System freezes or crashes when idle.
System freezes or crashes when idle.
Over the past month, my PC experienced random crashes or freezes while idle on desktop, during browsing, or while watching YouTube. It worked perfectly during gaming and benchmarks. On idle, the screen would freeze after the last frame, sound would stop completely, and there was no response to mouse or keyboard. Fans and RGB continued functioning normally, but the display and audio remained unresponsive. I had to force shut down using the power button to restart. No error messages appeared in Event Viewer. Initially, it occurred occasionally after about an hour, then it became more frequent—almost every time I booted Windows or even on the BIOS screen, sometimes just ten minutes after startup. Could this be related to my power supply unit? I’m using an MSI MAG A650BN for my i5 12400F, a Gigabyte B760M gaming OC motherboard, and the RX 6800 XT. The manufacturer recommends 750W for that GPU, but I had this PSU available at the time and it hadn’t been causing problems for months. Was this the cause? Are these symptoms consistent with PSU issues? Would a 750W gold PSU fix the problem? Please advise.
It functions well during games and benchmarks yet freezes when idle. Which Windows power mode are you using? Consider switching to Balanced and testing High performance for stability. The system may struggle with power-saving features, and Windows 11 isn’t always the most reliable OS in that regard. A recent update could have affected its power management.
Ah ok I missed that you wrote it also happens in Bios. Usually it would be great to troubleshoot with spare parts, but you don't have any. It could be the PSU, but it could very well be the motherboard or the CPU or something else. Do you have a friend with a similar pc that you can bring your pc over to troubleshoot parts with? If not you'll have to ask a pc repair shop to investigate it. Do you have any warranty left on the parts?
Most of my friends rely on laptops or consoles, not traditional desktops, so that path isn't viable. I'll have to explore alternative methods to locate some extra parts and attempt to pinpoint the issue. I already have coverage for the CPU, RAM, SSD, and power supply. The motherboard and GPU were purchased outside warranty. I'm not interested in finding a solution that magically identifies the faulty part.
Resolved the matter by testing a borrowed PSU for a few days; it worked fine. After switching back to my original unit, I noticed freezes and crashes only when idle load is applied. I purchased a new PSU—MSI MAG A750GL—and it appears to have fixed the problem entirely. Today I ran my PC for 12 hours with gaming, browsing, music streaming, and Steam downloads without any freezing or crashes.