I'm having a frustrating issue with my PC that I can't seem to resolve. Despite its powerful specs—a Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 4090, and 128GB of RAM—it hard freezes only when it's idle, like overnight or when I'm away from the keyboard. There's no BSOD or restart, just a complete system hang that requires a manual reset. Interestingly, my system runs perfectly stable under load during gaming or stress tests, and I have ruled out several potential hardware and software issues. I've checked temperatures, voltages, and run memory tests with no errors. I've also disabled various RGB software and unplugged accessories, yet the issue persists. It seems to happen more frequently now, going from about every few months to 2-3 times a week. Any ideas on what might be causing this?
2 Answers
How long does it usually take for the freeze to happen when left idle? It might not be related to load at all—could be a low-power state issue instead. Have you looked into Windows Reliability Monitor or Event Viewer for any reported issues? A stability issue with the CPU after it downclocks could also be a potential cause. I've heard of that happening with the 13th and 14th gen Intel chips, so it's worth exploring for your 5900X too.
Have you checked the health of your storage drives with CrystalDiskInfo? Since you have multiple storage devices, it could be a failing drive causing the hang. I noticed you mentioned specific SSDs and HDDs—those might have conflicting issues when idle. Checking their statuses could give us a clue!
I haven't checked yet, but I will look into it. I've attached details about my drives:
- 1TB Samsung 870 EVO SSD (OS)
- 2TB Samsung 980 PRO (for MSFS 2020/2024)
- 4TB WD Black SN850X (Gaming)
- 6TB WD HDD (Storage)
- 20TB WD HDD (Plex Media)
It varies a lot. I’ve had it freeze 20 hours after a reboot, or as soon as a few hours after use. Sadly, sleep mode is disabled, and I have already gone through various configurations in the BIOS to stabilize things. No error messages in the logs point to any issues either, just standard service restarts.