[SOLVED] Games causing entire system to crash ?

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
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About maybe 6 months ago, I encountered an issue while playing a game. Both of my monitors went black, my fans went crazy, and I had to restart my pc to use it again. Thinking it was just a one-time problem, I ignored it. It happened multiple times again (only with one game), so I started looking into the problem. I thought it was my CPU (at the time I was using a 2200G and thought it was bottlenecking my pc and causing the crashes), so I bought a 3700X to replace it. The game I was having issues in was only a closed beta, and in my time of replacing the CPU, I did not get to test whether or not it fixed the issue, as the beta was already over.

A month or two later, the same issue happened in another game. Obviously, my CPU had not been the problem, so I looked into it further. I thought it could be my PSU, as at the time I had a really old 550W bronze PSU that I thought could be causing the issue. So, I bought a new, 750W gold PSU to replace it. And for the past couple months, I thought that it fixed the problem. However, just today, I was playing Fallen Order, and it happened again, in the middle of a cutscene. I'm absolutely confounded. I have spent so much time and money troubleshooting this issue. If anyone has any idea what is causing these crashes, please let me know.

If it's helpful, here's information on the games I was playing during the crashes:

The first crash was caused by the closed beta of Century: Age of Ashes. I couldn't find any pattern or common cause.
The second crash incident was caused by Valheim, when fighting a certain enemy in a certain biome during a certain weather condition. Tested this a few times and it crashed consistently.
The third crash incident was caused by a game called Adapt. I could find no pattern to the crashes.
The fourth crash incident was just now, playing Fallen Order. It was during a cutscene. I should also add- Fallen Order never crashed my pc in the past. When I first played it back in December, I never experienced this problem.


My specs:
GPU - RX580 Armor 8G OC
CPU - R7 3700X
Mobo - Asus Prime B450-M
PSU - Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro EA750G
RAM - 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
Monitors - 2x 1080p LED Monitors
Case fans x 4
 
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Solution
I thought the heatsync might be the issue but wanted to try other options first. You would probably be better off going some place to get the card re-pasted and the screws replaced. You might even be able to send it to someone here to get their help. And no this isn't me soliciting, sorry if it comes off that way.
If I need to get the thermal pads and paste replaced I might take it in to get that done. But I made some more changes to my fan settings so that they always run at 100% when temps top 75c, so I'm hoping that keeps my pc cool enough to avoid the crashes. But if the crashes happen again, I at least know for sure what the problem is and how to fix it.

Basically it was just my poorly manufactured gpu crashing every time...

The Idiot

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2013
106
12
18,595
About maybe 6 months ago, I encountered an issue while playing a game. Both of my monitors went black, my fans went crazy, and I had to restart my pc to use it again. Thinking it was just a one-time problem, I ignored it. It happened multiple times again (only with one game), so I started looking into the problem. I thought it was my CPU (at the time I was using a 2200G and thought it was bottlenecking my pc and causing the crashes), so I bought a 3700X to replace it. The game I was having issues in was only a closed beta, and in my time of replacing the CPU, I did not get to test whether or not it fixed the issue, as the beta was already over.

A month or two later, the same issue happened in another game. Obviously, my CPU had not been the problem, so I looked into it further. I thought it could be my PSU, as at the time I had a really old 550W bronze PSU that I thought could be causing the issue. So, I bought a new, 750W gold PSU to replace it. And for the past couple months, I thought that it fixed the problem. However, just today, I was playing Fallen Order, and it happened again, in the middle of a cutscene. I'm absolutely confounded. I have spent so much time and money troubleshooting this issue. If anyone has any idea what is causing these crashes, please let me know.

If it's helpful, here's information on the games I was playing during the crashes:

The first crash was caused by the closed beta of Century: Age of Ashes. I couldn't find any pattern or common cause.
The second crash incident was caused by Valheim, when fighting a certain enemy in a certain biome during a certain weather condition. Tested this a few times and it crashed consistently.
The third crash incident was caused by a game called Adapt. I could find no pattern to the crashes.
The fourth crash incident was just now, playing Fallen Order. It was during a cutscene. I should also add- Fallen Order never crashed my pc in the past. When I first played it back in December, I never experienced this problem.


My specs:
GPU - RX580 Armor 8G OC
CPU - R7 3700X
Mobo - Asus Prime B450-M
PSU - Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro EA750G
RAM - 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
Monitors - 2x 1080p LED Monitors
Case fans x 4
Use this to check your gpu temps while a game is running. Post the results here when you can.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
Have a few things for you to try. First clean the gpu. Use air duster and blast the card and maybe the case out. Next update gpu drivers if you have that option. Last use this test your ram https://www.memtest86.com/.
I cleaned my pc recently, just before I fresh installed windows. I don't think that this problem is software related, as I literally nuked my pc and the problem is still persisting. As for the memtest, I attempted it, but it looked far too confusing and complicated, and I didn't want to accidentally break something in the process of using it so I abandoned that. I was wondering, could issue be a faulty cable? I've heard that faulty cables can cause issues such as this. If it was, what cable would it likely be?
 

The Idiot

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2013
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I cleaned my pc recently, just before I fresh installed windows. I don't think that this problem is software related, as I literally nuked my pc and the problem is still persisting. As for the memtest, I attempted it, but it looked far too confusing and complicated, and I didn't want to accidentally break something in the process of using it so I abandoned that. I was wondering, could issue be a faulty cable? I've heard that faulty cables can cause issues such as this. If it was, what cable would it likely be?
Want to try this?
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
Want to try this?
I'll try that later today when I have the time to test it out, but it looks promising. I'll get back to you with the results.
 
If its not the GPU temps being the issue (nearly 90 C in the image) I would highly suspect the RAM at that point since it is clearly not the PSU, or at least extremely unlikely to be the case. You need to learn to use the memtest to test the RAM or alternatively procure a second set of RAM to test in the system.
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
Want to try this?
I just tried it, and it did not work. I learned it could potentially be my gpu's BIOS version though, should I try maybe flashing my gpu to a later version?
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
The OC version runs at 1366. Try removing one of your ram sticks, test and see if you get a crash. If the system crashes try the other ram stick.
If its not the GPU temps being the issue (nearly 90 C in the image) I would highly suspect the RAM at that point since it is clearly not the PSU, or at least extremely unlikely to be the case. You need to learn to use the memtest to test the RAM or alternatively procure a second set of RAM to test in the system.
Just ran a memory test using MemTest. Found no errors. Do you still recommend I remove a stick and test it? Also, if I did remove a stick is there anything I need to know about doing so? Any preparations I need to make prior to taking it out / putting it back in?
 

The Idiot

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Apr 4, 2013
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Just ran a memory test using MemTest. Found no errors. Do you still recommend I remove a stick and test it? Also, if I did remove a stick is there anything I need to know about doing so? Any preparations I need to make prior to taking it out / putting it back in?
Yes try it still. Just make sure the pc is off when you remove or replace the ram.
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
Yes try it still. Just make sure the pc is off when you remove or replace the ram.
Hmmm, is there any way I could test the individual sticks without removing? Testing each stick will take a while, considering that I only have one game available to me now that causes the crash issue, and it happens very infrequently. Sometimes it can take up to a few hours of playing in order to trigger the crash. I was also considering just buying new ram sticks, but that would cost me a lot, and I'm hesitant to sink more money into this issue.
 
Hmmm, is there any way I could test the individual sticks without removing? Testing each stick will take a while, considering that I only have one game available to me now that causes the crash issue, and it happens very infrequently. Sometimes it can take up to a few hours of playing in order to trigger the crash. I was also considering just buying new ram sticks, but that would cost me a lot, and I'm hesitant to sink more money into this issue.
You could try reducing the power limit to the graphics card by 15% using MSI afterburner, see if the game still crashes.
 

Ethonodon

Commendable
Mar 29, 2021
213
13
1,595
You could try reducing the power limit to the graphics card by 15% using MSI afterburner, see if the game still crashes.
I'm also thinking it could be temperature? Not sure of the temp right before the crashes as my entire computer becomes unusable, but just playing the game my temps were reaching 90c. Should I try limiting the temperature, or just the power limit?
 
I'm also thinking it could be temperature? Not sure of the temp right before the crashes as my entire computer becomes unusable, but just playing the game my temps were reaching 90c. Should I try limiting the temperature, or just the power limit?
Yes, it must have a terrible heatsink if it can't keep a 125W load cool with fans running at 3500rpm.
Try both it's just to test and only takes a few clicks to do.