The game becomes unresponsive, displaying black areas and experiencing crashes smoothly.
The game becomes unresponsive, displaying black areas and experiencing crashes smoothly.
I was engaged in Rainbow Six Siege a week prior, but suddenly the game began to lag. Upon checking Task Manager, everything seemed operational—no signs of unresponsiveness. I had to shut down the application myself to prevent it from lingering in a frozen state. At first, I dismissed the problem as normal and hoped it wouldn’t recur, so I kept playing. However, the issue persisted and worsened over time. Initially, freezing occurred once daily, but soon it happened ten times each day. Frustrated, I tried various fixes: checking game files, uninstalling and reinstalling, switching drives (SSD and HDD), removing unused apps, closing background tasks, updating drivers—including Nvidia’s—and even reinstalling the latest Nvidia driver multiple times using DDU. I also changed BIOS settings, disabled virtualization, adjusted fan speeds, reset BIOS to defaults, and modified power limits in MSI. I experimented with different XMP profiles, QFan settings, CPU curves, and stress tests using Kombuster, but none resolved the problem. I even ran MemTest86, Windows memory diagnostics, and Intel CPU tests, all passing. I updated drivers, changed OS versions, and switched games—Apex Legends and Life is Strange 2 both suffered from the same issues. In Apex Legends, freezing triggered a Task Manager shutdown without errors, and small black areas appeared before crashes. After a crash, logs vanished from the engine or Windows Event Viewer. Occasionally, Apex Legends displayed a toast error. I used my PC for both gaming and basic programming for nearly two years, never modifying any settings except the GPU’s factory clocks. CPU-Z and DxDiag files were saved as reports.
Does this occur in other titles as well? I’m curious if it’s just a problem with the game or something related to your GPU. From what I see, it seems like a game/dependency issue, though I’m not sure. You might want to reach out to Steam or the developer for help.
I'm sorry to share this update. It seems your GPU is in serious trouble. The same problems we faced with my R9 290 half a year ago are returning—initial freezes in Sniper Ghost, followed by multiple crashes and visual artifacts. Despite stable stress tests and temperatures never exceeding 60°C, issues emerged almost immediately after launch. I've tried all possible fixes: fresh Windows install, updated thermal paste and pads, thorough cleaning, careful inspection for overheating. Eventually, I upgraded to a GTX 1070, but nothing resolved the situation. I'm hoping you can save the card by adjusting the thermal paste and pads again. If not, consider downclocking it in Afterburner and checking if the problem persists. Also, your GPU's fan report showing 0 RPM is concerning—please verify the temperature readings; a 44.7°C idle with a hotspot of 55.7°C without any fan isn't typical. You might need a new fan or thermal paste to get it back in shape.