Random black screens/freezes while gaming after upgrading PC

Hardware

I'm at a loss trying to figure this out.

Recently I upgraded my GPU, SSD, motherboard, and added 2 more RAM sticks. I've using it for a month straight and ever since then I've been getting random black screens and freezes.

When I was using my RTX 3070 Ti, games would sometimes crash within a few minutes. Sometimes the whole PC would freeze, and other times the screen would go black while I could still hear music or but not the game and I could even pause my music.

What's weird is that it can also happen while browsing, just much less often. There was even a period where everything worked perfectly for 2 days before the problem came back.

I swapped the 3070 Ti for my old GTX 1080 thinking the GPU was the issue. The crashes became less frequent, but they still happen. Sometimes I can play for 2 hours or 1 hour with no issues, other times it crashes after a few matches.

I've already:

* Updated BIOS
* Upgraded to Windows 11
* Used DDU and clean installed drivers
* Kept everything at stock settings

At this point I don't know if this is a hardware or software issue.

Specs:

* CPU: i7-12700K
* Cooler: Corsair H115i
* GPU: GTX 1080 (previously RTX 3070 Ti)
* RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200MHz (4 sticks, XMP enabled)
* SSD: Inland QN450 1TB
* Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-PLUS WiFi D4
* PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B 750W

Any ideas on what I should do next ? I'll answer any questions you guys have any help is appreciated thank you.

Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:11 PM UTC

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