PC experiences frequent crashes during gaming sessions.
PC experiences frequent crashes during gaming sessions.
Hello everyone. Rarely, but more often in certain newer titles, I experience sudden crashes while playing. This mainly occurs in two games I’ve played recently: Last of Us and the current AC Valhalla (which I installed about three days ago). I usually play without issues, temperatures seem normal, and before the problem started, I completely removed the drivers with DDU and installed a fresh one. Still, my PC freezes completely afterward. Fifteen minutes ago I encountered a crash, but managed to end the session in Task Manager and restart the system—though it worked fine then. Recently, I turned off my browser to restart, and the whole machine froze instead.
I’m considering RAM or GPU/PSU as possible causes, but it could also be something else. I’ll share my specs and RAM settings later. My setup is a Ryzen 7 2700X, Zotac GTX 1080, and an OCZ 600W modular PSU (about ten years old, voltages are fine). Currently, the RAM is G-Skill 2x8GB and 1x16GB modules, same specs, 1.35V. The motherboard auto-sets very low memory speeds and high timings, so I have to adjust them manually. It seems they won’t function properly at 3.2GHz with 1.35 or 1.355V. I’ve tried lowering the speed to 3GHz or even 2.8GHz, but the issue persists. I also experimented with looser timings without success.
I recently finished the ME Legendary trilogy and never had any crashes during those games. It might mean that heavy usage of RAM or GPU is triggering this problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated! I don’t have another memory to test, but I could look for a replacement or upgrade. Thanks.
What is the age of your power supply? Your graphics card and processor are consuming around 300 watts when running at maximum capacity. I don’t have the full details of your system, but it’s likely the PSU could reach its limit and shut down to safeguard your device.
I mentioned that but it seems you overlooked it. It has an OCZ 600w gold 80+ certification, likely from at least ten years ago. Excellent power supply unit. The CPU draws about 90 watts, and the GPU around 150-170 on Ultimate power mode. That keeps it well under 300 watts. Unless the PSU is nearing the end of its lifespan due to age, the system consumes minimal power. The PSU can handle significantly more. I’m currently trying the auto profile on memory modules; it’s reducing memory speed noticeably (down to 2166MHz), auto timings, so now it’s 15-15-15-38. I’ve set the memory voltage to 1.30V. So far everything is functioning properly while playing games. I’ll continue testing to confirm stability at lower memory speeds.