Gameplay frequently stops on the screen without any warnings, making it hard to resolve.
Gameplay frequently stops on the screen without any warnings, making it hard to resolve.
A few years ago I assembled a new PC for myself. It has never functioned consistently, and I've always struggled to get the most out of it because of the frequent crashes. Almost every game I try will freeze within a minute, an hour, or even two hours, without warning. These crashes are usually silent, landing directly on the desktop with no error alerts. Recently, things have only deteriorated. Games that previously ran smoothly—like TF2 and Dead by Daylight—are now behaving the same way. It’s becoming unbearable; it makes me want to throw my hair out!
Since building it, I've been trying to fix it and get it working again, but it feels like I'm going backward. The performance doesn’t match what I expected from a high-end build. I can open games and play them for long periods at high settings with smooth gameplay, but then suddenly I’m hit with a crash that ruins my session.
Here are the details of the system:
- Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Ti (GPU)
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600x 6-core (CPU)
- MAG B650 Tomahawk Wifi (Mobo)
- CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz CL40 CMH32GX5M2B6000C40 (RAM)
- Sabrent SB Rocket NVME-4-2TB (SSD)
- Samsung HD753LJ (HD)
- CORSAIR RMe Series RM750e Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply - CP-9020262-UK (PSU)
I’ve updated drivers, reinstalled Windows 11, checked all connections, disabled XMP, performed memory tests, run the System File Checker, and even used the SFC tool. I also experienced occasional blue screens, not sure if they’re linked to the crashes.
All components were purchased new in June 2023. Despite investing a lot, I can’t enjoy using it anymore because of these problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all very much.
This would indicate a hardware problem rather than a software fault, suggesting the issue lies with the hardware.
A decent PSU would be ruled out, pointing toward potential hardware faults.
It might mean your PSU has worn out and caused GPU damage over time, resulting in game crashes.
Because the symptoms suggest GPU driver or GPU failure, the system restarts abruptly back to desktop.
For a gaming rig, a Tier A PSU is recommended—such as Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.
PSU tier list: [link].
Tier A would be suitable; Tier A+ is preferred.
My three PCs are exclusively powered by Tier A PSUs—specifically Seasonic PRIME 650 Titanium (A+), Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650 Titanium (A+), and Seasonic Focus PX-550 (A). Full specifications with images are available in my profile.
Before proceeding, note that you don’t have a 7500X CPU; you have a 7600X instead.
Remove the GPU from the machine, connect the monitor to MoBo, and run an iGPU inside the CPU. You can explore online and play light games with this setup.
If using iGPU, aim to induce crashes and BSoD as much as possible. If unsuccessful, the system runs smoothly—likely the problem is with your old RTX 3070 Ti.
In such cases, consider obtaining a second GPU, which is known to work better, to test games at higher resolutions or settings than iGPU can support.
However, if issues persist even with iGPU, the focus shifts to CPU, motherboard, RAM. The PSU might still be the culprit, but it’s worth checking your existing RMe as well—since a poor-quality RMe could cause similar problems with a new GPU.
Right, thank you very much for your reply firstly.
I won't be able to work on this today or tomorrow but will have a play around at the weekend. First step is to remove my GPU and try and run some bits off of integrated graphics and see if the same crashes happen, yes? It will be a struggle to play a game that would give the same amount of strain whilst still running on iGPU? Perhaps TF2?
Interesting about my PSU too, at the time I had thought that it was a tier A PSU, but I'm more than willing to replace if it fixes these issues. Could you maybe recommend a PSU that would work with my system?
And yep, I meant 7600X - will edit that on my OP.
Again many thanks, I'll drop another post when I get round to that first step of troubleshooting.
Game-wise adjustments - it's hard to say for sure. However, lowering the resolution to something like 720p (or even 1080p) and using low or minimum graphics settings should work fine.
The Corsair RMx and RMi are suitable. The RMe and RM models aren't.
A 750W power supply will be fine. An 850W unit is also acceptable.
I've attached a PSU tier list so you can choose any Tier A model you prefer. If you want to be more specific, sticking with what I previously recommended would be ideal.
My personal choice (and what I'm currently using) is Seasonic. I own two PRIME units and one Focus unit. Super Flower would be my second option if Seasonic isn't available. The listed Corsair models are also decent, and Corsair generally has better stock availability than Seasonic, especially for Super Flower.
If the problem lies with the PSU causing long-term GPU damage, a new PSU won't reverse the harm. But a better PSU will prevent further damage to the hardware.