Fallout 4 Locking Up Computer Entirely.

[Chotato]

So since reinstalling FO4 on a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, I've had an issue where my entire computer will lock up and become unresponsive after about an hour of playtime. The only way to solve this issue currently is fully powering off my computer and powering back on. Simply hitting the restart button will boot into a black screen. Fallout 4 itself is unable to generate an error log due to the fact that the entire computer is locking up.

I've checked my log files and it recognizes that there was an unexpected power cycle, but no information pertaining to the actual lock-up itself. Fallout 4 is the only game this happens with, Skyrim and New Vegas are also fine so it's not an interaction with the Creation Engine (though maybe FO4's version of CE could be a cause). I have some mods installed and it seems to happen with or without any mods enabled.

Everybody else that I've seen that has this issue, with the exception of one user, all have an AMD FX 8350 and/or Black Edition 8350, myself included. My CPU Temps are all fine up until the crash after which my computer is unable to give proper readouts since the entire thing is bricked until a power cycle. I've verified my game cache and Steam found no issues there either.

I'm attempting to solve this WITHOUT uninstalling my mods entirely, just unticking them in the load order. I believe the last time I played Fallout 4 was just after the Far Harbor DLC was released. Could this be an issue with an update that Bethesda released after Far Harbor? Maybe something conflicting with one of the other DLC's?

My specs are:
AMD FX8350 Black Edition 4.0ghz
MSI GTX 970 100me
8GB DDR3 RAM
900W Powersupply
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Asrock Extreme 3 AM3+ Mobo

Any help would be appreciated and I'll provide any additional info if it's required.

[MaximumEffort]

Most likely a faulty CPU or its fan. And I wouldn't trust temp redouts from AMD CPUs.
If it crashes after a certain time, its most like due to overheat, so you should probably see your vendor to check the CPU. You could try to run a stress test for a half an hour or so on the CPU to test it, if you don't want to take it to a vendor. Or just check if its mounted properly and getting enough cool air.

[Chotato]

Originally posted by sjrekis:

Most likely a faulty CPU. And I wouldn't trust temp redouts from AMD CPUs.
If it crashes after a certain time, its most like due to overheat, so you should probably see your vendor to check the CPU. You could try to run a stress test for a half an hour or so on the CPU to test it, if you don't want to take it to a vendor.

If this is the case, and I've been suspecting as much for a while as the CPU is quite old and has had a decent load on it most of it's lifespan, why is it that only Fallout 4 Causes this? I play much more intensive games and games with much worse optimization causing higher temps.

I also forgot to mention that I manually unparked my cores specifically to fix Battlefield 4 crashing to a BSoD.

[MaximumEffort]

Originally posted by Chotato:

Originally posted by sjrekis:

Most likely a faulty CPU. And I wouldn't trust temp redouts from AMD CPUs.
If it crashes after a certain time, its most like due to overheat, so you should probably see your vendor to check the CPU. You could try to run a stress test for a half an hour or so on the CPU to test it, if you don't want to take it to a vendor.

If this is the case, and I've been suspecting as much for a while as the CPU is quite old and has had a decent load on it most of it's lifespan, why is it that only Fallout 4 Causes this? I play much more intensive games and games with much worse optimization causing higher temps.

I also forgot to mention that I manually unparked my cores specifically to fix Battlefield 4 crashing to a BSoD.

F4 is heavy on the CPU, because Bethesda can't code if their life depends on it and made the engine render ♥♥♥♥ thats not even visible.

You know, Bethesda style

[Daedrius]

May want to try reinstalling your CPU fan. Take the fan off, clean off the old thermal paste - if there is any, reapply new thermal paste and fan. It's a long shot but something as simple as that could potentially fix it if it is an overheat problem.

[MaximumEffort]

Originally posted by Arzekial:

May want to try reinstalling your CPU fan. Take the fan off, clean off the old thermal paste - if there is any, reapply new thermal paste and fan. It's a long shot but something as simple as that could potentially fix it if it is an overheat problem.

That works too. Though it might burn through the termal paste simply because its worn out. I know my old GPU did this. Worked fine for a few weeks, then overheat again.

[Chotato]

Originally posted by sjrekis:

Originally posted by Arzekial:

May want to try reinstalling your CPU fan. Take the fan off, clean off the old thermal paste - if there is any, reapply new thermal paste and fan. It's a long shot but something as simple as that could potentially fix it if it is an overheat problem.

That works too. Though it might burn through the termal paste simply because its worn out. I know my old GPU did this. Worked fine for a few weeks, then overheat again.

Thanks for all the help guys. More helpful than every other time I've posted to Steam discussions. I'm currently in the middle of moving so I'll have to check on the thermal paste situation once I finish with all of that and actually have room to put my tower. Gonna try cleaning it out with an air compressor in the meantime, see if that helps at all.

Again, thanks for all the advice and generally not being a ♥♥♥♥ like 90% of the people on here :)

[Chotato]

Originally posted by sjrekis:

Originally posted by Arzekial:

May want to try reinstalling your CPU fan. Take the fan off, clean off the old thermal paste - if there is any, reapply new thermal paste and fan. It's a long shot but something as simple as that could potentially fix it if it is an overheat problem.

That works too. Though it might burn through the termal paste simply because its worn out. I know my old GPU did this. Worked fine for a few weeks, then overheat again.

Got in there with a vacuum and some paper towels, didn't have canned air or an air compressor available right this second. Gonna see if this fixes anything. If not I was gonna take it over to a friends and use their air compressor anyway. Thanks for the help!

UPDATE: This seems to have fixed all my issues. I'm still going to clean out my tower with an air compressor but this really did seem to fix it so far. Thanks for the help. I always knew it was important to clean out your PC but I honestly didn't think it could cause problems like this. Good to know for the future :P