Question PC freezes during gaming roughly around 20-40 mins

[Daustin7]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can help me here.

It's only just started happening over the weekend. I noticed this started happening when I loaded Ghost Recon: Wildlands to play the new update. The first freeze, I didn't take much notice of but it kept happening restart after restart. The type of freeze that is happening is that the last frame on the screen freezes with a very split second static crack noise from the speakers. I cannot do anything with the PC ie Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Alt+Del, nothing. I have no choice but to force a shutdown with the case switch. I don't get no blue screen. There are no logs in the event viewer other than that the PC was shutdown incorrectly (Presumably by me forcing the shutdown). My temperatures are very stable as I have been monitoring them and I'll explain a bit more on this further down.

So, I have tried many things over the weekend to possibly fix the issue that I have found on the net and even on this forum. Here's a few things I have tried that I can remember off the top of my head:

• Clean install of GPU drivers
• SMART check of drives
• Cleaned Temp files and cleaned drive using CCleaner
• Ran a SFC which came back ok
• Ran a Memtest which came back ok with 6 Passes and reseated RAM to be sure
• Cleaned and applied new Thermal paste on CPU (Temps were ok, it was to be sure.) and checked all system fans work which they do.
• Disabled my onboard sound driver/device (apparently the Onboard and GPU sound drivers sometimes conflict)

I'm sure I have done a few other things but I can't fully remember as I seem to have tried loads (If you make a suggestion I have already tried, it'll come back to my memory whether I have tried it)

Next thing which I think is worth mentioning is that I tried running the game in lower graphics settings and in borderless mode which had the same effect. I found that if I left the game paused on the pause menu, it didn't freeze.

While I was at work today, I left FurMark and the built in CPU loader running to give the system a push on the GPU and CPU for 6hrs @1080P and monitored remotely but again the temps stayed very stable at around 60C on the CPU and around 69C on the GPU but the system didn't freeze so this left me thinking there was a bug with the game's recent update. So I tried another game when I got back from work which was F1 2018. At exactly 20mins into doing some laps on a free practice, there it froze again but it was a different freeze. It was the game that froze and shutdown to desktop rather than completely freeze the PC. I rebooted the game, and ran a different track but exactly 20mins again, exactly the same.

I really appreciate and help and suggestions.

I have had the PC a few years now and was my first build with the exception of the GPU which was upgraded about a year or 2 ago.
Here are my specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3350P @ 3.1Ghz (Ivy Bridge)
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengance DDR3
Mobo: Gigabyte Z77M-D3H Rev1.1
GPU: ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB
Drives: 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD & 1TB Hitachi HDD
PSU: Corsair CX500M 500w
OS: Windows 10 Home

 

[jeremyj_83]

Is your GPU over clocked?

 

[Daustin7]

No. The only setting I've changed in MSI afterburner is the fan control. I've set it to run faster at different temps compared to stock.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Does the CPU have iGPU with it? If it does try running some games with the iGPU and see if it still freezes. If not do you have access to a known good GPU?

 

[cherry blossoms]

Also to consider:

Any other updated software lately? Updated Overlays, any programs using overlays?

Rolling back drivers for the GTX 970 may be helpful, even as far back as 3xx versions, if you are running 411+ series drivers. Guru 3D maintains links for older drivers if you want to jump back a ways before the focus became RTX series.
As I write this this, the farthest back available via the Nvidia website driver search/selector seems to be 417.22

https://www.guru3d.com/files-categories/videocards-nvidia-geforce-vista-|-7.html

 

[Daustin7]

Does the CPU have iGPU with it? If it does try running some games with the iGPU and see if it still freezes. If not do you have access to a known good GPU?

This processor doesn't have a iGPU so that's a no go. I don't have access to another GPU as I sold my old 650.

Also to consider:

Any other updated software lately? Updated Overlays, any programs using overlays?

Rolling back drivers for the GTX 970 may be helpful, even as far back as 3xx versions, if you are running 411+ series drivers. Guru 3D maintains links for older drivers if you want to jump back a ways before the focus became RTX series.
As I write this this, the farthest back available via the Nvidia website driver search/selector seems to be 417.22

https://www.guru3d.com/files-categories/videocards-nvidia-geforce-vista-|-7.html

I don't use any 3rd party overlays other than nVidia's for the FPS counter and Steam's overlay. I tried disabling the overlay for uPlay for GR:W but that had no effect.

I will try a roll back for my GPU as I think it was updated but I'm not 100%. I tend to update fairly soon after each release so could well be the case. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Daustin7]

So I rolled back to a driver when I know I wasn't having this problem but the issue persists. I managed to get about 45 mins out of F1 2018 this time round. Just when I thought it resolved the issue. :/

 

[cherry blossoms]

More to try:

Disable ALL overlays

Disable all background video recording (windows and NVidias)

If using the full NVidia driver install:
Clean out video driver using DDU or similar.
Reinstall with custom option, selecting ONLY the video driver, and IF NEEDED, the HDMI sound and PhysX. NO 3D vision or Experience
Use Autoruns (Windows Sysinternals) to disable the NVidia telemetry startup items.

Use Autoruns to inspect what else is being autostarted

Delete the contents in the shader cache(s). Consider turning shader caching off.

In your power options, set CPU Min/Max both to 100, and turn PCIe link state power management to off.

Of note: lots of complaints over the last 3 months of frrezes and slowdonws after certain Windows updates. This is also dependent on what 3rd party software is running (antivirus, etc).
The updates listed are too numerous to detail here.
A websearch for the terms : windows 10 update game problems
may prove helpful.
I do not seem to experience those problems, but I have lots of windows "helpful features" disabled that are usually on by default, especially some items that you need to registry edit manually, set group policies for, and/or use a 3rd party program to set. Ask if you want to try going down that route.

 

[Daustin7]

Sorry for the late reply on this one. I haven't had much time to make the suggested changes and have long enough to test. Anyway, I have made those changes suggested and done some testing. There has been a great improvement. GR:W lasted a good 2 hours but unfortunately it did the exact freeze I have been having. I didn't reload the game to test again as it was late at night. Yesterday while I was at work, I had F1 2018 running a benchmark test all day which it stayed on which was promising. On the night, I did a full race (about 2 hours) which I made it through without any game crashes which again is great.

I also wanted to mention, I have read that under powered PSUs can cause symptoms like mine. I looked on nVidia's website for the minimum PSU rating for my GPU which is 500W. Now I'm running a 500W which is about 6 years old now. Would an upgrade be something to look into in the near future as I've read that PSUs can deteriorate over time. Maybe mine has recently just slipped over the struggling point.

Thanks for all the great advice so far!

 

[jeremyj_83]

Based on power supply calculator your system will draw between 350 & 400W at full load. At 350W a 400W PSU is recommended, however, that doesn't take into account capacitor aging. At 6 years old your PSU will have lost about 20% of its overall capacity, therefore it might only be able to give out 400W. Not take efficiency into account with the 80+ bronze and it might only be able to put out 375W reliably. A PSU upgrade might be worth a look then. I would look at the 550W Seasonic Focus Gold or Focus Plus Gold.

 

[jankerson]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can help me here.

It's only just started happening over the weekend. I noticed this started happening when I loaded Ghost Recon: Wildlands to play the new update. The first freeze, I didn't take much notice of but it kept happening restart after restart. The type of freeze that is happening is that the last frame on the screen freezes with a very split second static crack noise from the speakers. I cannot do anything with the PC ie Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Alt+Del, nothing. I have no choice but to force a shutdown with the case switch. I don't get no blue screen. There are no logs in the event viewer other than that the PC was shutdown incorrectly (Presumably by me forcing the shutdown). My temperatures are very stable as I have been monitoring them and I'll explain a bit more on this further down.

So, I have tried many things over the weekend to possibly fix the issue that I have found on the net and even on this forum. Here's a few things I have tried that I can remember off the top of my head:

• Clean install of GPU drivers
• SMART check of drives
• Cleaned Temp files and cleaned drive using CCleaner
• Ran a SFC which came back ok
• Ran a Memtest which came back ok with 6 Passes and reseated RAM to be sure
• Cleaned and applied new Thermal paste on CPU (Temps were ok, it was to be sure.) and checked all system fans work which they do.
• Disabled my onboard sound driver/device (apparently the Onboard and GPU sound drivers sometimes conflict)

I'm sure I have done a few other things but I can't fully remember as I seem to have tried loads (If you make a suggestion I have already tried, it'll come back to my memory whether I have tried it)

Next thing which I think is worth mentioning is that I tried running the game in lower graphics settings and in borderless mode which had the same effect. I found that if I left the game paused on the pause menu, it didn't freeze.

While I was at work today, I left FurMark and the built in CPU loader running to give the system a push on the GPU and CPU for 6hrs @1080P and monitored remotely but again the temps stayed very stable at around 60C on the CPU and around 69C on the GPU but the system didn't freeze so this left me thinking there was a bug with the game's recent update. So I tried another game when I got back from work which was F1 2018. At exactly 20mins into doing some laps on a free practice, there it froze again but it was a different freeze. It was the game that froze and shutdown to desktop rather than completely freeze the PC. I rebooted the game, and ran a different track but exactly 20mins again, exactly the same.

I really appreciate and help and suggestions.

I have had the PC a few years now and was my first build with the exception of the GPU which was upgraded about a year or 2 ago.
Here are my specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3350P @ 3.1Ghz (Ivy Bridge)
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengance DDR3
Mobo: Gigabyte Z77M-D3H Rev1.1
GPU: ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB
Drives: 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD & 1TB Hitachi HDD
PSU: Corsair CX500M 500w
OS: Windows 10 Home

Would replace the PSU 1st off.

The CX500 is a bomb waiting to go off.

 

[Calvin7]

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands crash – If the game crashes frequently, the issue might be Uplay overlay, so be sure to disable it.

 

[Daustin7]

Thanks for all the great advice. My PC seems to be running ok recently, so I am going to assume all your suggestions have helped a lot. I haven't changed my PSU yet but it is on my to do list when pay day next comes around.

Again, a big thanks to everyone who put time into helping me out here!