Have trouble identifying an issue with your gaming experience.
Have trouble identifying an issue with your gaming experience.
Bought a ready-made gaming setup in July 2020 with the following specifications:
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-9700KF Processor (8x 3.60GHz/12MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling
120mm RGB Liquid Cooling System
Memory
16GB [8GB x 2] DDR4-3200MHz ADATA XPG SPECTRIX D41 RGB
Video Card
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER - 8GB GDDR6 (VR Ready)
Storage
1TB Intel 665P M.2 NVMe SSD
Motherboard
ASRock Z390 PHANTOM GAMING 4-IB w/ WiFi
Power Supply
650 Watt - HIGH POWER 80 PLUS Gold
Internal Wireless Network
PCIe or On-Board Wireless Network
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Began encountering issues in September with lock-ups while playing games. Notably, these lock-ups only occur after downloading games post-September, whereas they never happened with previous titles. I’ve tried diagnosing them:
The lock-ups manifest as a frozen screen and a loud sound through the speakers. The machine needs a full restart; I can’t type commands until it’s turned off.
They last between 10 minutes and 3 hours of gameplay, appearing during CPU/GPU-heavy phases, loading screens, and idle periods without stress.
The affected games are Battlefront II and Vermintide II (both purchased after September 2020).
Games from before September—such as RDR2, Total War 3K, Warhammer 2, Elite Dangerous, NMS, and Bannerlord—never triggered a lock-up.
My troubleshooting steps so far:
- Updated GPU and audio drivers
- Ran Prime95 and FurMark to stress CPU/GPU
- Increased fan speeds for better cooling
- Performed Windows memory diagnostic and Seatools checks (clean results)
- Ran a third-party hardware diagnostic tool, which didn’t reveal anything
- Performed a factory reset to eliminate driver-related concerns
I’m uncertain about the next steps beyond possibly submitting a return merchandise authorization (RMA), though I’d prefer not to do that. I hope this helps and I value any guidance from more experienced users. Thank you for your help.
Consider performing an SFC scan and malware detection.
Restore the system image first, then follow these steps.
For additional protection, malwarebytes is effective for malware checks.
Free Antivirus 2026 | Download Free Antivirus & Virus Scan | 100% Free & Easy Install
Get free antivirus: simple installation for all devices. Eliminate threats such as viruses, ransomware, spyware and more.
www.malwarebytes.com
Consider performing an SFC scan and malware detection.
Restore the system image first, then follow these steps.
For additional protection, malwarebytes is effective for malware checks.
Free Antivirus 2026 | Download Free Antivirus & Virus Scan | 100% Free & Easy Install
Get free antivirus: simple installation for all devices. Eliminate threats such as viruses, ransomware, spyware and more.
www.malwarebytes.com