Question PC randomly freezing when playing certain games

[EmKyu]

Ever since I bought a new 1920 x 1080 monitor I've been experiencing random freezes with my PC. My mouse and keyboard will suddenly stop responding, and the monitor will lose signal after a while. Sometimes I have music playing on Spotify and I can still listen to it when the PC has already frozen.

I'm using a fairly new installation of Windows 10 Pro, since I've upgraded to a 1 TB HDD.

I've been able to use my PC for 10-16 hours before suddenly getting the crash (CPU usage is out of the question, I can render videos in Sony Vegas and stream games to Twitch without getting the freezes). It seems to happen mostly when playing a game on Steam called Realm of the Mad God. I don't think the issue is within the game or the HDD, since this only started to happen when I bought the new monitor. But still, it doesn't make sense that my mouse and my keyboard also stop working when the PC freezes, so I don't know where the issue actually is.

These are my specs:

Motherboard: ASUS A68HM-E
CPU: AMD A-10 7860K Radeon R7 3.6 GHz
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 1595.6 MHz (Single Channel)
GPU: AMD Radeon R7 Graphics 1 GB VRAM (Integrated graphics)
Monitor: Philips 223V5 1920x1080@60Hz
OS: Windows 10 Pro

I appreciate any help or advice towards solving this problem.

 

[rgd1101]

make and model of the psu?
cpu temp during the game?

 

[EmKyu]

make and model of the psu?
cpu temp during the game?

oh damn, i haven't really thought about the PSU, that might be a problem because it's a really old, spare model i used to replace the original which is now broken and unusable.

i don't know much about it, the tag says Quantex, 230V AC 50Hz

as for the CPU temp, it's around 57º when playing the game, I haven't checked it while streaming or rendering videos (which are heavy tasks that should have caused the freezes if it was a CPU problem but didn't)

i'm starting to think it might be a software problem, if i don't open the game i can use the PC normally, but if I play for 20 minute or so the PC freezes.

I've tried other, more heavy games and they haven't caused any problems at all. When I'm playing I usually have other applications open like Discord, Steam or Spotify and they don't seem to cause any problems,

 

[EmKyu]

My PC froze again. I was in a discord call and now I wanted to play Among Us. Shortly after I opened the game, my pc froze. I could still listen to the audio from the Discord call but couldn't use neither the mouse or the keyboard. After a while the audio suddenly cut, the monitor lost signal and I had to force shutdown the PC.

I didn't notice any other weird inconsistencies between the time of posting this thread and now. The crash only happened when I opened the game.

 

[DSzymborski]

Can you link an upload of a picture of the power supply to an image sharing site? The information is insufficient to identify your PSU. Now, it shouldn't crash even most junk PSUs since your PC has very low power requirements, but if it's notably junky, it's very possible that it's the cause. And from your description, a very old spare part on what is already a very old entry-level machine doesn't isn't exactly an auspicious sign.

 

[EmKyu]

Can you link an upload of a picture of the power supply to an image sharing site? The information is insufficient to identify your PSU. Now, it shouldn't crash even most junk PSUs since your PC has very low power requirements, but if it's notably junky, it's very possible that it's the cause. And from your description, a very old spare part on what is already a very old entry-level machine doesn't isn't exactly an auspicious sign.

Here you go

https://imgur.com/a/MWV5HCp

View: https://imgur.com/a/MWV5HCp


I tried to get all the labels but I can't figure out any more information about it.

I don't get why the issue would be in the PSU, though. I know it could be faulty since it's old and junky but it hasn't given me any problems before installing the new monitor.

 

[DSzymborski]

Wow, as junk PSUs go, that is absolutely horrifying. In fact, from the specs, I don't think I've ever see a worse power supply.

You see that +12V rail? +12V power is what is largely used by PCs made since the Pentium III in the late 1990s.

Even the "beefiest" model at the bottom is essentially, in modern terms a 100-watt power supply. That is...something. A modern power supply will be able to do all of or nearly all of it's claimed output in +12V power. For example:

Generally speaking, only be able to get two-thirds of the claimed output in +12V power is one of the hallmarks of a junk PSU. Yours is under 20%, which is quite something else.

This shouldn't even be in your house for testing purposes at the risk of someone using it. I would recommend disposing of this via recycling at your earlier possible convenience. It's kind of amazing you haven't had a fire with this.

 

[EmKyu]

Wow, as junk PSUs go, that is absolutely horrifying. In fact, from the specs, I don't think I've ever see a worse power supply.

You see that +12V rail? +12V power is what is largely used by PCs made since the Pentium III in the late 1990s.

Even the "beefiest" model at the bottom is essentially, in modern terms a 100-watt power supply. That is...something. A modern power supply will be able to do all of or nearly all of it's claimed output in +12V power. For example:

Generally speaking, only be able to get two-thirds of the claimed output in +12V power is one of the hallmarks of a junk PSU. Yours is under 20%, which is quite something else.

This shouldn't even be in your house for testing purposes at the risk of someone using it. I would recommend disposing of this via recycling at your earlier possible convenience. It's kind of amazing you haven't had a fire with this.

It was either this or not having a PC at all, so I had to make a choice. Thanks for telling me all this, I couldn't have figured it out by myself. I'll do what I can to replace it and hopefully it also solves the freezing problem. Thank you so much.

 

[DSzymborski]

It was either this or not having a PC at all, so I had to make a choice. Thanks for telling me all this, I couldn't have figured it out by myself. I'll do what I can to replace it and hopefully it also solves the freezing problem. Thank you so much.

You almost didn't have a PC at all anyway! The OPP, assuming it's not completely made up -- which it frequently is with PSUs like this -- is far beyond the PSU's ability to provide +12V power in an even borderline safe manner. Which means shutdowns if you're lucky, component death or an actual fire if you're not.

 

[EmKyu]

well, i actually got around on replacing the PSU, nothing weird happened until just now where my PC froze again. i don't know what else to do.

 

[rgd1101]

and what the new psu make and model?

 

[EmKyu]

and what the new psu make and model?

LNZ PX550-FS
-AC Input: 115/230Vac - 7/4A - 50/60Hz
-DC Output: +12V - 32A // +5V - 15A // +3.3V - 22A // +5Vsb - 2.5A // -12V 0.5A
-Max Full Load: 550 Watts

i mean the first psu i had (which then i had to replace with the crappy one) didn't look so good either and had a maximum load of 500 watts so i don't get why the freezes even happen.

 

[EmKyu]

Could it be my HDD? Should I just reinstall Windows?