My system hard-freezes after roughly two hours of gaming. The display may stop responding or go black, and I have to force the PC off. The system uses an Intel Core i5-12400F, Gigabyte H610M K DDR4 motherboard, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB Gaming OC running Windows 11. The issue began after installing the graphics card. During a combined CPU-and-GPU stress test, the CPU starts near 4.0 GHz but eventually falls to about 3.2 GHz. With only the CPU stressed, it holds around 4.0 GHz. I tested another power supply with the same result, and the graphics card worked normally in a different computer. Reported CPU temperatures were only around 30–40°C, but I have not yet confirmed GPU hotspot or motherboard VRM temperatures. Could the H610 board or its power delivery be struggling with the combined load, or is another component more likely? What should I test next?
2 Answers
A CPU frequency drop by itself does not prove the motherboard is failing. It may simply be hitting a power or current limit under the combined load. Log the system with HWiNFO while gaming and watch CPU package power, thermal and power-limit flags, VRM temperature, GPU temperature, GPU hotspot, and the 12V readings. A 30–40°C CPU reading does not rule out a hot VRM or GPU hotspot. If the VRM is overheating, add airflow around the socket or temporarily reduce CPU power limits and GPU power. If the crashes stop, the H610 board is a strong suspect.
I would also clean-install the graphics driver using DDU, install the latest motherboard BIOS and chipset drivers, and test with default BIOS settings. Then test memory with MemTest86 or Windows Memory Diagnostic and run separate GPU and combined tests while logging errors. Check Windows Event Viewer for WHEA, display-driver, or Kernel-Power events. Since the card works in another PC and a second PSU did not change anything, the motherboard, its VRM, RAM, driver installation, or PCIe power connection are more likely than the GPU itself. Try reseating the card and its power cable as well.
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