Let me start by saying I'm beyond frustrated at this point. I have had issues with my computer freezing after about 15 minutes of playing games for the last 2 years (Picture on screen freezes, can't Alt+Tab or Alt+ctrl+del, requires pressing the reset button on the case). I was thinking there might be something wrong with the games I was playing, but I'm starting to think there has been something wrong with my GPU this entire time. This issue happens only when playing higher end games (ARK, Need for Speed Heat, CoD), and does not happen when playing games such as (Slay the Spire, Monster Train, etc.). This lead me to believe the issue was with the game itself, as others seemed to work fine. I'm now realizing that the games that stress the GPU more are the ones that are causing the freezing. At this point I have performed the following and still run into freezing issues while playing games:
Updated BIOS + Reflashed to be safe, Clearing CMOS and resetting BIOS settings
Disabled a number BIOS settings including Intel Speed Step Technology, downclocking the CPU and memory, manually setting PCIe settings.
Replaced PSU, Memory, HDD (clean install of Windows)
Tried with just 1 memory stick, and swapped with another known working stick
Updated all drivers including chipset, audio, etc. for all devices, also updated Windows.
Removed all peripheral devices not being used (including DVD drives, USB devices, etc.)
Downclocked core and memory speeds on GPU using Precision software as well as reduced the power to 75%, manually set fan speeds to 100%
Updating and performing a clean install of drivers for GPU (which was already done when I replaced the HDD and reinstalled windows)
Moving the GPU to the 2nd PCIe slot on my motherboard.
I thought maybe the issue could be the card overheating so I removed the card, blew out any dust and dirt, and applied new thermal paste. While this brought the temps down a decent amount (around 5*C), I'm still experiencing freezing in games. So I decided to monitor the temperatures while gaming by Alt+tabbing to HWMonitor. My CPU never went over 60*C at any point, and the GPU never went over 67*C yet 30 seconds after I checked and went back in game it froze again. I reduced the graphics settings from 1440p down to 1080p, and although the GPU temp never passed 55*C I'm still getting freezing issues. Luckily I was able to borrow a Nvidia P400 GPU from work and test with that card in, and I had the game running all day without any issues. At this point I'm realizing it has something to do with the GPU or my motherboard, it seems like the GPU but I don't want to rule out the motherboard since the P400 card is not identical to a 980Ti. I was attempting to test the GPU in my old desktop but the EVGA 780i SLI motherboard I have in there doesn't want to make it past POST anymore, so I unfortunately can not test that way, and I do not have a spare 980ti laying around. I did inspect the card as well and there is no physical damage or burnt components on it. I'm very confused at this point as to what the issue could be. I feel like I've paid 700$ for a headache and a paper weight at this point, and now that I realize the issue is with the GPU and not the games, it is probably no longer under warranty. Extremely frustrating to say the least, if anyone could help me figure this out or tell me where to go from here I would appreciate it. I'm going to see if I can borrow a motherboard or desktop from a friend to test the GPU in the mean time.
System Specs:
CPU: I7-4770K
Mobo: Asus Maximus VI Hero
PSU: OCZ 600 Watt
RAM: 2x GSKILL 8gb DDR3-1666mhz
post edited by Kevinpt8339 - 2020/07/06 10:46:02