System freeze after 5/10 minutes of graphics intensive games/programs. NOT heat related

[parkurtommo]

For a few months now I've been having an issue with freezing/crashing during games and programs that are graphically intensive. Very reliably, my computer will completely freeze up after maybe 5-10 minutes, nothing works, only solution is to reset with the power button. There are no crash dump files. Sometimes, it will be a BSOD, but the BSOD also freezes, at 0%.

I've been monitoring my temps when it freezes, everything is absolutely fine there, gpu hovering around 60 at 100% use, CPU around 50.

The problem was not always there, I built this computer last December and it was working fine while playing The Witcher 3 for quite a while. Can't recall when the problem started exactly, because I've been too busy to play games this year.

Build:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Intel Core i5 6500 @ 3.20GHz
16GB RAM
Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 (U3E1)
NVIDIA GTX 970

Again, built in December last year, although I reused the gpu from my last build.

I've tried stuff like updating nvidia drivers, making the page file larger. Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[parkurtommo]

After a full reset, the freezes are still happening. 🙁

But at least the performance is normal again.

I'll a try to update all the drivers and keep testing.

 

[Sedivy]

I've heard recently of malware issues that are not yet caught my malware software that turn you machine into a mining rig (that you're not benefiting from), and correspondingly ramp up your cpu. I'm not saying this is what it is, it still could be tons of things, but might be worth checking.
If you go to task manager (ctrl+alt+del), and go to Details tab, sort by cpu usage, do you see any processes you don't recognize?

Actually...nm you did full windows reinstall, this shouldn't be an issue in that case and is more indicative of a hardware problem.
How do intel tests indicate everything is fine if you're freezing 10 min into stress testing with Prime95? But if they ran tests...
Hmmm. Ok and focusing on other things, say, taking out gpu and running just on on-board graphics, doing browsing, do you still get the same slowdown?

 

[parkurtommo]

I've heard recently of malware issues that are not yet caught my malware software that turn you machine into a mining rig (that you're not benefiting from), and correspondingly ramp up your cpu. I'm not saying this is what it is, it still could be tons of things, but might be worth checking.
If you go to task manager (ctrl+alt+del), and go to Details tab, sort by cpu usage, do you see any processes you don't recognize?

Actually...nm you did full windows reinstall, this shouldn't be an issue in that case and is more indicative of a hardware problem.
How do intel tests indicate everything is fine if you're freezing 10 min into stress testing with Prime95? But if they ran tests...
Hmmm. Ok and focusing on other things, say, taking out gpu and running just on on-board graphics, doing browsing, do you still get the same slowdown?

The slowdown was what prompted my windows re installation, it's not happening anymore now. But the freezing is still there! Again the freezing only happens when I use a resource intensive program or a game, and for some reason also during the Prime95 stress tests but NOT on the intel diagnostic stress tests. I really have no idea, I'll keep doing anything that's suggested here but I really don't feel like chasing it for much longer, I'd rather just replace some parts when I can afford it (won't be too long) since this is most likely hardware related. Could be the GPU somehow since that's the only part that I reused from an old build (and it was beat around a bit when I moved to a new country)...

 

[Sedivy]

Did you try running furmark on the gpu to see if it'll freeze under load? It's the same thing as Prime95 but for the gpu.

 

[parkurtommo]

Did you try running furmark on the gpu to see if it'll freeze under load? It's the same thing as Prime95 but for the gpu.

Just tried it, froze after 6:30 min on the default 720p test... The temperatures were perfectly safe below 80º.

 

[Sedivy]

That's not great. I mean at least you know it's likely your gpu (or your PSU starving your gpu which could have the same effect) but you know to focus on this and not your cpu. Since it's not the temps, and you're not overclocking, I'm inclined to think there's something wrong with the card itself. Do you have a possibility of rma-ing it? Contact nvidia (or whoever is the card's maker, if it's a third party), and explain your issues and your test results and ask if there's anything you can do to address the problem, short of rma, and if not, then rma if you can.

 

[parkurtommo]

That's not great. I mean at least you know it's likely your gpu (or your PSU starving your gpu which could have the same effect) but you know to focus on this and not your cpu. Since it's not the temps, and you're not overclocking, I'm inclined to think there's something wrong with the card itself. Do you have a possibility of rma-ing it? Contact nvidia (or whoever is the card's maker, if it's a third party), and explain your issues and your test results and ask if there's anything you can do to address the problem, short of rma, and if not, then rma if you can.

That would make sense since the gpu is the only part that isn't brand new, and it did get beat around a bit when I moved last year. Unfortunately it's not under warranty anymore so it looks like I'll just have to get a new one!

Thanks for the help!