Computer Freezes Randomly When Gaming After Installing Windows 10

leeedle

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Nov 20, 2013
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Okay, just to clear things out, I did not have this problem before installing Windows 10, however, I did install a new graphics card around September this year (2015), but this problem occurred even before that. I also have the correct drivers installed and I always keep them up to date.

Every time I play a game, mostly source games like TF2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, out of nowhere, my computer freezes. Absolutely nothing, I can't move my mouse, all sound cuts off, no BSOD, nothing except the screen that shows what happened when it crashed. I am forced to reset my computer when this happens and a few minutes after I start playing my game, it freezes.

Please help, it is interrupting far too many matches :(.
 

PyroRaider

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Intermittent freezes can be very frustrating and difficult to pin down. Heat problems are a common cause, so you're on the right track by checking temperatures. Here are some other things that I generally check:

GPU Stability: Try a benchmarking/stress tool like FurMark.

Hard Drive: A flaky drive can certainly cause crashing. You'll sometimes see signs of storage problems in Event Viewer, but it's not a bad idea to run a scan or two. While the basic Windows scan is worth running, a tool like SpinRite does a more thorough job.

Memory/CPU: Give your machine a good long taste of a memory tester like MemTest86, or a torture test tool like Prime95. Prime95 can be tweaked to focus on CPU, memory or a blend. The SystemRescueCD includes MemTest as a bootup option, and includes a number of other handy tools as part of its stock ISO image.

Power: This was never one of the top items I'd consider for a freezing PC, until it caused a frustrating bout of intermittent freezes for me. Check your BIOS hardware monitor or use a standalone tool to make sure the voltage levels reaching your motherboard/processor/etc are reasonable. In my case, I had a loose connection between the power supply and motherboard. I was pulling my hair out until I noticed that one of the rails was reporting suspiciously low voltage in the BIOS hardware monitor. It wasn't enough to prevent booting or basic usage, but the machine regularly froze in games. Re-seating the power cable took care of the problem completely.
 

leeedle

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Ok then, a lot of things to do ^^. I will try to do all this and once I'm done I will try to update with you. Thanks for the help ! :D
 

leeedle

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By the way, is there a specific way to test?, should i just test until an error comes up, or should I test for a certain amount of time?
 

leeedle

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Update 1: I used FurMark @ 1920x1080 w/ 8x MSAA. I ran it for around 1hr 46 minutes because that's when I usually crash. During that time, no errors came up, my computer did not freeze, guess I'm off to the next test then. I will probably play around that much time of CS:GO and see if it crashes.... Otherwise, I will try to keep posted about this.
 

leeedle

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Update 2: I played CS: GO for a while. After 5hrs of gameplay, my computer froze again. I will try using fur-mark again using the above duration.
Update 3: I used Furmark overnight which lasted around 11 hours. No crash what so eve, I am beginning to think that this occurs only in Valve games, but I'll try using other methods.
Update 4: I used OCCT to stress CPU and RAM for five hours. I used the Linpack stress test, using 90% of memory and all logical cores. I left my computer alone and no freeze or crash. I am really towards thinking towards games. I will try to use a game like Battlefield to see if it is only on source games.