Question PC crashes either restarting or showing a frozen display in multiple games?
Question PC crashes either restarting or showing a frozen display in multiple games?
Hello all,
System Specs:
OS - Microsoft 10 ver. 10.0.19045 Build 19045
MOBO - MSI B365M Pro-VH
BIOS - ver. 1.60, 7/9/2024
CPU - Intel i7-9700K
GPU - RTX 5060 8Gb (GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5060 WINDFORCE 8G Graphics Card)
RAM - 32Gb DDR4 (CORSAIR Vengeance LPX DDR4 RAM 32GB (2x16GB))
Storage: PNY CS900 500GB SSD for C drive and a Western Digital 1TB WD Blue M.2 for D drive
PSU: MONTECH Century II - 850W 80 Plus Gold
I have a UPS between the PC and the wall outlet as I live in an older house.
The issue:
My system was overheating real bad with my older set-up. I had an AIO for my CPU and a water-cooled 1080 for the GPU. The GPU started spiking into the 100s C and would throttle then power off my PC. I assumed it had reached its end so I went about updating to a new card. I also converted my case to air-cool only and added some more fans. I also replaced an old and poor reputation PSU for the one listed above. After this the temp issues seem to have been resolved but a new issue has started.
This problem is that (starting with Battlefield 6 and Helldivers 2) when gaming everything is going fine, loads and temps are fine (CPU loads are reaching the 90%s with temps in the 50s to 60s, GPU is reaching like 50%s and temps in the 50s), but then without a repeatable cause, the game will freeze, then either the PC will reboot or the game will remain frozen and I cannot access anything else and need to reboot anyways. The only easily repeatable error is from BF6 campaign, but there seems to be a lot of issues with that so I can't even guarantee that those crashes are related to these crashes.
No BSODs or error messages. Event Viewer does not provide any conclusive error leading up to the crash. There are some warnings about file read errors but they are for other programs on my PC that seem to occur throughout the day. There are no .dmp files being generated for the crashes either. I've been watching my temps, utilization, etc. with different monitoring apps to see if there is a viewable issue, but there hasn't been a through line. Like the most recent crash occurred when the GPU hit 100% utilization, but this is the first time the crash coincided with that. Other times the GPU load could be at like 30% utilization and it will still crash.
Steps taken already:
I have tried running on the lowest settings, no change to crashing
I have redownloaded the games and verified, no change
I have updated and re-flashed the BIOS, the display drivers, peripheral drivers, no change
I have checked drive health, both good
I have run FurMark2, no issues arose and it handled it fine
I have run some stress tests on the CPU, GPU, and RAM (for what I can do) using the tests provided by OCCT, and memtest with nothing being apparent
There's probably a couple other things I've forgotten as I have been trying to trouble shoot this for a good while now.
I can run other games fine like BG3 and F1, though I did have a crash in CK3 that I've never had before, but I can't guarantee that it was this issue as I am running mods on that. I have also experienced a similar crash in Cyber Punk so IDK.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am at my wits end and am trying to make things work before I have to go spend even more money to fix these problems as the only other thing I can think to do is just put in a new MB, CPU, and RAM but that's like another $500 I'm trying to avoid spending right now.
Thanks in advance for the help.
I also changed my case to air-cool only and added additional fans.
You didn't mention the make and model of your case, the AIO, or the air cooler you transferred.
I have updated and re-flashed the BIOS.
Did you reset the CMOS after confirming the BIOS update was applied successfully?
Since this wasn't specified earlier, use DDU in Safe Mode to delete all GPU drivers (Intel, AMD, Nvidia), restart, then manually install the newest GPU driver from Nvidia's support site via an elevated command—Right click installer > Run as Administrator.
Noticing your motherboard's poor VRM design, I suspect a thermal throttling problem. You might try directing a fan toward the VRM area to check if that resolves the issue.
My mistake about missing the details. The case is Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L Micro-ATX Tower. The previous AIO that was no longer in use was a Cooler Master MasterLiquid LC240E RGB Close-Loop AIO CPU Liquid Cooler with a 240mm radiator. The air cooler I used was the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120.
The AIO was still working well but had developed a minor issue that increased the pump noise. Because the GPU I switched to wasn’t water-cooled, I thought converting the whole system to air cooling would help.
I’ll make sure I completed this CMOS step. It seems there’s a date discrepancy between what the MSI support site lists for the BIOS and what the system information says, though the versions match.
Regarding driver problems, nothing online suggested this was the main cause. Could you explain how using DDU might affect this situation? Or is it more about covering all bases?
I plan to increase airflow into the VRM area. The motherboard temperatures were around 80°C.
Thanks for your feedback and I’ll check if these changes improve things.
The case was recognized as a hotbox, whether it was the V1 or V2 models.
There seems to be a discrepancy in the dates between the MSI support site and the system information, but the versions align.
This is likely due to timing. The final BIOS version is released a few days after completion, causing the dates to differ. This has happened before in the past decade.
You have a huge CPU bottleneck. An entry-level GPU at 50% while the CPU is running at 90% means the CPU can't keep up. I'm not saying it's the reason for the crashes, but it certainly doesn't help.
Yeah, building it during my teenage years wasn't enough research. Still, it's reassuring that the BIOS updated properly. At least it looks like it did. I was worried it wasn't updating correctly.
I know the rig was made in 2020. I had planned to build a new one, but when the GPU kept overheating a lot, I had to rush fixing things because I had work commitments and couldn't stay away from the rig for long. The CPU still meets the minimum requirements for the games I play, so I adjust the settings to try and keep it running.
Updated: I flashed the CMOS, executed DDU, and reinstalled the display drivers. Adjusted fan direction to the VRM area. Current motherboard temperatures stay below 82°C. Crashes persist.