Game randomly freezes / crashes with no error message

Game randomly freezes with sound playing and goes into not responding for about 10 seconds before it closes automatically back to desktop. It happens in dungeon or just outside, it even happened once in main menu screen before I got to character selection screen.
Sometimes this will happen multiple times within an hour, on Friday launch it only happened once during 15h of playing.

No error message like most other seem to get, when freeze happens GPU, CPU usage goes down like I don't have a game running, in Task Manager its in the list as 'not responding'.
Yesterday instead of game closing down on its own due to not responding after 10 sec freeze it would actually come back and "catch up" within few seconds.

I have the Steam version, it is an issue only in FFXIV since 7.0 as I never had this happen before in FFXIV or any other much more graphically demanding game.
Same thing happens with different settings, I play on 1440p all max PC handles the game just fine, tried to cap in-game FPS to 60, unlocked, 90 or 100 in Nvidia control panel, fullscreen or borderless.

My PC specs are the following and I make sure to keep track of temps and performance on 2nd monitor all the time, nothing unusual before freeze happens:
RTX 4070-Ti Super
i5-11600k
32GB DDR4 (memory diagnostic tool 0 errors)
M2 2280 PCIe 4.0

Exactly the same issue here. Either it freezes for 15 seconds or so, or it crashes completely. Also happened to me on the login screen. This hasn't happened before Dawntrail. I have noticed that as soon as the freeze happens, GPU utilization goes from 100% to 0%.

Playing on a 4090, max settings, 4K

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

Please try the following:
- Update and reinstall the drivers for your graphics card and sound drivers (if applicable).
- Please try lowering the resolution.
- Please try running the game as an administrator.
- Perform a clean boot by opening the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything.
- Please be sure that Final Fantasy XIV is installed to the C: Drive. (If Steam version, make sure both the game and Steam are installed on same drive)
- Please be sure to disable or remove any overlays (Discord, Steam, NVIDIA etc.) as they may interfere with startup.
- Make sure that the Windows OS is fully updated.
- Verify installation files (Steam)
- Reinstall game (If steam version, try uninstalling and reinstalling both the game and Steam)

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

Having the issue as well, not on steam. Have a 2060 super and can play other games with no issues but ffxiv will just randomly freeze for 15 seconds sound will continue to play then come back. Friends have said when I do freeze I do get the DC icon next to my name.

yeah happens fucking constantly and spams me with a piece of shit dxcode error FULLY IN JAPANESE WHEN FUCKING NOTHING ABOUT MY GAME IS SET TO JAPANESE, kinda like these bunk ass forums ONLY being in japanese after 4 yrs of accessing them in english

give me a fucking break man, it is NOT their pc it is the god damn game that's why theres 10 posts saying THE EXACT SAME THING!!!! jesus man use your brain even just a tiny bit before you copy pasta insultingly bad generic bullshit advice from google!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zeeningg

give me a fucking break man, it is NOT their pc it is the god damn game that's why theres 10 posts saying THE EXACT SAME THING!!!! jesus man use your brain even just a tiny bit before you copy pasta insultingly bad generic bullshit advice from google!

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If it would be the game then everyone would be affected.



Cheers

EDIT: After 14 days of no freeze I got it twice just now in new 4th dungeon, scratch everything below cause it didn't help, it seems to be completely random and out of our control. GGs to raiding Savage / Ultimate if this is not fixed somehow.

I am on 5 days now with not a single freeze / crash. I can't say for certain what helped but here are a few things I did that I believe may have helped:

Starting with most important in my opinion:
-Go to your FFXIV game folder > right click on ffxiv_dx11 > Properties > Compatibility tab > enable (checkmark on) "Disable fullscreen optimizations".

Other things I did and how I run the game:
-Disabled Nvidia In-game overlay (in Nvidia GeForce Experience settings)
-Disabled Steam overlay (right click on game in Steam library > properties > general)
-Disabled Vsync as I have Gsync anyway, I cap the fps of the game in Nvidia control panel to 100 fps (you can set different cap like 60 if you want)
-I play the game on Full Screen mode
-In-game Graphics upscaling set to Nvidia DLSS with framerate threshold set to below 60 fps. I am aware that AMD FSR at 99 is sharper but I think the game attempting to make everything look so sharp even in distance might have caused crashes, if you want to use AMD FSR try at default 100
-All other graphical settings are at maximum

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mudrac

I am on 5 days now with not a single freeze / crash. I can't say for certain what helped but here are a few things I did that I believe may have helped:

Starting with most important in my opinion:
-Go to your FFXIV game folder > right click on ffxiv_dx11 > Properties > Compatibility tab > enable (checkmark on) "Disable fullscreen optimizations".

Other things I did and how I run the game:
-Disabled Nvidia In-game overlay (in Nvidia GeForce Experience settings)
-Disabled Steam overlay (right click on game in Steam library > properties > general)
-Disabled Vsync as I have Gsync anyway, I cap the fps of the game in Nvidia control panel to 100 fps (you can set different cap like 60 if you want)
-I play the game on Full Screen mode
-In-game Graphics upscaling set to Nvidia DLSS with framerate threshold set to below 60 fps. I am aware that AMD FSR at 99 is sharper but I think the game attempting to make everything look so sharp even in distance might have caused crashes, if you want to use AMD FSR try at default 100
-All other graphical settings are at maximum

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Greetings. I just tried the disabling of fullscreen optimizations, but sadly within a minute of reloading the game, standing at a retainer bell my game froze. So I suppose that isn't the solution in my case.
I have previously tried DLSS mode but it still froze with that as well :(
For the time being I've now disabled Steam and Nvidia overlays and limited my fps to 60. It hasn't even been an hour since trying this, so far it's not froze but it can happen at any time... I will try to update should that change or seemingly fix it

Edit: The day after posting this, the freezes happened again :(

Please post your system configuration.




Cheers

Deleted
Double post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

If it would be the game then everyone would be affected.



Cheers

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Not necessarily. Not all the freezes I've had popped up an error, but of the ones that did, it has always been a list of FFXIV drivers.

Thank you, have a nice day.

Has anyone figured out a solution to this issue specifically as described in my original post of the thread?
I checked other people posts but no help to this type of issue specifically.

I got the freeze again today like 3 times during M4S...

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We apologize for any inconvenience experienced when trying to play Final Fantasy XIV. For us to better assist you, please respond with the following information:

How often does the issue occur?
Are you running any additional programs alongside Final Fantasy XIV?
Does the issue occur with one character or multiple characters?
When the issue happens, is the PC over heating at all?
Were any update or changes made to the PC around the time of the issue?
Does this issue occur if the game is run in full screen mode? Does it happen in borderless or windowed mode?

All steps taken to resolve the issue:

Could you provide a system report? Simply go to the 'Config' option on the Final Fantasy XIV launcher and to the right of 'System Information' click on 'Display.

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

Hello. Try following:

1. download Hwinfo Portable: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/
2. start it with "Sensors only"
3. Create a log. There are buttons in the bottom of the window.
4. play so for 20 minutes or until the game crashes.
5. upload the log somewhere so i can look into it. You can also zip it if it gets too big.


Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

Hello. Try following:

1. download Hwinfo Portable: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/
2. start it with "Sensors only"
3. Create a log. There are buttons in the bottom of the window.
4. play so for 20 minutes or until the game crashes.
5. upload the log somewhere so i can look into it. You can also zip it if it gets too big.


Cheers

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Didn't get crash with log running but here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uvo...usp=drive_link
It was up while I was doing FRU, I got 2 freezes today within few minutes before I started logging.

For Votraftur:
- This happens very randomly since Dawntrail (never happened before), in first 2 weeks of expansion it happened often in random areas like a dungeon or just alone somewhere in open, even at main menu screen when I launch the game. Since mid-July freeze did not happen until few days ago.
- I only play one character.
- PC is not over heating, everything is running very comfy and stable.
- Did not change anything in PC, I'm minimalist during raid time, running Game (over Steam), Discord, Asus GPU Tweak III, iCUE (keyboard), Logitech G HUB (mouse).
- Happens in both full screen and borderless modes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mudrac

Didn't get crash with log running but here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uvo...usp=drive_link

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Please make the link public. I can not download the file. :)



Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

Please make the link public. I can not download the file. :)



Cheers

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Updated now to public link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uvo...ew?usp=sharing

ty for checking

Just had freeze / crash happen twice within few minutes, I have both logs when it happened:
1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1suR...ew?usp=sharing
2 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fOA...ew?usp=sharing

OK, the log looks good. No overheating or strange voltages. Do you have the newest BIOS installed? Because they write:

"2. Improve compatibility with NVIDIA RTX40 series cards"

You can download the newest BIOS here:
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-co...MING-Z590-PLUS


Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

OK, the log looks good. No overheating or strange voltages. Do you have the newest BIOS installed? Because they write:

"2. Improve compatibility with NVIDIA RTX40 series cards"

You can download the newest BIOS here:
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-co...MING-Z590-PLUS


Cheers

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Thank you I think this may have solved the issue... Did not get freeze for 2 full raids ~8 hours total. Can't know for certain cause its very random but seems good.

I also reinstalled Windows and upgraded to 11 as I was planning to do that anyway but I think BIOS update was the actual fix because before our raids on weekend my static teammate upgraded to same GPU as mine 4070 T-Super and they got same exact freeze as I used to get. Their MB BIOS is also from 2021 as I used to have it and unfortunately doesn't have BIOS update cause its a bit older Motherboard.
So for anyone out there that has issues matching my description in this thread - don't rely on your manufacturer software to tell you if there is a BIOS update because it didn't tell me for months, if Larirawiel did not point it out I would think I was on most recent one. Check manufacturer website, motherboard support page etc. Your BIOS should be from at least late 2022 as I believe updates for Nvidia 40 series GPUs were released around that time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mudrac

Their MB BIOS is also from 2021 as I used to have it and unfortunately doesn't have BIOS update cause its a bit older Motherboard.

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Your teammate should start a thread in the forums too. Maybe the reasons for the crashes are different. Mostly it is too low voltage caused by a very old PSU. Or it is overheating because the thermal paste on the CPU is very old and dried out.



Cheers

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We are glad to hear that the issue appears to have been resolved. If you or anyone else should have any more questions or concerns, please make a new thread in the technical support forums.

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