Build freezing AFTER GPU load - Help needed

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8 Dec 2020
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Grateful for any guidance or suggested solutions to remedy the below. I’ve been looking at all the forum’s, threads and various YouTube videos to try and fix this. My hardware was initially purchased and put together myself in May 2020 (unless otherwise stated):

MOBO: Msi B450 Tomahawk Max

CPU: Ryzen 7 3800x

AIO: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R (July)

RAM: Originally ‘Corsair LPX 16GB’, now ‘G Skill trident z 32gb’ since start of December.

GPU: MSI RTX 2070 Super gaming x

PSU: Corsair TX850M

Boot: Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD

Game drive: WD Black SN750 1TB NVMe M.2


Have been having intermittent issues for a few months, since July, with my build freezing either in game (CoD:MW,CW+Warzone; The Division 2; Star Wars Squadrons) or after exiting something which might cause high utilisation. Initially I believed this was due to my settings being set to high with the addition of raytracing on, so reduced these down to normal levels (raytracing off). However I also noticed the GPU was running without fans spinning automatically and so would heat up and crash, which led me to think it might have been a temps issue so invested in an AIO and more case fans plus set custom fan curves on the GPU in Afterburner from start-up (this issue seems to have subsided recently for some reason other than the new fans).

More recently the instability raised its head again. Having done more troubleshooting and investigating I noticed CPU was at +80% utilisation with GPU in single figures, therefore thinking the integrated CPU graphics were running games (only) and GPU was sitting near enough idle. This gave me the impression the GPU wasn’t being recognised / used for games. Having looked through a number of forums and on NVIDIA’s website I adjusted the Manage 3D settings to force use of my 2070S, which seemed to work for a while but then would cause crashes after a little time, if I switched screen [Alt tab] (to look at discord for example) or sometimes when I “quit to desktop”.

To explain the crashing experienced; this is never BSOD. The picture stays up but is unresponsive, with audio on a few second loop. I have control of the mouse but not (always) able to pull up task manager or other monitoring apps to see what’s going on – let alone close the frozen game or force a restart. Always need to do this from the case restart. The times I have been able to pull up task manager the GPU appears as -1% utilisation but can’t run through any of the others as this monitoring freezes also.

As I’m sure you can imagine, the inconsistent performance is driving me crazy(!!). I’ve recently upgraded the RAM as read this could have been an issue but not resolved.

I’ve run a number of stress test with TechPower GPU-Z / MSI Afterburner (no O/C, all default) / Heaven Benchmark 4.0 and these perform fine, but then will occasionally crash when testing stops(??). I’ve run other testing with Performance Test (Passmark), Prime95 and monitoring with CPUID HWMonitor – temps etc, look fine. NVIDIA GPU Driver updates (v457.51), BIOS (v7C02v39),Chipset (v2.9.28.509) drivers and Windows updates all installed.

My neighbour, who is more savvy, has also tried to troubleshoot over the past few months but drawing a blank also with no clear signs of what might be failing.

If it’s a hardware issue then I will happily change any parts suggested, it’s just identifying the culprit that I’m really struggling with.

To highlight I am looking to upgrade the GPU (3080FE), mobo(likely B550 or x570) and CPU (R9 5900x) once there is stock, if ever. HOWEVER, not going to purchase until I can identify my ongoing issue(s).

Many thanks in advance for any help here!!
 
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re 3800x graphics; Ok thanks - that rules that out.

RAM was XMP at 3600, now turned off and at stock (3600). Have added an extra PCIE cable (used before and after the XMP change). Same issue persists(if not a little worse?). Game plays then on leaving to desktop / multitask, screen freezes and all becomes unresponsive. Attach a photo from GPU-Z from the last crash (before XMP change) taken on my phone.
GPU-Z_09DEC20_01.jpg


https://imgur.com/a/YNSkVcd
GPU-Z_09DEC20_01.jpg
 
Lowered to 3200 in the bios but no change to stability (I believed this could be OC'd a lot higher on my board), if anything it seems to crash quicker without A-XMP and RAM adjustments. Below are some shots after the last crash an hour ago. Running mem test (x8 simultaneously) brings up no errors in the hour or so I've run it - will run overnight.

9ZzDfYS.jpg

zJQY4vT.jpg

uobg8f2.jpg

VD60ElT.jpg

Additional tests: I reduced the power limit to 95% in afterburner and enabled custom fans to force spinning - no change to stability. Re-ran Heaven4.0 with GPU-z though and no issues found. Drawing a complete blank.
 
are you running afterburner with rivatuner in the background when you've had the game " Freezes/unresponding"?

Hi Hakanese - Afterburner is open but everything on default. Never heard of Rivatuner - are you suggesting I should download it? When I first downloaded afterburner in July after I notice GPU crashing as thought it was overheating with no fans spinning - so uninstalled issues persisted. So have reinstalled and kept the fan speed on in system tray to make sure I could see they were spinning. Never OC'd though, only recently have I tried underclocking to see if any difference.
 
Do u have a good friend who has a pc?
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.
can u swap for another g card or other ram. ?

I do but don’t think I’d be allowed to test with a 3080FE given the issues I’m having :) I have different RAM already that was changed out a week ago to try and tackle this (so don’t believe it’s a RAM issue but still doing all the suggested testing)
 
If you're seeing errors at stock memory setup, on two different sets of ram, it's possible there's an issue with the CPU/Board.

I think part of the issue is I'm not seeing errors at all for memory. When the GPU isn't being utlilised with normal use, it's absolutely fine at all of the speeds tested. The crashes are only consistently in game. I'm going to order a new board today however reluctant to swap out the old until I know this is the issue. Unless consensus is to do this anyway?
To mention; I have fully removed Afterburner and associated files/profiles though this has not had any affect either.
 
Underclocked by 250Mhz - No change to stability unfortunately.

I’ve used it for the whole day today for work (Citrix) and a few apps open in the background and been absolutely fine. 2minutes into game play and it crashes - could it be an issue with the game download (should I offload and download a fresh version)?
 
Decided to physically pull it apart this morning and make sure there were no obvious issues with installing of the hardware. Ran Heaven for around an hour on Ultra/AA x4 with no issues. Ran PerformanceTest(3D mark) and it got through all except the particle screen (https://imgur.com/Ar0At3D) before crashing which I think is after DirectX12 test(?) . Any further thoughts?

Have ordered a new board and waiting for stock of a new GPU (whcih I get the feeling is the issue?). Thanks

Other screenshots from GPUz, HWMonitor, TM below:
Running Heaven - https://imgur.com/YMDCXlR
Crash - https://imgur.com/B1HNSO7 | https://imgur.com/geAgM0K | https://imgur.com/NgUmCvy
 
Wanted to provide an update on my issue. I noticed GPU sag when putting the rig back together and, having propped it up temporarily to ensure it was level, the issue seemed to completely disappear (extensive stress testing and game play - not a single reoccurence since 12 DEC) all settings I had in place are now all higher as a result seeing the 2070s can perform well.
I had been using the arm mount which came with the GPU, however wasn't secure enough it seems. Have since bought a GPU Stand and everything is ship shape and shiny. I would assume this means there is a lose connection on the board or connection on the GPU PCIE (?).
Plan to switch out the board this week once my new GPU arrives and can put this all to bed. My 2070s will be going to a family member and be giving them the stand to make sure they dont experience the same issue as I did.
Thanks all for your input, suggestions and helping educating me along the way!
 
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