Question PC freezes randomly during gameplay

thecooldean

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Sep 2, 2016
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For the past few months, I've been getting frequent freezing in titles made by Rockstar Games (GTA V and RDR 2), and the entire PC freezes and have to force restart the PC from my case.

My specs are :

Motherboard - ASUS Z97 Pro Wifi A/C
CPU - i7 4790k (OC'd to 4.5 GHz)
GPU - EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3
RAM - 8 GB x 2 (1866 MHz) DDR3 ; 4 GB x 2 (1633 MHz) DDR3
PSU - Corsair HX 750i

Windows 10 is up to date, BIOS is up to date, Nvidia drivers are up to date, ample amount of cooling is present in my case (although GPU temperatures reach up to 75 degrees celsius), verified OS integrity, game files integrity.

For diagnostic purposes, I removed the two sticks of 4 GB RAM, and the issue still persists. I also did a memory test from windows memory diagnostics, which came out with no issues.

The only thing I'm suspecting right now is my PSU, which I bought back in 2015 (so are most of my components), can anyone kindly help? Thanks.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
A 7 year old PSU can and will be the root of your issues. Might want to source a donor PSU with at least 650W of power at the entire system's disposal that's reliably built, in order to rule out your unit being the cause of the issue. BIOS version for your motherboard? OS version(not edition) of Windows 10? Please state up to date only to learn that there are updates pending, so if you will, please state the versions.

How are you cooling that processor?

RAM - 8 GB x 2 (1866 MHz) DDR3 ; 4 GB x 2 (1633 MHz) DDR3
You're advised to avoid mixing and matching ram kits/sticks to retain system stability. If anything, remove the smaller capacity ram sticks from the build.
 
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Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
6 year old PSU is a likely suspect. Especially if there is a history of heavy gaming use.

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational events that correspond with the PC freeze times.

Increasing numbers of errors and varying types of errors are symptomatic of a faltering failing PSU.

PSU's can be tested if you have a multi-meter and know how to use it. Or know someone who does.

Not a full test because the PSU is not under load. However any voltage(s) out of tolerance are another clue.

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158
 
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thecooldean

Honorable
Sep 2, 2016
27
1
10,535
A 7 year old PSU can and will be the root of your issues. Might want to source a donor PSU with at least 650W of power at the entire system's disposal that's reliably built, in order to rule out your unit being the cause of the issue. BIOS version for your motherboard? OS version(not edition) of Windows 10? Please state up to date only to learn that there are updates pending, so if you will, please state the versions.

How are you cooling that processor?

RAM - 8 GB x 2 (1866 MHz) DDR3 ; 4 GB x 2 (1633 MHz) DDR3
You're advised to avoid mixing and matching ram kits/sticks to retain system stability. If anything, remove the smaller capacity ram sticks from the build.
Thanks for the reply, my PSU came with a 10 year warranty, will it be eligible for a RMA?

BIOS version is 2702 (there is another BIOS version which is beta so I didn't bother installing it), OS version is 19044.1503

CPU is air cooled with Cooler Master Hyper 212X.
 

thecooldean

Honorable
Sep 2, 2016
27
1
10,535
6 year old PSU is a likely suspect. Especially if there is a history of heavy gaming use.

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational events that correspond with the PC freeze times.

Increasing numbers of errors and varying types of errors are symptomatic of a faltering failing PSU.

PSU's can be tested if you have a multi-meter and know how to use it. Or know someone who does.

Not a full test because the PSU is not under load. However any voltage(s) out of tolerance are another clue.

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158
Thanks for the reply, I looked at the event viewer yesterday after a freeze, and I forgot to note down the event ID but it said something like "incomplete shutdown caused due to freezing/hangup". I'll note it down properly the next time it happens.

btw, I did a userbenchmark, if it helps - https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/50271225
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
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Thanks for the reply, I looked at the event viewer yesterday after a freeze, and I forgot to note down the event ID but it said something like "incomplete shutdown caused due to freezing/hangup". I'll note it down properly the next time it happens.

btw, I did a userbenchmark, if it helps - https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/50271225
For test purpose bring the cpu back to stock speed.

Something odd going on with the ram.
UBM thinks you have 1333 ram clocked at 1866.
Perhaps disable xmp and see what UBM shows.
 
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thecooldean

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Sep 2, 2016
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For test purpose bring the cpu back to stock speed.

Something odd going on with the ram.
UBM thinks you have 1333 ram clocked at 1866.
Perhaps disable xmp and see what UBM shows.
I tested both the games after reverting my CPU back to stock speed, and there appears to be no freezing, in fact the games ran a lot better.

I'm gonna test both the games a couple of times again to see if the issue is resolved and overclocking is in fact the culprit here, although I must mention that in all these years, I have used my PC with CPU overclocked with no issues.

Also, XMP has never been enabled at all.