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Blue Screen While Playing Games: 10+ Best Fixes You Should Try
14 min. read
Updated onSeptember 20, 2024
updated onSeptember 20, 2024
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Resolve multiple Windows PC issues and speed up your PC effortlessly with specialized software.
If you experience a blue screen while playing games, it indicates your Windows PC is going through hardware or software issues.
To make matters worse, ablue screen of death (BSOD)shows up more often when you’re playing mid to high-end PC games.
Find below the tried and tested methods to troubleshoot the issue yourself. The steps mentioned below are compatible with both Windows 11 and 10 PCs.
Identifying the cause of a blue screen can be tedious and may take some time. As a gamer you will want to solve this as quickly as possible, in this case, it’s not a bad idea to employ the help of software that will repair the BSoD in just a few minutes, such asPC HelpSoft PC Cleanerfor example.
Blue Screen While Playing Games – What Is It?
A BSOD is an error screen that happens toprevent further major damage to the whole computer. When playing a PC game, you might experience the game freezing, the screen blinking a few times, and then the characteristic blue screen.
It’ll oftenshow you the exact issue in the following codes.
Sometimes, you might not see any error codes as none are available or the BSOD screen reboots to Legacy or UEFI BIOS quickly.
If you see this once or twice in a few months, you must take measures to prevent future system damage. Contrarily, if the BSOD keeps showing up, you can take no intermediate steps other than going directly to the troubleshooting ideas below.
How To Fix Blue Screen While Playing Games
I’ve arranged these troubleshooting methods in order of simplicity. This way, if a minor bug causes the BSOD error, you can quickly resolve it with minimal effort.
Run Windows in Safe Mode
You can do the following if the BSOD error shows up repeatedly or once in a while:
Try out different tools in your Windows PC in Safe Mode. Keep it up and running for a few hours. Are you able to reproduce the BSOD error?
If your answer is “No“, it’san app-specific issue. The application might not be compatible with your PC. Reach out to the specific PC game’s support team for further assistance.
If theBSOD shows up in Safe Modeduring the test period, continue with the rest of the troubleshooting methods.
Stop Overclocking
If you overclock any or all of the following hardware of your Windows PC, you should stop as soon as you encounter a BSOD:
If you’ve overclocked your CPU, here’s how you can undo that:
De-overclocking options for the RAM chips, NVMe SSD chips, and the mainboard should also be in the BIOS.
However, you might want to tryoverclocking softwarefor better control over this process.
Optimize In-Game Graphics Settings
You can reduce the game app’s visual quality. It’ll reduce the requirements of CPU, RAM, and GPU bandwidth and prevent BSODs. Here’s how:
Check if the GPU and CPU Are Overheating
First, you should get theHWiNFOapp and install it on your PC.
Then, you mustfind out the idle temperature of your CPU and GPUby following these steps:
This ishow hot the graphics card is when it’s in the idle mode.
Now, run the PC game you’ve been playing earlier when the BSOD error appeared. Keep playing for a few minutes and quit the game before another error shows up.
Immediately open the HWiNFO app andlook at the temperature values for the CPU and GPU.
If the values are like this, the BSOD is due to overheating:
You might want to look for professional help to cool down your PC case. This will help dissipate the heat generated by CPU and GPU when you run high-end PC games or software.
Kill Needless Background Processes
You can endunnecessary background processesto free up more memory on the PC. Do this right before launching the game app:
Run a Memory Diagnostic Test
You can often link BSOD errors during gaming to RAM or Memory failures.
Follow these steps to perform an exhaustive RAM chip test to find out if your Memory modules are healthy:
So far, you’vecreated a bootable USB drive.Your PC can use it to run the memory module scanning and evaluation process.
Now, follow these instructions toassess your RAM chips:
For BSOD cases related to RAM modules,it’s highly likely you’ll get a Fail notification. It might still be possible to run your Windows PC with these RAM chips.
However, memory-intensive processes, like playing high-end PC games or rendering 3D videos in Game Animation Software might show the BSOD error again. So, replace your RAM chips if you plan to utilize your PC’s full performance potential.
Run DISM and SFC Checks
When the Windows OS’s integrity is compromised, BSOD errors often appear. Follow these steps to evaluate and fix your OS integrity:
Update the GPU Driver
If your GPU hardware driver is outdated, the GPU can’t keep up with the demands of high-end PC games.
You should update the driver by following these steps:
Scan for Malware and Virus Programs
Malware, adware, spyware, and viruses might consume too much memory and CPU bandwidth on your PC when you’re playing a high-end PC game. Consequently, the system can’t allocate more RAM to the game.
So, you should perform an in-depth virus scan using theWindows Security appor any other antivirus software.
Flash Your BIOS Firmware
This is a delicate and risky process. Try these steps only if you’re absolutely sure that you cando exactly as instructed.
Before proceeding,fully charge if it’s a laptop or connect the desktop to an uninterrupted power supply line.If there’s any power interruption during the BIOS Flashing process, your motherboard will get bricked.
Reseat the RAM and GPU
Often, carbon disposition in the slots of GPU and RAM chips can cause irregular and slow performance of such hardware. If this is the case, the BSOD error can also show up. Do the following:
So, there you have it! You can try these methods to fix the blue screen while playing games on Windows 10 or 11 PCs for good. If you’re having trouble withred screenerrors, I’ve got you covered as well.
0x000000f4 blue screen erroris rather common and it can appear during gaming, but it can be fixed by using solutions from our dedicated guide. You may also encounterACTIVE_EX_WORKER_THREAD_TERMINATION.
Did the article help you experience BSOD-free PC gaming? Share your feedback, suggestions, and unique troubleshooting ideas in the comment box.
More about the topics:Blue Screen of Death,gaming,windows 10,Windows 11
Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Passionate about technology,Windows, and everything that has a power button, he spent most of his time developing new skills and learning more about the tech world.
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, with a complete expertise in touch-based devices, he is constantly keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest!
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Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, he’s a Windows 11 Privacy & Security expert.
