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Resolved Question

Computer freezes or shuts down while playing CS:GO

May 7, 2015 3:39AM PDT

I know there already are a lot of threads on the internet with people having freeze problems with their computer but I have yet to find a solution to my problem, and so that's why I'm posting this; to specify my problem and see if anyone will be able to help me out?

This is what happens: I play CS:GO and all of a sudden everything stops moving, my cursor and keyboard are non-responsive and the sound completely cuts out, but the image is still on my screen in a frozen frame. This forces me to shut down my computer the with the power button. Often, after I have started my computer again it SHUTS DOWN before I manage to get back into my game... it just completely shut itself off.

Sometimes I can play for 2 hours without this happening (at all, and I quit playing for other reasons) and sometimes it takes 30 minutes. Once it happens, there's no point for me to keep trying to play the game because it just happens more and more frequently after that. NOTE: It most commonly happens when a loading screen is about to appear or in the middle of one. But it can happen mid game as well.

This problem does VERY rarely happen to other games that I play as well (WoW, minecraft, diablo, hearthstone). But then again, it's more common for it to happen while I'm watching twitch/LIVEstream. I have never had it happen with just using my computer for streaming normal videos or casual internet browsing.

I use 2 monitors and I'm pretty sure my computer isn't overheating. Here's my computer specs:
PSU - Silver Power SP - S650 650W
Processor - AMD AM3+FX-6100, 95W
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA - 970A - UD3, Socket - AM3+
RAM - Corsair 4x4 GB 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 (product id: CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9) (RAM was upgraded from Crucial DDR3 1333 MHz 8GB a while back)
Graphic card - ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 970 (Graphic card was upgraded to this from a MSI GeForce GTX560Ti 1GB a while back due to me being able to fry it by touching it (lol I know). The freezing happened before I upgraded this aswell... I hoped changing my graphic card would fix the freezing, but it clearly didn't (It seems to happen more frequently now than before I upgraded though, but that might be because I didn't play CS:GO back then.)
SSD - Intel 330 SSD 180GB 2.5" SATA 3.0
HDD - Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 3.0
Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus
I run with windows 7 Home Premium, and I have nothing overclocked. I also have my drivers up to date and the latest version of DirectX


Any suggestion about how to fix this is of course greatly appreciated Happy I'm at the edge of wasting a lot of money on a new computer because of how frustrating this is.

Discussion is locked

Offernatt has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Looked at this many times over the past few years.
May 7, 2015 3:56AM PDT

Frankly this issue is sadly common with the rig you listed. However the PSU is odd in that it is neither SLI or Crossfire certified. Not that you use that but it does cast a shadow there. At least it's a single rail model.

Second, up to date drivers may not be the right choice. I find I have to hit the boards and see if folk are sqawking. That's one high video card so it may strain a PSU limit (nod to the SLI/Crossfire issue.)

Third, REDUCE GRAPHICS SETTINGS. Turn off AA, and pull back on effects.

Finally throw out all your ideas on heat and re-do the heatink and its compound.
If it still fails, talk to the machine's maker on what to change next.
Bob

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Will look into it soon
May 7, 2015 6:34AM PDT

Hi, Bob
Thanks for your reply, I will look into what you're saying once I get the chance. I'll let you know if I figure something out Happy

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Think it's fixed
May 14, 2015 2:18AM PDT

I've been playing for a few hours a couple of times now and no freeze yet. I would be surprised if it's not fixed and I could play this long without a freeze. All I did was to reduce graphic settings. But what I think actually did the trick was cleaning up the dust in my computer. There was quite a bit covering the heatsink for the cpu, right under the fan, I'm thinking this dust could have stopped the fan from cooling the cpu and therefore maybe it have been overheating. So while I was at it, I took apart my computer and just cleaned everything from dust.

Thanks for making me rethink the heating issue, I'm pretty sure that did the trick. Hopefully this post will be helpful to someone else in the future Happy

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Thanks for the report.
May 14, 2015 2:41AM PDT

Sorry if I was pushy on the heat angle. After too many that exclaim "it's not heat, I use TempMon64" or such and all the prior encounters at the shop and more.... I get pushy about canned air and compound work.

Reducing the graphics settings is also one of the usual. There are folk new to PCs that think "hey, they have worked out all the bugs." The truth is, makers have made new bugs.
Bob