Hi guys i had the Same issue and think i fixed it for me.
I have 1.500h on the game with that exact PC.
ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING
Intel 9900k
32GB - 3000 mhz Ram
RTX 2080 TI
Issue Description:
Whenever i logged into the game one out of the three could happen:
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Game Crash after just a couple of minutes of play, without any Error Message just a freeze followed by a crash to desktop.
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Game wouldn't start as of missing or corrupt /Athena/xxxxxxxxxxxxx file. When I did a check for integrity of game files nothing was found. Afterward, i could start the game and try to log in which was followed by another crash to the desktop.
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Game wouldn't start or crash with an error message that my GPU does not support Shader Model 5.
Solution Approach:
One thing I noticed before every crash my FPS seemed to be stable to the max limit before crashing. So I checked my HW monitor if my GPU or CPU went into an issue that happened "on Load" but I could not see anything SUS :) here.
I tried literally anything besides a clean install of win10.
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Reinstalled all drivers/updates ( GPU, Windows)
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Checked for Antivirus Exclusions
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Run integrity of game files like 20ish times.
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Reinstalled the game on 3 different Harddrives ( 2 x m2 , 1x sata ssd)
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Lowered and disabled my Overclock ( 3.6 ghz, 4,7 ghz, 5.0 ghz )
Solution:
In My case, I found in some forums that there is a Sound Device/driver that could cause the issue.
I instantly checked my Sound devices and found that with any update of windows or any other software a new sound device got registered on my PC.
Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer: https://pasteboard.co/bocDuZiN1vio.png
Here is the thread that bumped me into trying to fix it: https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/rwsed3/sonic_studio_virtual_mixer/
Disabling that in my sound settings fixed my game and I had an 8hr grind the other day without lowering my Overclock or anything else that I tried.