Solved PC Crashes, possible hardware bottleneck?

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BK718

BK718

PCHF Member
Aug 23, 2024
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Hello, thanks in advance for anyone who can help me diagnose my issue.

I recently began to experience repeated crashes on my PC running windows 10. It initially started when using Photoshop, now I am experiencing the same type of crash when having chrome open, or when playing a game on steam. The crashes are all identical, in that its a sudden freeze with any audio starting to stutter repeatedly until I manually shut off the computer.

I built my PC approx 2 years ago using pcpartpicker to make sure all of the hardware was compatible, I had no issues whatsoever with the PC until these crashes recently. Here are my specs:

OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
RAM: 32GB
GPU: RTX 3080 Ti

I tried running the task manager on a 2nd monitor while playing a game on steam, noticed that there was very low GPU usage (3%) but CPU was at 30%. Not sure if this was normal, I did some more googling which lead me to a bottleneck calculator (https://pc-builds.com/bottleneck-calculator/) which said that my CPU is too weak for my GPU? Could that be causing these crashes? And if so why has this only appeared recently and not since I built the PC. All my drivers seem to be up to date as well.

Let me know if there's anymore relevant info needed and I will try my best to provide it. Thanks!
 
BK718 said:
The crashes are all identical, in that its a sudden freeze with any audio starting to stutter repeatedly until I manually shut off the computer.
Click to expand...

Software such as Windows can crash and when it does crash you get a BSOD and when enabled a crash dmp is generated, programs or games when they crash can on occasion close to the desktop but the computer will still be 100% functional.

Hardware failure such as a weak power supply and/or overheating are not software related and when a computer for example suddenly turns off, freezes or the screen goes black etc the behaviour should be described as the "computer shut down unexpectedly" or froze etc and not as having crashed as the latter implies a software issue as opposed to an obvious hardware issue when described properly.

Having the correct info means that helpers will not be looking for a software issue when the problem is clearly hardware related.

What you describe are typical symptoms of something overheating and this includes the PSU internally.

You have not included the details for the most important computer component of all, can you post the brand, model name or number and age of the PSU.

What speed is the RAM and how many sticks are there.
 
Good choice of PSU and well capable of supporting your GPU, this reduces the possibility of an overheating issue.

BK718 said:
2 sticks of RAM at 3200 MHz
Click to expand...

Are you aware that your CPU does not support 3200MHz RAM, you can confirm this for yourself here

As a starting point, disable XMP, restart the computer and test by using the PC as you normally would before posting back with an update for us.

NB: In addition to the above, make sure that the Windows Power Plan is set to Balanced, Ultra and High Performance are a form of overclocking that is known to cause stability and overheating issues, the setting should only be used for gaming type notebooks that have a discrete GPU that needs the extra power.
 
Hi, thanks for the input. No I was not aware that the CPU did not support my RAM speed. Do you suggest I switch the RAM out for a compatible speed?

In the meantime I disabled XMP, and checked to confirm my power plan was already set to balanced. Will use the computer over the weekend to see if I experience this same issue. Thanks again.

Will report back in a day or two.
 
You are welcome 🙂

Do your testing and if everything is okay manually overclock the RAM in the BIOS to 2933MHz, we will need a link to the actual RAM that you have so that we can check the specs and advise you of what the RAM voltage needs to be adjusted to.
 
Thanks for the update and apologies for the delay getting back to you.

Yes I still suggest that you try manually OCing the present RAM, you have nothing to lose by doing so.

Specs for the RAM here say that the SPD is 2133MHz and 1.2V so start your manual OC at 2400MHz and 1.25V.test by using the computer as you normally would and if all is okay increase the OC to 2750MHz and 1.35V, repeat your testing and if all is still okay you can either try the RAM at 3000MHz or stick nearer to the RAMs tested speed and clock the RAM at 2900MHz with the voltage remaining at 1.35V.
 
BK718 said:
Hi, thank you for your suggestion. I have used the computer for a couple of days without any issue, everything seems to run smoothly now!
Click to expand...

No new info from the OP so marking and closing thread.
 
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