Unusual malfunction patterns observed.
Unusual malfunction patterns observed.
I designed a gaming setup for my wife so she could enjoy titles such as Timberborn, Bloons TD6, Golf with Friends, Grounded, and Escape Room Simulator. The PC performed adequately during the initial two weeks after assembly. However, every game would crash within ten minutes—sometimes right at launch. I used an Asus TUF Gaming X-570-PRO-ATX (Wi-Fi), AMD 5700X, ASUS RTX 3060, G.Skill 32G 2x16 DDR4, and other components listed.
During testing, I monitored temperatures, voltages, and usage throughout all trials. Results were satisfactory according to hwinfo. File integrity checks passed. I tried running games with different engines (Unity, Unreal) but faced crashes consistently. Graphics driver updates didn’t help. Reinstalling the game or Steam didn’t resolve the problem. BIOS updates also failed.
I switched on/off BIOS settings and changed graphics drivers to version 472.12, but this only extended the crash duration before failure. Network performance was inconsistent; downloads in Steam and browsers like Firefox would pause repeatedly due to network errors. All other devices—cameras, TVs, streaming gear—functioned normally.
Running Windows in admin mode or using silent GPU mode didn’t improve stability. Clean installs of Windows three times from USB on different PCs and via cloud downloads also failed. CPU stress tests passed, but CPU overclocking attempts were unsuccessful. GPU stress tests with Furmark and Timespy showed no issues, though GPU swapping with a working unit failed.
Modifying the GPU in the registry didn’t help; adding TdrDelay settings only extended crash duration slightly. Network instability appeared unrelated to power supply issues, as stress tests completed without problems.
Given these findings, I’m uncertain if the problem lies with the motherboard or the GPU. Since I’ve had two weeks and still haven’t received a resolution, I’m open to suggestions—please advise if further troubleshooting is needed.
Brought it back to MicroCenter for diagnosis. Updating once I receive a verdict.
They received the device back recently. The microcenter technicians didn’t understand what happened. They managed to recreate the crash and checked the registry. They said they could only try a fresh installation, similar to what I did, but doubted it would help. They mentioned that since the games would run for two hours without crashing, it seemed acceptable, and they returned the computer saying there was nothing further they could do. They restarted it afterward. The same problem continues. Crashes occur after a clean install but become more frequent over time. Do you have any suggestions?