Why is my computer crashing/freezing during vidya

[Emphyrio]

Starting today I've had my computer hard freeze, sometimes with the monitors frozen and sometimes the monitors go black, and sometimes the whole computer shuts off.

This is happening either a few minutes into playing Red Dragon (within a couple minutes of the game-game starting, i can hang out on the menus fine) and it also crashed while watching a DVD with deinterlacing and postprocessing enabled. It also seems to have trouble restarting and needs to be re-rebooted about half the time.

I ran speedfan and the temperatures all looked fine. I ran Furmark and it didn't crash during a benchmark. Ran chkdsk and it didn't report any problems.

No recent upgrades or hardware changes, not doing anything different recently.

What do you nerds suggest?

display: 2x 40" TV's
mobo: Asus PBZ68-V LX
Power: Thermaltake TR2 RX 850W
GPU: R9 380
CPU: i5-2500k @ 3.30 ghz 4core
Storage: 120gb ADATA S510 ssd (main drive) | 2TB HDD | 2TB Sata SSD | 120gb SSD unused spare drive
Memory: 16 gigs (4x4gigs)

[wndrbr]

Maybe RAM is at fault.

What does event log say?

[Emphyrio]

Maybe RAM is at fault.

What does event log say?

It says a lot of stuff. There are two different kinds with the big red X next to them:

1. Kernel-Power

The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Connectivity state in standby: Disconnected, Reason: NIC compliance

2. EventLog

The previous system shutdown at 11:42:01 PM on ‎8/‎9/‎2023 was unexpected.

If I'm reading this log correctly then somethings called "Filecrypt" and "npsvctrig" are running one second before the system crashes, which seems to be a thing when I search it.

[rusty_shackleford]

Let's start by getting the power supply out of the way.
Download furmark and let it run for a while, if it's a PSU issue your PC will shut off very quickly once you start it as it will put significantly more strain on your PSU than anything else a typical user does
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

[Emphyrio]

Let's start by getting the power supply out of the way.
Download furmark and let it run for a while, if it's a PSU issue your PC will shut off very quickly once you start it as it will put significantly more strain on your PSU than anything else a typical user does
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

OK, I ran it for 4 minutes, no problems, gpu temp leveled out at 75C

[rusty_shackleford]

Let's start by getting the power supply out of the way.
Download furmark and let it run for a while, if it's a PSU issue your PC will shut off very quickly once you start it as it will put significantly more strain on your PSU than anything else a typical user does
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

OK, I ran it for 4 minutes, no problems, gpu temp leveled out at 75C

If it was a PSU issue it would shut off the moment you pressed the button, furmark uniquely places way more stress on GPUs than anything else I've found.

You'll want to run Memtest86+ next
https://www.memtest.org/

It has been years since I've used memtest, but you'll probably need a usb thumbstick or similar to boot into it.

[Emphyrio]

Let's start by getting the power supply out of the way.
Download furmark and let it run for a while, if it's a PSU issue your PC will shut off very quickly once you start it as it will put significantly more strain on your PSU than anything else a typical user does
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

OK, I ran it for 4 minutes, no problems, gpu temp leveled out at 75C

If it was a PSU issue it would shut off the moment you pressed the button, furmark uniquely places way more stress on GPUs than anything else I've found.

You'll want to run Memtest86+ next
https://www.memtest.org/

It has been years since I've used memtest, but you'll probably need a usb thumbstick or similar to boot into it.

No errors on memetest

[rusty_shackleford]

No errors on memetest

I have no ideas then, might be hardware related, might not be.
Did you receive any major OS updates lately?

[herkzter]

it's possible that windows update screwed up things after it finished; i normally have to do a bit of housekeeping after i let windows update do its thing. if i don't, then i normally get a bsod or a hard freeze

try sfc /scannow in a command prompt with admin rights

[Emphyrio]

I pushed in all the wires in the computer again and was able to play an hour of Red Dragon without a crash. Then I locked it, came back an hour later and it was on a bsod with the message "kmode exception not handled."

I guess tomorrow I'll reinstall gpu drivers and roll back the last windows update.

[Acrux]

If you were updating to 22H2 that could be the culprit. I've seen that cause problems several times on particular types of devices. It's supposed to automatically roll back if it doesn't install correctly, but it doesn't always do that.

The built-in in WU troubleshooter is actually pretty good, but if that doesn't work there's also the Windows Update Reset Tool that's very handy.

https://github.com/ManuelGil/Reset-Windows-Update-Tool

[Acrux]

"kmode exception not handled."

Ha, I was looking up your error message and it looks like PC Gamer is giving zoomers tech support advice now.

https://www.pcgamer.com/kmode-exception ... to-fix-it/

They do have a good point - the message my have had brackets following indicating if there was a particular driver issue.

[Emphyrio]

Things have gotten even worse. Computer is now freezing every time I try to start it, even on the BIOS screen.

I hate this weekly automatic updates culture shit, constantly breaking my stuff that's worked fine for years.

[Segata]

Things have gotten even worse. Computer is now freezing every time I try to start it, even on the BIOS screen.

I hate this weekly automatic updates culture shit, constantly breaking my stuff that's worked fine for years.

Install Gentoo before it's too late

[Emphyrio]

I got the computer to start up without freezing by taking out the gpu, ran windows update troubleshooter, it said that there was an update that wasn't completed. Had it finish the update, put the gpu back in, seems to be working so far, haven't tried to run the games again yet.

[Emphyrio]

It seems fixed since running the windows update troubleshooter. Thanks for your assistance everybody.

[J1M]

It seems fixed since running the windows update troubleshooter. Thanks for your assistance everybody.

If that hadn't worked, the next thing I would have suggested would be to start swapping individual components to isolate the fault. (Though in truth it would probably have been a motherboard hardware failure and we just try swapping other things first because swapping the motherboard is time consuming.)

I always keep an old video card around for this reason.

[somerandomdude]

There's a program called bluescreen view, next time your PC crashes, it should leave a crash dump with more information as to the specific cause. I've even had specific USB devices crash my PC before, and I only knew this from the bluescreen view.

A failing SSD can cause your PC to crash and freeze as well. Also, that SSD model for your main drive 120gb ADATA S510 is from 2011, and those old SSDs are not nearly as rigid as the newer ones. You should run a check on your SSD using windows, or a number of 3rd party programs that can test it. If I was to gamble on a component being bad, the odds would be that it's your SSD main drive. You can buy 128GB Sata III SSDs for around $20, so if it's bad, it's not that big of a deal.

[Emphyrio]

There's a program called bluescreen view, next time your PC crashes, it should leave a crash dump with more information as to the specific cause. I've even had specific USB devices crash my PC before, and I only knew this from the bluescreen view.

A failing SSD can cause your PC to crash and freeze as well. Also, that SSD model for your main drive 120gb ADATA S510 is from 2011, and those old SSDs are not nearly as rigid as the newer ones. You should run a check on your SSD using windows, or a number of 3rd party programs that can test it. If I was to gamble on a component being bad, the odds would be that it's your SSD main drive. You can buy 128GB Sata III SSDs for around $20, so if it's bad, it's not that big of a deal.

I had the same problem again last week. I eventually got Windows to boot up again and fixed it by running the windows update repair thing again. The biggest problem was getting it to boot, because it would restart, shut off five seconds later, and then reboot again but without sending any signal to the mouse, keyboard or monitors. After restarting a few times it worked.

Today when the computer started it said that it couldn't find the boot disk. The motherboard wasn't seeing the SSD with the windows install, but it was seeing all the rest of them. Where the flat cables connect from the drives to the motherboard, I switched around the plugs in the #1 and #2 slot and the computer works fine again.

CrystalDiskInfo says that the C: is still 89% healthy.

► Show Spoiler

I made a backup image of the C: on a spare 120gb ssd and another recovery thing on a 125gb flashdrive.

[somerandomdude]

I had the same problem again last week. I eventually got Windows to boot up again and fixed it by running the windows update repair thing again. The biggest problem was getting it to boot, because it would restart, shut off five seconds later, and then reboot again but without sending any signal to the mouse, keyboard or monitors. After restarting a few times it worked.

Today when the computer started it said that it couldn't find the boot disk. The motherboard wasn't seeing the SSD with the windows install, but it was seeing all the rest of them. Where the flat cables connect from the drives to the motherboard, I switched around the plugs in the #1 and #2 slot and the computer works fine again.

CrystalDiskInfo says that the C: is still 89% healthy.

► Show Spoiler

I made a backup image of the C: on a spare 120gb ssd and another recovery thing on a 125gb flashdrive.

By switched around, that means nothing is plugged into the old sata port that the SSD used to be plugged into? Sata ports can go bad, and so can sata cables, but it's pretty rare. I've seen ram sockets and USB sockets go bad, but never a sata port.

I'd definitely keep an eye on that SSD, if you notice anything funky such as a huge drop in health in a small amount of time, or failing to delete files, it's time to replace it.

[Emphyrio]

I had the same problem again last week. I eventually got Windows to boot up again and fixed it by running the windows update repair thing again. The biggest problem was getting it to boot, because it would restart, shut off five seconds later, and then reboot again but without sending any signal to the mouse, keyboard or monitors. After restarting a few times it worked.

Today when the computer started it said that it couldn't find the boot disk. The motherboard wasn't seeing the SSD with the windows install, but it was seeing all the rest of them. Where the flat cables connect from the drives to the motherboard, I switched around the plugs in the #1 and #2 slot and the computer works fine again.

CrystalDiskInfo says that the C: is still 89% healthy.

► Show Spoiler

I made a backup image of the C: on a spare 120gb ssd and another recovery thing on a 125gb flashdrive.

By switched around, that means nothing is plugged into the old sata port that the SSD used to be plugged into? Sata ports can go bad, and so can sata cables, but it's pretty rare. I've seen ram sockets and USB sockets go bad, but never a sata port.

I'd definitely keep an eye on that SSD, if you notice anything funky such as a huge drop in health in a small amount of time, or failing to delete files, it's time to replace it.

My windows ssd was in port #1 and my games ssd was in #2. I switched games to #1 and windows to #2 and they both worked after that. There aren't any open ports.

[Red7]

i think from security, reliablity, bandwith and gerneral common sense 0 trust policy view point its INSANE to allow windows update itsefl.

that almost as bad as giving vagina voting rights

[Red7]

I'd definitely keep an eye on that SSD, if you notice anything funky such as a huge drop in health in a small amount of time, or failing to delete files, it's time to replace it.

have u experienced any ssd drive failures? all my drives that died were macheanical, and usually like bad brands; segate, wd. i thought ssd fail is extremely unlikely unless some voltage spike etc.

[somerandomdude]

I'd definitely keep an eye on that SSD, if you notice anything funky such as a huge drop in health in a small amount of time, or failing to delete files, it's time to replace it.

have u experienced any ssd drive failures? all my drives that died were macheanical, and usually like bad brands; segate, wd. i thought ssd fail is extremely unlikely unless some voltage spike etc.

Yes, I've had a Sata II and Sata III SSD go bad.

The NVMe M.2 SSD drives are considerably more robust, I've never had one of those go bad.

[Red7]

I'd definitely keep an eye on that SSD, if you notice anything funky such as a huge drop in health in a small amount of time, or failing to delete files, it's time to replace it.

have u experienced any ssd drive failures? all my drives that died were macheanical, and usually like bad brands; segate, wd. i thought ssd fail is extremely unlikely unless some voltage spike etc.

Yes, I've had a Sata II and Sata III SSD go bad.

The NVMe M.2 SSD drives are considerably more robust, I've never had one of those go bad.

thats very interesting

thats exactly opposite what i thought and what i have heared. i seen some guys doing pc repairs saying they never had sata ssd die and ive seen/read of plenty of nvme go bad due to obvious reasons; high temps and amperage increasing risks including a fucking fire hazard

i always thought its absolutely insane to make your drive containing data u care for, being exposed to such increased risk/temperature, not mention the cost increase and for benefits of bandwith that most users have absolutely no need for (for games i play i found out over 250 mb/s reads makes no difference).

if i needed bandwith that much i think i would do some raid setup. but then again i could be wrong and m2s are not pointless fire hazard now and ram speed disks is something everyone needs. maybe for playing wokefield.

btw ram disk. why not use that for super bandwith considering most mobos run like 128 gig ram these days. dunno.

[somerandomdude]

have u experienced any ssd drive failures? all my drives that died were macheanical, and usually like bad brands; segate, wd. i thought ssd fail is extremely unlikely unless some voltage spike etc.

Yes, I've had a Sata II and Sata III SSD go bad.

The NVMe M.2 SSD drives are considerably more robust, I've never had one of those go bad.

thats very interesting

thats exactly opposite what i thought and what i have heared. i seen some guys doing pc repairs saying they never had sata ssd die and ive seen/read of plenty of nvme go bad due to obvious reasons; high temps and amperage increasing risks including a fucking fire hazard

i always thought its absolutely insane to make your drive containing data u care for, being exposed to such increased risk/temperature, not mention the cost increase and for benefits of bandwith that most users have absolutely no need for (for games i play i found out over 250 mb/s reads makes no difference).

if i needed bandwith that much i think i would do some raid setup. but then again i could be wrong and m2s are not pointless fire hazard now and ram speed disks is something everyone needs. maybe for playing wokefield.

btw ram disk. why not use that for super bandwith considering most mobos run like 128 gig ram these days. dunno.

There's no need for a raid setup on a standard PC. These M.2 SSDs are fast enough. I've had no issues with temps on my M.2 drives. My motherboard has a built in SSD heat sink, and many SSDs ship with heat sinks if your motherboard doesn't have a built in one, you can often buy one with a heat sink for $5-$10 more. SSD life is measured in terabytes written, it's common for M.2 drives to have 800TB-1200TB+ of write life. I build my own PCs, so I never run into the sorts of temperature issues that many people do, because I use proper cooling, and roomy mid towers, or full size towers, not these micro shit boxes with poor ventilation and OEM cooling.

[Red7]

Yes, I've had a Sata II and Sata III SSD go bad.

The NVMe M.2 SSD drives are considerably more robust, I've never had one of those go bad.

thats very interesting

thats exactly opposite what i thought and what i have heared. i seen some guys doing pc repairs saying they never had sata ssd die and ive seen/read of plenty of nvme go bad due to obvious reasons; high temps and amperage increasing risks including a fucking fire hazard

i always thought its absolutely insane to make your drive containing data u care for, being exposed to such increased risk/temperature, not mention the cost increase and for benefits of bandwith that most users have absolutely no need for (for games i play i found out over 250 mb/s reads makes no difference).

if i needed bandwith that much i think i would do some raid setup. but then again i could be wrong and m2s are not pointless fire hazard now and ram speed disks is something everyone needs. maybe for playing wokefield.

btw ram disk. why not use that for super bandwith considering most mobos run like 128 gig ram these days. dunno.

There's no need for a raid setup on a standard PC. These M.2 SSDs are fast enough. I've had no issues with temps on my M.2 drives. My motherboard has a built in SSD heat sink, and many SSDs ship with heat sinks if your motherboard doesn't have a built in one, you can often buy one with a heat sink for $5-$10 more. SSD life is measured in terabytes written, it's common for M.2 drives to have 800TB-1200TB+ of write life. I build my own PCs, so I never run into the sorts of temperature issues that many people do, because I use proper cooling, and roomy mid towers, or full size towers, not these micro shit boxes with poor ventilation and OEM cooling.

the same.

i have build even my own cooling solution; bought old 1070 with broken fan, just ripped the fan out and duct taped 120 mm fan from broken psu. i had to solder extra wire to reach nearest fan port and set up some shareware program to control it from windows.

i got one of them industrial design dekstop type cases from 2000. its big but still 1070 mini was longest gpu i could fit without some dremel modifications.
i mena i could remove 3,5 inch floppy disk drive station, its not even plugged in but i like its look.