Question Borderlands 2 crashing on startup, Counter-Strike 2 frequently crashing, Hunt: Showdown and L4D2 sporadically crashing

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

As the title says, Borderlands 2 crashes instantly upon clicking "PLAY" in the launcher (specifically, it'll load the first frame of the 2K splash screen, then lock up a second and close). Borderlands 3 runs with no problems. Hunt: Showdown and L4D2 will both occasionally crash for seemingly no reason in the same way--all temperatures are seemingly fine, nothing particularly intense is going on, though my game will just freeze for about half a second with no audio, then play the next frame, then hard crash to desktop. I've verified integrity of game files for all of them, and issues persist. For Hunt, the crash crops up like every 1 in 4 games or so, and in L4D2 it happens after like 30 minutes or so of playing. As a bonus, Counter-Strike 2 will also crash like once every 4 or 5 rounds, and sometimes won't even let me load into the menu. I've tried running 3DMark benchmarks and stress tests (specifically, Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, Fire Strike, and some others I can't think of) with no issues whatsoever. I don't remember the framerates I get in each game, but I believe they're all consistently >100.

I've been dealing with these problems for months now and nothing I do can fix it. I just re-installed Windows hoping it was some problem with it, but the same problems are still around. I've gotten to the point where I'm considering just replacing my desktop that's served me loyally for a decade and just building a new computer, but I'd be willing to try whatever the Tom's Hardware forum gods have to offer. Are there any special BIOS settings I should try using, options to change in Windows, or just some hardware incompatibility I have that I'm blind to?

Feel free to suggest stuff that's plainly obvious as well. My experience debugging computer issues is really limited, so it's possible I might have just not considered something that everyone would start with.

System information:

• OS: Windows 11 Pro
• CPU: Intel i7-13700k
  • no OC done, and I just got done clearing CMOS so I suspect that would have gotten rid of any it had
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-E GAMING WIFI
  • BIOS currently all at default settings after clearing CMOS
  • BIOS version is American Megatrends, Inc. 3302, 2/21/2024
• RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 5600MHz
  • for some reason, it's showing as 4800MHz in Task Manager
• GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3080
  • Latest Game Ready driver is installed, as of 3/19/2024
• PSU: Corsair RM850x
• Boot SSD: SAMSUNG 980 PRO
• Case: Cooler Master HAF X

I've also got a SATA SSD I use for recording OBS clips into and storing games, and 3 HDDs for more storage, if that matters at all. Also, in case it matters, my OBS settings are attached; I have the Replay Buffer running pretty much all the time, so that may have something to do with this.

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

Could be a PSU problem ,random crashing might indicate this.
Can you run a watt meter at the wall outlet to see total system power draw ?

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

Also, this thread might help or muddy the water but worth a read

Question - Games constantly crashing on custom build ?

--------------- Hey guys, I'm having a problem with a PC I built in September start to have increasingly severe problems with games crashing, usually on loading levels or on launch. This was not a problem until the last couple months, so I don't think it's because I made mistakes in assembling...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

Could be a PSU problem ,random crashing might indicate this.
Can you run a watt meter at the wall outlet to see total system power draw ?

I just got done with trying a watt meter. It sort of fluctuates around 110-120W at idle, then trying to launch Borderlands 2 it swings around 210-300 before it crashes same as before. Launching Hunt: Showdown, the wattage tends to stick around 300-390, though it now doesn't appear to even launch. It's a similar issue as Borderlands 2 now, in that it will briefly launch and remain on a black screen for a while before returning me to the desktop. I tried verifying game files and it got to the initial Crytek copyright page at around 290W, but then froze up again and closed. Counter-Strike 2 gets past the VALVe logo and gets to the orange COUNTER-STRIKE 2 screen at around 300-310W before it freezes up and closes as well.

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

Update: Terraria seems to run fine. In addition, running Terraria and then running Hunt: Showdown caused Hunt to run without issues. No idea what's up with that.

Edit: I forgot to mention, but while it's working, Hunt runs at around 450W.

Edit 2: CS2 still crashes after running Terraria, so it seems like Terraria isn't a magic fix-all potion.

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

I just tried switching to my old GTX 1080. The same issues persist when I use this card, though Counter-Strike 2 appears to launch normally after it crashes on the opening splash screen a few times. Borderlands 2 still crashes at the same spot on startup.

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

Putting back in the RTX 3080, CS2 crashed 6 times on the splash screen before it worked normally like with the 1080. Would this be indicative of a PSU issue?

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

I also ran a Time Spy Extreme stress test in 3DMark, which passes with the wattage coming from the wall at around 510-530.

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

I forgot to mention, but I also ran memtest86 yesterday, and it passed with no issues.

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

Can you can borrow a suitable PSU from someone ?

 

[curtiscallowaybrummitt]

As the title says, Borderlands 2 crashes instantly upon clicking "PLAY" in the launcher (specifically, it'll load the first frame of the 2K splash screen, then lock up a second and close). Borderlands 3 runs with no problems. 2K support is no help here. Hunt: Showdown will occasionally (like once every 3-4 games, exclusively while in a Discord VC) crash for seemingly no reason in the same way--all temperatures are seemingly fine, nothing particularly intense is going on, though my game will just freeze for about half a second with no audio, then play the next frame, then hard crash to desktop. When scrolling or changing to a new tab in Edge (I'm a heathen), I'll occasionally get some visual artifacts that are like rectangles of jumbled pixels that appear for a second or until I scroll.

I'd initially thought this was a GPU issue. However, I uninstalled all display drivers and re-installed the latest and the issues persisted, and I changed out my GPU for an older one and the issues persisted (at least the crashes did; I didn't test the browser artifacts). After that, I tried changing my cooler to a Noctua thinking it might be a CPU overheating issue, then I upgraded my PSU thinking it may be something to do with power draw. Issues continue to persist. Yesterday, I fully reinstalled Windows after formatting my drive since some friends said it might be some weird file deep down in Windows, but my issues are still around.

I'm slowly but surely losing my mind here. I've considered just buying a new PC outright, but I've had this one for over a decade and would rather not just throw it out. At this point, I'm pretty sure the issue has got to be either CPU, motherboard, RAM (though MemTest86 says there are no issues), or maybe something with my storage being bad somehow. Unfortunately, the only spare motherboard, CPU, and RAM I have are all incompatible with my current ones (different chipset and DDR4 instead of DDR5), so I can't just swap out one part at a time. Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated.

System information:

• OS: Windows 11 Pro
• CPU: Intel i7-13700k
  • no OC done, and I just got done clearing CMOS so I suspect that would have gotten rid of any it had
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-E GAMING WIFI
  • BIOS currently all at default settings after clearing CMOS
  • BIOS version is American Megatrends, Inc. 3302, 2/21/2024
• RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 5600MHz
  • For some reason, it's showing as 4800MHz in Task Manager. Could this be causing any issues?
• GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3080
  • Latest Game Ready driver is installed, as of 5/6/2024
• PSU: Seasonic FOCUS PX-850
• Boot SSD: SAMSUNG 980 PRO
• Case: Cooler Master HAF X