PC Freezes During Games

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Last_Approach

Last_Approach

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So, I recently (last night) put together a new build:

CPU: AMD FX 8350
MB: MSI 970 Gaming
GPU: Nvidia GTX 760 (2gb)
RAM: 8gb
PSU: Novatech EVGA SN 650 G2

Of the above parts, the PSU and Motherboard are new - the CPU, GPU and RAM have all been in use for a while and have worked without any issues, able to run all the games I throw at them.

The build went shockingly well with no issues, and I was up and running back into Windows (on my existing Windows 10 installation) without problems.

I later then tried running Tomb Raider, which never EVER crashes. This completely locked up my PC after about 20 minutes of gaming, which as mentioned is very unusual.

After rebooting, I tried another game I've never had any issues with - Mad Max. The exact same thing happened.

I'm really at a loss what could be going on - I need to be pointed in the right direction before I either take the computer into a shop, or alternatively simply hurl it out of the window whilst screaming "this is sparta".

To start with; is there any way of determining through Windows logs what is causing the freeze? In the Event Viewer, all I see are the usual Kernel errors (because I'm manually restarting the machine), but no prior information.

Is it possibly the case that I need to do a fresh install of Windows, seeing as I've changed motherboard?
 
Solution
Shaun o
Wait a minuet, are you really saying that you swapped the motherboard in the system you have, where the version of windows installed on the boot drive for the running os was installed from scratch with another motherboard.


Of course at some point it`s going to lock up and freeze if the case, windows has to set its self up and configure it`s self based on what motherboard it detects and the chip set the motherboard is using.

Any difference from one motherboard to another where the controler and peripheral chip set is different results in windows locking up on any system.

New motherboard a clean fresh install of windows os. period.

That is the rule full stop.

So get a clean fresh install of windows OS setup with the new motherboard...
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R4lNM4N

R4lNM4N

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Welcome to the wonderful world of PC troubleshooting ;) If the motherboard is a different model - specifically the chipset, than the previous system then you should install those drivers from MSI. The fact that you are playing for 20 minutes before the crash however sounds like a possible heat issue.

I would update the motherboard/chipset drivers first and check Windows updates. Then consider re-applying the thermal paste on the CPU. (I've heard of some people forgetting to apply it all together) It happens. A clean installation of Windows is almost never a bad idea.

Let us know how it goes...
 
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Last_Approach

Last_Approach

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Thanks for your reply :)

Oh don't worry, I've definitely installed the paste - it's one of my least favourite bits of the whole process (my least favourite being those damn power / reset / led plugs).

I checked drivers and stuff as a first; I believe the BIOS version is the most up to date (I think they haven't released one for that board since 2015), and I have the latest Nvidia drivers. Sounding ignorant now, but how do you update the Motherboard / Chipset drivers? (unless you mean BIOS, which I've done...).

My CPU reaches 78 degrees Celcius when running Passmark Burnintest - I didn't run it for AGES mind you, as I didn't have a huge amount of time last night. I think I ran that test for about 30 minutes (it bungs it all at 100% CPU useage constantly and makes me sad inside). No errors or crashes, but again - limited time. I then used the same program for Memory and GPU, again only for 30 mins each.

I also downloaded memtest95 - this was literally before bed, but one thing I noticed is that the test (without changing settings) was running fine. However, when I changed the CPU from Single to Round Robin, it got to about 11% and then hung. Reading into that though, I'm unsure if it's anything more than a memtest fault.
 
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Last_Approach

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One thing to add though; before I upgraded my CPU (I had an FX 4300), about a year ago I was getting random restarts. I looked into this, and found the thermal paste had dried up completely.

So, given that this is a freeze rather than a restart or shutdown, could it still point to heat?
 
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R4lNM4N

R4lNM4N

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Hmm, I forgot how different AMD systems can be sometimes. I basically have a previous Intel version of that board. When you look the product up on MSI's support page (for your AMD board) it only lists network drivers. Mine allows me to download the specific chipset drivers for my board.

Do you have that AMD catalyst software installed? I think your chipset drivers come in through there.

Also, maybe re-install the video card's drivers. Remember to check "perform clean installation" during the NVIDIA setup.
 
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Shaun o

Shaun o

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Wait a minuet, are you really saying that you swapped the motherboard in the system you have, where the version of windows installed on the boot drive for the running os was installed from scratch with another motherboard.


Of course at some point it`s going to lock up and freeze if the case, windows has to set its self up and configure it`s self based on what motherboard it detects and the chip set the motherboard is using.

Any difference from one motherboard to another where the controler and peripheral chip set is different results in windows locking up on any system.

New motherboard a clean fresh install of windows os. period.

That is the rule full stop.

So get a clean fresh install of windows OS setup with the new motherboard you placed in the system Last_ Approach.
Forget about any other possible causes, because there are not any.

If you install a clean fresh windows os on the system the crashing of the system will be fixed 100 %.
 
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R4lNM4N

R4lNM4N

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Agreed. I worry about the product key however. Is it tied to his previous board?
 
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Last_Approach

Last_Approach

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Yes, my previous build was using an ASUS motherboard. The board had an issue, so I threw that out and bought a better board (the MSI) - I built my new PC using the hard drives with an existing installation on, and everything (bar this) seems to be fine.

Would there be no other symptoms I can look for to determine if that's what's causing the issue? I plan to by an SSD and completely reinstall Windows (I own windows 8, so I'm hoping the free windows 10 upgrade is still available), but I cannot afford it right away given I've basically had to buy a whole new PC.
 
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Last_Approach

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(FYI: the boards are both AM3+ chipsets, so it's not like I've gone from Intel to AMD for example). Also, when I first started the computer it did configure Windows again as if it was a new install...
 
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R4lNM4N

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I agree with Shaun o. You should clean install. Even though it's the same chipset, there still could be some low level compatibility issues. If it were me, I'd clean install - as I do 1-2 times every year anyway. As an option, I guess you could try the "system refresh" option in the recovery environment.
 
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Last_Approach

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I will definitely do this at some point for sure; I really hope that's all it is, as I needed to re-install the OS anyway as it's boot time has gone really slow.

If it was simply my gaming PC, I'd have wiped it ages ago; but it's also my music production PC, and the thought of having to re-install all this VST's again is depressing. That's why I wanted to get the SSD, so I could use a backup facility; but I guess it would backup whatever issue there was to begin with.

But just staying on this topic for the time being; wouldn't Windows behave irregularly in general if this was the issue? When I was troubleshooting and running stress tests, I had the computer going for about 2 hours without any crashes or issues...it was literally just happening with gaming.
 
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Hellfire13

Hellfire13

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thrs are reasons why certain things are recommended by microsoft...one of them being re-installing OS with a new motherboard...
bcoz its supposed to lock after 2/4/6 or watever hrs...
they cannot stipulate case specific...that this board shd reinstall after 2hrs or that board shd reinstall after 4hrs...
its a blanket directive bcoz of known after effects...

for eg, if u try another board, it might play up after 4hrs instead of 2hrs...doesnt mean the same rule doesnt apply...
hope u get the crux...
 
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Last_Approach

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Well, if it's NOT the answer then it's certainly a good place to start - now, here is a random question. If I get myself an SSD and install a fresh copy of Windows 10 on there, then AFTER this has been setup and configured I put back my (old) C drive, will it still boot from the SSD or will I simply confuse the system because there are now two bootable versions of Windows?

Just to note: I know I wouldn't be able to launch the programs because of registry, I am just short on externals and it will be easier than backing up the data.
 
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Last_Approach

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So essentially if I shove the priority of the SSD to the top and bung the old C drive to the bottom of the chain, there'd be no issues with essentially having two separte installations of windows (temporarily) ? I'd only ever run form the one, of course...
 
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Hellfire13

Hellfire13

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heres the process...
backup all ur data to a secondary drive...then reinstall OS on the same drive or a new drive...make sure there is only the target drive attached during installation and no other secondary drive(thr is a reason for that too)...format the drive(old/new) once before u do the installation...once it is installed, update ur windows...then go ahead and attach the secondary drive...format it or keep the same id ur discretion...go back to bios and recheck the boot device priority...
u r all set now...
 
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Last_Approach

Last_Approach

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Well thanks everyone for all your help so far - even if "Shaun o" did tell me off like I'd done something naughty :p

I'm extremely doubtful that this will resolve my issues, as in my brain now I've got a serious hardware failure that'll cost me hundreds more £'s to resolve, but I will report back in a few days time when I have performed this step, hopefully to say "You guys are all amazing!".

In the mean time, if anyone sees this topic and wants to suggest any other potential causes, please do let me know - I'm willing to try a whole host of anything right now to fix this issue.
 
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