I've been running into some serious crashes lately while playing games like Marvel Rivals, Smite 2, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Star Wars Battlefront 2. My Intel i9-10850k is about five years old, and I've got a newer RTX 4070 that I thought might be bottlenecking due to the age difference. I've already updated my drivers, but these specific games keep crashing. To top it off, my PC fans are buzzing, so I'm thinking of building a new setup. If I do that, what parts do you think I should consider? I might want to keep my RTX 4070 though!
4 Answers
Get a trusted friend who knows PCs to help you out! From what you've described, it sounds like you've got some issues that need sorting out.
It sounds like you might be dealing with an overheating issue rather than a bottleneck. Definitely check your temperatures and consider reapplying thermal paste to your CPU to help with heat dissipation. Bottlenecks usually lead to reduced performance, not crashes!
True, I've had similar issues in the past. When I checked my GPU dump logs, they pointed straight to overheating issues.
You're using the term 'bottleneck' incorrectly. An i9 from five years ago is still powerful! Chances are your crashes are related to overheating. Dust buildup can really affect cooling, especially the heat sinks. Also, consider testing your power supply; they can degrade over time and might not be delivering enough power as they age.
I think my PSU might be aging too—it's about 5 years old. How can I check if it’s working properly?
You're probably fine performance-wise! I've been using a 4080 with an i9-9700k and it works great. Crashing can be frustrating, but I doubt it’s a bottleneck with your CPU.
But my system still lags sometimes. Is it possible that a GPU overload can lead to crashes?
I'm sorry if my terminology confused things! I thought my GPU was the bottleneck based on some advice I got earlier.