I'm fairly new to PC troubleshooting and need help diagnosing random freezes on an MXZ prebuilt gaming PC purchased from Best Buy earlier this year. The computer may freeze shortly after Windows 11 starts, at the login screen, or while browsing in Chrome—especially when watching YouTube. Before some freezes, audio from my Samsung TV over HDMI becomes distorted or crackles. The entire system then becomes unresponsive and sometimes requires holding the power button to restart it.
Games usually run normally, and the PC can sometimes work for several hours without a problem, so the issue is difficult to reproduce. Windows Reliability Monitor has recorded LiveKernelEvent 141 errors, including a WATCHDOG dump file.
System specifications:
- Intel Core i7-12700F
- GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB
- 16 GB DDR4-2666 RAM in one stick
- 1 TB NVMe SSD
- Windows 11
- Samsung TV connected by HDMI
- NVIDIA driver version 32.0.16.1714
I have disabled startup programs and performed a clean boot with most non-Microsoft services disabled, but the freezes continued during browsing and YouTube playback. I'm considering testing Chrome with hardware acceleration disabled. I have not manually overclocked or undervolted the system.
Could this be a graphics driver or HDMI audio issue, Windows corruption, or failing hardware? I'd appreciate beginner-friendly, step-by-step advice on what to test next. I'd prefer to identify the cause before reinstalling Windows or replacing components.
1 Answer
LiveKernelEvent 141 generally points toward a graphics subsystem timeout, so the RTX 4070, its driver, or the HDMI display path would be good places to start. Since the system is not overclocked or undervolted, try using Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode to remove the NVIDIA driver completely, then install a fresh stable driver. Testing Chrome with hardware acceleration disabled is also worthwhile because it can avoid the same GPU video-decoding path used by YouTube.
The fact that it can freeze at the login screen makes this less likely to be only a Chrome problem, though. If the issue continues after a clean driver installation, inspect the crash dump and test the graphics card, power connections, RAM, and SSD. Try another HDMI cable or display as well, since the crackling audio may be part of the GPU driver failure rather than a separate audio problem.
I haven’t changed any clocks or voltages. The PC has also frozen completely at the Windows login screen, and HDMI audio sometimes crackles during startup even when Windows eventually continues loading. I’ll try Safe Mode and a full driver cleanup before making larger changes.