the same issue.
 
I tried to run GTA V on the on-board HD 610 to ensure the game itself was okay. It did work, only on very low settings. So the game itself seems to be okay.
 
 
I looked on the internet for a tool to test my GTX 1060. I did found some software to stress test the GPU. But it seems to keep working fine. This tools only seem to stress the GPU itself and not the vram. And I could not find a tool which to test the vram completely. The one tool I found could only test 1 GB of vram. This test was passed without any errors. So the first gigabyto of vram looks okay.
 
 
I changed the settings file from GTA V to start the game with lower settings. When the settings are set really low the game only uses about 1 GB of vram. I tried running these low settings on the GTX 1060 and surprisingly it worked.
 
So I tried to go up a little bit with the settings using a bit more memory step by step. Even when I got up to around 2 GB of vram the game was still running properly.
 
But when the settings go past approx 2200 mb the game crashes again.
 
 
No I know for sure that I used to play the game on much higher settings, using all the vram on the graphics card. So because the game does work properly on approx 2000 mb of vram but not on much higher settings I think the last part of the vram could be faulty.
 
 
Any thoughts on this one?
 
And is there a tool or something to test all the vram?
 
 
I've made a screenshot with the EVGA OC Scanner X software for some extra information:

I always thought 350 watt would be enough. When I got my GTX 1060 I tried this PSU and it worked. So I left it like that.
 
Now you mention it I searched the minimal recommended power, it should be 400 watts or more, so you might be right.
 
Problem is, the only other PSU I've got is a 300 watt version. So I tried to combine them, using the 300 watt for the motherboard and processor and using the 350 watt for the hard disks and the graphic card. Hoping this will give some information about the problem.
 
However, that did not work. The problem is still the same.
 
So I think I have to find one I can borrow to test this. Before buying a new one I want to be sure off course.

Sounds like it is either the PSU or the card itself, for some reason I think the card itself, this time, but I would advise anyway getting a 550-650w new PSU, as you can use it in the future anyway.

No, all the fans in the system keep running normally. No changes there.

No.
 
I tried to underclock the core clock and the memory clock. But the problem is still the same.
 
Even tried to lower the powerlimit in MSI Afterburner to 65% to see if less power would help sort out the possible problem but the game still crashes.
 
 
So, I still have my doubts about the problem. I could not find someone who can borrow me a PSU with some more juice. So I think I'll buy myself a new one. If this does not solve the problem the only thing left causing the problem must be the graphics card it self.
 
Like mentioned before, a newer, better PSU won't harm. Only my wallet.

Poljert
No.
 
I tried to underclock the core clock and the memory clock. But the problem is still the same.
 
Even tried to lower the powerlimit in MSI Afterburner to 65% to see if less power would help sort out the possible problem but the game still crashes.
 
 
So, I still have my doubts about the problem. I could not find someone who can borrow me a PSU with some more juice. So I think I'll buy myself a new one. If this does not solve the problem the only thing left causing the problem must be the graphics card it self.
 
Like mentioned before, a newer, better PSU won't harm. Only my wallet.

Let us know how it goes.

Nice find! Still not crazy about that psu.. I'd still grab one before other stuff starts going wrong later on. You start getting pc random shut downs.. get a psu right away before windows gets corrupt which would be minimum.