Despite previous play and meeting system specs, games still crash.
Despite previous play and meeting system specs, games still crash.
Hey everyone, I'm really struggling with this. I haven't updated my system in a while and everything worked fine until now. I wasn't even playing the latest titles, just old ones. When I start a game, it runs for a bit and then crashes—Steam won't let me restart until I reboot the whole PC. I can play League and Apex Legends without issues, but anything more demanding like Helldivers 2 or Monster Hunter Wilds causes the game to freeze.
My setup looks like this: CPU is a Ryzen 5 3600, PSU is SF750, GPU is RTX 3070, RAM is 32GB at 3600MHz. I have a dual monitor at 1440p, an AIO 2 small profile fan cooling the GPU, plus one SSD and a M.2 drive. I'm really hoping someone can help me figure out what's going on and find a fix without buying new parts. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Upgrade GPU drivers. Install new BIOS on motherboard. Fix filesystem issues using DISM or system file checker, or apply Windows updates. Look for and execute programs that verify memory performance.
Execute HWInfo or MSI Afterburner overlay to monitor temperatures and clock speeds during gameplay. If the GPU exceeds 80°C or the CPU throttles, it may cause crashes. Update drivers & Windows using DDU Display Driver Uninstaller to remove old GPU firmware and install the newest NVIDIA versions. Ensure your chipset drivers are AMD X570 up to date. Verify power supply and cables: SF750 works well but inspect PCIe cables, reinsert them, and consider separate cables per GPU. Memory health: XMP/DOCP settings can become unreliable over time. Run MemTest86 or temporarily disable XMP to test stability. Use Event Viewer or Reliability Monitor to review Windows logs for errors around the crash time, often pointing to GPU driver resets or power events. Steam’s refusal to restart until a full reboot indicates persistent GPU issues; reinstalling drivers is usually the solution. Overall, likely cause is corrupted GPU driver or RAM/XMP instability—address these first before purchasing new hardware.