Is this a CPU issue?

[Limak03]

So i built a new pc about a week ago and whenever I play games on it it crashes. To be specific, only online games crash the system. Say im playing gtav, on singleplayer it works fine but if i switch to online it crashes after 5 minutes. At first I suspected a motherboard issue and then I thought it was the video card. So i went looking for a fix and I saw someone saying that I should disable 2 cores on my cpu. I did and I got no crashes. The same happened with 3 of my 4 cores active. The only downside was fps drops, but that was expected. I guessed it could be a heating issue, so I installed an extra case fan on top of the cpus fan. Then I switched back to 4 cores and it crashes. Im pretty clueless now so id like to know if the issue is bad cpu or heating.


My specs:
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-HD2
CPU: AMD APU A8 X4 7600 FM2+ 4mb 3800mhz
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 Windforce OC 2GB GDDR5
RAM: 2x4gb Kingston HyperX Fury 1333mhz DDR3 CL9 DIMM
HDD: WD2500AAJS Western Digital Caviar Blue 320gb
PSU: EVGA 500w

(first build btw)

I have done memtest and ran CHKDSK, no issue.

 

[Herc08]

Well you have to realize that you are using a an older CPU that is not meant for gaming. It's actually pretty weak in comparison. You could have gotten a G4560 and would have been much better. So to answer your question, you CPU just cannot simply handle the performance that GTA V is trying to get from it.

 

[Limak03]

So I should get a new cpu and that should solve my problem?

 

[Herc08]

It's not just a new CPU, because even if you did replace the CPU, you will see little to no performance gain. You need to replace the motherboard as a whole. Since you went the AMD route (on a 3-4 year old chip), I can assume you are on a budget. I get it. The best you can do is spend under $200 and step into the modern age. You will see a vastly improvement over that AMD chip. Also, you have the ability to upgrade to a 7700K.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($74.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI - B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team - Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $193.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-27 10:16 EDT-0400

 

[geofelt]

If you need to disable some cores to run, I would argue that you have a defective motherboard or cpu and would try to return both.

Picking an apu was an unfortunate choice if you ever wanted to upgrade.
You buy a APU for the excellent integrated graphics.
But, there are no real good upgrades, particularly for a gamer.
If you install a superior discrete graphics card, you will have thrown away the big advantage of the APU.
Then, you are left with a relatively weak cpu. Most games depend on only a few fast cores.

Bottom line.....
What you get with a APU is what you will live with forever.

Now, what to do??

G4560 is a great budget processor.
You will need a B250 motherboard and ddr4 ram.
Buy a 2 x 4gb ram kit to get faster dual channel operation.