My steam games are freezing/crashing.

[The_2_]

So I built this pc a few days ago. I downloaded 2 games from Steam and I downloaded the drivers for my graphics card and they are up to date. The 2 games I bought were Ark: Survival Evolved and Miscreated. The issue I am having is that every time I load up a game, when my character loads in, the game freezes for a few minutes and then comes back for 3 seconds, then it freezes again and repeats until it crashes or I am forced to force off my computer. I even downloaded a free to play game (Unturned) to test out my problem even further and when i get into the main menu, it freezes and i have to force off my computer. Ark freezes for me when i get to the character screen and Miscreated freezes for me when i join a server.

My Specs:
Cpu: I5 2500
Graphics card: Evga gtx 950 sc+ acx 2.0 (2gb)
Ram: 6gb
Hard drive: 500gb
Motherboard: Asus p8h61-m le/csm Rev 3.0
Operating System: Windows 10 64bit Home edition

My friends and I believe it is my graphics card or Ram, but could it also be the operating system?
Any kind of help is appreciated.


Update: I disabled my graphics card in the control panel and loaded up a game and it actually loaded in and didn't crash. It was just really laggy because I had no graphics card enabled. So it was my graphics card....can anybody tell me what they think is wrong with it as to why it makes my computer crash whenever i load up a game? Otherwise I am going to have to spend more money on another graphics card. Thanks.

 

[elbert]

Could be an issue between windows 10 that motherboard bios. Make sure you have the latest motherboard bios.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61M_LE/HelpDesk_Download/

Also optimize your windows 10 by shutting down stuff you dont need.
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-make-windows-10-faster/
http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-10-service-configurations/

 

[The_2_]

Could be an issue between windows 10 that motherboard bios. Make sure you have the latest motherboard bios.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61M_LE/HelpDesk_Download/

Also optimize your windows 10 by shutting down stuff you dont need.
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-make-windows-10-faster/
http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-10-service-configurations/

How do I install my latest motherboard bios? I clicked the link and it downloaded a ROM file. Don't know what to do with that.

 

[elbert]

Extract the file and put it on a USB. Restart and load into bios and follow the video. Be sure not to turn off during the flashing process.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYyXHGo7UHo&feature=youtu.be"][/video]

 

[The_2_]

Extract the file and put it on a USB. Restart and load into bios and follow the video. Be sure not to turn off during the flashing process.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYyXHGo7UHo&feature=youtu.be"][/video]

So the past couple of days I tried to figure out the issue...I bought a new graphics card trying to fix the issue. It was an evga gtx 1050 ti superclocked edition. It actually worked. (For a while) I ran Ark good and even miscreated once but it kept shuddering. I can run Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 really good. But now i am having trouble running ark and miscreated again. They keep freezing for 30 seconds - 1 minute then it comes back for like 5 seconds and it repeats the process.Can it really be the bios? Im willing to do it as a last resort because I do not have a Usb drive. I am sure that it is either bad ram or the bios. Those are older games which is probably why I can run them good. Please let me know what you think. If its the bios, I will get a USB drive and follow the video above. Thanks.

 

[elbert]

Could be about anything. I'm just telling you the first thing I would check.

 

[The_2_]

Could be about anything. I'm just telling you the first thing I would check.

Crap. I updated my Bios and that still didn't work. But I got a blue screen when it crashed and it said it was due to memory management.......So I'm guessing its my Ram?

 

[elbert]

If you more than one stick you could try to remove a stick to dignose the problem. Move them into differant DIMM slots to siff if one is bad.

 

[The_2_]

If you more than one stick you could try to remove a stick to dignose the problem. Move them into differant DIMM slots to siff if one is bad.

I feel like I should just buy new ram...

 

[elbert]

You could upgrade to a good 16GB kit. This is the max your motherboard supports so your old RAM can be removed.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $96.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-06 16:15 EDT-0400

 

[The_2_]

You could upgrade to a good 16GB kit. This is the max your motherboard supports so your old RAM can be removed.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $96.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-06 16:15 EDT-0400

So I have not bought any ram yet. I went on Miscreated and i ran it in windows mode. While I ran Miscreated I also had task manager running. In game, I noticed when my disk usage went above 99% my game started to freeze. My ram usage always stayed around 90% and my CPU usage always stayed around 80%...How do you think I would be able to fix this problem with my disk/Hard drive? I can play the game fine until it hits 99% disk usage and it keeps spiking frequently.

 

[elbert]

Yes see your Hard drive is holding the page file which is virtual RAM. When you use all your physical RAM then it dips into the page file. The page file is much slower so your performance takes a nose dive. The RAM should fix the issue.

 

[Jenkins453]

So I have not bought any ram yet. I went on Miscreated and i ran it in windows mode. While I ran Miscreated I also had task manager running. In game, I noticed when my disk usage went above 99% my game started to freeze. My ram usage always stayed around 90% and my CPU usage always stayed around 80%...How do you think I would be able to fix this problem with my disk/Hard drive? I can play the game fine until it hits 99% disk usage and it keeps spiking frequently.

What is the speed of your Hard Drive? A slower HDD speed could cause the lockup if it cant keep up with the read/write. By speed, I mean 7200, 5400, or are you using a Solid State 500GB?

 

[The_2_]

So I have not bought any ram yet. I went on Miscreated and i ran it in windows mode. While I ran Miscreated I also had task manager running. In game, I noticed when my disk usage went above 99% my game started to freeze. My ram usage always stayed around 90% and my CPU usage always stayed around 80%...How do you think I would be able to fix this problem with my disk/Hard drive? I can play the game fine until it hits 99% disk usage and it keeps spiking frequently.

What is the speed of your Hard Drive? A slower HDD speed could cause the lockup if it cant keep up with the read/write. By speed, I mean 7200, 5400, or are you using a Solid State 500GB?

It says 7200 RPM

 

[Jenkins453]

Yeah, I didnt even think about the page file from when your RAM is maxed out. Tbh, I would go with what elbert said and increase your ram a bit. That should solve all of your problems

 

[The_2_]

Alright thank both of you guys.

 

[The_2_]

Yes see your Hard drive is holding the page file which is virtual RAM. When you use all your physical RAM then it dips into the page file. The page file is much slower so your performance takes a nose dive. The RAM should fix the issue.

So I hate to revive this thread but I'm still having a problem. I got my 1 stick of 8-gigabyte ram and now I have 12 gigabytes of ram, but when I run a game, and load into it, the disk usage shoots all the way up to 99 percent but it also says I'm only using 40 percent of my ram. Is it possible that there's something wrong with my hard drive or motherboard? The tasks that usually make my disk go up to 100 are these "Service Host" tasks. "Service Host: Windows Event Log" and "Service Host: UtcSvc". Or it's Microsoft Onedrive.

 

[elbert]

Try Ccleaner to clean up windows registry in case has a lot of junk entries. Use advanced systemcare to fix all other windows issues and shut down windows services you dont need. Use it to scan first for errors and possible updates and only leave two drive scans undone. Then boost to shut down memory resident services you dont need. Both are in popular downloads in the link.
http://download.cnet.com/windows/

If that doesn't fix the issue then scan for viruses and malware using avast and malwarebytes. Both again can be found in the link above.

 

[The_2_]

Try Ccleaner to clean up windows registry in case has a lot of junk entries. Use advanced systemcare to fix all other windows issues and shut down windows services you dont need. Use it to scan first for errors and possible updates and only leave two drive scans undone. Then boost to shut down memory resident services you dont need. Both are in popular downloads in the link.
http://download.cnet.com/windows/

If that doesn't fix the issue then scan for viruses and malware using avast and malwarebytes. Both again can be found in the link above.

So like, I did everything you suggested but...Its still doing the same thing where the disk usage goes up after I load in and my pc freezes potentially crashing it.

 

[elbert]

Try swapping your sata cable and motherboard sata port. Drive or memory tends be the issue. If you've overclock it could be a low voltage issue. Only other possible issue i've seen is over tightning the CPU cooler or the motherboard having a small grounding on the case. Take the motherboard with everything out of the case and set it on the motherboard box to test. This checks for grounding issues.

 

[chaselitigation]

Try Ccleaner to clean up windows registry in case has a lot of junk entries. Use advanced systemcare to fix all other windows issues and shut down windows services you dont need. Use it to scan first for errors and possible updates and only leave two drive scans undone. Then boost to shut down memory resident services you dont need. Both are in popular downloads in the link.
http://download.cnet.com/windows/

If that doesn't fix the issue then scan for viruses and malware using avast and malwarebytes. Both again can be found in the link above.

So like, I did everything you suggested but...Its still doing the same thing where the disk usage goes up after I load in and my pc freezes potentially crashing it.

 

[chaselitigation]

Any luck with this? I have similar hardware and 8 GB or RAM. I've replaced the GPU (Radeon RX560) and upgraded the Mobo (MSI X370 SLI Plus). I've put in a 1000w PSU and am trying a RAM test now. All that's left is HD and CPU. The CPU is running fine without spikes and temps are good. I am getting the same spikes you mentioned in my HD.

I'm at the end of my rope and am about to just part it all out on CL. Any suggestions?

 

[The_2_]

Any luck with this? I have similar hardware and 8 GB or RAM. I've replaced the GPU (Radeon RX560) and upgraded the Mobo (MSI X370 SLI Plus). I've put in a 1000w PSU and am trying a RAM test now. All that's left is HD and CPU. The CPU is running fine without spikes and temps are good. I am getting the same spikes you mentioned in my HD.

I'm at the end of my rope and am about to just part it all out on CL. Any suggestions?

What solved it for me was upgrading my RAM and I got a new hard drive because the other one had a problem. It was mostly my hard drive causing the issue.