Hey everyone! I'm a total newbie when it comes to tech stuff, so I'd really appreciate your patience. My son has a PC from iBUYPOWER that we got in 2021, and it's been crashing during games—roughly every 15-30 minutes—without any error messages. I've tried updating and rolling back the graphics card drivers, but nothing seems to work. I even turned off "hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling," which helped a bit since it allowed him to run Skyrim and Witcher 3 for about 45 and 60 minutes, respectively, but then Splinter Cell: Blacklist crashed after around an hour.
I read that some folks with a similar setup had to update their BIOS to fix crashing issues. I followed the instructions and tried to update it using Q-Flash, but I received an "Invalid BIOS read" error about 25% through. After restarting, I got a "BOOT read" error, but the computer boots to Windows normally after clicking OK. I tried the second-oldest BIOS version too, but it failed as well.
Here are the specs:
- OS: Windows 11 24H2
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B560 DS3H AC-Y1 (currently on BIOS F4)
- CPU: Intel i7-11700F 2.5 GHz
- RAM: 16 GB
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (tried both latest and original drivers).
The crashes only happen in games, and everything else seems to run fine. I'm not looking to replace the machine since it isn't that old, but I want to fix it for my son. Any advice would be awesome!
P.S. He launches games through Steam, Ubisoft Connect, and Rockstar Games Launcher, and I've tried optimizing with NVIDIA as well as uninstalling it completely; no luck there either!
4 Answers
That BIOS error sounds pretty concerning. It could mean the motherboard or BIOS is acting up. One fix is to completely power down the PC (unplug it completely) for about 24 hours and take out the BIOS battery. This can reset any electronic glitches. Once you've done that, try updating the BIOS again and see if that helps!
It seems like this is a BIOS issue. I’ve seen many systems behave similarly on Windows 11 if they're running older BIOS versions. Since your motherboard has a specific model from iBUYPOWER, you should be getting your BIOS updates directly from their site, not Gigabyte. Here's the link to download them: [iBUYPOWER BIOS](https://www.ibuypower.com/support/driver-downloads). They might have a better version that fixes your problems!
Honestly, the GPU is getting up there in age, and it might be on the fritz. Trying to re-paste it or even a fresh install of Windows could help. Swapping out parts may also reveal what's causing the crash if it continues.
When you say it crashes, do you mean it's a BSOD, or just that the game closes? Try using HWInfo64 to check if there are any anomalies like overheating while you're gaming. If the temps are stable, the problem could be the graphics card or even a failing PSU.
I'll definitely consider a fresh install of Windows if all else fails. Thanks for the tip!