Why does my PC crash or restart while playing games?
Asked by
MellowCedar47
My PC has been crashing during games, especially Valorant, and the problem has gradually become worse. At first, Valorant would occasionally close on its own, but now reopening it can sometimes make the entire computer shut down or restart. Watch Dogs and PUBG have also crashed, while Roblox runs normally. Valorant launches and lets me join a match without issues, but after roughly 10–20 minutes the game may close, the screen may go black, or the whole system may restart. I have already taken the computer to a repair shop four times. They upgraded the cooling and installed more RAM the first time, which helped for one or two weeks. They later reset or reinstalled the computer, but the crashes eventually returned again. I have also tried various troubleshooting guides without finding a lasting solution. Could the cause be the GPU, graphics drivers, power supply, RAM, motherboard, Windows, overheating, or another hardware problem?
Answers
The power supply is one of the more likely possibilities, especially because the computer sometimes suddenly restarts or loses power without showing an error. A weak or failing PSU can also make other components look faulty. Check the exact wattage, model, and quality rating against your GPU and the rest of the system. The best test is temporarily using a known-good PSU with enough capacity, rather than simply buying the highest-wattage unit available. GPU faults can cause similar crashes, so a GPU stress test and temperature monitoring would also be useful.
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Check Windows Event Viewer immediately after a crash and look under the system logs for warnings or critical errors around that exact time. Also monitor CPU and GPU temperatures while playing. Sudden shutdowns can point toward power or thermal protection, while driver errors, memory faults, or graphics-related errors may leave useful codes in the logs. A clean graphics-driver installation and a proper RAM test could help narrow it down, but testing one component at a time is important.
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Since adding cooling and RAM or reinstalling Windows only helped temporarily, the shop may not have identified the underlying fault. Keep a written record of every repair, test, and replacement, including the exact parts used. Ask them to test the PSU, GPU, RAM, storage, and motherboard under load instead of only reinstalling Windows. If they cannot reproduce the failure, request results from each stress test and consider testing with a known-good PSU and graphics card.
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