PC Games freezing...

[Chives]

Morning all,

Happy Friday

I've been happily using my i56600k/GTX 1070 setup for the last 4 1/2 years, I mainly play RTS games at 1440p (everything else on consoles) so it has served me very well up until now (with the exception of two failed GTX 1070s, which OCUK replaced). Unfortunately, I seem to now have another problem. Over the last couple of days, whilst playing Total War Rome 2, I have been getting repeated freezes, the PC becomes completely unresponsive (I can't alt tab out, no audio, mouse is unresponsive etc) so I have to do a hard reboot. I had thought this was a Rome 2 issue as I'd been using some mods, so went through the process of completely deleting the game, fresh install etc, but alas the issue continues. I've since updated my Nvidia drivers too. I had thought this was a Rome specific issue, but thought I'd try a few other games to rule out a hardware issue. On Rome, this usually happens within 15-30 minutes of playing it, either in a campaign or a battle it doesn't seem to matter.

Booted up Company of Heroes 2 to play a skirmish - all seemed fine, but after about 40 mins it too froze. I'm going to try a few other games today, but this probably suggests its a hardware issue perhaps? I've been monitoring my CPU/GPU temps, at the last crash on Rome we were on 66c for the GPU, and 44c CPU. For CoH 2 GPU 73c, CPU 48C.

Any and all thoughts welcome!

 

[Chives]

Thanks, I've been working through some of these over the last 24 hours or so.

1: Make sure all fans / filters are clean and dust free - Done
2: Change Thermal interface material on both CPU / GPU
3: If you have more than 1 stick of ram, try gaming with all but 1 stick removed and adding each stick back after a session. Trying to do, each time i remove a stick of RAM it seems to fail to boot. I've tried removing the motherboard battery which worked the first time, but further attempts to remove/readd sticks of RAM are causing failures to boot which i'm currently trying to fix. Thoughts welcome!
4: If you are comfortable look at some voltage tweaks on CPU / RAM
5: Remove all overclocks / non stock configs if you have any applied. The system was a pre-build from OcUK some years ago and i believe it came pre-overclocked, assuming i can get it to boot again where should I be checking clocks / configs?
6: Roll GPU driver back to an older version if recently updated Done, no difference seemingly.
7: Roll Windows back to a previous version if recently updated No recent updates

Do you think a fresh install of Windows might be worth a go?

 

[Chives]

Well based upon the above I would look at a RAM testing application once you are back in and booted. The standard one is memtest86, you’ll need a USBStick stick to run it.

https://www.memtest86.com/

Thanks, I ran it yesterday and got a pass. Looks like RAM is ruled out as a fault then? I think the booting issues were down to me not seating the RAM firmly enough (I didn't want to break it )

Test RAM as above. If that passes, you're looking at GPU and it's clocks (normally see artifacts in games first) or more likely your cpu overclock. It may be as simple as adding +0.05 to the offset voltage in the bios.

Okay - sounds like cpu overclock is the next place to go, I've never touched my CPU clocks before, how do I go about changing them / what should I be changing them to?

Cheers for all the help! Keen to keep these PC alive for at least a few more months (much as I know I'm due a new system/big upgrade...)

 

[Chives]

What speed is it running at and is it overclocked with a fixed voltage or via an offset voltage. What is the fixed voltage or offset voltage set to? Download something like hwinfo and check in bios. If it's borderline stable you just need to add a fraction more voltage or drop the clock by 100mhz and test.

So a 6600K is 3.5GHZ at stock I believe, and mine was set to an automatic mode which took it up to 3.9GHZ, having watched it task manager closely over the last couple of days its been between 3.7-3.9GHZ pretty constantly. I've been into the BIOS and set all the values to stock, so 3.5ghz and set the voltage to the default value. I must admit I didn't find the BIOS the most intuitive but pretty sure I've set the values right. My CPU is reading 3.5GHZ and doesn't seem to go above that, so success on that front! I'll do some more gaming tonight and tomorrow and test, fingers crossed.

If this is the cause of the fault, it raises the question for me though as to why the overclock has been fine for years but isn't now...

Yep I would look at any overclocks - maybe record all speed, voltage, fan settings and do a reset?

Yep I've knocked the clocks back to default, lets see what happens.

What gaming client are you using ? Probably not the issue here but worth checking if cloud saving is disabled or the application has firewall exception added. I had faced similar issues when playing AC Odyssey where the cloud save trigger would freeze the game etc (was using uPlay). That was the only game giving me the issue though for some reason.

Steam, I'll check cloud saving and firewall exception. Thanks

I would take a look at the hard drive(s), maybe one is starting to fail ?

Okay will do - is there a piece of software I should be using to check them for faults?

Thanks all for the help, very much appreciated and I'm learning as I go along

 

[Chives]

Alas, setting CPU and GPU to default clocks has not stopped the crashes

where next?

 

[Chives]

Check windows event viewer see if it points to hardware or software

Just had a look and there's a serious of critical errors just logging that the system has shut down unexpectedly, no cause suggested as far as I can see. Otherwise theres a series of random app errors, but nothing critical as far as I can see. Is there anything else specific I should be looking for?

I’ve been having the same issue with destiny 2. Are you on latest nvidia driver? I’m also on a preview version of windows 10. I’m on a 5950x with a 3090. Not had issues until the last couple of weeks.

I was but no longer after rolling back to an earlier driver. Hope you get it sorted! On a standard version of Windows 10 I believe

 

[Chives]

@Chives

Put your cpu back to how it was, 3.9 will be the automatic turbo boost speed. It's not overclocked and that's normal. I was expecting you to say 4.5+

How long did you test your memory for?

Dearie me, I have so much to learn I've just been in the BIOS and reset it to optimised defaults.

Memtest was running just over 4 hours I believe and was a pass, no errors found.

I'm going to make a totally crazy sensible suggestion.

Rebuild the machine, totally. Dismantle it all, apart from taking the CPU out of the socket. Also buy a cheap 240GB SSD (£25) and re-build a new install of Windows 10 (20H2) on that drive, with all the other drives disconnected. The reason for the new SSD = you always have it for fault finding, or can use it in a new system if you get one.

Make sure to clean down all the parts, dust everything carefully, RMA slots, PCI-E slots, blow out the PSU is you have a compressor/can of air and get some nice new paste on your HSF/CPU.

I have fixed countless machines with 'weird' issues just by rebuilding them, and the end users are always befuddled why this works.

Hmm, can't be a bad idea at this stage as I can't seem to fix it I'm going to ask whether any of my mates locally can offer a hand (I've not assembled / dissembled a PC in full before so would be keen for a more experienced eye to join me....)

Other ideas or suggestions welcome

 

[Chives]

If you live local to me happy to do it all for you (no cost) drop it off and collect it is all you need to do.

Very kind sadly I'm in London so little bit far away from you in the West Mids!

I am scratching my head as to what else it could be, can't help but think I'm missing something obvious

 

[Chives]

He's not, I am.

Got there just before me

By way of an update... I unplugged the GPU last night and switched to the painfully slow integrated graphics. Booted up Rome 2 and boy that was a shock, had to lower all the settings and resolution and it ended up looking like a Playstation 2 game I left it running on the campaign map overnight and low and behold, no crash or freeze this morning. It was running for about ten hours. I think we've found our dodgy part!

If it is indeed my 1070, I'm in a tricky position as good luck getting a replacement at the moment...

 

[Chives]

Again though that could indicate PSU, or something else, don't assume!

Have you found anyone to help you yet? I'm annoyed that I am so far away, as I could have had it done for you by now.

Hmm how can I rule it in or out? A mate has kindly offered to lend me a spare GTX460 over the next couple of days. He's willing to help me disassemble and reassemble too - though he seems to think it worth trying another card first.

What do you think?

 

[Chives]

No harm in trying another card, but given the age of the system and by the sounds of it never had any proper maintenance carried out, then I'd seriously consider the rebuild, with a nice fresh OS on a new drive. You could do that bit first if you prefer, just grab a cheap 240gb SATA SSD, and unplug the cables from your current one, pop that one in, install the 20H2 Window 10 and put up to date drivers on it, and nothing else other than your game that keep crashing.

Brilliant, I will do, at this point I think I have relatively little to lose anything I should be mindful of before picking up a new SSD, are they pretty universal compatibility wise or do I need to pick up a specific one? I've got Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) motherboard.

In terms of the windows key, I assume that I can easily find a cheap one online? And then pop it onto a memory stick and install it from there? Drivers wise - what are the essentials, GPU, sound, anything? I've not done a clean install of windows before.

 

[Chives]

Something like a Crucial BX500/MX500 will do should be about ~£25 for 240GB, but yes anything (brand) you've heard of should be fine these days, its only for testing with after all.

No need to get a Windows key as you put it, just get yourself a USB flash drive 8GB+, and on your machine download the Windows Media Creation Tool, and make an installation USB drive, it is very easy to do/follow. Drivers, just grab the latest Nvidia Gfx one, and again drop it on that new USB install drive, once Windows 10 has finished installing, and before you connect it to the internet (tell it you have no connection during setup and unplug the Ethernet if that is what you use), install the NVidia Gfx driver. Once you've done that and restarted the PC, you can connect to the internet and do the Windows updates, may need a few restarts as it will pick up all of the drivers you need. As I said make sure you've disconnected all of your other drives completely prior to starting the install, and during your testing. Windows doesn't need to be activated for it to work correctly at all, and you don't need a license key to install it.

Brilliant thank you. I’m getting hold of a spare GTX660 a mate has tomorrow so will give this a go too. Many thanks

did you check event viewer and see if there are any errors listed for CPU mem or drives etc

I did, all I could spot was a series of random software errors and then critical errors where the Pc is freezing, kernel power errors I think they were called.

 

[Chives]

By way of an update, I popped my mates GTX 660 in yesterday and took my GTX 1070 out. All was well for a few hours, I managed 3 hours of gaming on that compared to the maximum of 30 mins ish I'd get on the 1070 before another freeze

Could this perhaps suggest a PSU fault? I've got a new SSD coming today, so am planning to try that along with taking it all apart and rebuilding tomorrow. My mate also has a spare 750w PSU I can borrow, so I think I'll perhaps pop that in first, test and then proceed with the SSD / rebuild from there.

Thoughts and ideas gratefully received

 

[Chives]

By way of an update to this, I found the faulty part - a seemingly broken PCE Wireless Adapter. I had noticed I'd lost WiFi connection a week or so prior, but thought nothing of it as I use ethernet.

Removed it 4 days ago now and not a single freeze since will keep a close eye now but hopefully this has sorted it!