Game freezing with sound still playing [SOLVED]

[Elaura]

I'm leaving this here for posterity. I've been through searches from specific to Skyrim SE to as broad as GPU and Steam. I've found the issue is caused across AMD and NVIDIA, many different games, many different drivers, but some say just Steam games.
I've been playing and having this issue for over a decade. I may have found a solution.

The rabbit hole led me to MSI Afterburner.  Threads suggested downloading it and *UNDERCLOCKING* the core clock and the memory clock. Some have found success with -25 values, others -200 and -500 respectively. I have found success with -100 in both.
An immediately observable change as that my character was dual wielding Dawn/Duskfang and a mod-added scimitar with no animation. It always looked like I had two scimitars. After changing these values, The correct swords show every time.

With my limited understanding of hardware, I can only guess the Skyrim engine cannot keep up, therefore it freezes the display while the sound continues.

Here are a couple of links which lead me to this solution: Screen freezes but game keeps playing? [SOLVED] ; Game freezes but actually keeps running in the background (frozen screen, but playable and audio hearable)

Here are my specs, for the record:

Spoiler

Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz   3.50 GHz - not overclocked
Installed RAM    16.0 GB
System type    64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
DirectX Version            12.0
Pen and touch    No pen or touch input is available for this display

Memory Type            DDR3
Memory Size            16 GBytes  (2X8GB)
Channels            Dual
Memory Frequency        1066.5 MHz (1:8)
CAS# latency (CL)        9.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD)    11
RAS# Precharge (tRP)        11
Cycle Time (tRAS)        31

GPU          NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
Board Manufacturer    GIGABYTE Technology
Revision        A1
Memory type        GDDR5X (Micron)
Memory size        8 GB
DriverVersion = 31.0.15.2802 (Clean install, direct from NVIDIA release version, no GEForce Experience)
DriverDate = 12/22/2022

Monitor           PHL 276E8V (Philips)
Date    Week 49, Year 2020
Max Resolution        3840 x 2160 @ 59 Hz

No gamepad
No VR

Edition    Windows 10 Home
Version    22H2
Installed on    ‎8/‎28/‎2022
OS build    19045.2486
Experience    Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4190.0

Skyrim SE AE  1.6.640 (PC - Steam)
All CC mods, USSEP, and Unofficial CC mod patch
skse  2.2.3
MO2 2.4.4 (613 plugins 666 with pluginless replacers. Load order provided upon request)
STEP 2.2.2 guide as a base with ENB Light
Loaded on 465GB Partition of  1.3TB HDD (WD Black) with 57% free

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Elaura
Marked [SOLVED]

[Sigurð Stormhand]

To be honest, that sounds like a GPU issue, possibly overheating (which is why underclocking helps).

Unless it's related to absurdly high framerate causing Havoc to go crazy and glitch things.

[Elaura]

3 hours ago, Sigurð Stormhand said:

To be honest, that sounds like a GPU issue, possibly overheating (which is why underclocking helps).

Unless it's related to absurdly high framerate causing Havoc to go crazy and glitch things.

Framerate is locked, but havok is a bit wild in places. CC added dead bodies, mostly.

[lmstearn]

The Skyrim Performance Monitor might be a help pinpointing something.

Profile inspector might help you get some settings right (never used it myself)

I'd also disable any potentially suspect/buggy SKSE mods as well. Good luck!

[Elaura]

3 hours ago, lmstearn said:

The Skyrim Performance Monitor might be a help pinpointing something.

Profile inspector might help you get some settings right (never used it myself)

I'd also disable any potentially suspect/buggy SKSE mods as well. Good luck!

Thank you. I've used them both and been very particular about my SKSE mods and keeping them updated. This is the only consistent fix, though it doesn't yet eliminate the issue. I'm still tweaking the numbers, looking for the sweet spot.

[Sigurð Stormhand]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:25 AM, Elaura said:

Framerate is locked, but havok is a bit wild in places. CC added dead bodies, mostly.

Can I ask what it's locked to - if you're going over 60FPS that could be the issue.

[Elaura]

59

That's what my monitor is set on.

[Sigurð Stormhand]

OK, so I think your GPU may be on the fritz. However, the best thing is probably to soldier on for the moment unless you have a spare GPU to try.

[lmstearn]

If it is some kind of memory fault with the GPU, any of these may pin it down. If so, an option is to replace the 2 X 8 GB GDDR5X sticks on the card, involves soldering, if not for you, the local shop?

There's also fan replacement.

Amazing stuff.

Again, on the subject of approaching EOL, 6-7 years old is too young over this way- 10 years - landfill beckons- and still reluctant to accede. 

[Elaura]

THANK YOU! To both of you. In this economy, who has the money to buy new?  If you can believe it, I've already replaced my MB with one revision upgrade from a refurbisher in China. I'm just not ready to start building a new machine, but ready enough to not go spending on this one. So, time to start looking for new ram for the  GPU. I'm not afraid of soldering. It's the next logical step, really. Replacement fans can't hurt, either.

 

[Elaura]

I will put this in the [SOLVED] category, for now.

This is the problem, as I experienced it:

Wet & Cold Version 2.4.0 IN COMBINATION WITH Survival mode.
The Wet & Cold Anti-freezing patch did not help.
All unofficial patches up to date.

These caused freezes with the background music continuing to play, multiple times an hour regardless of location, weather, and such.

People more knowledgeable than me determined the scripts for the wet-cold-ash effects on the player were the problem. Something to do with polling.
I tested this by disabling Wet & Cold in the MCM and no freezing.
Although it is NOT best practice, I replaced Isoku's version with Wet & Cold Gear mid-playthrough, without doing a "clean save" in between.
At the same time, I removed The Anti-Freezing patch.
To get the wet-cold-ash effects back, I installed R.A.S.S. Rain Ash And Snow Shaders - Wet Frost Cold Dust which uses a different method of applying the effects.

I have had only one freeze since and it was during a magic-heavy fight between multiple followers and enemies.

I believe the reason I got away with doing this mid-playthrough was that Isoku put a full enable/disable function in the MCM and W&C Gear is a true replacement for the original WetandCold.esp
Also RASS is an ESL, and the Anti-freezing patch was flagged as a lite esp. Finally, I put a new mod Wet and Cold - Fur Hoods Fix, which was also a lite esp in the load order where the Anti-freezing patch was.
After a few saves, I cleaned two unattached instances from my savegame via Resaver.

I am sharing this because it might help someone else *before* they start a new playthrough. Naturally, it shouldn't be done the way I did it and I *know* this, but I was many, MANY hours into this playthrough with 757 active mods in my load (and almost 100 more .esp-less mods). The frequent freezes were making it unplayable to the point I was just about to plunk down the cash for a new computer. This was a risk. The author of W&C Gear recommends not switching on a save which already has the original W&C. IFor the record, I use Mod Organizer 2.

Follow me AT YOUR OWN RISK

[Ozumis]

I made an account just to thank you for posting your solution, it was the exact same issue for me, and I was at my wits end trying to figure it out!

Cheers

[Elaura]

On 12/17/2023 at 6:11 AM, Ozumis said:

I made an account just to thank you for posting your solution, it was the exact same issue for me, and I was at my wits end trying to figure it out!

Cheers

Glad to hear!