PC hard-freezes when launching games, then runs normally after a few minutes
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MellowCedar47
For the past two weeks, my PC has been completely freezing when I start a game, usually within 2–5 minutes of booting. Oddly, if it gets past that point, it can run games for hours without performance problems. I've reset the PC, reinstalled Windows, updated my Nvidia drivers, and checked temperatures; nothing obvious has helped. The system is about five years old. Specs: Intel i7-10700F, 32GB DDR4 RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB. What should I check first?
Answers
There are several other things worth ruling out: check the SSD’s health with a drive-monitoring tool, disable XMP and test the RAM with MemTest86 or a similar utility, and reseat the GPU and memory after cleaning out dust. A failing NVMe drive can hang during game or shader loading. You can also disable Fast Startup and perform a clean Nvidia driver installation with DDU, then test without overlays. Monitor GPU hotspot and memory temperatures rather than only the core temperature.
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The cold-start pattern is a useful clue. Since reinstalling Windows didn’t help, I’d focus on hardware and power delivery first. An aging PSU may struggle with the RTX 3080’s brief power spikes when a game starts, then behave normally once it warms up. Check the PSU’s brand and wattage, make sure the GPU uses two separate PCIe power cables rather than one daisy-chained cable, and test with a known-good 750–850W PSU if possible. As a temporary diagnostic, reducing the GPU power limit to around 75–80% can show whether power spikes are involved. Also check Event Viewer and Reliability Monitor for hardware or display-driver errors.
MellowCedar47: I’ll check the PSU details and try monitoring the errors. I hadn’t considered that the cold-versus-warm behavior could point to power delivery.
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MellowCedar47: Thanks, I’ll check the drive and RAM as well. The SSD hadn’t crossed my mind, especially since the freezes happen while games are loading.