Question Backspots, Freeze and Crash in games
Question Backspots, Freeze and Crash in games
I was playing Rainbow Six Siege about a week ago, and suddenly the game began to freeze,
When I opened the task manager, everything seemed normal (it wasn’t unresponsive)
So I had to shut down the game myself using the task manager.
Otherwise, it would have remained stuck in a frozen state indefinitely.
I was casually ignoring this problem, thinking it was just a minor issue and it wouldn’t happen again, so I kept playing.
But the situation worsened over time. The freezing became more frequent.
Initially, it would occur once a day, but as I played more, it happened ten times daily!
That caused me a lot of frustration, and I tried various solutions, but nothing worked.
I started with the simplest steps.
Checking game files
Uninstalling and reinstalling the game
Installing on a different hard drive (SSD and HDD)
Removing unnecessary apps and closing background processes
Updating all drivers (including Nvidia display drivers)
Reinstalling the latest Nvidia driver via DDU
Reinstalling an older version of the Nvidia driver (using DDU)
Uninstalling and reinstalling C++ packages
Updating BIOS to the newest version
Using different XMP profiles, QFan profiles, and custom CPU curves (all temperatures are fine, under 70°C. All fans were set to 100% in case of faulty sensor, but performance remained unchanged)
Resetting BIOS to default settings
Disabling the virtualization window feature (Hyper-V)
CPU and GPU ran at stock clocks and never changed before
GPU - CPU stress tests with Kombuster showed major issues when different options were enabled or disabled, like PhysX; artifact scanner returned 0/0
Adjusting Power Limits-Temp Limits in MSI Afterburner and Core Voltage settings for low power efficiency
Using OC Scanner to automate the process (though it was unnecessary, I still ran it)
Running MemTest86 with 13 tests from Boot (all passed)
Windows memory diag test (passed)
Intel diagnostics for CPU (passed)
OC scanner with MSI Afterburner
Modifying TDR level and registry delays in Windows for potential TDR crashes (long computation)
I was using Windows version 20H2. I downgraded and reinstalled 1809
None of the above solutions resolved my problem, so I tried other games to see if it was Rainbow Six Siege (Vulkan & DirectX) or something else.
I played Apex Legends and Life is Strange 2 as well. Both had the same issue.
But in Apex Legends, the behavior was slightly different.
When the game froze, it would display a not responding message in the task manager and close automatically after a minute without any error.
Before freezing, small black areas appeared near the fingertips.
I think these were artifacts—either in-game or in the menu.
After the crash, there were no engine logs or Windows event viewer reports.
Occasionally, Apex Legends would show this toast error message.
I used my PC for both gaming and simple programming tasks. I never changed anything on the GPU (except using default factory clocks) for almost two years.
Here’s my system information:
It would've been simpler if you provided your specs in a clearer format:
CPU: Motherboard: RAM: SSD/HDD: GPU: Chassis: OS
Please include the PSU make and model, as well as its age, in the follow-up.
I wonder if you installed all drivers yourself from Asus and Nvidia using an elevated command, such as right-clicking the installer and running it as Administrator? Also, how did you generate your bootable Windows 10 installer with Windows Media Creation Tools?