Graphics Card Crash, now Blue Screen of Death, Please Help

[TheARate]

I played Space Engineers for a solid 68 hours, and it has worked absolutely fine. No crashes, no issues whatsoever. 30 or so of those hours were even in experimental mode, which I somehow encountered no weirdness in. After this, things started to get messy.

The game crashed to desktop a few times with a GPU overload/crash, but only semi-frequently and it became less common with time. This usually happened after shortly launching the game, or while trying to interact with other windows while the game was running. Instructions told me to update my graphics card driver, though I found it was fully up-to-date, so I concluded it was indeed a problem on the Space Engineers side, rather than my hardware.

After that became less frequent, I did a short stream of the game. It surprisingly didn't act up at all, but after I closed it and opened it again sometime later, I got a full on blue screen of death. It's clear that there's something very wrong here, and it's a chance that it's a runtime error of some sort due to the fact that these issues didn't occur until after several hours of play.

I am still using experimental mode, no mods. I am unsure to if this behavior is usual. Any and all feedback is appreciated. (I'm having trouble posting this in any subforum but General Discussions, it seems Bug Reports and Troubleshooting are inaccessible.)

My graphics card is an AMD Radeon RX 590 Series.

[aaron]

the game wont cause a blue screen.. hardware causes blue screens.. whether its drivers or overheating. if you are overclocking put it back to default and test. even if it seems stable.
what is your system specs?

[Jack Schitt]

BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) = Fatal System Error. It's either a fatal error in Windows or Hardware Failure. It's not the game. It doesn't matter if you're using experimental mode or not that only effects features in the game such as it enables the use of the programmable block and things like that. It's possible the video card is overheating. Especially if you're using a laptop. Are you using a laptop or desktop?

Whichever it is cool it down. If it's a desktop open the side that accesses all of the hardware and blow a desk fan in to it if you don't have extra fans to put in it. Aim it at the video card and CPU. There really isn't much that can be done about a laptop overheating other than shut it down for a while. They do make cooling pads for laptops but people aren't likely to have that kind of thing handy. Blowing a fan on a laptop isn't going to do much, definitely not as much as it does for a desktop.

There have been times I've thrown laptops in the freezer of a refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. That cools them down quicker. It doesn't hurt them as long as you don't leave them in there long enough that they can freeze. If they freeze there'll be condensation (water) in there and that has a potential to cause problems depending upon what the condensation gets in to.

[aaron]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

There have been times I've thrown laptops in the freezer of a refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. That cools them down quicker. It doesn't hurt them as long as you don't leave them in there long enough that they can freeze. If they freeze there'll be condensation (water) in there and that has a potential to cause problems depending upon what the condensation gets in to.

i definitely do not recommend this.. any time you put something hot in a cold environment there will be condensation. you might not see it, but its there.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by aaron:

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

There have been times I've thrown laptops in the freezer of a refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. That cools them down quicker. It doesn't hurt them as long as you don't leave them in there long enough that they can freeze. If they freeze there'll be condensation (water) in there and that has a potential to cause problems depending upon what the condensation gets in to.

i definitely do not recommend this.. any time you put something hot in a cold environment there will be condensation. you might not see it, but its there.

I have done it millions of times. Not for long at all. And every laptop I did it to was perfectly fine.

[aaron]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

Originally posted by aaron:

i definitely do not recommend this.. any time you put something hot in a cold environment there will be condensation. you might not see it, but its there.

I have done it millions of times. Not for long at all. And every laptop I did it to was perfectly fine.

yeah i dunno.. i dont see the need to stick a laptop in the freezer "millions of times"

i personally have never stuck my laptop in the freezer.. and i dont think i ever will.

[Karmaterrorᵁᴷ]

Little off topic but heres a funny fix i did on a GPU once, was super sceptical....

Stick it in the oven lol

A friend told me i probbaly had cracks in the solder, so i should wrap the board and fan assembly then heat gun the underside gently to fix them. Well i didnt have a heat gun at home and i kinda wanted it sorted that night, so i said "what about the oven". After a long pause he said "yeah should be fine, just do small 30 second blasts in there". Five quick blasts in the oven and my dead card came back to life :D

DISCLAIMER Dont all start sticking faulty cards in the oven, that was a very specific fix to my very specific problem ;)

Not sure id trust an electrical item in such a damp environment as a freezer. Also if you run your case open you loose positive air pressure inside the case (helps keeps dust out) dust can lead to big slowdown if your heat sink blades get clogged up. Sometimes that in turn causes overheating and damage. Im a smoker so i tend to clean out my rig every couple of months, the amount of dust in there is crazy sometimes.

Anyways for OP i agree with others, you probbably have a hardware fault thats just happened to show itself while your playing SE. Start troubleshooting your components as best you can. You could maybe run a benchmark test on your card and make sure that fits with others results. If its low that could point to a GPU issue, thinking that first because of the GPU related crash message. Maybe try removing some ram and see if it still happens, then put the other ram in without the first set. If it only happens when a certain stick is installed then bingo.

So much could cause it, gonna have to get your detective hat on for this one i think :)

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by aaron:

i personally have never stuck my laptop in the freezer.. and i dont think i ever will.

Of course you haven't. Because you probably never even thought of it as a way to cool something other than food and drinks. And of course you won't ever do it because you're brainwashed to think a fridge only cools food. Nothing else you put in a fridge will cool down if you put it in there if it's not food.

Originally posted by Karmaterrorᵁᴷ:

Little off topic but heres a funny fix i did on a GPU once

Some people are shocked when they find out or see some of the things specialized mechanics do. As mechanics people have to have ingenuity and be creative. A good mechanic almost always thinks outside the box everyone else is in.

We don't even know if it is a laptop. OP hasn't replied. Either way the thought they have that it's the game causing a BSOD is incorrect. It's not the game the problem it's most likely a hardware issue and since they're getting GPU errors....it's pretty silly to blame it on the game.

[seronis]

Correct. Games typically (and on lnux absolutely) dont have the access level to hard crash a system, only themselves.

Anytime a system crashes its a bug in system level code that reacted badly.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, follow #3 in the Devs Guide on how to do a good report to know how to share the game crash log file on Steam :

https://steamcommunity.com/app/244850/discussions/1/523897653318639486/

Tho "Blue Screen of Death" is not a game bug but usually Hardware problem or bad Windows installation.

[Lystent]

There is this thing people did for ages to make stuff brittle (and even break some of the time). Basically, you make it very hot, and then you cool it down very quick.

[TheARate]

Thanks for the help so far, I'm trying to replicate it and get a few ideas of what's exactly going on.

Some sort of botched installation could make sense, because I've had Steam games really mess with my computer a couple of times. While on a loading screen in The Witcher 3, for instance, I had gotten another blue screen of death a while back, but the game never gave me any more problems from there. Judging by all of your advice and some of the evidence, this is a Steam or Windows issue, and I might need a reinstall of one or both.

I already left a report on one of the graphics card crashes, but when I find more things of note, I will write another report.

Thanks again, I'll keep this thread up to date as I can.

P.S. I don't think I'll throw my graphics card in an oven or freezer, that'd probably be a last resort.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by Lystent:

There is this thing people did for ages to make stuff brittle (and even break some of the time). Basically, you make it very hot, and then you cool it down very quick.

Wrong. That process doesn't make things more brittle it makes things less brittle, harder. Especially metals. It's a common practice with metals to heat them really hot and then cool them right away in water or oil. You have it backwards.

Originally posted by TheARate:

Thanks for the help so far, I'm trying to replicate it and get a few ideas of what's exactly going on.

Some sort of botched installation could make sense, because I've had Steam games really mess with my computer a couple of times. While on a loading screen in The Witcher 3, for instance, I had gotten another blue screen of death a while back, but the game never gave me any more problems from there. Judging by all of your advice and some of the evidence, this is a Steam or Windows issue, and I might need a reinstall of one or both.

I already left a report on one of the graphics card crashes, but when I find more things of note, I will write another report.

Thanks again, I'll keep this thread up to date as I can.

P.S. I don't think I'll throw my graphics card in an oven or freezer, that'd probably be a last resort.

You're not getting it.
It is not even slightly possible that Steam or a game is causing a blue screen of death.
Windows, maybe. But unlikely. Especially since you're having errors with the video card.

Common sense: Video card errors + BSOD's = Video card problem.

Investigate the video card before you do anything else. Open the computer and make sure the card is seated in the slot correctly and securely, put a desk fan on it so it's less likely to overheat. If you still get a BSOD then that narrows it down to possibly being windows.

Again, and please let this sink in; A game or a program cannot cause a BSOD. The only things that cause that are hardware or windows failures.

Common sense: Video card errors + BSOD's = Video card problem.

[Lystent]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

Originally posted by Lystent:

There is this thing people did for ages to make stuff brittle (and even break some of the time). Basically, you make it very hot, and then you cool it down very quick.

Wrong. That process doesn't make things more brittle it makes things less brittle, harder. Especially metals. It's a common practice with metals to heat them really hot and then cool them right away in water or oil. You have it backwards.

...

Mainly incorrect; they exchanged flexibility for hardness (which in turn makes the material more brittle). Some wanted their blades to stay straight, while some wanted the stone to break already.

[Jack Schitt]

Originally posted by Lystent:

Mainly incorrect; they exchanged flexibility for hardness (which in turn makes the material more brittle). Some wanted their blades to stay straight, while some wanted the stone to break already

Wrong. That process doesn't make things more brittle it makes things less brittle, harder. Especially metals. It's a common practice with metals to heat them really hot and then cool them right away in water or oil. You have it backwards.

Originally posted by Lystent:

turn makes the material more brittle

Wrong. Quoting the article linked below, that you can find yourself if you Googled to learn the correct information:

Quick cooling made the metal harder and LESS brittle.

https://www.thebalance.com/what-happens-when-metals-undergo-heat-treatment-2340016

The tempering process is also not done to make something metal straighter. That's what they whack it with hammers while it's heated for. What quenching it does is harden the metal.

Look it up!!

The process is done intending to make things harder. If they become brittle from the process that only happens when the material is prepared incorrectly. It's not done to make things brittle. You are wrong.

https://www.metlabheattreat.com/metal-hardening-metal-quenching-metal-tempering.html

We're not making a sword we're talking about a laptop. Putting it in a freezer for no more than 15 minutes isn't going to hurt it. It's been done countless times when a computerized device is overheating. Might not be a common and conventional way of doing it but it has been done. I have done it personally. And doing it hasn't caused any issues at all. It corrected the issue, every time.

I'll also repeat that the OP still hasn't answered the question as to whether it's a desktop or laptop yet either.

[Lystent]

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

...

Here is a googled source that says it can go otherwise:
https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/what-is-quenching/

Depending on the carbon content and alloying elements of the steel, it can get left with a harder, more brittle microstructure, such as martensite or bainite, when it undergoes the quench hardening process.

Also, a comparison betwene tempering and (edit: just) quenching:
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Temper-Steel/
As for how this translated to fine electronics such as a modern laptop, remember that you are dealing with microprocessors, whose (very small) structure must be protected to maintain its functioning life.