Windows 10 CTD Gaming Issue Troubleshooting

[MTV]

Hey peeps.

So I've tried troubleshooting this myself to no avail and thus I find myself here looking for help (please!). Since I moved house my trusty PC has had issues running so many games where it does this weird crash to desktop without error code thing for a lot of newer games.  I can play for about 10-15 mins before it just drops to desktop with no warning.  The really low resource draw games (e.g. Football Manager) will run fine, but anything slightly more intensive just can't hack it.  I'm at the end of my tether trying to work out the issue and still nothing - any advice on what the issue could be or how I should go about troubleshooting?

Mucho mucho TIA

 

PC Specs: i5 3570k (stock clocks), ASUS P8Z7-V LK, GeForce GTX 970

[ir_cow]

 What troubleshooting have you tried so far?

If it isn't freezing the computer / BSOD and only crashing to the desktop that points to a game/driver/software/video card issue. Without some testing it is impossible to tell.

However before jumping to a conclusion straight away I always do my same basic trouble shooting to narrow down the possible suspects. Yes it takes longer, but it makes troubleshooting complicated and unexplainable thing much easier.\

 

Start with-

Reinstall drivers - Download DDU and uninstall the drivers. Reinstall with the newest NVIDIA ones.

Verify Game Content- Sometimes games get corrupted from multiple updates. Most games have data integrity check via Steam, Ubisoft and Epic Launchers.

 

Next hardware testing-

Memory Test - Download and run Memtest86. It will require a bank USB drive. AIDA64 has a built in memory stress test as well. That will work too.

GPU Check - Download MSI Kombuster and loop it while monitoring temps in GPU-Z

CPU Check - Download a CPU stress program and watch for temperature issues

 

[sticknstone]

More than one game crashing points to windows updating causing the issue.  A game update or install is needed.  I've had software working and after an update was removed.  I install it again, but it does not work 100% because it is old and I can not install the update that fixed the features as the support is no longer offered.  I still use the software, but the feature doesn't work.  Would you want to check the windows update date and rollback?
There was a move to a new place, but I doubt the component cards shifted in the slots.

[ir_cow]

Oh good point @sticknstone. If you had a recent windows update, roll it back if you can.

[MTV]

So thanks to both of you for the replies - I tried everything you both mentioned to no avail.

In the end I think the issue was simple - heat.  The old intake fan had failed and wasn't providing my ancient Corsair H20 radiator with enough air to cool.  Thus Windows was crushing the program responsible for the heat spikes.  I only wish I had been informed by Windows instead of having to open my computer up and observing it in person.

 

Regardless, thanks for your help, both of you

[ir_cow]

Ahh the good old heat failure. I honestly forget this is still a thing.

Should be on top of my troubleshooting list again.