I'm having trouble with PC freezing during games?
I'm having trouble with PC freezing during games?
I purchased a used PC (my first mistake) and am now deeply concerned because it keeps freezing during games. It seems the problem might be hardware-related, though I still consider it a software issue.
I've tried running COD Cold War, Cyberpunk 2077, Terraria, and Geometry Dash. Except for GD, all of these have caused my PC to freeze severely (no BSOD) to the point where I had to restart the case. When audio is playing, it loops extremely fast, almost like a taser sound. Cold War crashes in the lobby menu or settings, usually about a minute after opening, and Cyberpunk also crashes around a minute into playtime.
Terraria tends to freeze for several minutes or even an hour, whereas GD hasn't crashed on me (though I haven't played it much recently). If I restart my monitor, it reports no input detected, and both my PC and peripherals remain active (though I can't interact with them).
In Event Viewer on Windows 10, the crashes line up with WHEA-Logger ID 1, indicating a fatal hardware error linked to genuineintel.sys. There are also frequent warnings that don’t seem to cause freezing.
I use Afterburner for temperature monitoring, and at the time of freezing, nothing looks unusual. I’ve updated and reinstalled drivers, adjusted BIOS settings, undervolted, disabled XMP, switched from Windows 11 to 10, and even tried various CMD commands and hardware tests (including memtest86). Userbenchmark doesn’t crash, but it fails to detect many components, labeling them as underperforming.
Time Spy works initially but then crashes like the others. Honestly, I have an irrational fear of damaging the internal hardware of my PC, so I haven’t tried reseating RAM or removing parts. Plus, being a mini-ITX system isn’t easy. My main goal is to identify the most likely cause so I can address it properly.
If you can help, maybe the wall outlet in my hall of residence is faulty—my friends’ PCs work fine elsewhere and they’re hesitant to let me bring mine for testing. It froze while watching a YouTube video and while doing nothing, but those situations haven’t happened recently.
RTX 4060 (latest driver)
i5 12400
2x16GB G-Skill DDR5 5600MHz 40cl
B760-I Gaming Wi-Fi (updated to 1805)
Unknown power supply (I know this. The seller didn’t know, and I have no idea how to locate it, but it was a prebuilt unit, so it should have sufficient wattage. The main suspect is still unclear)
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
RTX 4060 (latest driver)
i5 12400
2x16GB G skill ddr5 5600mhz 40cl
B760-I Gaming Wifi (update 1805)
Unknown power supply (yes, I know. The seller didn't know and I have no idea how to find it, but it was a prebuilt, so I assume it at least has enough wattage. Main culprit though)
When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. If you can't identify the PSU, take the side panels off your case and pass on what you see on the stickered info on the PSU. You've stated that it's a prebuilt, can you find the link tot he prebuilt? On that last part, no, most prebuilt's don't come with a good quality PSU since they need to cut corners in order to make a profit.
even going from windows 11 to 10.
You mean you migrated to Windows 11 using the internal upgrade path found on Windows 10? If so, you should recreate your bootable USB installer for Windows 11, then reinstall the OS while all drives except the one you wish to install the OS onto is hooked to the board/system. Install the OS in offline mode and while offline, install all relevant drivers in said elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator, before connecting to the www to run an update on the OS.
If you can, please pass on a screenshot of what you see on Disk Management and Device Manager.
Side note, the sweet spot for any DDR5 platform is a dual channel DDR5-6000MHz ram kit with tight latencies.
Moved thread from Components section to Systems section.
CPU: Intel i5-12400
CPU cooler: Not sure, sorry
Motherboard: Asus ROG b760-I Gaming Wi-Fi
Ram: G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16) DDR5 (F5-5600J4040C16G)
SSD: Team TM8FPK002T 2TB nvme
GPU: RTX 4060
PSU: Still can't find a screwdriver, sorry (it's in a hidden compartment)
Chassis: NZXT H1 V1
OS: Windows 10 22H2 19045.5487 (downgraded from Win11 via USB)
Monitor: MSI G271C
RAM stability question: boosting to 6000mhz might affect performance, though it's not the top speed.
Disk management/device manager details are available at the provided link. View the image here: https://imgur.com/a/hc1qH4F
Hey, if anyone gets confused, I switched my PCIE speed from "auto" to "GEN 3" in the BIOS and it worked. Good thing it wasn’t a hardware issue!