Help with graphics card crashing

[Too_Tall]

So to put this simply I have been having issues playing games the last two months but only in games that have high graphics demands. I can play simple games like Slay the Spire and Graveyard Keeper but when I play more intense games like Dead by Daylight or Path of Exile my graphics card crashes. The screen turns black and sound plays for a short while, a system alert noise will play in the background and then sound stops as well after a short while.

I keep graphics card temp monitored using EVGA precision X which I have set up a curve to increase fan speed as the GPU gets hot but it stays low usually between 40-50c. The crash occurs only in high graphic situations, I can watch videos, movies, and streams on twitch with no issue. But only minutes after launching a game with decent graphics the GPU crashes to black screen. This computer is getting older so I cannot rule hardware issues out but have been using it without issue until now and am getting to the point where I think reformatting may be my next step. According to Event Viewer there is a critical error.

Error details:
Level: Critical
Source: Kernel-Power
Event ID: 41
Task Category: 63
General: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Google results seem to lean towards CPU overheating so I will clean my computer after this post and test the results.

Any help would be appreciated, I will provide some details about my PC below:

OS: Windows 10 x64
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
PSU: 730w
CPU: Intel i7-2600 CPU @ 3.4GHz
RAM: 16.0 GB
Display: I run a TV as my main monitor @ 1920x1080 with a secondary hp monitor
Hard Drive: 2 TB of standard HHD @ 7200RPM

 

[Tethys]

You may want to try reinstalling drivers or even taking out the graphics card and putting it back in. I have a GTX 1060 6GB and I had similar performance issues and drivers weren't a problem. I took the cart out of the PCI slot and cleaned it out a bit and put it back in, and it ran like a charm.

 

[Too_Tall]

After cleaning out the PC again and unplugging and plugging back in the PSU cables it seems to have resolved the issue at least for now. It could just be the cable was slightly loose or something but everything looked attached. There was a bit of dust in the PSU and CPU fans, but I cannot imagine that level of dust was causing over heating. I guess I will chalk it up to a loose cable and be happy it seems to work. Thanks Tethys for taking your time to assist.

Side note: doubt it was related but disk was at 100% while playing, perhaps it is time to think about investing in an SSD.

 

[USMC_2DReconBN]

Regardless, imho, Always clean your PC out every Mo. That's my motto. I clean mine out to a T, remove everything, clean it out, check wire connections, RAM seeding, repaste the top of CPU, reseed everything. Dust, animal hair is the enemy, no matter what. Little or a lot of dust will still cause issues. Smoking is another, ppl that smoke (all the sticky nicotine) will ruin a computer 100x faster as well. Also it's a good idea to repaste your CPU( where the CPU fan connects to the CPU itself). every so often. As far as an SSD, def a good idea to get one, you will not regret it one bit. Be amazed how well your Computer will love you after that. Another thing, is this a desktop or a laptop? Have you checked/tested your PSU as well to see if it working 100%? The card itself might be slowly failing as well. Another to note is with windows 10, and the edition you use, you have to be careful of what programs ppl use, like Sidebar diagnostics, for example, it will generate massive BSOD's nonstop, with random codes. There are multiple things that could and can go wrong, a lot to type out here to get into detail but i'm sure you get the jist of it all. Lol

 

[Tethys]

No problem! Sometimes the motherboard and GPU don't like each other and just unplugging and cleaning was the best solution for me lol

 

[Too_Tall]

Yeah for sure recon, I usually keep my computer pretty clean. Most of the dust I removed was pretty deep in the CPUs heat sink, there wasn't much but like you said even a small amount can cause problems. I do not smoke cigarettes but I do smoke shesha(hookah), so the ashes do get around thus I clean my computer periodically. But yeah it was either the dust or a loose PSU connector.