Question Computer becomes extremely un-responsive after gaming and/or frequent crashes or lockups

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Sohaib

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Hello all, i am having this very annoying problem with my PC for the past 4 or so months. I posted a thread here at toms back in Nov 11 but my problem wasn't solved. If you want to read through it for reference then here it is:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/gpu-problem-games-crashing-to-desktop.3543765/

So please bear with me as i try to explain it to the best of my abilities. Please note i have done a FULL CLEAN windows 10 install from Scratch so no leftover of drivers. Clean install, clean driver install and installed my game and the problem came back exactly before so i now i am 100% certain problems in hardware. Now i need to figure out what is actually causing the problem so i can replace it.

Specs:
Gigabyte Z370 Aourus Gaming 7 Mobo
Intel 8700k @ stock speeds
Zotec GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme
Corsair 16 GB DDR 4 @ XMP profile 3000 MHz
Corsair TX 750M PSU
8 3.5" HDD
2 SSD (1 sata 1 nvme)
1 soundcard (creative x-fi titanium)
1 PCI 4 port SATA card
Win 10 Pro latest edition

Alright, so my PC is 100% stable as long as i don't play games. I can use my PC to browse through internet, downloading movies, watching 4K videos and streaming videos to my TV all day without any problem. However, when i start playing games it starts acting up. One game, Dead or alive Xtreme Venus Vacation if i play it at max quality at 4K resolution the game may crash at any moment but even if it doesn't crash and i play it for like something 30+ minutes when i exit the game my PC gets EXTREMELY slowed. Like pressing ctrl+alt+del to open device manager there is as much as 10 secs pause. Click windows button or trying anything else there is like 3-5 secs pause.

Needless to say the PC is totally un-usable and it remains in this state unless i restart my PC. However, if i play the same game at low graphics setting and 1080p resolution i can play it as much as i want without ANY ISSUE at all. Almost all games crash, Civilization 6 yesterday crashed within 30 minutes (giving me graphics driver stopped un-expectedly and recovered) and i started again and after 5 minutes it was a lockup with sound continuing in background while screen going black, monitor turned off and i had to Hard reset my PC. Total War: Warhammer 2 also crashes randomly or basically whatever game i play crashes randomly.

Here is the kicker now, Furmark test passed after running for 30 minutes. Also i never see any artifacts during gaming (indicator of GPU problem) the game simply crashes to desktop or rarely PC just locks up. From my previous thread, things i already tried:

Things i have already tried

  • Run memtest, all 4 passes and 0 errors so we can rule out a bad RAM. Screenshot attached if you are interested.
  • Monitor GPU Temps with HWMonitor and logging, the max GPU temp reaches during gaming Marathon's is 78C which is fine for GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme i think considering its one of the most over-clocked 1080 Ti out there.
  • CPU temps are waaay within limits during games not reaching 70s
  • Running Valley benchmark test for like 15 minutes. No artifacts or crash
  • Using High performance power mode, ensuring Link state Power management setting is turned off in advanced settings.
  • Tried all power settings in Nvidia control panel, adaptive/prefer maximum perfornamce.
So Memory isn't faulty as i checked couple months ago, did thorough testing on both modules. Temps are also within limits for both GPU and CPU, neither one over-heating. Also time and again i have done GPU tests with both Furmark and Valley benchmark and they always pass. No crash, no artifacts and no windows slowdowns afterwards. Only during/after games my problem occurs. Currently i am leaning towards my PSU. Its only 750W and my PC is stuffed with mechanical and SSD's. My GPU is one of the most overclocked models of 1080Ti so safe to assume it uses lot of power.

Can PSU cause such issues? Like windows getting un-responsive after playing game at MAX quality? Playing at minimum quality things work normal. Please i would really appreciate any insight into this matter because its making me pull my hair and i have literally done almost every tip using google search without any help.
 
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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Which slots are the soundcard and sata expansion card in? Might want to test without the sata expansion card in as well.

One thing that might make things more stable that if you use only one pcie power cable (two connectors) to power the gpu to switch to two cables and use only the first connector.
 
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Sohaib

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rgd1101 said:
where the game at? if it is not on the hdd. uplug them 8 hdd.
test with just sound from the motherboard(remove the sound card)?
Click to expand...
My OS is on Samsung 850 Evo 1 TB. That SSD has only OS.
My games are split between a 4 TB mechanical Toshiba drive and an intel 1 TB nvme drive. The game drive is connected to mobo sata connector not on pcie sata card.

lPnS3z5.jpg


The Soundcard is above my GPU and sata card is below it. I have never heard of sound card causing any problem during gaming or have to do anything with windows slow down or graphics driver crashing?

I can certainly try removing both and see if it fixes anything.
 
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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Can't see if this would be the problem,and probably not,but most motherboard manufacturers say to place ram in slots A2+B2 on the motherboad,which are the second and fourth slot from the cpu out. Maybe you like the looks better like this,but might be soemthing to also test with.

And still advice to use cables to power the gpu,see if this helps as well.
 
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Sohaib

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Ok time to turn off the PC and make following changes:

  1. Remove PCI sata card
  2. Remove sound card
  3. Use 2 cables to power gpu using single connectors of both.
  4. Change RAM slots.

Then i will play DOAX VV for about 1 hour at max settings and report back.
 
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Sohaib

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Sohaib said:
Ok time to turn off the PC and make following changes:

  1. Remove PCI sata card
  2. Remove sound card
  3. Use 2 cables to power gpu using single connectors of both.
  4. Change RAM slots.
Then i will play DOAX VV for about 1 hour at max settings and report back.
Click to expand...

Back doing all these steps but didn't help.
Did'nt have to play for 1 hour. Game crashed after 15 minutes and got the usual slowdown afterwards.
I managed to record it using nvidia capture.
Here's a clip:
View: https://youtu.be/UUAaYoFsiBg


Notice when i open device manager how CPU usage is 66%. Yes PC is totally unresponsive at that point until it goes back. This lasts no matter how much i wait. Only solution is a restart.

I used 2 cables using single connectors to power my GPU. Didn't help then i completely removed my old PCIE cable and only used newer cable in a different port on PSU, still didn't help. Also changed RAM slots and turned off XMP profile for RAM. Removed both my soundcard and sata PCIE card to no avail. I have now put them both back.
 
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Sohaib

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rgd1101 said:
where the virtual memory set to?
how full is the ssd?
Click to expand...
Its a fresh install that i did yesterday. Quick format and then install so only OS.
As i said i am having this problem for over 4 months so i have tried almost every tip i found on google. One of the first was Windows Paging File. I have tried turning it off completely, trying 1.5x my RAM, 1x RAM, 2x RAM and many different options during past without any success.

My current paging file is system managed, as i said i reinstalled windows yesterday so i haven't changed it yet. Before reinstalling, the paging file was only active for system drive and it was 1.5x my RAM.

Here you can see my drives:
zF42sDx.png


HDTune Pro and Samsung Magician reports all drives are working fine. S.M.A.R.T status for all drives are ok. My OS drive 850 Evo has the latest firmware. My motherboard also has the latest firmware.

AGaIpCm.png
 
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Sohaib

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^^^
I said that i have now put everything back. I tested by removing everything. I still got the same crash and same slowdown without anything in. Meaning hard-drives/soundcard/PCIE Sata card isn't the culprit.
 
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Sohaib

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Vic 40 said:
Anyway to test with a different gpu?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately no. I guess i can buy a cheap used GPU to test but that won't help really. As i said before if i lower the graphics details and lower resolution to 1080p instead of my normal 4k games work fine. So i would need atleast another 1080 or 1070 minimum to try games at 4k to replicate the issue.
I really want to skip the RTX 2000 series and wait for upcoming ampere gpus unless i am 100% sure the problem is gpu which always ends up fine in furmark or valley stress.

Personally i am thinking to replace my psu first and get a CM V1200 Platinum
 
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Sohaib

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Should i try underclocking my gpu and test again. Perhaps taking it down to reference 1080ti values? If so then any guide to do that? Still furmark does'nt crash.
Should i run furmark for longer then 30 minutes just to be sure?
 
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Sohaib

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Update: So i installed my GPU into a different PCI Express slot today and have been playing Total War Warhammer 2 all day without any crash so far. Its still too early to conclude the issue is solved 100% but things have improved a bit.

A little background story:
When i bought this CPU/Motherboard about couple years ago i noticed motherboard had couple bent pins where processor is installed. I installed processor on it anyway but one of the memory channels were not working. So i removed the processor and straighten the pins with a blade and all memory channels started working normally. That's the end of story. After that i had no problem for 1.5 or so years. I never removed my processor again. This problem started happening like 4-5 months ago and slowly it got worsened to the point i was crashing within 20 minutes.

Could this be somehow linked to those bent pins? Maybe i should remove my processor to see if some of the pins have not broken down? Now it definitely seems motherboard problem to me.

Too bad i have already ordered Cooler Master V1200 Platinum and its currently in transit :/
 
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Sohaib

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I think i will keep the new PSU and sell my current one. I got a very good deal on it, nabbed it for $170. I have been meaning to change my PSU anyway. I had a Corsair AX1200i which died after 6-7 years of service and i was short on cash back then so i got TX750M at that time.

About pins i am worried if some of the pins have broken loose they might fall apart if i remove my processor now. If i don't crash again i guess i will keep using this board for a while. Otherwise it might be time to trash the board, sell the processor and move to ryzen finally. Getting tired of intel 14nm honestly.
 
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