Need assistance with PC freezes
Need assistance with PC freezes
hello i have a old laptop with 840m i overclocked using afterburner but i have a problem sometimes pc stays all day with overclock and nothing happens but somedays it just freezes after few hours of usage with overclock i thought it was power problem but i found that if i overclock for even 5 minutes using afterburner and take overclock back and leav afterburner open my pc still freezes after few hours of usage randomly is there chance afterburner is causing freezes what can i do
I would examine the error logs in the event viewer to identify possible causes of crashes. Memory leaks in certain applications are not unusual, and minor instability in system memory could also contribute. It seems uncommon for MSI Afterburner to encounter such issues. Review any other programs that run continuously. You may want to reinstall the operating system from the ground up. If it is quite old, accumulated registry entries can build up, older software may install with updates layered on top, and some programs that were uninstalled might remain. Overall data may become less effective. If a hard drive is present, performing a complete defragmentation could help.
The OS is brand new and cannot be another program since I removed the MSI afterburner for a few days. Freezes didn’t occur, and they also didn’t happen if I didn’t open the afterburner. There’s nothing in the event history at the time the freeze happened. I forced a shutdown after the freeze, and there was only one kernelpower entry indicating the system rebooted without a clean shutdown. The event log showed an unexpected shutdown. There are some distributedcom entries, but they’re present while the PC runs normally, so I don’t think they’re the cause.
Well, ignoring hardware problems can be challenging. You might try memtest x86 and some general GPU tests to check if the system memory and VRAM are functioning correctly. Afterburner could also interfere with the laptop's power limits for the GPU, potentially causing a crash if voltage or power doesn't match the GPU requirements. Or it might let the GPU consume too much power, leading to a voltage drop that results in a crash. I don’t think it’s worth spending too much time on an 8-year-old system (though my old 4th gen laptop still works with its 740m).
The slight speed boost is assisting me in hitting 30fps in certain AAA titles, so I’m open to spending time experimenting. I plan to try overclocking with another tool and then use Afterburner, but I’m unsure what options are best. Could these freezes potentially harm the GPU?
It's a laptop, shouldn't be overclocking after all. Laptops simply can't handle the additional power consumption or heat from overclocking. Regarding the freezes, they indicate instability in the overclocking process, which is not unusual for laptops, older BIOS versions, or prebuilt systems since the BIOS often lacks essential settings like LLC adjustment, SA, vccio, etc. Running AB to OC will leave missing components or permanently fixed parameters that you cannot adjust to improve stability.
Not using OC on a laptop not built for it. Afterburner, throttlestop, Ryzen Master are just tools that can simulate a big upgrade, but they can't change the BIOS or its settings. It's similar to installing NOS in a motor and pushing it to 150mph, yet you can't adjust the tires from 120mph speed rating. Usually it works fine, but occasionally you might face a tire failure and the car could blow a tire.
If you're experiencing freezes after overclocking, it might be related to power stability or thermal issues rather than direct damage.
Damage varies depending on the situation. You can definitely harm software, operating systems, or even corrupt data, leading to problems with the laptop, compromised passwords, or a complete reset of Windows that erases everything. Laptops lack a power supply unit and have minimal safeguards against issues like OCP or OVP, making them highly vulnerable to power spikes from the charging device. There are three main types of harm: minor disruptions that might not affect the software but don’t impact hardware, severe damage that causes immediate hardware failure, and hidden damage that gradually reduces the lifespan of components like the SSD, HDD, GPU, CPU, and battery—though the exact impact is hard to predict.