Computer Freezes Under Heavy Load

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R

Rmoran

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Feb 1, 2016
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Whenever I play graphics-intensive games (e.g. Sniper Elite 3, Fallout 4, Grand Theft Auto 5, etc) my computer usually freezes frame and becomes completely unresponsive. Sadly, no blue-screens with helpful errors appear. I say "usually freezes" because if it doesn't happen within the first 15 minutes, I can play for hours on end with no issues. All temperature readings seem to be very safe at time of freeze (Never pass 75c on CPU or GPUs). This started after I upgraded my motherboard, CPU, and RAM. All were installed at once due to compatibility issues with my old parts. I do overclock, but this has still happened with a base-clocked CPU. I believe the problem to either be a faulty CPU, faulty mother-board, or a deteriorating PSU (it's several years old). No issues were ever had playing moderately graphics-intensive games like League of Legends.

Freezes have occurred under the following isolated circumstances:
- Turned off CPU overclock
- Down-clocked RAM to 2133
- Removed one of my graphics cards entirely
- Ran off each stick of RAM individually (also ran memtest86+)
- Completely reinstalled Windows 7 OS
- Updated BIOS to latest version

Current problem build:
- CPU: Intel i7-5820K
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
- Motherboard: MSI X99A SLI PLUS ATX
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666
- GPU: (2x SLI) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card
- PSU: Corsair HX750W 80+ Gold Certified
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

Judicious
Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there Rmoran,

As the temps are fine, my guess would be that your PSU is causing this. Unfortunately, the easiest way to see if this is the case is to just borrow one from somebody and try it on your system.
I guess it will not hurt to run some stress testing.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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R

Rmoran

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Feb 1, 2016
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4,510


Borrowing a power supply at or above 750w from a local friend isn't something I'm in the position to do. Is the computer freezing on a single frame with no BSOD a sign of PSU failure? Are there any other signs I should look for? My power supply is four years old and likely bordering on an acceptable wattage for my new setup. Most wattage calculators suggest I need a minimum 650w. However, I did take out one of the graphics cards and turned off the overclocks only to have it crash within a few days. That should have lightened the load significantly.

My PSU has always been loud and whiny. I really wouldn't mind replacing it, but I just want to be sure dumping $140 on a new 850w power supply will fix my issues. My current unit is even under warranty.

 
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R

Rmoran

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Feb 1, 2016
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I'm not convinced it's the power supply. I hooked up a wattage meter to my computer and it hardly broke 600 watts under maximum stress tests without freezing. After monitoring it during a gpu-intensive game, I noticed a freeze occur around 400 watts.

Further research has found a few threads of people having similar issues on the same motherboard (MSI X99A SLI PLUS). Most were fixed with a mobo RMA, some fiddled with RAM speeds and voltages, and one person fixed it with a GPU downclock. Apparently my RAM isn't officially supported at the hardware's advertised clock speed as well. I'm going to play with my RAM configs first, but I have a feeling this might end with a replaced motherboard.
 
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R

Rmoran

Reputable
Feb 1, 2016
4
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4,510
Grasping at straws here, but I also tried:
- Moving my RAM sticks to DIMM 1 & DIMM 5 as instructed by my mobo's manual
- Setting RAM timings / voltages manually
- Using XMP / OC Genie
- Installing some "important" Windows 7 updates
- Reseating all the power cables I could find
- Messing with the "Power Saving Options" settings
- Uninstalling RealTek audio software (Hey, someone said it worked for them)

I really don't want to RMA my board and be without a computer for over a week. On top of that, an RMA wouldn't even solve my problems if it's hardware incompatibility. Why do so many of these X99 boards have this issue?
 
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