New PC... won't play games (RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X)

[LegoFace]

Hello

My RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X build arrived about 6 weeks ago. It's an absolute pleasure to work on (Blender etc). Gaming, however, is the complete opposite.

Problem: The games I have attempted to run all crash after a few minutes (Fallout 76, Star Citizen, Arma 3). For the few minutes I do get to play, everything runs on ultra settings with silky smooth high frames (2k monitor). Then the games will crash to desktop, or crash the system to a reboot.

Things to note: Originally this was a Linux machine. Out of desperation I purchased an additional SSD and installed Windows 10. The exact same problems occurred (a few minutes of gameplay before crashing). So at least I can rule out choice of operating system.

Attempts at fixing: Nvidia drivers would seem to be an obvious downfall of this system. For both Linux (Manjaro, Pop_OS!) and Windows (10) I have tried rolling back drivers, I have tried experimental drivers, and hot fix drivers. Nothing here has helped in the slightest. Additionally for Linux I have tried different versions of Steam's Proton (older versions, experimental versions, and GloriousEggroll's custom version, as well as running Lutris). I've also tried rolling back the kernel. Nothing here has helped. I've also tried reducing game settings to low/medium, to no avail.

Final comment: I've probably spent 20-30 hours over the course of 6 weeks googling fixes to this problem (inbeween working). I haven't touched the hardware itself (other than popping in an additional SSD to test gaming on Windows). I'm at my wits end and thoroughly demoralised at not being able to enjoy some down time on my brand spanking new machine. The Nvidia forums are littered with similar complaints.

Before I consider my next options, is there anything further I can do?

Many thanks for reading.



.....

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[Martinr36]

ok, so where did you get your windows 10 from and how did you configure it

 

[LegoFace]

ok, so where did you get your windows 10 from and how did you configure it

90 day Windows 10 Enterprise trial from Microsoft. All updates installed. I've not amended or installed any other software (execpt for Steam and Star Citizen installer).

 

[KriSta]

Windows 10 Enterprise is not meant for consumers , could be something with the OS Services that causes the games to crash .

 

[Steveyg]

90 day Windows 10 Enterprise trial from Microsoft. All updates installed. I've not amended or installed any other software (execpt for Steam and Star Citizen installer).

Yeah mate you need an actual legit copy of either Home or Pro which at this point I would recommend completely fresh installing and removing all previous data

If your operating system isn't properly configured then your system wont operate properly

 

[Martinr36]

Yeah mate you need an actual legit copy of either Home or Pro which at this point I would recommend completely fresh installing and removing all previous data

If your operating system isn't properly configured then your system wont operate properly

^^^ This ^^^

 

[LegoFace]

Windows 10 Home installed (clean, no files/settings carried over). All updates applied (Windows, NVIDIA driver etc). I get a couple of minutes of smooth gameplay before crashing. This is the 4th OS I have installed (2 Linux flavors (Debian, Arch), 2 Windows (Enterprise, Home). All of them are identical in playing perfectly for a few minutes before crashing.

I get PCS are Microsoft evangelists and have no interest in Linux, but Linux isn't what it used to be. Games on Linux run great, and often better thanks to Steam's work on Proton. Steam are soon to launch their console SteamDeck which runs on Linux. Linux gaming is the real deal.

So, I can't play AAA games for more than a few minutes on Linux or Windows. How can this be an OS problem if the problem is replicated exactly across OS's?

If I come across as somewhat short, apologies, but if I have to install another OS and all the updates that comes with it, I may give up and learn to play the guitar

BTW the Home edition isn't 'legit' (the updates applied are). I have zero interest in using Windows past troubleshooting. There's no trial version of Home or Pro (only for Enterprise, hence the previous install). Please don't tell me you want me to drop £120 just to get to the next level in troubleshooting

As always, thanks.

 

[Martinr36]

So, I can't play AAA games for more than a few minutes on Linux or Windows. How can this be an OS problem if the problem is replicated exactly across OS's?

I dread to think how many PC's PCS have produced of this configuration since these CPU & GPU were released, and yours is the case of this i can remember seeing; can you describe EXACTLY how you installed Windows and where you got it from (including where you got the key from to validate it)

 

[SpyderTracks]

Windows 10 Home installed (clean, no files/settings carried over). All updates applied (Windows, NVIDIA driver etc). I get a couple of minutes of smooth gameplay before crashing. This is the 4th OS I have installed (2 Linux flavors (Debian, Arch), 2 Windows (Enterprise, Home). All of them are identical in playing perfectly for a few minutes before crashing.

I get PCS are Microsoft evangelists and have no interest in Linux, but Linux isn't what it used to be. Games on Linux run great, and often better thanks to Steam's work on Proton. Steam are soon to launch their console SteamDeck which runs on Linux. Linux gaming is the real deal.

So, I can't play AAA games for more than a few minutes on Linux or Windows. How can this be an OS problem if the problem is replicated exactly across OS's?

If I come across as somewhat short, apologies, but if I have to install another OS and all the updates that comes with it, I may give up and learn to play the guitar

BTW the Home edition isn't 'legit' (the updates applied are). I have zero interest in using Windows past troubleshooting. There's no trial version of Home or Pro (only for Enterprise, hence the previous install). Please don't tell me you want me to drop £120 just to get to the next level in troubleshooting

As always, thanks.

How are you installing the graphics driver either on Linux or Windows?

In Linux you need to use nomodeset.

On windows you'd have to manually install them, windows won't do that for you.

I don't know Linux well but it doesn't sound like your windows is properly configured

 

[LegoFace]

How are you installing the graphics driver either on Linux or Windows?

In Linux you need to use nomodeset.

On windows you'd have to manually install them, windows won't do that for you.

I don't know Linux well but it doesn't sound like your windows is properly configured

"In Linux you need to use nomodeset."

Hmm I've not used this. These modern distros fully embrace gaming and detect and install GPU drivers (I've also tried rollbacks and experimentals by downloading from Nvidia's driver download website).

Yes on Windows I have downloaded Nvidia drivers and installed manually.

To reiterate, games run for a few minutes on both Linux/Windows and look amazing! So I guess the hardware and driver are working, if only for a short while.

 

[LegoFace]

I dread to think how many PC's PCS have produced of this configuration since these CPU & GPU were released, and yours is the case of this i can remember seeing; can you describe EXACTLY how you installed Windows and where you got it from (including where you got the key from to validate it)

"I dread to think how many PC's PCS have produced of this configuration since these CPU & GPU were released"

Right!

Could it be a problem at bios level that I've inadvertently caused?

So the build arrived with Windows installed (I requested no OS as I wanted to run Linux). I asked PCS to partition the SSD, so first thing I did was install a Linux distro onto an empty partition. Once I had confirmed Linux was running, I deleted the Windows partition as I had no intention whatsoever to use it. Using the machine for work was/is amazing but gaming is a problem. So I began troubleshooting via google. After distro hopping and driver testing etc in an attempt to play longer than a few minutes I decided to buy another SSD and install Windows just to test whether Linux was the problem. Turns out the problem is identical across multiple OS's.

Something worth investigating here?

 

[Martinr36]

So what about this

can you describe EXACTLY how you installed Windows and where you got it from (including where you got the key from to validate it)

 

[LegoFace]

So what about this

can you describe EXACTLY how you installed Windows and where you got it from (including where you got the key from to validate it)

Sure. A friend gave me a USB thumbstick with an .iso mounted. There was no key to apply (I assume it must be baked into the iso (or has code to navigate the requirement within the iso). Either way, I installed and let Windows connect online to run all updates. There's no nags or complaints from Windows when using. The only other 'clue' on the thumbstick is that it is labelled "ventoy". A quick google suggest it's open source software to create bootable USB drives.

Ventoy

www.ventoy.net

 

[Martinr36]

Sorry to say that sounds dodgy to me

 

[SpyderTracks]

Sure. A friend gave me a USB thumbstick with an .iso mounted. There was no key to apply (I assume it must be baked into the iso (or has code to navigate the requirement within the iso). Either way, I installed and let Windows connect online to run all updates. There's no nags or complaints from Windows when using. The only other 'clue' on the thumbstick is that it is labelled "ventoy". A quick google suggest it's open source software to create bootable USB drives.

Ventoy

www.ventoy.net

I would strongly recommend doing a clean install with a valid image from Microsoft:

Download Windows 10

I'm still not convinced windows is correctly configured

 

[LegoFace]

Sorry to say that sounds dodgy to me

I made this crystal clear already: "BTW the Home edition isn't 'legit' (the updates applied are). I have zero interest in using Windows past troubleshooting. There's no trial version of Home or Pro (only for Enterprise, hence the previous install). Please don't tell me you want me to drop £120 just to get to the next level in troubleshooting"

New PC... won't play games (RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X)

Hello My RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X build arrived about 6 weeks ago. It's an absolute pleasure to work on (Blender etc). Gaming, however, is the complete opposite. Problem: The games I have attempted to run all crash after a few minutes (Fallout 76, Star Citizen, Arma 3). For the few minutes...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[SpyderTracks]

I made this crystal clear already: "BTW the Home edition isn't 'legit' (the updates applied are). I have zero interest in using Windows past troubleshooting. There's no trial version of Home or Pro (only for Enterprise, hence the previous install). Please don't tell me you want me to drop £120 just to get to the next level in troubleshooting"

New PC... won't play games (RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X)

Hello My RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X build arrived about 6 weeks ago. It's an absolute pleasure to work on (Blender etc). Gaming, however, is the complete opposite. Problem: The games I have attempted to run all crash after a few minutes (Fallout 76, Star Citizen, Arma 3). For the few minutes...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Ok, we can't support on a dodgy copy of Windows as it's illegal. And doing any kind of troubleshooting on a hacked windows is asking for trouble anyway.

 

[Steveyg]

I made this crystal clear already: "BTW the Home edition isn't 'legit' (the updates applied are). I have zero interest in using Windows past troubleshooting. There's no trial version of Home or Pro (only for Enterprise, hence the previous install). Please don't tell me you want me to drop £120 just to get to the next level in troubleshooting"

New PC... won't play games (RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X)

Hello My RTX 3060 Ti / Ryzen 5 5600X build arrived about 6 weeks ago. It's an absolute pleasure to work on (Blender etc). Gaming, however, is the complete opposite. Problem: The games I have attempted to run all crash after a few minutes (Fallout 76, Star Citizen, Arma 3). For the few minutes...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

No one is telling you do anything to troubleshoot, we don't work for PCS. Problem is we cant really find the route cause of your problem if we don't have a clean starting point

There could be any number of things causing these problems and we have no way of narrowing this down if we don't even have a clean starting point.

We're just trying to help you here and the only consistent thing I can see from your replies is that you don't want Windows, which of course if totally fine, but it's the most stable platform to check whether you have a hardware problem or a software problem.

This is pretty much impossible for us to tell though if you don't have the correct software installed to determine this

 

[LegoFace]

Ok thanks all for your time. If I'm forced to buy Windows to troubleshoot then I will have to, I have no other option.

Cheers.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok thanks all for your time. If I'm forced to buy Windows to troubleshoot then I will have to, I have no other option.

Cheers.

You don't need to, link is above, it will be fine for testing.