[SOLVED] Computer keeps hard crashing ONLY with certain games. Whats wrong??

[thesmokeeater]

I'll try to keep it brief but I've run in to a low frequency but consistent problem with my PC. Long story short I built my own gaming PC a few years ago and everything has been going very well with it however I've come across two games specifically that give me what the title states. There are two games: Sea of Thieves and Flashing Lights that cause my computer to crash almost instantly. The fans go to max speed, the screens go black, I can hear audio but no matter what I do I can't get my screen back. I have to power of the system with the button to restart. I've tried removing my GPU and launching the game with just the processor and the game, although choppy from poor graphics, the game did not crash at all. I moved and re-checked the RAM seating in the mobo. I checked the cables to the power supply and to the GPU. I've also tried using different input cables and monitors. I've tried DVI, VGA, and HDMI cables with no changes. I can run graphically demanding games like GTA, Battlefield and Skyrim with no problems. If no ones familiar, Flashing Lights is NOT a very graphically demanding game, similar to Counter-Strike which I have no problems playing for thousands of hours. One post, although it seems like a longshot, suggested checking/replacing the thermal paste of the GPU. That's my next move unless suggested otherwise here. Below is my pcpartpicker build for full specs however to keep it short i have an i5-8600k and an ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB.

Again, these are the ONLY two games I've come across in almost 4 years of owning this computer that crash it. I could get over Sea of Thieves but I just purchased Flashing Lights after a suggestion from my friend and it seems like a game we would have so much fun playing. I'm pretty tech smart in general but not super smart with computer hardware/troubleshooting. Please help!

Benchmark: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/30256957

 

[Anonymiter]

I would suggest doing a clean install of the latest Nvidia Geforce drivers before any further hardware troubleshooting. If that doesn't work, boot to Safe Mode and run DDU before reinstalling again. You can also try with an older version of drivers that were released at a time it was working with either of these games for you.

You can also try verifying game files or reinstalling the games first. It's also possible another software components is damaged like DirextX, NET Framework, etc. As a nuclear option, you can try reinstalling windows, but if you have a spare drive available, it might be a good idea to try it on that first to see if you can get these two games running. If a fresh copy of windows doesn't resolve the problem, it is likely hardware.

If the GPU is still in warranty, you should check with the manufacturer before opening it up. If not, it probably won't hurt to try new thermal paste, but since it's happening at launch that isn't likely the problem.