PC Completely Crashes after playing Witcher 3

[Geralt075]

I've been having this issue since it's release. I can usually play about an hour and half, maybe two hours, before my system completely shuts down. I believe it has something to do with my graphics card, because when I run the Precision X off steam, it shows a pretty high power consumption, mostly around 75%, but can go above 100% when in areas of the game with a lot of effects/npcs, etc. I feel like my system should be able to handle the game fine however on ultra settings, but even on the Geforce experience recommended settings, it crashes. Even on high. Currently testing on medium.
I built the machine custom about six months ago. Before the witcher 3 came out, I played thru number 2. That one I had on ultra for a while, but then crashed. After downloading the geforce experience settings for it though, it ran completely fine.
I'm wondering if I did something wrong with the construction, wrong power supply or something. I feel like the system should be able to handle it fine, but it's not. Here's a copy of my dxdiag system info saved, edited a bit, but hopefully has enough info to get some help. Thanks!

Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_r9.150322-1500)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
       System Model: MS-7850
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/23/14 14:32:52 Ver: V4.7B0
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
             Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16336MB RAM
          Page File: 1971MB used, 16795MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.17415 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
      Display Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GTX 970
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
        Device Type: Full Device
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13C2&SUBSYS_29783842&REV_A1
     Display Memory: 12145 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 3977 MB
      Shared Memory: 8167 MB
       Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (59Hz)
       Monitor Name: Hannstar HF229
      Monitor Model: HF229
         Monitor Id: HSD18B2
        Native Mode: 1680 x 1050(p) (59.954Hz)
        Output Type: Displayport External

 

[sandorski]

How are your temps? Is the room hotter than usual?

 

[Geralt075]

It does get hotter yeah. Is it simply a matter of the room getting hotter, causing the graphics card to work harder to cool? By the way, the dxdiag didn't include the power supply I don't think. Its a TX750 Corsair

 

[sandorski]

Might be why. If you have a house fan, remove the side of the case and have it blow into your case. If the problem goes away it's probably heat.

Power Supply should be fine.

 

[Geralt075]

Is there something additional I can add to help cool down the graphics card? besides just blowing a fan into it, though I will try that for now

 

[VirtualLarry]

They do make aftermarket video card heatsinks, like the Arctic Cooling Accellero series. Most video cards have adequate cooling, though, as long as the fans hold out. Are the fans spinning? (Use a pen to test, not your finger. You can get cut doing that, ask me how I know.)

 

[sandorski]

If heat is the problem, you might be able to solve it with more case fans, better cable management, or maybe even case location.

 

[Geralt075]

They don't usually run at all unless I use the Precision X tool on Steam. Once i start the tool up, they start running. I've tried making a custom fan curve and everything though, and no luck with that, still crashes.
I find it odd that they don't run, even while playing the game, unless I have that PrecisionX tool running as well. Or at least, they run so low I can't even hear them. I definitely hear them when they're at 40% speed running the Precision X tool. I'll look into that arctic cooling accellero series as well, if the fan tip helps.

Also, I have my case on the desk, going to try and move it on to the floor, heat rises, lol. I did try it out in my living room, a pretty open space, on the floor, and still it would crash, but it did last about 3 hours, so I really do think it's a heat issue as well now that I think about it. I've got three case fans, but only 1 near the graphics card, so maybe looking into that might help too. I do have a bunch of cables, but almost none are near the graphics card. The TX750 comes with a million cords! Lol.

 

[sandorski]

Do you play any other intensive games? If you do, it might be worth trying to play them for a similar amount of time to see if you have this problem. There is always the possibility that this is a Witcher 3 issue of some sort.

 

[Geralt075]

There has been lots of crashes and bugs found in the game, but because it occurred with the Witcher 2 as well, just not sure. I will try and play some other intensive games though, when I get the chance.

 

[frozentundra123456]

They do make aftermarket video card heatsinks, like the Arctic Cooling Accellero series. Most video cards have adequate cooling, though, as long as the fans hold out. Are the fans spinning? (Use a pen to test, not your finger. You can get cut doing that, ask me how I know.)

Yea, that can happen to the power supply as well. I had a computer that randomly shut down and I finally traced the problem to the fan on the PSU sticking occasionally, causing overheating and shutdown.

In general to the OP, the problem does sound like overheating or power supply. You have a good one, but I suppose there is always the chance it could be defective.

Edit: are you overclocking the gpu or cpu? I noticed you are using the Precision X overclocking tool. If you are overclocking, the first thing to do if you are having crashes is to set everything back to stock. If you are not, but have to use this to get the fans to run properly, sounds like you have a driver problem or a funky card.

 

[Geralt075]

I wasn't overclocking, but it does seem like I have to use the tool to get the fans to run at all. It's very strange.

 

[Geralt075]

I've tried the fan trick. Seems to be working pretty well, the room and card don't get too hot, but I haven't been able to try it for more than an hour really. I probably won't get a chance till the weekend in a couple days, but I'll let you guys know how it goes then. Think I'll look into getting one of those arctic cooling parts too, anyone have any experience with those? Was looking at the installation manual for one of them and it looks pretty complicated. Plus some have the water tanks, how does that work? Do you have to open up the computer every time you need to refill it, and how often do you usually need to refill it?

 

[Geralt075]

Well I've given up. I bought an arctic cooling fan for my gpu, put the fan outside my pc, with the case open, still, it crashes after about an hour and half. oh well, going to chalk it up to the game, since I haven't had any other problems with any other programs, besides no.2 running on ultra. Thanks for the help though guys

 

[sandorski]

I wonder if the game has a Memory leak or something. As long as everything else is working, it probably has to do with the game.