Witcher 3 crashes constantly
So The Witcher 3 has been crashing constantly ever since I started playing it and I'm having a hard time diagnosing it. I've still played it a fair bit but now I'm at my wits end (playing 10 minutes before a crash is considered good, often it'll crash while loading). I'm pretty sure it's some faulty hardware of mine but I'm not sure to start.
Typically I'll either get an actual error (APPCRASH) or it'll just boot me to desktop with no errors. It can crash at any point (while moving, while playing gwent, while loading and while doing just about nothing).
An APPCRASH always looks like this:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: witcher3.exe
Application Version: 3.0.4.58000
Application Timestamp: 5579b8b9
Fault Module Name: witcher3.exe
Fault Module Version: 3.0.4.58000
Fault Module Timestamp: 5579b8b9
Exception Code: c00000fd
Exception Offset: 0000000000e0f117
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 755c
Additional Information 2: 755c2ef5ca0cfe56d868b4b01f50b3be
Additional Information 3: f44e
Additional Information 4: f44ecf6ab3842bb0e5d8de5a0f380bfc
What I've tried:
- Reinstalling the game.
- Installing the game on another hardrive.
- Updating graphics card drivers.
- Messing around with in-game settings (fps limit, hair works, fullscreen/windowed, lowest graphics, highest graphics, resolution etc).
- Installing via gog galaxy and stand-alone.
- I just formated my entire computer and reinstalled windows and it still crashed within 3 minutes of starting a new game, so I'm pretty sure some hardware is at fault.
- I recently also played through x-com again and this would also crash (but very rarely in comparison to the witcher 3).
I ran memtest a while back and it turned up with no errors. My graphics card is brand new (and I had crashes before I switched it out as well) so I don't /think/ it's responsible but it could be. Considering I've installed it on different HDD's I don't think it's a drive fault either. This leaves either the PSU, the motherboard or the CPU. I ran a CPU test the other day (hot CPU tester, not sure if that's any good or if someone can recommend some other software) and after 6 hours of testing it informed me it found a faulty checksum in some of its calculations, so I'm thinking the CPU could be at fault.
I honestly have no clue how to properly test my motherboard or PSU. Any hints on this would be greatly appreciated because at this point I just can't be bothered playing anything at all.
Best Answer
I can see why there are several posts suspecting it might be your video card overheating... the behavior you describe kind of suggests it... but it might be power settings.
Check the 'Manage 3D Settings' category in the NVIDIA Control Panel and make sure your Power Management Mode is set to Optimal Power. This is the default setting, so its kind of a long shot, but when it comes to troubleshooting, you need to be thorough.
With that 'thorough' concept in mind, test the stability during game play. If you can, find a large group of wolves or nekkers or something... try to cause graphic intensive activity. If it really is overheating, the GPU fan should cause a noticeable sound difference, not to mention the game would crash soon after. This serves the purpose of eliminating the cause more than it attempts to resolve the issue, but if you have overheating hardware, it needs to be addressed immediately.
Here's a final suggestion should your issue persist. Find the game installation folder... which, I think, by default is
C:\Program Files(x86)\The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
and navigate to the bin\config\base folder. Now locate the rendering.ini file and create a copy somewhere... anywhere.
Once you have the file backed up, Right-Click and Edit it. Either use the search function or skim the variables (under the [Rendering] block) until you spot TextureMemoryBudget=500 and increase this to 1024. Save the file, and test out the game again.
Hope this helps. If not, I think the error information needs to be analyzed a little more closely... in an attempt to narrow down and pinpoint a more precise cause.
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Why is my game constantly crashing?
Your \u201ccomputer crashes when playing games\u201d issue may also be caused by system file corruption. You can run System File Checker and see if there're any system files missing or corrupted. If there are any, the sfc /scannow command (System File Checker) will repair them.How do I stop Witcher 3 from freezing?
Set the power management mode to "Prefer maximum performance", the preferred NVida setting is Adaptive but apparently either the game or the cards can't cope with that settings and the screen locks up, specifically so in menus. I did this on my end and it solved all crashes I was experiencing.How do I stop Witcher 3 crashing PS4?
How to Fix The Witcher 3 Crashes on PS4The Witcher 3 - Crashing \u0026 freezing fixed 110%
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Answer 2
Try to "underclock" your GTX 970 with a tool like Nvidia Inspector. You can start with -50Mhz for Base Clock Offset and -200Mhz for Memory Clock Offset. If this would run stable, you can increase the values until Witcher 3 crashes again.
Answer 3
I went through a similar problem.
What I did was turn off the Steam Cloud and in the game made a new save, then deleted all the others. I think some were corrupt.
Answer 4
Turn off in-game V-Sync and use Nvidia Adaptive V-Sync/ Dynamic V-Sync for AMD.
Uncap the Framerate. Set "Maximum Frames Per Second" to "Unlimited." There is no need to limit our framerate and let GPU/CPU power go unused.
Set the Display Mode to "Full Screen" and not on "Borderless Window."
These three simple tweaks can improve the overall stability and make the game more responsive. If you want to use V-Sync, I recommend using Nvidia's Adaptive V-Sync for Nvidia users or Dynamic V-Sync for AMD users (by using Radeon Pro).
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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