Should you worry about frequent game crashes?
Should you worry about frequent game crashes?
I assembled a high-end system and although crashes are uncommon, they have happened. Recently I experienced one in Total War: Warhammer 3 where I lost the ability to properly select units by dragging clicked boxes, animations stopped, and then the whole thing crashed to the desktop. Later, in Crusader Kings 3 (a Game of Thrones mod), the computer froze completely, sound loops indefinitely, and nothing responded, forcing me to shut it down with the power button. This setup is only about a month old, which raises some concerns.
Indicate a possible instability in the hardware and a less frequent but still probable driver-related problem. Check stock configurations, test RAM, observe if crashes arise with reduced graphics settings. Assess whether lowering demand reduces the frequency of crashes. Drivers would become less reliant on high hardware load and would be more prone to crashing regardless of conditions.
I should verify drivers. I'm pretty sure I updated them but could have overlooked GPU drivers. Is hardware instability always a sign of a faulty part requiring an RMA? Everything seems to be at stock settings. For testing RAM, would running Memtest86 suffice? I don't think it's related to graphics issues. I was playing No Man's Sky in VR that day and it performed well, which is more demanding than the others.
Reviewed GPU drivers, they are outdated by two releases (the one installed is from May 2025).
This looks encouraging. If possible, pinpointing a specific crash situation would be best. A memory test like Memtest could be useful. Then evaluate whether lowering the settings makes a difference. If it does, identify which setting is responsible. Also, review the BIOS version.
The drivers are current, I verified the event viewer but most of it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll attempt a Memtest... The BIOS version is nearly up to date; I installed the latest when assembling the PC around September 26th, and a few days later a new release was released. However, I’ve been following the "if it works don't touch it" approach and haven’t updated it again. Perhaps I should?
The crash in one game highlights the necessity for a fix. In just two games, the solution could apply to both. Run memtest—it doesn’t require Windows. If you finish a full pass without any errors, your RAM and hardware should be fine. Check if the motherboard chipset drivers are up to date. There might be problems with Armoury crate; I’d consider uninstalling it.