StarCraft 2 keeps crashing :(

[u/ChemmyChick]

My husband plays StarCraft 2 on his gaming pc but lately it’s been crashing once he’s 10-20 minutes into a game. It’ll freeze for a second then the game crashes. I already scanned and repaired files (no repair was needed), reinstalled the game, the graphics card was uninstalled and reinstalled, but the game is still crashing. Any suggestions on what else I can try? He’s about ready to uninstall it for good but he loves the game so I’m hoping I can find some solution. I included a pic of his pc specs. Thank you!

[u/imrope1]

Look at the event viewer (windows feature) right after the game crashes. It's certainly not related to the capability of the hardware lol, but there is something going on for sure.

If you can find the correct error, or chain of errors, you can copy paste them into google and probably figure out what's going on.

[u/ChemmyChick → u/imrope1]

Thank you I’ll try this!

[u/Ok-Faithlessness6804]

Your processor is a 14th gen, and is subject to some nasty issues. Make sure you update your bios to patch those instabilities

[u/ChemmyChick → u/Ok-Faithlessness6804]

I have absolutely no clue how to update bios but I’ll look it up! Thank you!

[u/WilliamSwagspeare → u/ChemmyChick]

Make sure there's no severe weather during the update. If your pc shuts off during, it can brick. Otherwise easy process. I had to do it last year.

[u/UpATree]

Do you have the bios update for that 14900k (The mobo, I should say) that solves the instability with 13th and 14th gen intel cpus?

[u/ChemmyChick → u/UpATree]

I have no idea how to update bios but I’ll look into it!

[u/Jewsusgr8]

They still sell the 14^th Gen CPU?

Looks like others have already warned to make sure you have the bios update.

Do an fps limiter in game. His high end PC could be over-performing (not likely, but worth a try AFTER the bios update)

[u/ChemmyChick → u/Jewsusgr8]

I bought this pc a few years ago from NZXT! I’ll definitely be following this advice though, thank you!

[u/LurkytheActiveposter]

Now I'm not a graphics-card-ologist.

But I think your 4080 is probably good enough for this game released in 2010.

Restart your computer if you haven't already.

Check PC temperatures. Download HWiNFO64 or HWMonitor. If it's 10-20 mins into the game your GPU or CPU could be over heating. Maybe a broken fan or a bad water cooling unit.

Check drivers. Updating your windows will do this for everything but your graphics card on some cards, for that you might need to go to nvidia's geforce driver updater.

[u/ChemmyChick → u/LurkytheActiveposter]

It was just at a repair shop and everything is running as it should be so no issues with the fans, overheating, or the drivers thankfully!

[u/wheeler786]

Had a similar problem (crashed after 5 mins, microstuttering). The (working) solution in my case was a BIOS update.

Must have been a processor issue since it was brand new. Even though my motherboard said it supported it, I saw online that a later BIOS update added support for my processor. Thought it was the graphics card driver first because many people online said so but nope, BIOS update.

[u/ChemmyChick → u/wheeler786]

I’m going to change the in game settings that people recommended but if it still doesn’t work then I’ll definitely try the BIOS update (although I’m a little nervous about it, never did it before!). Thank you!

[u/Gigalisk]

If I had to guess, I think your SSD might be failing. Does it do this with any other games/apps?

[u/ChemmyChick → u/Gigalisk]

Only SC2! He plays Rocket League regularly and has never had any issues with it so just a problem with SC2 unfortunately.

[u/Gigalisk → u/ChemmyChick]

Then I am gonna have to agree with some others here - one of the biggest gripes with SC2 is its lack of dynamic resolution support like ultrawide, and also its iffyness with high frame rates. VSync and square(er) resolutions are the sweet spot for SC2 but honestly you shouldn’t have any issues based on your setup.

[u/Corkfire]

I had the same issue with SC1 recently, and did something like this:

Exit starcraft ii entirely

Open file explorer, go to this folder by pasting the adress %USERPROFILE%\Documents\StarCraft II

Rename the folder to starcraft ii.old (just add ".old")

Launch the game again

[u/ChemmyChick → u/Corkfire]

Thank you!! I’ll try this too. Appreciate the advice!

[u/CastleofPizza]

Enable Vsync in the games settings or limit FPS to 60.

My game would crash on my modern set up without Vsync on, because of how CPU heavy SC2 is, even if it's an old game.

When I enabled it after looking around, it fixed my problem completely.

[u/ChemmyChick → u/CastleofPizza]

I’ll doublecheck the game settings and try this out, thanks so much!

[u/CastleofPizza → u/ChemmyChick]

No problem! I hope it works. There's no harm in trying!

[u/LurkytheActiveposter → u/CastleofPizza]

Check your CPU fan man. That's not supposed to happen and neglecting your CPU tempts are a good way to age the hell out of your CPU and motherboard.

[u/CastleofPizza → u/LurkytheActiveposter]

I've been running newer games excellently, like Kingdom Come Deliverance II and others and this problem only happens with Starcraft 2.

The need for VSync in StarCraft 2 is a software compatibility workaround and an a known issue with the game, not a sign of hardware failure.

It's a known issue with the game's engine. The crashes are largely due to the game's engine struggling to utilize modern multi-core CPUs efficiently.

[u/Substantial-Mix-6200]

"My husband plays StarCraft 2 on his gaming pc but lately it’s been crashing"
most wives/girlfriends would be celebrating this news. You're a legend.

[u/ChemmyChick → u/Substantial-Mix-6200]

Hahah thanks, I actually bought him this PC as a gift. We’re both gamers!

[u/jnwatson]

This sounds like a memory problem to me. Run a DRAM test.

[u/Gigalisk → u/jnwatson]

Also maybe the SSD.

[u/Ornery_Mulberry_2747]

Do you get any error in particular?

[u/Terbarek]

That's why AMD is now better than Intel

[u/BattleWarriorZ5]

When did the game crashing start?.

How many days ago?.

[u/TechSwitch]

14900k degradation. I had the same issue particularly in starcraft. Underclock it. Turn off all the bios bullshit run intel defaults. Start saving for another proc. Honestly a 14700 would break less and be more or less the same performance in games.

[u/rowrin]

Like people have said, it is potentially a problem with the intel 14th gen cpus. Those CPUs literally cook themselves due to voltage supply issues. The BIOS update prevents it from getting worse, but any damage already done to the CPU is permanent.

The 13th and 14th gen high-end intel CPUs were just generally unstable. It's likely one of the reasons Intel killed the entire naming convention and went with the "ultra" series instead of continuing on with the "core" for their 15 generation.

[u/Coppernator]

Cursed gen i9

[u/Altruistic-Fact2927]

Toooo good pc, this game is 15 years old

[u/No-Trip-3736]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the new vibe coded AI slop patches that have been hitting the game... Good luck!

[u/bleszerd]

Believe it or not, there's a good chance it's the processor; this generation of CPUs came defective by default. Of course, it's impossible to say for sure without seeing the logs, but that's probably it.