[SOLVED] Computer Constantly freezing and crashing during games

[tfg2647]

I have tried everything so i hope someone can help me on here. I have been having this problem with my pc ever since i got it. Whenever i play any game (usually happens with more demanding games but can still crash on any game) the game either freezes a lot or crashes (BSOD). This problem is on and off though. Some days it will work fine and other days i cant play a game for more then 30 seconds without freezing or crashing. Hopefully i do not have to change any hardware

 

[Frag Maniac]

Hopefully i do not have to change any hardware

The only way we can be sure of that is if you list fully system spec, and tell us other details, like odd HDD sounds, error messages, etc.

 

[tfg2647]

The only way we can be sure of that is if you list fully system spec, and tell us other details, like odd HDD sounds, error messages, etc.

I have the following specs:

Ryzen 3 1200 - CPU
8gb 2667mhz gskill (Single Stick) - ram
rx 580 - gpu
600w psu
gigabyte ga-a320m-s2h - motherboard
250gb samsung - ssd (I know i need to add more storage)


I have done plenty of memory tests, which say no problems were detected, and just stress tests in general, i don't have anything overclocked, all of my drivers are up to date. The games i have crashed on are gta v, farcry v, cs:go, alan wake, and left 4 dead 2. Im sure it would crash on any other game. As for error messages, i can't remember all of them but one of them was something like CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. I cant remember the other ones but that was the one i got the most. I haven't had any weird sounds and i looked it the some file using a program i downloaded and it said it was related to ntoskrnl.exe. I have tried a bunch of things that i have seen online and nothing has worked

 

[Frag Maniac]

ntoskrnl.exe is NT OS Kernel, and a sign you may have corrupt system files. I would advise running SFC, and make sure to use DISM first to validate the system image is healthy before running the scan.

System file corruption can be caused by various things, but one of the more common is exceeding recommended empty space recommendations on the OS drive. MS recommends 15% free space, which applies to both HDD and solid state drives. It's needed for proper file sorting. If your OS drive graph in This PC ever looks red instead of blue, it means you've exceeded the recommended free space, and at that point regular files can leech into system file space and cause corruption.

This, and being able to format much quicker and easier are two of the main reasons it's a good idea to put the OS alone on it's own partition or drive (as long as it's ample enough space for it). This of course means remembering to install anything that can be on another partition or drive. I use about a 40GB partition for just my OS.

Here's the info on how to run SFC in W10 if that's your OS. I would first run a malware scan to make sure the sys is clean.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/premium/ (non premium version remains free after the premium trial period)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026529/windows-10-using-system-file-checker

There are some games on your list (like GTA V) where your CPU is not as powerful as recommended spec, so you need to be careful with settings on those games. Even recommended spec quite often isn't enough for max settings. Far Cry 5 would likely be even more demanding than GTA V.

 

[tfg2647]

Thanks for getting back to me. I have done the whole system file checker and dism thing before and it hasn't changed anything. Still freezing and crashing. However, i only have about 6gb left on my ssd so i think i am going to uninstall far cry 5 since it is the game i play the least and try to play gta v for about an hour. I play on about medium to high settings however as i said before this issue isnt an everyday thing. It might happen every two seconds one day and then not happen once the next day. Im hoping this works, before i play the game i am going to do the sfc scan thing. I dont think there is any malware on the system as i have done a full format before and have had no success. Windows defender does suck but it has never detected any issues besides the storage. I would have bought a second hard drive but this is the only money i had. I'll probably respond after like 1-2 hours since i have to do the other stuff and if gta v works i might forget about responding to this so yeah. Thanks

 

[tfg2647]

Ok so i uninstalled farcry v did the whole dism and system file scan thing. No errors were detected. My storage is in the blue so i loaded up gta v. I also want to note that thermals seems to be fine in the system. I have the fans on full blast just in case. And as soon as i started to drive, about 5 seconds in it froze for like 30 seconds

 

[Frag Maniac]

Check the Startups tab in Task Manager and disable all but the known trusted ones 1 at a time, checking performance each time.

Also, Windows Defender is not at all a catch all. I recommend scanning with Malwarebytes.

You may want to go through and check all your hardware and cable plug connections to see that they're locked in tight too, and even try swapping out the video cable if you have a spare.

Also, make sure you have any redist required installed for the problem games (DirectX, Visual Studio, etc)

Lastly, look in Event Viewer to see if there is any other info besides CRITICAL PROCESS DIED. Worst case scenario, you could have a faulty MB, but before trying to replace it, I would check to see if there are any BIOS updates for it that could be needed.

There's been 14 BIOS updates for that MB. If your Samsung SSD is an M.2 type, it's imperative you be on at least BIOS version F41. BTW, there are drivers for Samsung M.2 drives as well, make sure it's installed if you have an M.2 vs SATA type. You don't have to use the Magician tool though.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320M-S2H-rev-1x/support#support-dl-bios

 

[tfg2647]

Check the Startups tab in Task Manager and disable all but the known trusted ones 1 at a time, checking performance each time.

Also, Windows Defender is not at all a catch all. I recommend scanning with Malwarebytes.

You may want to go through and check all your hardware and cable plug connections to see that they're locked in tight too, and even try swapping out the video cable if you have a spare.

Also, make sure you have any redist required installed for the problem games (DirectX, Visual Studio, etc)

Lastly, look in Event Viewer to see if there is any other info besides CRITICAL PROCESS DIED. Worst case scenario, you could have a faulty MB, but before trying to replace it, I would check to see if there are any BIOS updates for it that could be needed.

There's been 14 BIOS updates for that MB. If your Samsung SSD is an M.2 type, it's imperative you be on at least BIOS version F41. BTW, there are drivers for Samsung M.2 drives as well, make sure it's installed if you have an M.2 vs SATA type. You don't have to use the Magician tool though.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320M-S2H-rev-1x/support#support-dl-bios

I have the latest update for the bios and i pretty much rebuilt my whole system today. My ssd is a sata drive. I have disable all the unnecessary start up programs.Im going to download malwarebytes and then reply again once i get it. I do not have a spare gpu to test. I dont know what to look for in the event viewer but if i find it i will put it in the next reply

 

[Frag Maniac]

I dont know what to look for in the event viewer but if i find it i will put it in the next reply

Just take note of the time of a crash, then look in Event Viewer under the top 3 (Critical , Errors, and Warnings).

 

[tfg2647]

Just take note of the time of a crash, then look in Event Viewer under the top 3 (Critical , Errors, and Warnings).

Hey so i have done some cable managing in the back of my case and the past 30 minutes have been fine. However, as i have said before this has happened before and the problem might occur again tomorrow. I am going to try to play as much as i can tonight and then a little in the morning to see what happens. I'll get back to you tomorrow

 

[Dcopymope]

Hey so i have done some cable managing in the back of my case and the past 30 minutes have been fine. However, as i have said before this has happened before and the problem might occur again tomorrow. I am going to try to play as much as i can tonight and then a little in the morning to see what happens. I'll get back to you tomorrow

It might have been the cabling. Have you also tried defraging your PC? I would change the scedule to "daily". Make sure you have the display settings for each game set to "high performance". One last thing I would do is something called a "chkdsk" command. Its something you can scedule your PC to do in the command prompt next time you restart your PC. I've been having trouble with my games either booting up very slowly or not at all. I just restarted my PC to run the "chkdsk" to fix any errors on my C: drive, and it seemed to have worked so far. 'Sekiro: shadows die twice' was the game that gave me the most trouble and now it all of a sudden wants to boot up right.

Link: The 'CHKDSK' Command Line Tool

 

[tfg2647]

It might have been the cabling. Have you also tried defraging your PC? I would change the scedule to "daily". Make sure you have the display settings for each game set to "high performance". One last thing I would do is something called a "chkdsk" command. Its something you can scedule your PC to do in the command prompt next time you restart your PC. I've been having trouble with my games either booting up very slowly or not at all. I just restarted my PC to run the "chkdsk" to fix any errors on my C: drive, and it seemed to have worked so far. 'Sekiro: shadows die twice' was the game that gave me the most trouble and now it all of a sudden wants to boot up right.

Link: The 'CHKDSK' Command Line Tool

Yeah i have done the chkdsk thing before. Also, the computer is back to freezing, not crashing but freezing...

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah i have done the chkdsk thing before. Also, the computer is back to freezing, not crashing but freezing...

If you're running W10 1903, make sure you install all the cumulative updates for 1903. The 2nd to last one fixed freezing and crashing issues for me in Gears 5 and Wolfenstein Youngblood.

 

[tfg2647]

If you're running W10 1903, make sure you install all the cumulative updates for 1903. The 2nd to last one fixed freezing and crashing issues for me in Gears 5 and Wolfenstein Youngblood.

My computer is up to date

 

[Dcopymope]

Yeah i have done the chkdsk thing before. Also, the computer is back to freezing, not crashing but freezing...

Did Malwarebytes find any viruses?

 

[tfg2647]

Did Malwarebytes find any viruses?

i checked and it said nothing was detected

 

[Dcopymope]

i checked and it said nothing was detected

Hmm, sounds like you've exhausted all options. The only culprit has to be the motherboard itself. It might be faulty in some way. I'm starting to think the same thing of my own motherboard as well. I've also exhausted all options. Hitman 2 just froze up on me an hour ago. I'll give it another shot and see if it does it again. Over the last two months I've done the following:

1. SFC/ Scannow

2. Chkdsk

3. Clean O.S install on my brand new SSD

4. Defragmentation

5. Deleted temporary files in the "roaming folder" (not sure if you tried this one)

6. Virus Scan (just now came up clean, found multiple viruses before though)

7. Replaced thermal paste on both processors (seemed to work for a while)

8. Ran a memory check ( Have you tried this?)

9. Increased the size of the virtual memory (might want to check this one out)

Best Buy ran a diagnostic check of both the hardware and software, I just don't know if that diagnosis ever includes the motherboard. I'm trying to hold out until next year before I buy the new AMD X570 motherboard, but if my games keep freezing by next month, I just might bite the bullet and get it now. And I know some avid PC elitists hate hearing this, but this hassle is exactly why many consider console gaming the better option. On a PC, you could spend about as much time or more trying to get a damn game to run as you will actually playing it. For many, PC gaming is more trouble than its worth.

 

[Dcopymope]

😞 sigh Oh boy, Hitman 2 just crashed to the desktop again. Really, my point still stands in my previous post, all this time and money I put into trying to get a game to run the LAST TWO YEARS, I could have spent just buying a console and moved on in life. The age old question of PC gaming is "Is it worth the hassle"? Unless you are a nerd and you know PC's from the inside out, the answer to that question would be a resounding NO. I can't wait for the Xbox Scarlett, where most of my multiplayer games will be from there on in.

 

[Dcopymope]

I have tried everything so i hope someone can help me on here. I have been having this problem with my pc ever since i got it. Whenever i play any game (usually happens with more demanding games but can still crash on any game) the game either freezes a lot or crashes (BSOD). This problem is on and off though. Some days it will work fine and other days i cant play a game for more then 30 seconds without freezing or crashing. Hopefully i do not have to change any hardware

There is one more thing you can try assuming you are still having this issue.

1. Go to www.bitsum.com

2. Download both 'Process Lasso' and 'Park Control'

3. Change the "exe" file of the games "priority" setting for the CPU to "High" in Process Lasso.

There are other things you can optimize about the games, but changing the "priority class" for Hitman 2 seems to have stopped the crashes and freezing so far. I believe these 'bitsum' applications are a trial period, and they are cheap anyway so you aren't losing anything. One of the main reasons why you should buy it is because Process Lasso actually saves the settings you did for your games. Without it, you will have to change it everytime you open the program. This is award winning software by the way.

Process Lasso

CPU Park Control