Hard crash at random times

[Demon_Giri]

Buying them at the same time still doesn't necessarily guarantee that. You usually want to buy them as one pack for that.

Also, I could be wrong here, but I think motherboard QVL listings are meant exclusively. Meaning, the QVL has the 32GBx2 confirmed on the list, but hasn't necessarily confirmed that using two of those sets is stable/supported. Yes, the motherboard's maximum capacity and speed are above that, but these days I wouldn't personally put a lot of trust in just that alone.

That said, they could be fine together, regardless. There's nothing saying they're for-sure problematic, even in different packs.

Again, I fully understand that I'm suggesting there's instability with hardware that has otherwise been fine in literally everything else, and I might not even be looking in the right place for your particular situation here, but I do know that FFXIV's sensitivity is pretty high, so the only reason I even suggest these things or put in this time is with the goal of YOU being able to play FFXIV in mind. If you wanted to just quit FFXIV or stop playing until MAYBE they fix it, then I'd say don't bother trying to dig into it, but I just did this for a friend of mine who basically only plays FFXIV, so "just don't play your favorite game" wasn't really an option, and waiting around for SE seems like a huge gamble to me.

If you're willing, I'd say it's worth trying the game with only two sticks installed in dual channel. Since you said you didn't mess with most of the BIOS settings, I don't imagine they're XMP'd by default, so they're probably running at 4800. With that in mind, they should be pretty stable at their speed, but there's still a small chance the motherboard doesn't like being in quad channel with them, or that they don't quite like eachother, despite seeming fine otherwise. Even if you'd bought them all in a pack, modern hardware in the last few years hasn't been super dependable with quad stick configurations. It might be worth trying unless you have better ideas.

Might not fix it. Can't give any guarantees there, but it's a relatively quick and easy change to make just to try.

[Demon_Giri]

With the RAM coming back clean, I'd suggest trying the game with just two sticks in their appropriate dual-channel slots just to be sure the quad isn't being weird. Should be A2 and B2 on your motherboard. Might not yield any success, but would provide some near-perfect confirmation that there's nothing weird going on with the memory and XIV. Honestly, even just one stick of 32GB is enough capacity to run FFXIV, so if you really want to be sure, I'd say just do one.

With random FFXIV crashing, I don't necessarily suspect your CPU being an issue, but if you want to go ahead with the CPU changes anyway, here's what I would do with your system configuration:

Advanced > Tweaker
- Intel Default Settings = Performance (You'll get a confirmation/warning about disabling this. Intel's defaults are honestly a little high, to be honest)
- Gigabyte Perfdrive = Spec Enhance (This automatically adjusts some small things based on the cooling in your system)
- CPU Vcore= Normal
- Dynamic Vcore(DVID) = -0.05V (Here's the undervolt, and -0.05v is pretty conservative. Just make sure you select the negative one. People who really want to push their system usually do more than this, but this is a more conservative UV that works perfectly fine on the vast majority of systems. Personally, I've only bothered to do this with the 14700K and a separate build that had an i9-13900K, since the latter gets very hot).
- Advanced CPU Settings > Turbo Power Limits = Enabled
- Package Power Limit 1 - TDP = 125W (This is a long-duration power limit)
- Package Power Limit 2 - TDP = 253W (This is short-duration power limit; by default, short-duration is usually defined as less than 10 seconds)

All of the above changes are pretty conservative/safe, and shouldn't really have any effect on your overall lifespan.

Lastly, while not necessarily stability related, I'd recommend turning on Rebar support while you're in the BIOS. You can find it on the "easy" mode/front page of the BIOS as a little toggle switch toward the bottom. It should help performance in gaming overall. It basically allows the CPU and GPU more efficient data transfer. You can read more on it here if you're interested https://www.intel.com/content/www/us.../graphics.html

Even if you don't desire to do any of the aforementioned BIOS changes, I'd still at least try running your game with only one or two RAM sticks installed. It may not be the problem, but it's worth a try, in my opinion. Again, I understand the frustration that likely comes from me (and/or others) suggesting hardware solutions to a problem that screams software problem, especially if stuff is coming back clean. I'm not here to waste your time and I promise you I'm listening. I'm just trying to offer what I can to get you back on the game.

If you do everything I've said so far and it still doesn't resolve the issue, then I unfortunately will be out of suggestions, and apologize for being unsuccessful in helping you fix it. Hopefully Square will acknowledge and address it and have some kind of patch for us.

Best of luck and hope to see you back on the 14th,
Giri

[Tuchkin]

Try enter BIOS and in CPU profile section (or some similar name, i have ASUS MB, non Gigabyte) set all parameters to DEFAULT or INTEL recommended. DO NOT overclock or use "perfomance enchanced" profiles.
Enable Hyper treading for P-cores (this important!), set all power supply to DEFAULT (not + nor -). Then completly black out PC and start again.

[Demon_Giri]

No offense, but you're suggesting they do what they were already doing.

[ThetaCoder]

Ok, well did a quick check. The Intel default was at Performance. I only enabled reBAR support for now.

Got in a 2.5 hour session before it finally blew up and crashed again. Going to try again and see if it stays at a longer period or if it still randomizes all over hades.

And Tuchkin, as I stated in all the previous posts, EVERYTHING in the BIOS was at default, no OC at all, except for the fan curves which were set to ramp up sooner.

[ThetaCoder]

More testing updates.

A friend happened to have a full set of 4 stick RAM that was QVL approved for m board, so we traded RAM. Another 4 4 hours in memtest, RAM is good. Turned on XMP, it took, turned on reBAR, no issues.

Game still crashed.

Went in and set the Dynamic VID to -.05V, game still crashes.

Turned OFF the Intel Default Performance settings, set the PerfDrive to Spec Enhance

Machine gets caught in a BSOD loop. So, turned the Intel settings back on, perfDrive back to Optimized and on Monday I'll re-engage with Intel and with Gigabyte to see if this behavior is a board/cpu issue.

My guess at this point is what ever 'system instability' exists is so small that only something written very very poorly, or ultra precise would be bothered by it. And since SE is not sending people to the moon, I don't think it's the latter.

And before anyone says 'see its your system fault, not the game' remember that FF14 is the ONLY thing being affected, so whatever the root cause is is so tiny that Windows, Adobe, Unreal, and everything , EVERYTHING else ignores it. It's nothing that pops up in any logs, or causes any issues with other software. I have stated hat if even one other piece of software had issues I would accept it was something with the box.

But we shall see.

[Demon_Giri]

You could also try just applying the power limits I mentioned, without undervolting. I read a few things about the 13 and 14th generation, specifically in relation to FFXIV, noting crashes due to cores jumping drastically at certain times, and some people found relief from crashes with the power limits and turning the core multiplier down by like one multiple.

I hear you about the RAM and the note that your system is fine in literally everything else with zero symptoms. This was (almost) the case for me, and even in my case where I did actually manage to find an error, I probably wouldn't have gone looking if it wasn't for FFXIV, and I don't know that it would have ever mattered left unchanged otherwise. My aforementioned suggestion won't hurt you or your parts any, if you wanna give it a swing just to test, other than some of your time and effort.

Sincerest apologies that I couldn't help you further and I hope you manage to get it figured out. I wish I could put any amount of faith in SE that they'll fix the issue on their end.

Regards,
Giri

[Bastaklis]

Personally, being that you've tried so much already, the next thing that I would do would be to move everything from one of your SSDs (F: looks to have the least on it) into a temporary folder on either another SSD or onto H:. Do a fresh Windows install on that drive. Install only Windows updates, necessary drivers, and FFXIV. Test. If THAT crashes, THEN you seriously look at hardware and I'd probably start with making sure the PSU wattage is enough and is consistent (I don't think PSU was ever even mentioned in this thread), as well as removing the soundcard and any additional drives to test without them. Or playing around with more underclocking/volting.

Although, there are a few simple things to try - some of which you might've already tried and some you might not have. I would personally exhaust them for the sake of brevity even if some might be grasping at straws. Not in any particular order - numbered for legibility, scored with *:

1. *****
Check Windows Event Viewer when crashes occur to see if there are any errors in Windows Logs > Application (and System) like actually faulting .dlls.

2. *****
Physically unplug the second monitor and see if crashing persists with only one monitor plugged in.
If it does crash, crap.
If it doesn't - Try setting both monitors to the same refresh rate. Try setting both monitors to the same resolution. Try disabling Gsync if you're using it, especially if only one monitor supports it.

3. *
Try setting your Windows Power Plan to High Performance.

4. **
Try switching to/from FSR and DLSS in game. Try FSR 100%.
Try using the Nvidia App to force latest DLSS and use DLAA for FFXIV.

5. *
Try disabling (or enabling, but that should be default) Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling in Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings

6. ***
In - Settings > System > Sound
Advanced - More Sound Settings
Right click and disable anything using NVIDIA High Definition Audio in both the 'Playback' and 'Recording' tabs.

7. **
In Nvidia Control Panel - Display > Adjust Desktop Size and Position
Set 'Perform Scaling On:' to GPU and checkmark Override scaling set by games and programs. For one or both monitors.

8. *
In Nvidia Control Panel - Display > Change Resolution - '3. Apply the following settings.'
Try a lower color depth.

[ThetaCoder]

Thansk for the reply.

Had a good day, 4 hour session, no crash, then today, 2 crashes.....

The PSU is a 1200W Seasonic unit, and the PC is connected to an 1800VA battery backup unit.

The entire OS was re-installed when I had to move the game to C so SE could give me more BS excuses, so it is a clean load. Yeah, Event viewer was the first place I looked, but there is nothing there out of the ordinary across any of the logs.

I tried the one monitor, setting them for same resolution and refresh, and don't get me started on GSync, monitor says it's supported, NVidia says it's supported, but it refuses to activate, even in single monitor setup.

High performance is my default power setup.

FSR/DLSS were things I tried earlier, as it is right now, the game is on potato level. I never installed the Nvidia HD Audio drivers to begin with

In reaching out to Intel, they are going to replace my CPU as a precaution, but they too admit this seems more like really really poor coding if everything else, even the OS is fine, and it's only 1 program having fits.

[Mireille_Bouquet]

I tried the one monitor, setting them for same resolution and refresh, and don't get me started on GSync, monitor says it's supported, NVidia says it's supported, but it refuses to activate, even in single monitor setup.

The cable and port used on the video card and monitor can do this.
Use Display Port (not HDMI), use a very high quality DP cable (not a bundle cable provided with the card or monitor) that is rated for DP 1.4 or higher, and make sure in the event of there are multi-DP ports on the card and/or monitor(s) that you are using a port that is at minimum DP 1.4 or higher.
If the cable length is over 10 feet, make sure to go up in grade to even higher than recommended.

DP can handle the nVidia G-Sync systems (DP 1.4 and higher for anything over 120hz/FPS).
HDMI can't handle it correctly for nVidia, but does work with AMD FreeSync.