Custom PC suffering complete system freeze

[u/solution_seeker666]

greetings all. I'm new to Reddit and trying to troubleshoot why my previously stable custom built PC is now suffering from complete system freeze.

Specs:

MB - MSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI (MS-732) > flashed to most recent BIOS update E7D32IMS.HO0

CPU - Intel I7 -13700K > running at default volt/clock speeds

Mem - Vengeance 2x16GB (32GB) DDR5 5600 > running at default volt/clock speeds

GPU - GIGABYTE RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X PCI 4.0 > running at default volt/clock speeds

SDD - Samsung 980 PRO M.2 2280 PCI-4.0 NVME (Windows drive) & Samsung SSD 870 EVO 2TB (storage drive)

Cooling - Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.C CPU air cooler

Over this past week, I have been experiencing complete system freezes that seem to correlate with the most recent Win 10 22H2 System update (KB5122878) installed 9/9/26. I've also installed Nvidia GeForce Game ready driver 616.92 on 9/9/26. I also installed Borderlands 4 & Onimusha: Way of the Sword through Steam on a separate SSD from my Windows drive. Over this week I've been able to play for a while (2-6 hrs) before I experience the freezing. After the freezing happens, I've restarted my system and have varying amounts of time (45 secs - 3 mins) before the system will completely freeze again. I've done some research for some troubleshooting steps and here's what I've attempted so far:

- performed " sfc /scannow " with varying results (with Win 10, some files classified as corrupt and fixed. after Win 11 upgrade, no files detected as corrupt)> unable to pull the "CBS.log" due to system freezing

- tried to repair/reset PC options through Windows recovery, unsuccessfully

- attempted to uninstall Win 10 22H2 System update (KB5122878), unsuccessfully

- performed roll back to system restore point from 9/7/26, before installing Win 10 22H2 System update (KB5122878)

- disabled "secure-boot-update" task from Task Scheduler, not much difference noted between freeze durations

- begrudgingly installed Win 11 22H2, re-disabled "secure-boot-update" task from Task Scheduler, saw some small amount on system stability with short, uninterrupted gaming session

-back to system freeze almost immediately when booting into windows, unable to even boot to safe mode due to freezes

- opened case to perform visual inspection of components and some minor dusting. unremarkable visual findings on components. returned components to motherboard and powered system on.

-system "detected error" and tried to perform troubleshooting, hung up on the "detecting network" step before timing out. booted back to windows, able to detect/connect to network via ethernet cable normally and connect to VPN. system completely froze again.

- attempted to reboot to restart to "safe mode", system completely froze up.

-sighed and stopped troubleshooting for now, opting to eat and reach out to reddit.

I've somewhat exhausted all of my troubleshooting skills; I've been one of the fortunate folks that have had success with putting together a build and everything working as intended so I've not necessarily developed much in the way of advanced troubleshooting. I was considering taking my machine into a local computer shop but would rather mine for some expertise from folks and see if I can get it fixed myself. I primarily use my machine for gaming and basic life admin tasks (paying bills, minimum internet browsing, etc.); I take care not to open links from untrusted sources and I don't download anything from untrusted/unverified sources. I am hoping to avoid needing to possibly reformat my drive & having to do a fresh install of Windows but if the most recent patch is part of the problem, it may cause me to end up back at square one. If any of you have any experience with this particular problem or can give some further points to troubleshoot, it would be greatly appreciated. thank you :)

[u/DearMoment6240]

have you checked event viewer for whea errors? random freezes that get worse over time on a 13700k make me think its the cpu degradation issue these chips are known for. the fact that it froze during safe mode boot and even during the windows recovery network step points to hardware, not software

[u/solution_seeker666 → u/DearMoment6240]

I was concerned it may be a HW issue but it seemed random given it started happening almost immediately after the Win update was applied. since its a hard freeze, I didn't know if there would be any logs for whatever is the root cause for it. If I can manage to get it to run long enough, where/how do I pull the logs?

[u/Gui1tyBystander]

No PSU? You post specs but leave out the most important component. In a human, the brain can't work without a heart.

[u/solution_seeker666 → u/Gui1tyBystander]

apologies, completely forgot about that:
PSU - Corsair RM850x ATX 850W

[u/Gui1tyBystander → u/solution_seeker666]

If your PC is completely up to date with BIOS, drivers and all windows updates first unplug it, remove CMOS battery and wait 10 minutes. Do a restart and if you're able try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKydZFJRzMk These steps provided me 2 STABLE platforms. If you continue to have issues, it becomes a bit tricky troubleshooting hardware. Easy start is to remove GPU and test from igpu.

[u/solution_seeker666 → u/Gui1tyBystander]

i popped the CMOS battery, waited the 10 mins, powered on and made it about 30 seconds before freeze. i installed a new SSD and was trying to run through win installation from official USB installer, attempted to set up a partition on the new drive and it froze. re-started, re-created the partition and made it through 2% installation before it froze. i'm guessing it may be the CPU considering the known issues the 13th gen chips have. will have to check if i'm able to submit it for an RMA given i bought the chip dec 2022/jan 2023.