Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay

  • LeadoffSundew1
    Sailor
    Founder

    So I've just installed the game again through Game Pass and this issue doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it, it just happens randomly.

    Whether I'm standing on an island, manning a cannon, or swimming in the water, everything is going great and running smoothly and suddenly my computer shuts off. No warning, no windows "Shutting Down" screen, its just off and doesn't try to restart.

    I can't seem to find a solution to this and I'm at a total loss. This doesn't happen with any other game and I haven't installed any new hardware or programs since installing SoT. The first time it happened I thought maybe it was because of outdated graphics card drivers so I updated them but the issue kept persisting. I also tried re-installing and verifying installation integrity to no avail as well.

    These are my specs:
    Windows 10
    C:\ Drive is a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVME which is also the install drive for SoT
    AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
    XFX Thicc III Radeon RX 5700XT
    32GB 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM
    850W EVGA 80+ Gold PSU

    Any insight or ways to troubleshoot this?

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  • PithyRumble
    Rogue
    Insider

    @leadoffsundew1

    Wild shot here, but do you have a power/battery saver? Maybe SoT is triggering that. If you have one turn it off or see if you can have it ignore SoT?

  • ZiG ZaG LTU
    Commander
    Insider

    Had a similar issue years back caused by overheating. My laptop would switch itself off once the temperatures got too hot. Perhaps worth having a look at that.

  • GoldsMen
    Captain
    Insider

    This sounds like your computer is overheating. When a computer overheats it will shut off instantly as a safety measure, mine used to do this when it was brand new and the thermal paste was still not dry. If its a new computer that you just made, then its bound to happen for a while with fresh thermal paste, but if its not a new computer, maby your fan isnt up to par?

    If its not overheating, i have no clue what it is.

  • LeadoffSundew1
    Sailor
    Founder

    @goldsmen @ZiG-ZaG-LTU

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    @PithyRumble

    I'm unsure what you mean by this, could you elaborate?

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @goldsmen @ZiG-ZaG-LTU

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    @PithyRumble

    I'm unsure what you mean by this, could you elaborate?

    Hardware Info x64 for monitoring temps.

    It reads all thermal sensors in your computer.

    You're going to want to pay attention to the CPU ones because that is usually the one that does it. If you are getting too hot, clean out the PC and check the fans. You might not be intaking or exhausting enough. I like to intake at the front and exhaust the top and back. I don't have a side one.

    Also vertical gpu mounts are awful for cooling your gpu down. Unless it is vented on the side to bring in air directly to the card, it pretty much just smashes it against the side of the case, at least that's what I've personally heard. I've never used one myself.

  • GoldsMen
    Captain
    Insider

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    Graphics arnt the entirety of what will make your computer run hot, if the game is running a lot of processes behind the scenes that will do a lot as well. And ventilation will be important, if you have cords blocking air flow from your cpu fan to the output fan it will struggle.

    If you cant find any issues with heating, i would say reinstall the game, if that doesnt do it, contact support for the game.

  • Red0Demon0
    Commander
    Insider

    Had something like this happen to me on 2 different times. The issues might have been related but anywho, 1st was overheating, I checked the side of my pc and by touch it felt like the inside of a hot microwave. If it's overheating it means whatever cooling system you have, wether it's hydro cooled or fan cooled, is not working properly or not working at all. If it's a power supply issue, then the cooling system might not even be working efficiently or start at all. Regardless, with me, not having enough power made the pc shut down after a few minutes of playing, without warning. Consecutive re-tries of launching the game made the game either crash quicker or the pc shut down faster.

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @goldsmen said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    Graphics arnt the entirety of what will make your computer run hot, if the game is running a lot of processes behind the scenes that will do a lot as well. And ventilation will be important, if you have cords blocking air flow from your cpu fan to the output fan it will struggle.

    If you cant find any issues with heating, i would say reinstall the game, if that doesnt do it, contact support for the game.

    Cords have to be REALLY bad to actually block air flow like that. This is myth that has spread through the pc communities for years. LTT did tests to confirm this. Cable management is basically to make the build look clean, no other reason.

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @red0demon0 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    Had something like this happen to me on 2 different times. The issues might have been related but anywho, 1st was overheating, I checked the side of my pc and by touch it felt like the inside of a hot microwave. If it's overheating it means whatever cooling system you have, wether it's hydro cooled or fan cooled, is not working properly or not working at all. If it's a power supply issue, then the cooling system might not even be working efficiently or start at all. Regardless, with me, not having enough power made the pc shut down after a few minutes of playing, without warning. Consecutive re-tries of launching the game made the game either crash quicker or the pc shut down faster.

    I like that brought up the PSU because that can definitely do it.

  • IX Indi XI
    Castaway

    @leadoffsundew1 Either sounds like an overheating issues:

    1. In windows search bar look up '' Event Viewer'' which will show why exactly your PC is running into problems.
      If its CPU overheating it will tell you, event viewer is great since it gives good clues as to why Programs crash/PC shutdowns randomly and its criminal that not enough plp know about this...

    2. I also had random game crashes (Not due to overheating) Hours and hours of countless searching I found a gem that fixed it for 90% of the time.

    Go on task manager. GO to "Details" tab, when you load up your game, search for SoTgame.exe , right click, set priority , set it to ''high'' (Not realtime)

  • Scheneighnay
    Ship Mate

    only time something like that ever happened to me was a bad PSU.

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @scheneighnay said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    only time something like that ever happened to me was a bad PSU.

    A power supply problem or an over heating problems are about the only things I can think of. OP make sure your computer is getting the power it should be and check your temps with that program I named. HW64 will let you monitor those temps. If your CPU starts climbing above 75C or 80C you can bet you have a problem.

    As for power monitoring, I am not as familiar with that and perhaps someone here is.

  • GoldsMen
    Captain
    Insider

    @personalc0ffee said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @goldsmen said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    Graphics arnt the entirety of what will make your computer run hot, if the game is running a lot of processes behind the scenes that will do a lot as well. And ventilation will be important, if you have cords blocking air flow from your cpu fan to the output fan it will struggle.

    If you cant find any issues with heating, i would say reinstall the game, if that doesnt do it, contact support for the game.

    Cords have to be REALLY bad to actually block air flow like that. This is myth that has spread through the pc communities for years. LTT did tests to confirm this. Cable management is basically to make the build look clean, no other reason.

    I have seen a computer that they had their cables blocking the space between the cpu and output before that just kept over heating, and when i moved the cables out of the way for them, it stopped happening, so some people do manage cables poorly enough that it does have an effect.

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @goldsmen said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @personalc0ffee said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @goldsmen said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    I had initially speculated it was due to overheating as well but I don't see how that could be. I play plenty of other games that are just as if not more graphically intensive than SoT without issue. Besides, I'd argue that my cooling is pretty good, I have a Phanteks Glacier One 240MPH AIO cooler with some decent thermal compound that I checked and re-checked to make sure I was getting good contact/spread. My case is a Hyte Y60 with my gpu mounted vertically. Overall the airflow is really good.

    I haven't seen the actual temps yet so today I'm going to do that, recommend any good programs that show temps as an overlay in game? And that keep good logs for when it eventually crashes again.

    Graphics arnt the entirety of what will make your computer run hot, if the game is running a lot of processes behind the scenes that will do a lot as well. And ventilation will be important, if you have cords blocking air flow from your cpu fan to the output fan it will struggle.

    If you cant find any issues with heating, i would say reinstall the game, if that doesnt do it, contact support for the game.

    Cords have to be REALLY bad to actually block air flow like that. This is myth that has spread through the pc communities for years. LTT did tests to confirm this. Cable management is basically to make the build look clean, no other reason.

    I have seen a computer that they had their cables blocking the space between the cpu and output before that just kept over heating, and when i moved the cables out of the way for them, it stopped happening, so some people do manage cables poorly enough that it does have an effect.

    Most of my cable mess is near the psu and bottom of the pc. Fan cables are somewhat routed. PCIE cables are not. Cable management does not exist in my vocab. That's pretty bad cable management though for it to actually physically do that.

  • LeadoffSundew1
    Sailor
    Founder

    @ix-indi-xi
    I set the game to High Priority, but what exactly do I look for in the Event viewer and where?

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @leadoffsundew1 Under Windows Logs, you'll want to check to see if there are any error events in Application or System groups. You can filter these to only show Critical or Error entries. If you see anything that says "Thermal event" that will be high temperatures causing the safety shutoff.

  • Scheneighnay
    Ship Mate

    @d3adst1ck said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 Under Windows Logs, you'll want to check to see if there are any error events in Application or System groups. You can filter these to only show Critical or Error entries. If you see anything that says "Thermal event" that will be high temperatures causing the safety shutoff.

    Yeah, you can access it by right clicking on the windows icon and going to "event viewer"

    I recommend leaving it on the first page it starts up as and not going under windows logs. That way it filters events in order of precedence rather than time.

    And even perfectly healthy PCs have tons of errors lighting up in event viewer so don't worry about vague ones.

  • Jdge439
    Captain
    Insider

    I had this issue with my ryzen 9. There was some windows setting that would over clock it when gaming and it's not gonna run. Look into that. I disabled it and it never shut off again.

  • LeadoffSundew1
    Sailor
    Founder

    @PersonalC0ffee @IX-Indi-XI @GoldsMen @Scheneighnay

    So I played for a few days and ran HWInfo64 while I was playing, each time the game crashed the program logged that my CPU temps never went anywhere close to 80 °C, in fact it was at 50 the last time it crashed. Here is a link to a Google Sheet with the logged temperatures up until the crash so you can see for yourselves. I want to run HWInfo64 while I play other games to see if I get similar readings.

    I also looked in the Event Viewer to see if there was anything in there. In the last 7 days there were 2 critical events, both from Kernel-Power, ID 41 "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." But what I find interesting is that while playing this, my PC has lost power/crashed at least 10 times in the last 7 days so I would think there'd be more than just a couple critical events.

    I'm still at a loss for all this, as I said before I can play other games without any issue all day long. I cant help but feel like its the game itself and not something to do with my PC. I'm open to other ideas...

  • IX Indi XI
    Castaway

    @leadoffsundew1 Yeh this game for me also seems to crash the most, compared to other demanding games on high/max graphical settings pushing 90c on my 5800x, still stable, SoT crashes when im not even hitting 75c. Not even due to CPU temps, just badly optimized honestly.

    SoT has random crashes, some people are just cursed from owning the game on a PC with certain specs where it plagues the game a lot in terms of crashes and other weird behaviour.

    Also another tip would be to plug your actual PC into the wall socket and not an extender which can also help the game having less frequent crashes I found out. This game seems to be bad when it comes to power management, which is why I recommended the task manager with high priority which in my case fixes the issues for the most part (Having a lot less crashes when before I would be having it every session I boot up SoT)

  • Scheneighnay
    Ship Mate

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @PersonalC0ffee @IX-Indi-XI @GoldsMen @Scheneighnay

    I also looked in the Event Viewer to see if there was anything in there. In the last 7 days there were 2 critical events, both from Kernel-Power, ID 41 "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." But what I find interesting is that while playing this, my PC has lost power/crashed at least 10 times in the last 7 days so I would think there'd be more than just a couple critical events.

    That error is pretty much a given, but the last part interests me.
    Are you sure it actually completely loses power every time? Could also just be the GPU quitting while everything else works in the background.

    That would just be easy to tell by quieter fans still running as well as network activity lights on the Ethernet port.

    My story is that I used to have a Vega 64 running on an underpowered power supply. Ark Survival would push the GPU to the limit, until it would short out causing a black screen and silence but not a true shutdown.
    Eventually the GPU would keep failing POSTs and I just got rid of it.

  • LeadoffSundew1
    Sailor
    Founder

    @Scheneighnay

    @scheneighnay said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @PersonalC0ffee @IX-Indi-XI @GoldsMen @Scheneighnay

    I also looked in the Event Viewer to see if there was anything in there. In the last 7 days there were 2 critical events, both from Kernel-Power, ID 41 "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." But what I find interesting is that while playing this, my PC has lost power/crashed at least 10 times in the last 7 days so I would think there'd be more than just a couple critical events.

    That error is pretty much a given, but the last part interests me.
    Are you sure it actually completely loses power every time? Could also just be the GPU quitting while everything else works in the background.

    That would just be easy to tell by quieter fans still running as well as network activity lights on the Ethernet port.

    My story is that I used to have a Vega 64 running on an underpowered power supply. Ark Survival would push the GPU to the limit, until it would short out causing a black screen and silence but not a true shutdown.
    Eventually the GPU would keep failing POSTs and I just got rid of it.

    That's an interesting thought, but all of my other lights on my pc shut off as well including all the fans. When I go to press the power button to turn it on again it does so like it had been off all night, everything turns on immediately.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @leadoffsundew1 It could be a larger power draw or spike that is causing the power supply to shut off for safety reasons.

    It could also be an issue with a driver somewhere. Weirdly, this thread seems to point to audio drivers being the cause a lot of the time.

  • Scheneighnay
    Ship Mate

    @d3adst1ck said in Entire PC Shuts off without warning during gameplay:

    @leadoffsundew1 It could be a larger power draw or spike that is causing the power supply to shut off for safety reasons.

    It could also be an issue with a driver somewhere. Weirdly, this thread seems to point to audio drivers being the cause a lot of the time.

    Don't look too far into that power error. You can get it just by running a force shutdown, it could mean anything.

  • Linh VNguyen
    Marauder
    Insider

    I had that problem too, at one point, I had to cap the FPS to only 60 fps but lately after changing the coolant pump, I've been able to play the game unlimited FPS, but still keeping a watch on it though. Good luck.

  • jmitchell2005
    Castaway

    Ok so After days of this game shuting down on me I was able to resolve the issue on my computer. Under Video Settings I change the Buffering from what was default Quad on my computer to Double. I played all night finnaly without a PC shutdown. hope this helps others as well.

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