I'm having some serious issues with my computer lately, and I'm trying to figure out if the problem lies with my CPU or the motherboard. Here are my specs: Intel Core i7-7700K, Gigabyte Z270X-Ultra Gaming-CF motherboard, 32GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER graphic card. The power supply is either 800W or 1000W—I can't remember which one I replaced last year.
The issues arise when I run multiple instances of games at once. I do this because I play with friends and want to fill a party. I've replaced my RAM, GPU, and power supply, but the CPU and motherboard are both original from 2017, so they're pretty old now. I can't test with spare parts, so I need advice on what to check first.
My computer freezes for 2-4 seconds randomly while gaming, especially when I alt-tab, though sometimes this happens independently of tabbing. The sound continues without interruption during these freezes, but when I use Discord, my sound cuts out, and people can't hear me until I restart the app.
I've scanned for viruses, and nothing shows up. I suspect this might be caused by my older components. Additionally, I've noticed that one core of my CPU overheats occasionally, reaching about 80°C, while the others are around 55-60°C. I'm a college student studying game design, and I'd prefer not to have my computer fail on me while I'm working on assignments. What should I check first to diagnose the issue or prevent further damage?
1 Answer
It sounds like you might be hitting a CPU bottleneck instead of having a hardware failure. Your i7-7700K could be maxing out when you're trying to run multiple game instances alongside your GPU. If you have a second monitor, keep Task Manager open while playing and see if the CPU usage spikes to 100% during those freezes. If it does, you may need to upgrade to a processor with more cores for better performance.
Thanks for the suggestion! I've actually checked that, and the CPU has never hit 100% during those freezes. But you might be onto something, as it's old and might not handle the workload well anymore. The game I’m running is quite a bit older than the CPU itself.