If your PC crashes when playing games, it can be a frustrating experience. However, there are several steps you can take to troubleshoot and fix the issue. The very first step is to check the specs of your PC and check the drivers. Next, monitor your PC temperature and disable overclocking. Also, try updating your game and look for corrupted game files. Next, adjust the graphic settings of your game or try installing your game to avoid your PC crashing. If you cannot fix the PC crashing issue, getting professional help from a computer repair shop is best.

Tips to Fix PC Crashing When Playing Games

Check Your PC Specs

First, you should check your PC specs to ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements for the game you are trying to play. If your PC doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, you may experience performance issues or crashes when playing games.

To check your PC specs, you can follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
Type “dxdiag” in the search bar and click OK.
In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, click on the System tab.
Here, you can see your system specifications, CPU, RAM, and graphics card.
If your PC specs do not meet the minimum requirements, you may need to upgrade your hardware or choose to play less demanding games.

Also, take help from a professional at a computer repair shop to help you check your PC’s specifications.

Check Your Drivers

Outdated or corrupted drivers can cause crashes when playing games. Therefore, check if your drivers are up-to-date and install the latest updates. Your graphics card and sound card drivers are the most important drivers to check.

To check and update your drivers, you can follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + X and select Device Manager from the menu.
Expand the Display adapters or Sound, video, and game controllers category.
Right-click on your graphics card or sound card and select Update driver.
Choose the option to search automatically for updated driver software.
If an update is found, follow the instructions to install it.
Alternatively, you can visit the manufacturer’s website to download the latest drivers for your hardware.

Monitor Your PC Temperature

Overheating can cause your PC to crash when playing games. This can happen if your CPU or graphics card is pushed too hard and cannot cool down properly. Therefore, monitoring your PC temperature and ensuring it stays within safe levels is important. You can use a program like HW Monitor or Core Temp to monitor your PC temperature. These programs will show you the temperature of your CPU, graphics card, and other components.

If your PC temperature is too high, you can take the following steps to cool it down:

Make sure your PC is properly ventilated, and the fans are working.
Clean your PC’s fans and air vents to remove dust and other debris blocking airflow.
Consider adding additional fans or upgrading your CPU or graphics card cooler.
Reduce the graphics settings in the game to lower the load on your GPU.
Check for Malware

Malware can also cause crashes when playing games. Therefore, you should perform a malware scan to ensure your system is free of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. To perform a malware scan, you can use an antivirus program like Windows Defender or a third-party antivirus program like Malwarebytes. Run a full system scan and remove any threats that are detected. Or take your PC to the computer repair service provider for help.

Disable Overclocking

Overclocking can cause instability in your system and lead to crashes when playing games. Therefore, if you have overclocked your CPU, GPU, or RAM, you should disable it and return to the default settings.

To disable overclocking, you can follow these steps:

Restart your PC and enter the BIOS or UEFI setup by pressing the appropriate key during startup (usually F2, Delete, or Esc).
Find the overclocking settings in the BIOS or UEFI setup and disable them.
Save your changes and exit the BIOS or UEFI setup.

Update Your Game

Sometimes, game updates can fix bugs and improve performance, which can help prevent crashes. Therefore, ensure that your game is up-to-date and install any available updates.

To update your game, you can follow these steps:

Open your game launcher (such as Steam, Epic Games, or Origin).
Check if there are any available updates for your game.
If an update is available, download and install it.
Disable Background Programs
Background programs can also cause crashes when playing games, especially if they use many system resources. Therefore, you should disable any unnecessary background programs while playing games.

To disable background programs, you can follow these steps:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
Click on the Processes tab.
Identify programs that use a lot of CPU or memory resources.
Right-click on the program and select End task.
Alternatively, you can use a program like Razer Cortex or Game Mode in Windows 10 to automatically disable unnecessary background programs while playing games.

Check for Corrupted Game Files

Corrupted game files can also cause crashes when playing games. Therefore, you should verify your game files’ integrity to ensure they are not corrupted.

To verify the integrity of your game files, you can follow these steps:

Open your game launcher (such as Steam, Epic Games, or Origin).
Right-click on the game and select Properties.
Click on the Local Files tab.
Click on Verify integrity of game files.
This will check your game files and replace any corrupted files with the correct ones.

Adjust Graphics Settings

Sometimes, your PC may crash when playing games if the graphics settings are too high for your hardware. Therefore, you should adjust the graphics settings to ensure they are appropriate for your system.

To adjust the graphics settings, you can follow these steps:

Open your game settings menu.
Adjust the graphics settings, including resolution, texture quality, shadows, and anti-aliasing.
Test the game to see if it still crashes.
If the game still crashes, you may need to lower the graphics settings further or consider upgrading your hardware.

Take the help of professional computer repair shop in Colorado Springs for the best completion of this step.

Reinstall the Game

If all else fails, try reinstalling the game to see if this resolves the issue. This will ensure that all game files are clean and corruption-free.

To reinstall the game, you can follow these steps:

Open your game launcher (such as Steam, Epic Games, or Origin).
Right-click on the game and select Uninstall.
Follow the prompts to uninstall the game.
Restart your PC.
Reinstall the game.

Conclusion

If your PC is crashing when playing games, there are several steps you can take to troubleshoot and fix the issue. You should check your PC specs, drivers, and temperature, perform a malware scan and disable overclocking. You can also update your game, disable background programs, check for corrupted game files, adjust graphics settings, and reinstall the game. By following these steps, you should be able to resolve most issues that cause PC crashes when playing games. If all the solutions don’t work, take professional help from a trustworthy computer repair shop like Gadget Bros.