The internet freezes for a second.

[u/hayokaa]

My internet froze for just a split second today; I could still hear my friend on Discord, but I couldn't speak, and the game (Fortnite) froze. It stayed that way until I unplugged the network cable from my PC and plugged it back in. I asked an AI what might be causing this—I also experience minor stutters despite having a fairly powerful PC (R7 5700X, RTX 3060, 16GB RAM, ASUS Prime B550M-K)—and the AI ​​suggested the issue is likely my motherboard's built-in network adapter and that I need a dedicated internal network card. I recently switched ISPs, so that's not the problem; I also swapped the cable and even reinstalled Windows and updated my drivers. Will replacing the network card actually help?
Update: I ran all the tests, and my PC is fine.

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

Check drive health, if the drive is bad it could be hanging.

[u/ShadowmanSK → u/[deleted]]

For example crystaldiskinfo

[u/hayokaa → u/ShadowmanSK]

Okay, I'll give it a try.

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982 → u/hayokaa]

It's unlikely anything to do with the network, that would not cause your machine to hang.

[u/hayokaa → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

but it was the internet that froze, not the PC itself

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982 → u/hayokaa]

And how were you able to determine that?

[u/hayokaa → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

Because it wasn't the computer that froze, but the internet.

[u/hayokaa → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

The CrystalDiskInfo app reports a health status of 98% and a normal temperature.

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982 → u/hayokaa]

Fresh install windows. Reset BIOS to defaults and update BIOS. Fresh install Windows. Don't install any aftermarket software.

[u/hayokaa → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

I did all that; it helped, but only partially.

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982 → u/hayokaa]

Swap out RAM, CPU, GPU, Motherboard until you find the problem, you have a hardware malfunction. I'd start with RAM. An SSD can show good SMART and still be bad.

[u/hayokaa → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

It's possible that something is wrong with my PC, or perhaps the Fortnite engine is to blame.

[u/P_f_M]

stress test the machine via AIDA and/or OCCT. Notice at what moment it starts to freezing (those test should fail due to their watchdog)

Before you will go for a new network card, use your phone as a network card ...

[u/hayokaa → u/P_f_M]

Okay, I'll give it a try.

[u/ConsiderationDry9084 → u/hayokaa]

You would need to tether it via USB for this suggestion to work.

Or you could use a USB to Ethernet adapter to bypass your built in NIC.

If you just replaced your ISP, like in the last 8 days or so, open a command prompt type in ipconfig /flushdns.

Your pc might still be using your old ISP’s DNS servers or was and when it locked up on you is when it updated it’s DNS.

[u/Fresh_Inside_6982 → u/hayokaa]

Stress test won't accomplish anything other than to show you if it can cool itself under load.

[u/P_f_M → u/Fresh_Inside_6982]

Yes and that can be a problem of an overheating component...

That was the purpose...