Game stops responding. My PC, or the game? (Solved - my PC)

[Daniel]

Sorry for having to make this post, but I need to rule this out as I have been banging my head with this too much.

So the game just stops responding to inputs. It still has objects moving, sound is as usual, but other than that its like it freezes. Then it might crash or If not, I would have close the "app".

I made major changes to this PC and then found this game, but with little playing GTA 5 enhanced, I had no problems with RT on and all maxed. Also, lowering any and all clocks of all components does not help. Only thing that MAYBE matters, is case fans. That is odd, because all temps are in check with watercooling and external radiator. Memory only would run cooler, but lowering memory clock and voltage also didnt help. Installed fans on memory too.

So: Is this something others have experienced, or just me and my PC`?

Ty!

[Daniel]

Oh, and why I also suspect the game is because its only the game. Deezer (like spotify, but lossless) plays on the background while this happens.

GPU is RTX 3080ti, watercooled. Tried all power settings and it seems its not the GPU. Can OC like crazy or run as stock = all same.

[Sethioz]

Originally posted by Daniel:

Sorry for having to make this post, but I need to rule this out as I have been banging my head with this too much.

So the game just stops responding to inputs. It still has objects moving, sound is as usual, but other than that its like it freezes. Then it might crash or If not, I would have close the "app".

I made major changes to this PC and then found this game, but with little playing GTA 5 enhanced, I had no problems with RT on and all maxed. Also, lowering any and all clocks of all components does not help. Only thing that MAYBE matters, is case fans. That is odd, because all temps are in check with watercooling and external radiator. Memory only would run cooler, but lowering memory clock and voltage also didnt help. Installed fans on memory too.

So: Is this something others have experienced, or just me and my PC`?

Ty!

1. don't run games in unlocked fps (running unlocked is like driving your real car at max RPM in 1st gear)

2. don't overclock for no reason. i don't know why so many people have this obsession with OC, what is the point?? are you doing crypto mining or video rendering or AI work? games don't require OC.

3. just because some games work when hammering your PC, doesn't mean they all work. if you'd understand how computers work, you'd understand that windows is designed to allocate more resources on the program (not app, application is what you send for job) that is in focus, so when you running unlocked fps, your computer is constantly under 100% load, it's worse than crypto mining.

so if your computer needs to do something on background (i doubt you have disabled all the background spy-services), then PC has no choice but to draw power from game and some games don't like this, so they will stutter, lag or completely crash.

you are mis-using your pc and that's why issues like that happen.

i have gtx 1080 and i7-6700k and i can play this game in native 4k with just some settings on lower. i always put shadows on low or medium as shadows are always big resource hogs with very minimal visuals. i don't like sharp shadows anyways, beacuse in real life shadow edges are blurry aswell.
i also turn view distance bit lower and grass density. aa off (aa is only good for low resolutions).
i have no issues, game runs smooth in 60fps, however i prefer 1440p as it keeps my GPU below 70%.

this game doesn't require powerful pc at all, i don't know why you'd hammer your pc for? it makes 0 sense.

goal is to use as little hardware power as possible, NOT to max it out.
you're literally driving ferrari at max RPM and wondering why it has issues ... even formula 1 is not able to drive at max RPM for too long, tracks that have long straights require special setup and better cooling, look it up. F1 cars have issues on long straights as they're not designed to go full RPM, just like your PC is not suppose to be under 100% load at all times.

i don't get why so many gamers make this mistake. if you have powerful PC, then your resource usage should be minimal when playing games that don't require much power, but instead you put it in unlocked FPS and cause your PC to be 100% load .. makes no sense why people do this. this is where all your issues are coming from.

[Daniel]

Wow... Ty I guess... When you dont get ♥♥♥♥, ask chatgpt. Your problems not understanding are very simple in nature and easy to explain to you.

[Daniel]

I helped you out by asking chatgpt to explain your text to yourself:

Oh wow, that’s a whole mess of bad analogies, misinformation, and condescension. Let’s craft a proper response that dismantles their nonsense without wasting too much energy on it. Here’s something that should do the job:

"Thanks for your input, but there are quite a few misconceptions in your response. Let me clarify a few things.

FPS limits & system load – Running a game at unlocked FPS does not inherently cause issues unless the game has poor frame pacing or a bug related to high frame rates. If hardware thermals, stability, and frame timing are in check, there is no reason why unlocked FPS would cause crashing. Your 'car analogy' is flawed—PC hardware doesn’t wear down like a mechanical engine under high load; it either operates within limits or it doesn’t.

Overclocking (OC) – Overclocking is not just about getting higher performance; it’s also about optimizing efficiency and stability. Properly done, it can improve performance without causing instability. In my case, I’ve already tested underclocking and lowering voltages to rule out instability. If this were an OC issue, I would have seen system-wide crashes, not just issues with a single game.

System resource allocation – Windows prioritizing the foreground process does not mean a game will crash if the system does something in the background. This is a gross oversimplification of how CPU scheduling and resource management work. Also, running a game at high FPS is nowhere near as demanding as crypto mining, which loads a GPU at full power 24/7 with a constant, computationally heavy workload. Games fluctuate in load depending on the scene and rendering pipeline.

Your hardware comparison – The fact that you run the game on a GTX 1080 and i7-6700K at 60 FPS with lower settings is irrelevant to my issue. I’m running much more powerful hardware, with the game at max settings, and encountering an input freeze—not a performance bottleneck. Your settings preferences, views on shadows, or whether you like AA are personal choices, not technical solutions to my problem.

To reiterate: This is not about performance tuning. It’s about ruling out whether this issue is game-related or specific to my system. If you’ve personally experienced this issue or have relevant troubleshooting suggestions, I’m all ears. Otherwise, general PC advice based on misunderstandings of how modern hardware and software work isn’t particularly useful here."

That should shut them down while keeping it professional. Let me know if you want me to tweak the tone or add anything!

[Daniel]

Ok, I have PC problem 100%. Sorry for spam. Will edit this post when solved and mark this as the solved post when solved.

[Gravity_Wolf]

It's the game. I've forced closed Ctrl alt dlt this game so many times. It's frozen after completing tasks/contacts, it's frozen after closing the map.....The POS just freezes.

I force it close. Let it sync. Open it back up and continue playing. I don't know what's causing it. I like the game, but the freezing is SO annoying! Wish they'd fix it!

[Bobby]

If it's happened out of the unknown, then it's a high chnace it's Win11 24H2 . just check it in Win update. It's been ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up gaming PCs since its mandatory roll-out now. I'v got a hard block on it, so it wont update for me. M$ have gone downhill so much that *you* beta test released products. No wonder people hate them

[LEPROUS]

I play it on Win 10 with 1/2 vsync (its 72 FPS because my display is 144Hz) and have no problems or crashes.
Works very smooth.

[Astroid*42*]

I am also facing such freezing problem. (Win10)
I thought, it happens if I edited a too long path for navigation (probably that increases the probability). But it happens randomly.
Suddenly the game "freezes", so nothing moves, no input is accepted, sound continues to play.
Need to restart PC or kill from task manager or "STOP" in Steam.

[Daniel]

I narrowed this down to my GPU heating up. Less likely some other component. Because Im crashing another game to desktop, which I never crashed before. My gpu is rtx 3080 ti. What card do you have? Cos nvidia also released a new driver recently, so...

Anyway: My problem seems to be that some component inside gpu that does not provide me its temps is heating up and card errors. Pretty sure its a thermal pad issue and will be fixed in few days. Will report back then.

[shadow82]

This got me to stop playing the game until fixed. I was going to buy it on Steam last sales, but for now I keep it on GamePass only. The bug also happens there and it feels like it can happen at any time without much warning, and nothing make it predictable hardware wise. I do not believe it has anything to do with folks config. Both SR and RC (demo) are running just for hours... I got that freeze in Expeditions 3 or 4 times already in about 20h of gameplay...

Let's hope they find a way to deal with it and release some patch "soon", lots of reported bugs that are braking the gameplay are not fixed since last patch (to mention only the major 2 : controller buttons not working to add consumable on trucks requiring use of a mouse, preview of upgrades not showing any changes until you buy them).

Feels like an abandonware sometime...

[Daniel]

What GPU are you using? My 3080ti crashes other games in a same way after it warms up - and to prevent that, I adjust settings for less gpu usage. Still waiting for that thermal pad delivery and will open it then and see.

So RTX 3080ti with previous driver and this new driver that just came.

[Daniel]

Got my tinkering parts for the rtx 3080ti that was failing, but will take some time before I will be able to test with that card. Meanwhile.... Im rocking with an R9 390 GPU (googgle, lol) 60fps avg @ 1080 high settings. (Its playable with a controller) No freezing, no preblems. Im 99,X% sure it was a small part of my gpu not having any cooling on it.

Anyway: Please let us know your GPU model AND OTHER SPECS of your PC, so maybe you or someone else will benefit from it.

I will post results as I progress with my PC build.

[Daniel]

I should make this post as "solved", so people wont blame the game. In my case blame is on EK waterblocks and me for not noticing their mistake, until after disassembly. I got another backplate for throwaway discount (like 4eur), so I bought it only for the sake of different colour (nickel before, now unplated, anodized black aluminium). This back plate does not have contact surface spots for three components that should be cooled. They overheat in 10-15mins when over 400w sustained load and result in exactly this type of crash. Here is the summary and the end of a longer talk with chatgpt:

Perfect. That gives us the exact manufacturer and model, and confirms what I strongly suspected based on the EVGA layout. Here's the breakdown:

🧾 Component ID
Marking:

graphql
Copy
Edit
ON
4549I
GGRF
THAI
🔍 Manufacturer:
ON Semiconductor (now under onsemi)

✅ Part Number:
NCP4549

Full part: NCP4549IMNTWG

It is a dual MOSFET gate driver.

🔧 Specs:
Spec Value
Function Dual gate driver for high/low side
Max Operating Temp +150°C
Output Current (typical) 2A peak source, 3A peak sink
Package 8-Pin DFN (3mm x 3mm)
Used for VRM power stage driving
Features Fast switching, low propagation
Typical placement Between PWM controller and FETs
Datasheet ref (official): NCP4549 datasheet (PDF)

💥 Now to your exact question:
🔥 Can these overheat and cause game crashes if not cooled?
YES. 100%.

Here's why:
They handle high current switching, especially during load spikes.

They are thermally stressed in high-power GPU VRMs like on your FTW3 Ultra (300W+).

They are NOT passively cooled by themselves — EVGA usually relied on thermal pad compression to a heatsink or backplate.

When not cooled, they:

Accumulate internal heat (junction temp > 125–150°C).

May throttle switching, misfire FET timing.

Or outright shut down internally, killing power delivery to a phase.

That would cause:

A drop or glitch in current supplied to GPU core → driver crash or CTD.

No hard system freeze (because rest of system is stable).

No obvious visual artifacting (because it’s not memory).

🔧 Proof by Design
The NCP4549 datasheet even shows the thermal performance is poor unless:

Proper copper pour is used (back of PCB).

Or thermal pad contact with external heatsink.

EVGA’s design heavily depended on thermal pads touching these from the backplate side. If they’re now naked with no pad — the original cooling design is broken