Random PC Freeze while gaming

[arvark]

Hello lads, I'm having this problem with my PC... It randomly freezes and I am forced to shut it down with the power button, and most of the times it takes at least 2 reboot to actually get the MoBo logo, or even have to turn off the PSU and press the power button to release charge. Things to know:

 

I've monitored temps for CPU and GPU:

1st time I monitored:

CPU 63°C

GPU 81°C

 

2nd time:

CPU:63°C

GPU:79°C

 

I've checked memory with Windows Memory Diagnostic (standard test) and it says no problem

I've tried increasing the page file 

Mostly crashes in games (I've been playing only GTA V lately), and if I reopen the game after freezing it would freeze after just 2 minutes.

 

This has been happening since 2015 (sometimes it happens 10+ times a day everyday and other times it stops for months), been using this W10 installation since then, and precisely it started when I installed my SSD (Kingston V300)

 

Any help?

[AskTJ]

Check the drives health using CrystalDiskMark and post a screenshot of the results here.

 

 

[homeap5]

Something is wrong with your motherboard (60%) or with GPU (30%). Hard to say and it's very hard to diagnose it without long testing and spare parts.

It's not Windows issue though, since you can't even turn on your computer after freeze and must try it x times.

[arvark]

1 minute ago, homeap5 said:

Something is wrong with your motherboard (60%) or with GPU (30%). Hard to say and it's very hard to diagnose it without long testing and spare parts.

It's not Windows issue though, since you can't even turn on your computer after and must try x times.

The PC does boot, but it doesn't show the asrock logo I must also add that this issue happened around the time I installed the SSD as I said, which is just a few weeks after I installed the GPU (so maybe it's the GPU and I didn't notice/remember it happening before the SSD)

[AskTJ]

CrystalDiskInfo*.

[homeap5]

4 minutes ago, arvark said:

The PC does boot, but it doesn't show the asrock logo

Strange. Turn off FastBoot in Windows and let your computer full boot every time. But still - strange that you see logo once and blank screen (?) in some cases.

[arvark]

3 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

Strange. Turn off FastBoot in Windows and let your computer full boot every time. But still - strange that you see logo once and blank screen (?) in some cases.

Yeah, to avoid misunderstanding, the blank screen no logo thing only happens after crashes like these, otherwise I always boot normally with the logo in all other cases. Also I will turn off fastboot

 

Here are CrystalDiskInfo's results for the C drive http://prntscr.com/kr7ivl

[homeap5]

Is your BIOS updated?

[arvark]

10 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

Is your BIOS updated?

Not really, but what can it have to do with the crashes?

[homeap5]

17 minutes ago, arvark said:

Not really, but what can it have to do with the crashes?

One of the most common descriptions in BIOS updates is "improves system stability / compatibility". That's why I'm asking for.

And in case of Asrock hardware - it's really important. They made lot of BIOS updates.

[arvark]

So you suggest I should update the bios right? Don't even know if it there's an update since my mobo is an asrock z68 ext3 gen3

[homeap5]

3 minutes ago, arvark said:

So you suggest I should update the bios right? Don't even know if it there's an update since my mobo is an asrock z68 ext3 gen3

Then you may be right - latest bios is from 2013 and it's L2.31A (beta).

Then I'm back to my first answer.

[arvark]

So any other reasons while my PC crashes only while gaming? Maybe the driver? should I try updating or reverting to older ones?

[homeap5]

You may try everything if helps. But I think software is not an issue here.

But if it is - try to check what is started with your system using Autoruns64. Maybe some AV or some Asrock stuff you installed with your motherboard.

Small tip - if "fresh install" is option you consider, then made it on separate harddrive - just in case that it's not the reason of freezing.

[arvark]

Okay so old driver don't solve this...

 

I'll try and see if it persists with other games... Maybe it's a GTA thing or the installation has corrupt files or something

[homeap5]

Install MSI Afterburner to made better fan curve, so your GPU will be cooler. You can also try to underclock yout card. And also clean dust from GPU radiator.

 

Imo your gpu temps are too high. Not critical but still.

[arvark]

Tried also with Mafia III, still crashes.

I already have MSI Afterburner and yes I agree that temps are high, I'll try to underclock it (sometimes games randomly crashed, not the whole os just games, and it said that the driver was rebooted [idk if it's the right translation for this one], and it crashed into a solid color, usually the most present color in the image I was viewing, idk why)

[Silver47]

 

 

I'd advice to reset your BIOS, turn off any programms that might interfere or overwrite any BIOS settings (Afterburner, Intel XTU, etc), check your system drive and most importantly your RAM for stability. Like Linus said ages ago in some buid log, most of the time you're encountering stability issues, its caused by the system memory. Second most likely reason would be a unstable OC. But obviously this could also be caused by a multitude of other reasons.

[arvark]

I've checked for memory issues with the standard windows mem check and it says no problems... I'll try running any game with the iGPU (meh) so if it doesn't crash in about 5 mins (which is the avg time after which it crashes) then I know it's the GPU...)

[homeap5]

Do you use your own fan curve in MSI Afterburner? Installation is not everything, you must configure it proper.

 

Set it from 25% under 45 degree and at 100% when 70 degree.

Something like this:

[arvark]

I did have my own curve but it was disabled, but again, during benches it reached 90°c and didn't see any problem (time ago)

[homeap5]

If you see horizontal line somewhere (for example at 40 degree) it means that your GPU fan cannot go below that line, so that 25 degree is just an example.

 

Don't see at benches, see in games. That is important.

[arvark]

Okay so it doesn't crash with iGPU, but CPU usage is also low with it iGPU 'cause of lower settings so I'm gonna try CPU and GPU intensive benchmarks separately, seems weird if it's GPU since I sometimes do mining and it doesn't freeze...

[homeap5]

Just clean your GPU and set that curve, then we'll continue.

[arvark]

I don't really have tools to clean it right now, I did set my curve and run unigine, 8 mins without any crash, GPU 100% (80c), CPU was about 30%, and ram was about 5GB, so it probably is either CPU or ram. 

 

EDIT: About 5 mins in it didn't crash with mafia (I did lower the max temp a bit, and I noticed that before I lowered the max temp the frequency would go to 1252mhz, while in unigine it was mostly 1151, max 1215)

 

EDIT 2: Okay, again, with Mafia III it didn't crash with stock settings and custom fan curve, that may have been the problem... I'll let you know! In the meantime thanks a lot for the help.