Posted this a couple of times now, so far no one has suggested anything that worked. When I load mint 14 (this also happened with ubuntu, although ubuntu crashed in a different colour, with less dots more spaced out, I think) it crashes like this: http://imgur.com/w6OOt3i
Installed via usb, ubuntu was installed via disc. I did have grub problems with mint 14, but I figured out how to install it manually.
My specs: i5 3570k, asus p8z77-v, gtx 670 msi power edition, 1tb 7200rpm hdd, 2x4Gb corsair vengeance 1600mhz.
I've seen this problem before. Funny enough this very computer is almost the exact same as your cept I have a 660TI in this PC and some highspeed rip jaws ram.
Does this problem happen at boot up or while in the desktop? Only thing I can suggest is swap parts and isolate that way. At the very least boot from the motherboard instead from your video card. If it seems to be happening on both OS's I'd be more inclinded to think its hardware.
it only happens from when I select Mint 14 from my operating systems (windows 7) in the grub loader (the thing that comes up to select your os) ill try deleting the partition and making a new one, but I really dont want the grub problems I had with mint, so ill try manjaro linux this time.
In my p8-z77-v + 3770k + gtx680 system, Ubuntu 12.10 just never worked, that is to say, I did get it to work after an entire afternoon of hacking (and I've been using GNU/Linux as main OS since 1996, so I have lived through the worse of linux and kinda know what I'm doing), but it wouldn't work well enough not to disgrace the system. Mint 14 is based on Ubuntu 12.10 and has inherited a lot of its problems.
Reality: Ubuntu 12.10 is fail, Mint 14 is fail because it's based on Ubuntu 12.10. Just give it up mate, your life is going by, while you're wrestling with something that will teach you nothing other than that you should've given it up already. Install Mint 13 and the sun will be shining again, or go for another GNU/Linux distro altogether. Just start anew, in 10 minutes you'll have Manjaro Linux 0.8.5 XFCE installed and will be playing TF2 on Steam. There's plenty more software available for Arch/Manjaro (via AUR) than for Ubuntu/Mint, and you'll actually learn something about GNU/Linux whilst enjoying a stable and fast system.
I've been running 12.04 ubuntu for a long time. I have a p8z77-v too. Its been running fine even with a 4.8 OC on my cpu. Super stable. I do remember where I saw that problem whenever I tried to upgrade to 12.10 grub would just hate it and I'd have to manually install grub which is a major pain in the ass. Turns out its not hardware which is alot better.
Is Ubuntu circling the drain?
Which is the best alternative?
I might just have a look at debian again or manjaro.