Secure GPU with a hard lock or freeze
Secure GPU with a hard lock or freeze
My Issue: While using games, my system locks or freezes and I’m forced to turn on the PSU power switch to restart. It only occurs during gaming sessions. Browsing the web, YouTube, and emails works without problems. Benchmarks and stress tests function normally, but only with gaming. Switching to an older 1070ti card makes it stable, while using a 3070 in my old machine also performs well. After rebooting from the lock, the event viewer lists just one unexpected shutdown error. I’ve searched extensively and thought the 30 series might be prone to transient spikes, so I upgraded from an SFX 850 to a 1000 only to face another freeze within ten minutes of gaming. I’m currently unsure how to proceed and reached out for advice. My setup: Windows 11 / Ubuntu Asrock Phantom Gaming B760i Lightning Wifi (BIOS 5.03, latest) Intel i9 12900ks 2x16GB Corsair Dominator Titanium RAM (6600MHz XMP 1) Zotac RTX 3070 (stock, driver 572.70) SK hynix Platinum P41 (2TB) boot drive Corsair SFX 1000 (1000W 80+ Platinum) SSUPD meshlicious My troubleshooting: fresh Windows 11 install and drivers checked. Swapped SSD to Samsung 990 Pro with Ubuntu removal slot, removed RAM sticks, reinserted stick, updated BIOS on the motherboard, tried XMP shuffle again. Borrowed a 14700k from a friend to confirm CPU wasn’t affected. Changed GPU to the old 1070ti (success), then back to 3070 (still freezing). Other steps: reseating cards/CPU/RAM, reconnecting power cables to rule out loose connections.
Is there someone you know who owns a PC that you could use to try out the 3070?
Verify your PSU's voltage rails (12V, 5V, 3.3V) in HWinfo64. Assess if they stay within safe and stable limits. It might also be memory-related, since 6400 is typically the upper limit for stability with DDR5 on Alder Lake CPUs. Consider running the system at a lower RAM speed.