Sound loops, then game freezes up entire PC

[Deleted3258978User]

Hey, I've been having an issue recently. Usually Fallout 4 runs fine, but all of a sudden, every time I try to play it, after about 2~3 minutes, sounds will loop endlessly and the game then freezes (while forever looping the last fraction of a second's worth of audio that happened right before the freeze), leaving me unable to do anything but shutdown my PC via the power button. I have not installed any additional mods since this began, so I think it's probably a hardware or software issue, or maybe drivers or something, like I think maybe it's an audio problem but I don't know what to do if that's the case. And at the same time, it only happens in Fallout 4 and no other games have this problem, so really I'm more or less clueless as to what is causing this, those are just guesses.

 

If you need more information, please ask, and I'll do my best to provide all the details you need. I would post my specs but tbh I'm not entirely positive where to find that info, as I am using a used, slightly old gaming rig a friend sold me and am not entirely positive what's in it or how to check.

 

If this is a known bug or issue, please point me in the right direction for a fix.

 

So far I've tried clearing up a buncha space on my drive (I thought maybe the low space could be an issue), doing a disk check, updating my graphics drivers, and validating the game's files, all to no avail.

 

EDIT / UPDATE: Ever since I deleted all my save files, the game no longer freezes my PC, and the audio loop no longer happens. It just crashes to desktop now, with the error I described in my post below.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Guest

[Deleted3258978User]

I've tried uninstalling all of my mods as well as uninstalling the game, then reinstalling. That didn't do much, the game still would crash within a few minutes. What did seem to help was actually deleting all of my save games... I had like 2GB of save files and deleting all of them makes the game now run for about 10-15 minutes before crashing. The crashes usually say that my graphics card has failed but has successfully recovered.

 

The graphics card I use is AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series and was fine for a while, it seems as though these problems started right around the time Creation Club was released (another reason to hate it). Also, my drivers are always kept up to date, but updating them with each release hasn't changed anything, and the crashes still happen. Other info about my specs below:

 

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40 GHz

RAM: 16.0 GB

 

I can provide any other information if necessary, just not sure what else you'd need... Is this a hardware problem, or is Fallout 4 really this bad? My money is on that it's a bit of both, but I don't know what to do. I just want to build settlements and murder raiders again....

 

My graphics card should be more than enough to run this game, right? I mean right now I'm running it on the lowest settings, but before, I used to be able to run it without problems on medium.

 

EDIT / UPDATE: Ever since I deleted all my save files, the game no longer freezes my PC, and the audio loop no longer happens. It just crashes to desktop now, with the error I described above.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Guest

[JimmyRJump]

What 78xx is the GPU? 7870 or lower?

 

That card being "more than enough" is a bit of an over-statement. Sure, it will run the game, but you'll run out of Video RAM in the blink of an eye.

 

To know what's in your rig, open computer and check what's at the bottom of the screen (I'm on Win7 so, later versions might be different). Info about what CPU and amount of system RAM should be there.

 

To know what GPU you have, hit Control Panel--> Device Manager and check under Display Adapters what's there...

 

*EDIT*

 

You'll be well off starting to use ENBoost. A neat program which makes the game use system RAM as video RAM. I had an MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB and that one didn't have enough RAM to run the game without crashing. Replaced it with an MSI RX470 which has 8GB of V-RAM and that made the difference...

[Deleted3258978User]

Hey JimmyRJump, thanks for the reply.

 

I just checked the device manager and all it says is "AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series"... I actually bought this rig off a friend so I asked him and he says it is indeed 7870 (not sure why the device manager doesn't specify).

 

As for seeing whats at the bottom of the screen when I open computer, I already put all the information it says. It just lists the processor and RAM, which I had listed above (Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40 GHz / RAM: 16.0 GB)

 

I'm not very tech savvy when it comes to hardware, but figured the card was at least decent enough. Do you think I should consider buying a newer model? I mean, the error that pops up when I CTD says the graphics failed and recovered, is that enough info to think that maybe my card is just crapping out and needs replacing? If that's the case, I know what to ask for from Santa this year, lol...

[JimmyRJump]

Crappers :D I missed the CPU and RAM info completely :tongue:

 

CPU is one of the best Intel ever made; overclocks like mad. I could run mine @4.9GHz on air :huh:

 

Anyway, check the ENBoost link I added in my edit above. A 7870 has only 2GB of V-RAM which isn't enough to run a modded FO4. Set ENBoost's enblocal.ini file to 12256MB should you start using it.

[JimmyRJump]

I'm not very tech savvy when it comes to hardware, but figured the card was at least decent enough. Do you think I should consider buying a newer model? I mean, the error that pops up when I CTD says the graphics failed and recovered, is that enough info to think that maybe my card is just crapping out and needs replacing? If that's the case, I know what to ask for from Santa this year, lol...

The message concerning your GPU could have to do with the driver failing, not the card itself.

 

If the message is indeed about the card itself, then there's the possibility it runs too hot. That would explain why it didn't happen in the beginning but only started happening after a while. Dust smothering either the GPU's fan or the ventilation of your PC case is clogged. Or both.

 

Worst case scenario, the GPU is at the end of its tether. I mean, it's a card that is six years old, meanwhile.

 

A new GPU would be welcomed in your rig. A 2600K and 16GB of RAM are above average still and can render good services for another couple of years. Whatever you're getting as GPU make sure it has at least 8GB of V-RAM. The MSI RX470 GamerX 8GB I bought in August 2016 isn't more powerfull than the R7970 Lightning I had, but it's the extra 5GB of RAM that does the trick. Though I still use ENBoost for FO4, to stay on the sure side.

[Deleted40542685User]

 

I'm not very tech savvy when it comes to hardware, but figured the card was at least decent enough. Do you think I should consider buying a newer model? I mean, the error that pops up when I CTD says the graphics failed and recovered, is that enough info to think that maybe my card is just crapping out and needs replacing? If that's the case, I know what to ask for from Santa this year, lol...

The message concerning your GPU could have to do with the driver failing, not the card itself.

 

If the message is indeed about the card itself, then there's the possibility it runs too hot. That would explain why it didn't happen in the beginning but only started happening after a while. Dust smothering either the GPU's fan or the ventilation of your PC case is clogged. Or both.

 

Worst case scenario, the GPU is at the end of its tether. I mean, it's a card that is six years old, meanwhile.

 

A new GPU would be welcomed in your rig. A 2600K and 16GB of RAM are above average still and can render good services for another couple of years. Whatever you're getting as GPU make sure it has at least 8GB of V-RAM. The MSI RX470 GamerX 8GB I bought in August 2016 isn't more powerfull than the R7970 Lightning I had, but it's the extra 5GB of RAM that does the trick. Though I still use ENBoost for FO4, to stay on the sure side.

 

I agree, sounds like a over heating GPU

[Deleted3258978User]

Alright, thanks for your help. I'll be sure to try out the ENBoost and will get back to you with the results.

 

Also might open my rig and make sure dust isn't a problem with the fan.

[Deleted3258978User]

Unfortunately, the ENBoost didn't do the trick. Neither did cleaning out all the dust out of my rig and its fans. :/

 

It could still be a overheating problem I guess? Not sure how though, my fans are clean and they work fine, but most importantly, I don't have this problem with any other game, just Fallout 4. Even games like Witcher 3 that seem more demanding graphically are fine. Maybe Bethesda is just crappy at optimization or something, but then again, so are the devs of ARK, and I can run that game without crashing as well. Not sure why every other game is fine and Fallout 4 just craps out all the time.

 

Guess I'll have to consider getting a new graphics card. It's something I've been meaning to do anyway, but it's still a bummer.

 

Honestly I'm so fed up with Bethesda at this point. I know my hardware isn't their problem, but it IS within the minimum requirements, and it shouldn't be this much trouble just to make a game function properly, especially one that initially cost $60. Tack that onto the fact that Creation Club is a thing despite 99% of their community thinking it's BS and this may very well be my last Bethesda purchase. A company that doesn't care about their fanbase or the community that makes their games way better is a company that deserves to crash and burn. Honestly a Bethesda game without mods? Bogus, boring, bologna.

 

I like settlement building as a creative outlet / time killer but I didn't even want that function in a Fallout game to begin with. If a new graphics card doesn't do the trick, then good riddance, this game is beyond frustrating to troubleshoot and the crashes after every fix I've tried is absolute BS. Makes me wanna grab a torch and pitchfork, gather the villagers, and riot our way to Bethesda studios. Obviously I'm kidding but it literally pains me that nothing has worked.

[JimmyRJump]

FO4 eats RAM as if it grows on trees. Personally, in 1080p with everything on ultra (xept shadows on medium and godrays off), 460 mods/252 plug-ins with most textures in 2K and a few in 4K plus the Vogue ENB preset, I use 5GB of system RAM (including 2.7GB for OS and stuff) and 7.5GB of V-RAM...

 

FO4 is also the most erratic game I ever played when it comes to crashes. I had a truckload of 'em back in 2011 when Skyrim was releases but a lot of those were CrosFireX related as I ran 2 Sapphire 6970ies and there weren't any drivers to support CrossFire. But at least with Skyrim crashes due to mods you could find the culprit after some head-scratching, something which isn't exactly the case with FO4.

 

I played FO4 for 20 months straight without missing a day. Got around 12000 hours on the counter. But I quit to play Mass Effect: Andromeda and I grew out of FO4 somehow...