My PC occasionally becomes completely unresponsive while gaming, and it can also freeze during normal daily use. The screen stays stuck for a few seconds before recovering, so I'm trying to identify the faulty component before spending money on a replacement graphics card.
My system has a Ryzen 7 5700G, Gigabyte B550M DS3H AC motherboard, 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory, a Corsair CX650 power supply, a Lexar NM610PRO 1TB SSD, and a GTX 1050 Ti. I'm wondering whether the 1050 Ti could be failing, or whether its age and limited VRAM might be contributing to the problem.
I have around ₹15,000 available for a new GPU, but I'd prefer to diagnose the issue first. What tests should I run to determine whether the GPU, SSD, overheating, memory, power supply, or Windows is responsible?
3 Answers
The SSD is worth investigating, especially since the computer also freezes during ordinary use. Check its health and error information with CrystalDiskInfo, and back up important files first. The Event Viewer entry mentioning “stornvme 129” points toward a storage-controller timeout or communication problem, so check the SSD connection, firmware, motherboard storage drivers, and power management before buying a graphics card.
You can also lower the game’s graphics settings and monitor VRAM usage. If the freezes stop when texture quality and resolution are reduced, the 1050 Ti may be running out of VRAM or struggling with a particular driver or game. However, that result alone doesn’t prove the card is defective. Test the RAM, check temperatures, reinstall the GPU driver cleanly, and compare the behavior in more than one game before deciding on an upgrade.
Freezes like this can come from several parts, so I wouldn’t assume the GPU is the culprit just because it’s older. Check temperatures and clock behavior with HWiNFO64 while gaming, including the CPU, GPU, and motherboard sensors. Also run a malware scan and check whether Windows or drivers are damaged. If the basic checks don’t reveal anything, a clean Windows installation can help rule out software problems.
That event appears whenever the system freezes, so I’ll check the SSD health and connections before replacing the GPU.