Question Unable to Troubleshoot Crashing PC

[GuyWithBadComputer]

Hello everybody, as you can tell by the title, I am really struggling to find the issue with my computer.

Basically, I am crashing while playing games, seemingly randomly. It doesn't matter the intensity of the game, any game will crash. Even Counter Strike 2 on 1280x960 is crashing, lol. Most games just immediately close and I'm back on Steam. CS2 just spazzes out and tabs me between CS2 and Steam like every 0.5 seconds. I have to sign out of Windows and login to fix it (doesn't let me open Task Manager). I think Sid Meier's Civilization 5 typically states it's a runtime error, other games don't offer much info. All of the games run fine until they crash - no stuttering, no low FPS even on High/Ultra, etc. Chrome crashes too, especially when watching YouTube, or something.

This has been happening on and off for probably 8-ish months. I initially figured it was my PSU - it was my oldest component. I replaced it, the GPU, and gave myself some more RAM all within that timeframe, so I don't think the issue was with those.

Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-11700K - Core i7 11th Gen Rocket Lake 8-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1200
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE AX LGA 1200
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB (4 x 16GB)
GPU: MSI Ventus GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6
PSU: EVGA 1000 GT 80 Plus Gold 1000W
HDD: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB / WD Blue 4TB SATA 6 Gb/s 5400 RPM 64 MB
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO - 250GB
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P500A High Airflow
Cooling: Phanteks Glacier One 280MP D-RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler

I feel like I have tried everything - uninstalled and reinstalled games several times, wiped Windows and reinstalled it, same with Steam. I am on liquid cooling and it seems fine, CPU temperatures seem normal to my newbie eyes (though I attached an image right after crashing theHunter: Call to the Wild, just in case it helps). It seems like everything is fine based on sensor/load/temps.

Screenshot right after crashing:

https://imgur.com/a/1Tnajtz

View: https://imgur.com/a/1Tnajtz


To me, that only leaves the possibility of issue with the CPU, Motherboard, or my HDD/SSD. But at this point, I really don't know, so trying to get other opinions/ideas. My CPU was bought 2021, motherboard in 2021, HDD in 2016 (1 TB) and 2020 (4 TB and has most of my games) and SSD in 2016 (I lean most towards the HDD/SSD being the issue, but again, at this point, I don't know).

Any help would be much appreciated, I normally don't ask but I can't figure it out.
Thanks a bunch in advance.

 

[KingLoki]

Have you put your cpu through a stress test to see if it crashes?

If not, then download cpu-z utility and run a stress test for starters.

Other testing software...

8 Best CPU Stress Testing Softwares (Updated List)

Before we get started, it's important to note that stress testing isn't something you do every day. In fact, if used on a regular basis, it could very likely

thepcbuild.net

 

[shelly10]

Hi there, I totally get your frustration with this issue. I have had the same problem for the last couple of months. My motherboard, CPU and GPU are the same as yours. I pulled my PC apart and put it back together after testing all the hardware for issues (I built it myself a couple of years ago) but found nothing wrong. I also uninstalled and reinstalled windows 3 times, still didn't work. I researched the net for hours, days on end.
I was at my wits end considering my PC has had no issues up until now.

Then finally I found the issue is with NVIDA, after a graphics driver update. The issue is all to do with the Ansel feature, which is a powerul camera for taking screen shots while playing games. I have never used that feature. Apparently NVIDIA turns that on automatically.

So, to fix this do this....
Download NVIDIA Profile Inspector. It is free.
Navigate to "Common".
Locate Ansel settings and anything to do with Ansel.
Select Ansel option and disable feature.
Save changes.
Also if you have ingame overlay turned on in NVIDIA Experience, disable it.

I hope this fixes the issue for you. Good Luck.

 

[rgd1101]

what the cpu temp?