Troubleshoot PC crashes when gaming

[RoboMan]

Briefly explain your current issue(s)

I start gaming and literally after 5-20 minutes the screen freezes, I hear a PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR sound and then the sound goes away and the screen stays frozen. Must manually reboot. I can't game long.

Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful

Reboot

Update SO

Update drivers

Disable AV

Update games

Argh... This been happening for a while, no matter what security software I have.

I used to play lots of games. For example League of Legends, which never gave me any issues. Nevertheless I have lots of games bought of Steam, and specifically this ones give me trouble.. I don't know if it's because they demand for graphic power or what.

Problem: I start gaming and literally after 5-20 minutes the screen freezes, I hear a PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR sound and then the sound goes away and the screen stays frozen. Must manually reboot. I can't game long.

Hardware: (it's a laptop. Acer Predator Helios 300)

• Intel Core i7 7th generation
• 16GB RAM
• GTX 1060 6GB

Steps taken but unsuccessful:

• Reboot
• Update SO
• Update drivers
• Disable AV
• Update games

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

[Kuttz]

Make sure your lap's GPU and CPU is not overheating while gaming. If possible try different RAM sticks . You may try running CPU stress test apps like Prime95. Run Prime95 for 1 hour if it runs stable the culprit probably be either the GPU or power supply.

 

[Dhruv2193]

Maybe RAM or hard disk problem or any other hardware issue, less likely but can be a software issue also. But in case of hardware take the help of an expert if you are not experienced.

 

[vtqhtr413]

How old is this machine and what is the drive?

 

[RoboMan]

How old is this machine and what is the drive?

It's one year old and it has a 250GB SSD and 1TB HDD

 

[RoboMan]

Okay CPU stress test went okay.

On the other hand, GPU test froze and crashed the computer after reaching 89°C... I think I found the problem.

Gonna try undervolt it!

 

[SHvFl]

Okay CPU stress test went okay.

On the other hand, GPU test froze and crashed the computer after reaching 89°C... I think I found the problem.

Gonna try undervolt it!

If you have the pc more than a year you need to open it up and clean vents and maybe even replace thermal paste. Depending on model and if you are on warranty you should act accordingly.
Undervolting will only help temporarily because the voltage did not change since you bought it so the airflow was probably limited.

 

[Kuttz]

Okay CPU stress test went okay.

On the other hand, GPU test froze and crashed the computer after reaching 89°C... I think I found the problem.

Gonna try undervolt it!

Great find:emoji_clap: Undervolting is only a temporary fix. Try opening the lap, clean the heatsinks and add a fresh coat of high quality thermal paste to both GPU and CPU that will most likely solve your overheating problem. If you can't do that by yourself ask Acer to do that for you.

 

[Moonhorse]

Heatsink pulls the temp too far, and crash happens...learnt it by myself just two months ago i guess, blamed comodo causing high cpu, but it just was the dust

And on laptop the heatsink problem is probably worse, since with desktop you can atleast clean everything easier

 

[CyberTech]

Did you try MSI afterburn? overlay CPU, GPU, RAM temp etc play games for test see if things are ok..

 

[RoboMan]

Thanks everybody for the tips! Removed a part of the case and the dust was disgustingly noticeable. Since I don't have much time and I don't have much experience at hardware cleaning and paste replacement, I dropped the laptop by Acer tech offices and will pick it up tomorrow. $38 for the job... I guess... okay?

 

[ForgottenSeer 69673]

Thanks everybody for the tips! Removed a part of the case and the dust was disgustingly noticeable. Since I don't have much time and I don't have much experience at hardware cleaning and paste replacement, I dropped the laptop by Acer tech offices and will pick it up tomorrow. $38 for the job... I guess... okay?

That is a good price if they know what they are doing. It is actually pretty easy to clean a PC. Only thing you should do is where a grounding strap and stick something in the power supply fan so when you spray it with compressed air it does not spin out of control.
Normally you don't have to mess with adding new compound to the CPU heat sink. You just have to clean it. Also never use and air compressor, because it has moister in the lines. Unless you have a static free vaccume, just use canned air.
Hope it worked out for you.

 

[Deleted Member 3a5v73x]

Problem: I start gaming and literally after 5-20 minutes the screen freezes, I hear a PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR sound and then the sound goes away and the screen stays frozen. Must manually reboot. I can't game long

Have experienced this myself. What solved for me was opening League client with Nvidia GPU always, because by default it uses inbuilt. It's demanding and very flashy with graphics and animations, also, there's an option to close lobby client during playing in options. Alt + TAB also creates sometimes "black screen" if drivers aren't updated or you have another demanding source running in background, e.g. youtube video playing in chrome with hardware acceleration enabled.

Another time I have seen this "PRRR " #####, but on desktop PC, was when RAM wasn't properly set and was a bit lose, just cleaned and placed back in, but that was years ago.

 

[SHvFl]

Thanks everybody for the tips! Removed a part of the case and the dust was disgustingly noticeable. Since I don't have much time and I don't have much experience at hardware cleaning and paste replacement, I dropped the laptop by Acer tech offices and will pick it up tomorrow. $38 for the job... I guess... okay?

Don't know the average salary of where you live but if it was the same price here in EU i would take all my laptops there every 6 months. It's a great deal in my eyes assuming they actually take it apart and clean. Ask what they did before you get it.