PC freezing during gaming, BUT WHY?!

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 00:20

So my pc keeps on freezing whenever I play ac4 or bf4 but as a result I've started to monitor my temperatures of my CPU and GPU. At the time of freezing my GPU is between 75 to 80 degrees Celsius and my cpu is between 54 and 58 degrees Celsius but is also about 10 to 30 minutes into the game. I also have my GPU fan running at 90%.

Are these temperatures the reason why my PC is freezing?
Also, last night it got quite cool in my room and I had no problems at all, so that's why I'm wondering if it is actually the higher temperatures? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 01:03

Firstly, do you have any CPU and GPU overclock. Secondly, in what case do you have your system installed. It can totally be a thermal problem as 80C° is quite high for almost 100% fan. Just give generally more information about the system - screenshots of cpu-z and gpu-z open under load and without load. Possible a picture of the rig itself. Did you try cleaning it, it may be full of dust and all the airflow being blocked.

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 01:15

Stuen4y said:
Firstly, do you have any CPU and GPU overclock. Secondly, in what case do you have your system installed. It can totally be a thermal problem as 80C° is quite high for almost 100% fan. Just give generally more information about the system - screenshots of cpu-z and gpu-z open under load and without load. Possible a picture of the rig itself. Did you try cleaning it, it may be full of dust and all the airflow being blocked.

The PC itself is barely 5 months old. I use a Corsair carbide series 200R with a 140mm fan (intake) at the front and center and a 120mm extractor fan in the top and center of the case. That creates a flow that goes over the mobo but does not suck air away from the CPU cooler. I have no overclock, just the core settings. The inside is completely clean, no dust or anything. I'll do the screen shots tommorow but can you stay subscribed to this post so that you can check it over? Also, what counts as a gpu/cpu-z? I currently use a screen overlay from MSI afterburner and a different cpu monitor but both show the same temperatures for the GPU

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 01:22

Also, all parts are new, no second hand parts apart from the CPU coolant paste which has been reused from when I bought a new mobo, my current one and moved my cpu to it. But I don't think it's the cpu but more the GPU

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 10:49

I do not fully understand what your current airflow setup is. The normal setup is this:

Intakes at front, bottom and eventually side. Exhausts at back and top, eventually side. The side fan orientation depends a lot on the actual graphics card and sometimes it is worth to check both configurations and just test which gives better temperatures.
I asked for screenshots as it is way easier to show us your overclock (if you had any) than explaining it.

For gpu temperature testing, I would use Unigine Valley at maximum details for say 30 minutes. If you can provide a screenshot of gpu-z sensor/afterburner, or whatever software you prefer after/during this test, we would be able to see what is happening.

The Carbide 200R seems to have one intake at the front and one exhaust at the back as default. What have you added and did you move the stock fans in any way?

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 11:01

This is my current setup. The fan is to the right of the case, between the hardrive slots and the disc drive (intake) whilst the exhaust fan is at the top of the case left of the disc drive. These are the stock fans and I haven't added in any more. How do.you add pictures as I am unable to do so at the moment for some reason.

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 12:15

Please find attached some pictures of the case layout, temperatures while idling and a picture (of the game screen) once it has frozen. I'll try and find the picture of CPU temperatures but they were at around 55 to 57 degrees most of the time

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 13:12

Put the fan at the back of the case, on top of the I/O ports, it is the most efficient place for a single fan.

Otherwise, the temperatures of that particular card sound about ok to be between 75 and 80 degrees.
Judging by this, this, this, this, and this review it is normal. The problem is that I do not see the reason for the freezes. Does the system freeze while the GPU is not loaded? It might be a faulty card too, do not exclude this as an option.
P.S. To post an

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 13:19

Stuen4y said:
Put the fan at the back of the case, on top of the I/O ports, it is the most efficient place for a single fan.

Otherwise, the temperatures of that particular card sound about ok to be between 75 and 80 degrees.
Judging by this, this, this, this, and this review it is normal. The problem is that I do not see the reason for the freezes. Does the system freeze while the GPU is not loaded? It might be a faulty card too, do not exclude this as an option.
P.S. To post an code picture, it has to be the direct link to the image - jpeg, png, etct format. Otherwise use the [url] code.[/QUOTE]

Okay and no it doesn't freeze, I.mean at the moment it's flawless, no freezing, it just seems the system has to warm up or something? And I will do in.the future. I previously had moved the fan from where you suggested to where it is now due to my friend thinking it would take air away from the cpu, but I'm not sure if that correct though, would it be?

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 13:24

It is better to have the relatively cold air getting inside the case from the front intake pass through your entire case than to have it sucked before it even reaches the CPU. Now you have a small loop of air and the rest of the case is pretty much left to natural hot air convection.
Have you tried different drivers and which drivers are you using now? Are you sure the problem is not software related?

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 13:52

Stuen4y said:
It is better to have the relatively cold air getting inside the case from the front intake pass through your entire case than to have it sucked before it even reaches the CPU. Now you have a small loop of air and the rest of the case is pretty much left to natural hot air convection.
Have you tried different drivers and which drivers are you using now? Are you sure the problem is not software related?

I'm only currently using the AMD CATALYST CONTROL driver but I'm not sure if that applies to both the cpu and gpu? Other than that I use the msi afterburner to change the gpu fan speeds but no overclock

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:00

Yes, but which version of the Catalyst. It's not like you have other choice than using the AMD official WHQL/beta drivers.

Try opening the manual fan control and see what is the default fan curve. I would be grateful if you can post a screenshot of that too.
Btw you do not need to shoot with a camera, you can press the print screen button on your keyboard and then paste the image from the clipboard into an image editing software (ie Paint). There are programs that make screen capture and safe the file automatically at a pre defined location, I use ScreenHunter and I think it is really good.

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:23

Stuen4y said:
Yes, but which version of the Catalyst. It's not like you have other choice than using the AMD official WHQL/beta drivers. Try opening the manual fan control and see what is the default fan curve. I would be grateful if you can post a screenshot of that too.
Btw you do not need to shoot with a camera, you can press the print screen button on your keyboard and then paste the image from the clipboard into an image editing software (ie Paint). There are programs that make screen capture and safe the file automatically at a pre defined location, I use ScreenHunter and I think it is really good.

Its the version released in april, 14.4 I think so the latest apart from the beta. And is the manual fan control in the bios because I can't access the fan control in there. Any advice or programs?

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:39

There is a very nice demo how to use Afterburner and set the fan curve manually. I recommend using the latest Afterburner Beta. You can try older drivers, like 13.12 just to see if the problem stays.

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:48

Stuen4y said:
There is a very nice demo how to use Afterburner and set the fan curve manually. I recommend using the latest Afterburner Beta. You can try older drivers, like 13.12 just to see if the problem stays.

AH! Yeah I'm currently using it at it's default curve, do you still need a picture? Also, I still had a freezing problem even with a older version of the catalyst control centre

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:50

Here's a picture if you need one:

Stuen4y · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:53

CurlySturly said:
AH! Yeah I'm currently using it at it's default curve, do you still need a picture?

The default curve for every card is different as manufacturers tune the bios so the performance of the card suits their needs. I can see in your signature that your PSU is more than enough for that system, everything else seems fine, it's on default, case is reasonable, airflow is reasonable, it should work on default settings. I would just determine after how much time it freezes with a synthetic benchmark - like Heaven, Valley, 3DMark, etc. (not Furmark and Kombustor!) - and just get it back to RMA as faulty, reporting with what you have tested and what the problem is.
P.S. The curve seems more than reasonable, the problem is not there.

CurlySturly · 6 Jun 2014 at 14:56

Stuen4y said:
The default curve for every card is different as manufacturers tune the bios so the performance of the card suits their needs. I can see in your signature that your PSU is more than enough for that system so I would just determine after how much time it freezes with a synthetic benchmar - Heaven, Valley, 3DMark, etc. (not Futuremark and Kombustor!) - and just get it back to RMA as faulty.

I'll use 3DMark, but which version because there is one for directx11 and 10 separately but also a general one?