Question Sudden computer freezes ingame

[DaDarkDan]

Hello guys!

I have a problem with my computer freezing occasionally, or rather eventually, in one game and I’m trying to figure out the reason.

So far I’ve tried the following:

• Updated BIOS
• Updated all drivers
• Run different benchmarks and stresstests (3DMark, Heaven Benchmark 4.0)
• Generally cleaned the pc (dust and file-wise)
• Checked temperatures and loads (all fine imo)
• Checked windows log for an error at the time (haven’t found anything but I could be missing something here…)
• Setting the game to lowest graphic settings

My setup is 2,5 years old and consists of the following:

• CPU: i5 660 3.5GHz
• 4 x 4GB DDR4 RAM
• Motherboard: asus z170 Pro gaming
• GPU: GTX 970
• PSU: 550W be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10

Apart from that, the game runs smoothly until the freeze with 60 FPS, no drops or spikes and it’s installed on an SSD. The game is still in early access and I would usually not bother being annoyed about a few crashes but I know two friends with similar setups that have no problems at all. I’m pretty lost as a layman and I hoped you guys could give me any hints what it could be…
I’m not against upgrading something in the near future but I wouldn’t want to go for new expensive stuff just because 😊

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Ralston18]

Two tools to help:

1) Resource Monitor - Use Resource Monitor to observe your system's performance. First while not gaming and then while gaming.

2) Task Manager - Use Task Manager in much the same way. Task Manager just provides a different view of things.

And check Reliability History/Manager. Look for error codes and warnings that correspond with the freezes. Event Viewer (somewhat more cumbersome) will do the same.

First explore the tool while not gaming to get a sense of how the tool works, the information presented, how to navigate about, and how to sort the output.

Then slide the window to one side and game as usual while continuing to observe. Remember the purpose is not to win the game but to discover what causes any given problem. In your case - freezing.

And have your two friends do the same on their respective systems while you watch. You may discover or otherwise note some key difference between what their systems are doing versus your system. Likely to be useful information.

 

[DaDarkDan]

Thank you for your answer Ralston.

As for the logs I haven't found anything ressourceful apart from the aftermath critical error "windows did not shut down correctly" . But monitoring GPU etc. alogn the way sounds like a good next step. I will come back to this post when I got more information