I'm trying to troubleshoot a gaming PC that was built about five years ago. It has a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, 16 GB of RAM, and an unknown CPU. It worked normally until last week, but now multiple games crash without showing an error message, including Where Winds Meet.
So far I've restarted the computer, updated the graphics drivers, cleared caches in Safe Mode, reinstalled the game from its official launcher, run a memory test, cleaned out the dust, reseated the RAM and graphics card, and reapplied thermal paste. None of that fixed the crashes.
I'm considering replacing the graphics card with a new GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB, which I found for under $479. The game lists an RTX 2070 Super as a minimum requirement, so I'm wondering whether the RTX 3060 is comparable or whether I should specifically look for a 2070 Super. I'd prefer to repair this PC affordably rather than buy a gaming laptop or a roughly $1,000 prebuilt, but I also don't want to replace the GPU unnecessarily if something else is causing the crashes. What should I check next?
3 Answers
Before buying a graphics card, figure out whether the crashes are limited to one game or happen in several. Since multiple games are affected, the GPU may not be the only possibility. Check temperatures and clocks while gaming, look in Windows Event Viewer immediately after a crash, and note whether the computer freezes, returns to the desktop, reboots, or shows a blue screen. The power supply, overheating, storage, corrupted Windows files, or an unstable GPU can all cause similar symptoms.
The RTX 3060 and RTX 2070 Super are in a similar general performance class, but a 3060 is not a major upgrade from a GTX 1080 Ti in ordinary rasterized gaming. It adds newer features, better ray-tracing support, and more modern driver support, but replacing the 1080 Ti solely because games crash may not solve the underlying problem. Check the rest of the system—especially the CPU, power supply, temperatures, and event logs—before choosing a new GPU.
A small GPU undervolt could be a useful test. If the card has become unstable with age, reducing its voltage and power can sometimes stop crashes, though it is not a guaranteed fix. You could also try a clean driver installation and, if the problem started recently and nothing else helps, consider repairing or reinstalling Windows. I would identify the failure first rather than spending hundreds on a replacement.
There’s no error message at all; the games just crash, and it happens with multiple games rather than only Where Winds Meet.