Question Drivers causes computer to freeze or restart while playing

[Metalrocks]

I have a RX 590 8GB and since ever I have played Guardians of the Galaxy, I have during the game some weird tearing, later the screen turns grey and the entire computer freezes up on me. When I do nothing, eventually I end up on windows again (win 10 btw) and a popup from my AMD that the drivers have failed. The funny thing is, that when I started the game, there was nothing wrong. It was in chapter 4 when these weird issues begun. Now I'm lucky to even play the game for more than 30min before these issues occur.

As it were older drivers, I have installed the latest one available (after deleting the old ones) but this hasn't fixed my issue. Now other games, even much older ones (like 10 years or more) begin this screen tearing and freeze up my computer. At times it restarts my computer.

What could be the cause of it that it effects all of a sudden games only? Being in windows it self, no issues.
Overheating is one but generally GPU's should be made for it. But older games take nothing so they can't overheat my rig in general.

 

[Lutfij]

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list them like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS: version(not edition) of the OS
Monitor:

Can you please include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model? Was the GPU purchased used or are you the original owner of the card?

 

[Metalrocks]

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list them like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS: version(not edition) of the OS
Monitor:

Can you please include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model? Was the GPU purchased used or are you the original owner of the card?

Didn't think this would matter but okay.

i5 9400F 2.99hrz
DDR 4 16Gb Ram
2TB HDD from westerndigital
phantom 4 motherboard from asrock
win 10 64bit
agon 32" curved monitor. AG322FCX

The GPU was purchased new few years ago. I never had any issues with it until I start playing the mentioned game.

 

[Metalrocks]

Okay, I think I may have found out what may have caused this problem. For some reason, if I have the refresh rate set any higher than 120, the drivers fail for some reason. Which is weird as my monitor is rated up to 144 and my GPU can handle it easily. At least when I switch in games to 60hrz, I can play without issues.

This is the message I keep getting:
AMD Bug Report Tool
AMD software detected that a driver timeout has occurred on your system. An issue report has been created...

I never had it with older drivers so this has to be a software issue.

 

[Metalrocks]

Well, here I am again.
I keep getting driver issues which causes my computer to complete freeze on me. I can hardly play any game, old or new, without the screen tearing or flickering around before it sticks to one colour from the game. If I'm lucky, it goes back to windows and I see a message from the driver software that the drivers have failed.

I'm always forced to restart the computer. if I'm lucky, I can access the start button but otherwise the entire computer is frozen that I need to do a hard reset.

I even installed an auto detect software from AMD and it suggested to roll back to an older driver. Unfortunately this doesn't help.

I'm at a loss why the drivers keep failing with almost every game and freezes my entire computer.

 

[renz496]

Issues with new driver? Have you tried using older driver? Have you tried using DDU then reinstall the new driver?

 

[Metalrocks]

Issues with new driver? Have you tried using older driver? Have you tried using DDU then reinstall the new driver?

yes, older drivers as well. the software from AMD even suggested to go back to an older driver and yet still many games freeze on me.

no idea what DDU is.

 

[InvalidError]

If your computer crashes no matter what driver version you are using, there is a high probability your GPU has gone bad or at least requires maintenance.

I had issues with my GTX1050's drivers randomly failing and that stopped after I thoroughly cleaned the GPU while it was out because I took it out to test a friend's RX580 after repairing it.

 

[renz496]

yes, older drivers as well. the software from AMD even suggested to go back to an older driver and yet still many games freeze on me.

no idea what DDU is.

Display Driver Uninstaller. A tool develop by guru3d to do clean driver uninstall. If tinkering with drivers did not solve the issue it is possible that you're are having PSU problem. Game freezing is one of the thing that could happen (usually need hard reset) if PSU unable to provide enough power to the card.

 

[Metalrocks]

Great. I can't afford a new GPU. Especially since they are hard to get. And it only crashes when I play games. Never in win it self.

No, PSU has more than enough for the card. I had it after all for over 2 years now without issues. and i made sure it can run the entire hardware before i bought everything.

 

[Metalrocks]

Great. I have installed the latest drivers for my card and the few games I played worked just fine. Once i played Guardians, all of it happens again that there is a driver issue.
This has to be a software issue when the message from AMD states it as well. I mean why else would the drivers fail when playing?

 

[InvalidError]

I mean why else would the drivers fail when playing?

There are two possible branches for the answer: 1) a software/driver/OS bug and 2) a hardware fault causing drivers or hardware to freak out when a game triggers it.

 

[digitalgriffin]

There are several possibilities:

1. Go into safe mode (reboot options) and use DDU from Guru3D. Reinstall driver package. See if that fixes it.

It is possible AMD issued an card firmware patch which leads to more power consumption. Firmware changes typically do NOT roll back even if you rollback the drivers. They are there to add functionality, improve performance, or fix bugs in hardware. (power limiters is an example)

This leads to point 2: Your PSU could be failing.

2. Polaris and later AMD architectures (NVIDIA included past Pascal) go through extreme current surges. (power up and down a lot) As power supplies age, they lose their ability to deal with these wildly varying power requirements leading to surge and sag. Surge can damage components, while sag will cause instability and crashing. If you have a borderline power supply in the first place, it can fail within 2 years.

My Corsair AX850 Gold (which was a top of the line power supply of the time) was powering a RX580, and after 10 years, it couldn't handle sudden swings any more causing the motherboard to go into protect mode and hard shut down. (That's when they actually build motherboards like tanks) A year ago it was fine on the 12V rails. (A little noisy but within 5% under load according to my meters)

3. Use a "can of air" and blow out the dust in your system, especially the GPU while it's unplugged. Dust can lead to overheating, and rare instances, bad signaling or even shorts (if in PSU on primary side). Wait a few minutes before plugging it all back in. While the ingredients of most canned are are inert, not all of them are non-conducting. So wait for any liquid residue to evap.

 

[Metalrocks]

There are several possibilities:

1. Go into safe mode (reboot options) and use DDU from Guru3D. Reinstall driver package. See if that fixes it.

It is possible AMD issued an card firmware patch which leads to more power consumption. Firmware changes typically do NOT roll back even if you rollback the drivers. They are there to add functionality, improve performance, or fix bugs in hardware. (power limiters is an example)

This leads to point 2: Your PSU could be failing.

2. Polaris and later AMD architectures (NVIDIA included past Pascal) go through extreme current surges. (power up and down a lot) As power supplies age, they lose their ability to deal with these wildly varying power requirements leading to surge and sag. Surge can damage components, while sag will cause instability and crashing. If you have a borderline power supply in the first place, it can fail within 2 years.

My Corsair AX850 Gold (which was a top of the line power supply of the time) was powering a RX580, and after 10 years, it couldn't handle sudden swings any more causing the motherboard to go into protect mode and hard shut down. (That's when they actually build motherboards like tanks) A year ago it was fine on the 12V rails. (A little noisy but within 5% under load according to my meters)

3. Use a "can of air" and blow out the dust in your system, especially the GPU while it's unplugged. Dust can lead to overheating, and rare instances, bad signaling or even shorts (if in PSU on primary side). Wait a few minutes before plugging it all back in. While the ingredients of most canned are are inert, not all of them are non-conducting. So wait for any liquid residue to evap.

Granted, the PSU has few years behind it. 5 I think. Just odd that it starts with the drivers when playing a game. Even games that ran without any issues. Never in windows it self though.
My PSU is 500w and all the hardware it needs to run is just at 400.

I actually checked my GPU and there is practically no dirt on it. Fans are practically clean. But may take it out one day and see if there could be anything else.

Just annoying that it happens only with games and the AMD software it self complaints about the drivers failing.

Little nervous with the DDU since it warns it can remove other stuff. yeah, its all backed up but still. Guess no other option if it keeps failing on me.

by the way, what PSU would you recommend? I did find a Corsair for like $80AUD. 650W. this to be specific: Corsair CV650 Bronze 650W Power Supply with Dual EPS

 

[digitalgriffin]

Granted, the PSU has few years behind it. 5 I think. Just odd that it starts with the drivers when playing a game. Even games that ran without any issues. Never in windows it self though.
My PSU is 500w and all the hardware it needs to run is just at 400.

I actually checked my GPU and there is practically no dirt on it. Fans are practically clean. But may take it out one day and see if there could be anything else.

Just annoying that it happens only with games and the AMD software it self complaints about the drivers failing.

Little nervous with the DDU since it warns it can remove other stuff. yeah, its all backed up but still. Guess no other option if it keeps failing on me.

by the way, what PSU would you recommend? I did find a Corsair for like $80AUD. 650W. this to be specific: Corsair CV650 Bronze 650W Power Supply with Dual EPS

GPUs sip power when in windows. They even sip power with most video playback. 3D Games vector ops take a LOT of power.

I would buy a quality 550 over a medicore 650. Seasonic Focus series or Corsair CX550M. They come with long warranties for a reason. I would stretch the money far as you can if you intend to upgrade your graphics card in the future. Future gen cards are said to be power hogs.

 

[InvalidError]

Future gen cards are said to be power hogs.

High-end future GPUs will be power hogs. For people sticking to the more middle-ish range though, most people should be perfectly fine with sub-300W cards.

 

[digitalgriffin]

High-end future GPUs will be power hogs. For people sticking to the more middle-ish range though, most people should be perfectly fine with sub-300W cards.

Hard to say at this point. Too many variables in play. NVIDIA does not want to lose as it's a perception thing and Jensen has an ego. They are pushing Ada hard up and down the stack from all the things I read.

 

[Metalrocks]

GPUs sip power when in windows. They even sip power with most video playback. 3D Games vector ops take a LOT of power.

I would buy a quality 550 over a medicore 650. Seasonic Focus series or Corsair CX550M. They come with long warranties for a reason. I would stretch the money far as you can if you intend to upgrade your graphics card in the future. Future gen cards are said to be power hogs.

I think you (and others) may be right. It looks like when I want to play a modern game from the last few years, I have this driver issue that either freezes up the entire computer with a black screen or just the colour of the menu or bounces back to win with the AMD message that the drivers failed. Mostly leading to restart the computer.

Once I play an older game, no issues then. Very annoying that games that ran perfectly fine, all of a sudden cause issues. Once I have more time and not distracted with work, I will give this DDU a try. Although I think it may not work when older games do just fine.

I guess this one here should be fine enough and at least fort me its fairly priced.
Corsair CX550M Bronze 550W Power Supply V2

 

[Metalrocks]

This is really annoying.
I gave this DDU a shot, installed the latest drivers for my GPU and the few games I played ran just fine. For nearly a week I could play Martha is Dead for almost a week without any issues. Usually it loaded up the menu and the drivers already failed on me, causing the entire rig to freeze.
Last night, no issues, but today it gives me the same crap again.

I doubt now that a PSU would do the trick. Is it something with the AMD software it self that causes issues with some games?

edit:
wanted to add a pic here but it didnt let me, so i hope this works.
this is what i get from the game:
https://www.deviantart.com/metalrocks85/art/20220315-003118-11322-909858118

 

[Metalrocks]

I slowly think that for some reason, Unreal engine titles cause issues with my rig or the drivers. Other titles that do not use it, run just fine. Which is odd why as before none of the other titles caused issues that the entire computer freezes.