System Freeze in games only

GenyaChris · 27 Jan 2018 at 11:28

Hey all,

So I have had a lovely PC build for 6 years now from OC - only having to replace a GPU when first one died and up the RAM over the course of these years, and this week it randomly started to crash when playing games.

The crash itself is a total freeze of the system, no response, normally screen goes a single colour at random (ie teal, black, yellow etc) and the last ms of sound is repeated until forcibly powered off. Within a minute of hitting a campaign map in Total Warhammer2 and a few minutes more when idling on the menu of Overwatch as examples.

This only happens in games, have spent several hours on Youtube and other things with no issues since then. There are NO entries in the log files showing anything like driver failures or any errors period, so I am assuming that it is a PSU issue when the GPU starts to draw more power as the fans kick in while ingame.

I have spent a few hours on it this weekend, replacing the PSU with a spare (which for some reason would not even power my case fans, so im going to make another assumption that my 5 year old spare has kicked it too), removing RAM, removing additional items like the BluRay drive from the power lines etc and even tried rolling back the GFX driver. All to no avail.

Would appreciate opinions/advice on this, as im likely going to replace the PSU at this rate - but im not 100% between the PSU or GPU being at fault. PSU is a HX750w Corsair that the build came with, GFX is a 980ti Windforce that is just over a year old.

DarkHorizon472 · 27 Jan 2018 at 14:23

It sounds like some sort of base hardware issue if it just cuts out on you and happens in any game. Have you monitored CPU and GPU temps ?

I would remove any overclocks and unneeded components and see if it still crashes, check all cables are in properly. Try testing each memory stick installed individually. Also if you can try a different GPU and reseat the existing CPU.

ExRayTed · 27 Jan 2018 at 15:01

Those older Corsair units were awful so it could be that. What are your temps like?

GenyaChris · 27 Jan 2018 at 16:11

Cpu does not hit over 40 as its water cooled, graphics card only gets as high as 60 before the freezes. CPU was reseated about 3 weeks beforehand with new contact solution etc as part of a clean.

Habakkuk · 13 Feb 2018 at 01:08

System freezes are usually either heat or power related - does the PSU have additional sockets on the motherboard that are not connected?

GenyaChris · 15 Feb 2018 at 20:19

All sockets etc are connected fine... heat levels are fine as well =/

I bit the bullet and got another PSU - and reproduced the crash after a few minutes...

Should I RMA the GPU? Its warranty is till Oct 2018...

Habakkuk · 20 Feb 2018 at 04:25

I had issues with Overwatch until I rolled back to earlier drivers - have you checked if this is an issue with your card too?

GenyaChris · 20 Feb 2018 at 08:00

Yep, rolled them back and it still crashed, did a complete remove of them and updated to latest again, still crash.

Going to try testing the RAM one by one next and pray its not the MB thats shot.

Solus · 20 Feb 2018 at 08:40

Very likely to be ram swap file between the graphics and the ram. One of those sticks is bad, test it as you are now one at a time to find the bad stick. Don't bother with memtest as it isn't the same situation

Habakkuk · 22 Feb 2018 at 07:04

Why would Memtest not pick up the problem?

Solus said:
Very likely to be ram swap file between the graphics and the ram. One of those sticks is bad, test it as you are now one at a time to find the bad stick. Don't bother with memtest as it isn't the same situation

Solus · 22 Feb 2018 at 21:05

Never has in my experience.

GenyaChris · 25 Feb 2018 at 10:32

Mem test on each stick went through fine - then tried each individually in the machine and even underclocked after. Still same crash.