Screen Display Freeze / ESO Crash / Computer Freezing - Fixed

Dax

Edit for future people using Google:

What eventually fixed it was underclocking my Videocard -90MHz. I didn't overclock in the first places, so -90MHz from default fixed the problem for me. In my case I used EVGA Precision X1.

I've updated this first post with everything else I tried, none of it made much of a difference at all:

I've recently returned to ESO (not played since 2014), I'm running into an issue where either my screen freezes but the game continues to run (can here the sounds from the game, can keep using abilities/jump etc) or the game just crashes. EDIT 2: This evolved into computer freezes and crashes too!

I would estimate I average 1 crash every 15 minutes or so. I did go almost 2 hours this morning, but then had 3-4 in a short period of time.

This may be anecdotal, but it seems to be more like to happen indoors. It's hard for me to say for sure, since it does also happen outside, but all the times where I crash multiples times in the space of 10 minutes seem to be inside.

I've tired numerous 'fixes' from people who seem to have had the same issue in the past, including:

• Completely reinstalled Windows, was about due so one of the first things I tried.
• My Drivers are all up to date, I use Driver Booster to scan, but also manaully checked several of them.
• Switched ESO to "High Performance" in Nvidia control panel.
• Reinstalled the game a few times.
• Removed all addons, I was only using a handful of them, doesn't make a difference if I have them or not.
• Turned Vsync on/off.
• Tried closing the launcher while playing the game.
• Closed browser while playing.
• Changed startup to only start Windows services, restarted. It's basically a fresh install, so don't have a lot there.
• Tried in Windowed, Fullscreen and Windowed Fullscreen.
• Reduced my graphics settings to min.
• Tried to minimize the game when it happens. doesn't fix it and I have to restart.
• Disabled Discord overlay. Crashed without Discord open at all.
• Steam is closed/not running and I don't have ESO in my Steam library, so I don't think it coule be a Steam overlay issue.
• Deleted and let the game rebuild ShaderCache.Cooked/UserSettings.txt several times.
• Tried the "Repair" option in the launcher a few times.

EDIT 3: Things tried after the intial thread:

• Port forwarded the following: 24100-24131, 24500-24507, 24300-24331, 80-80. 433-433, 27000-27050, 4380-4380.
• Set the launcher/client to run as an administrator.
• Used the GeForce optimization to lower all of my ingame settings to minimum, thankfully that didn't fix it as the blurry mess was quickly hurting my eyes! :P
• With Windows I checked my SSD for faults, none detected.
• I did a few FurMark benchmarks and was right where my card should be. I did a stress test for like 30 minutes, card didn't go above 82°C and didn't experience any drops. If the issue I was having was related to a Hardware fault I would have expected to see the card poop itself during a stress test.
• I tried to run the game and launcher in comptability mode, that didn't make a difference no matter what I tried.
• I installed ESO to a second (potato) computer that let me be logged in without any issue for well over an hour. While not a solution, it does make the minescule chance it's an account issue far less likely. Not only is the computer terrible but I don't often have access to it for playing games so I can't use it in the meantime.
• While I previously changed my "Power management mode" for eso64.exe settings in the NVIDIA control panel to "Prefer maximum performance" and it didn't seem to make a difference, changed my global settlings to "Prefer maximum performance" as well.
• I uninstalled the C++ redistributables and reinstalled the x64 and x86 versions from the link you provided (with the required restarts).
• Installed all other C++ redistributables, this issue has followed me over reformatting my computer so I don't think thse could have been the issue.
• My Windows 10 is up to date (Version 1909 for x64-based systems).
• Used quickcpu to "High Performance", this set my Frequency scaling index and Turbo boost index to 100%.
• I turned off the Windows automatic driver updater. Then I uninstalled everything Nvidia related, including Drivers. I then manually installed the most up to date Driver manually.
• Deleting the ProgramData folder and contents along with all the host.developer.x from C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenimax Online\Launcher after each crash maybe makes things a little better, hard to say. I'll keep doing it anyway just in case.
• Stopped my GPU from keeping a shader cache, was crashing on trying to start the game so I reverted it.
• Changed the "SET GraphicsDriver.7 "D3D11"" in UserSettings to use "D3D12" and "D3D9" didn't make a difference with either and reverted itself.
• Used the windows memory diagnostic tool with a restart, also ran the system file checker. Neither produced any errors.
• Removed all USB connections besides my Mouse and Keyboard (G502 Hero and G910). Also unplugged all monitors besides 2 1080p ones (including my 4k TV).
• Changed my GPU to "Low Latency Mode On", "Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA) On" and "Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimisation On".
• In the short term I disabled UAC entirely, this wouldn't be a "solution" even if it did fix it, doesn't seem to have made a difference though.
• On my second monitor, I have kept Speedfan/Task Manager up during crashes and don't notice any usual spikes in performance/temps when I crash.
• I added ESO to my steam library as a non-Steam product and launched via that. Weirdly I went around 5 hours last night without crashing and I thought it was somehow fixing the problem. However today I seem to be crashing as normal even when launching with Steam.
• Number of other things I likely forgot to mention.
• Number of regedits I wouldn't suggest emulating.
• Reseated everything besides my CPU because I'm too afraid to touch my pump, lol.

Tried several usersettings tweaks, including (not all at the same time):

PreferExclusiveFullscreen from 1 to 0
FULLSCREEN_v5 from 2 to 1
VSYNC from 1 to 0
MinFrameTime.2 from "0.01000000" to "0.01660000"
SET RequestedNumJobThreads "0"
SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads "0"

Specs:

i7-5820K
GTX 980 Ti
32GB DDR4 2133MHz
Windows 10 64bit

---

Please halp! Wont be able to play at all if this continues.

Dax

Following more tips on other threads, today I also:

• Added the game as an exception to my firewall.
• Excluded the folder and contents from my antivirus.
• Set the launcher/client to run as an administrator.
• Used the GeForce optimization to lower all of my ingame settings to minimum, thankfully that didn't fix it as the blurry mess was quickly hurting my eyes! :P

I submitted a ticket and have begun sumbitting the crash reports when I get the option to, hopefully that will help diagnos the problem if I can't find a solution from the community. Judging by other threads however, this may take over a week to get a reply.

Also seems to be happening frequently in towns in addition to inside areas. Happened on my old characters too, so it's not a problem exclusive to my Warden.

ZOS_Bill

@Dax

What is the ticket number that you've opened?

We can check to make sure it is in the right place and being handled correctly.

Dax

ZOS_BillE wrote: »

@Dax

What is the ticket number that you've opened?

We can check to make sure it is in the right place and being handled correctly.

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

Ticket # 200516-007932

Dax

Tried several more things to try and address the problem:

With Windows I checked my SSD for faults, none detected.

I did a few FurMark benchmarks and was right where my card should be. I did a stress test for like 30 minutes, card didn't go above 82°C and didn't experience any drops. If the issue I was having was related to a Hardware fault I would have expected to see the card poop itself during a stress test.

I tried to run the game and launcher in comptability mode, that didn't make a difference no matter what I tried.

I installed ESO to a second (potato) computer that let me be logged in without any issue for well over an hour. While not a solution, it does make the minescule chance it's an account issue far less likely. Not only is the computer terrible but I don't often have access to it for playing games so I can't use it in the meantime.

---

While I previously changed my "Power management mode" for eso64.exe settings in the NVIDIA control panel to "Prefer maximum performance" and it didn't seem to make a difference, changing my global settlings to "Prefer maximum performance" seems to have made the crashes a bit less frequent (though it's too early to say for sure).

I will be able to say with more certainty in tomorrows update.

---

Again, while it could just be 'anecdotal', I feel like there's an increase in the game just freezing my system entirely. I can't CTRL+ALT+DEL/ALT+F4/ALT+TAB out in those situations and have to just power off my system.

ZOS_Bill

@Dax

Thank you for your ticket number. I've sent you a private message with details on your current ticket.

Dax

ZOS_BillE wrote: »

@Dax

Thank you for your ticket number. I've sent you a private message with details on your current ticket.

Thank for the confirmation that everything seems to be in order with my ticket. Hopefully Support will be able to get to it soon!

Have a good one.

Dax

Still no fix, but changing Global "Power management mode" in the NVIDIA control panel to "Prefer maximum performance" has made a difference.

Still crash multiple times per hour on average, but at least it's some progress.

Not had the computer completely lock up/freeze at all today either, so I've not had to restart my computer.

Dax

Still not had the computer completely lock up again, happens disproporionately in towns and when entering a new map.

Dax

I had a ticket responce (only took a week! :P). Here's what it said:

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team. My name is Brian and I will be assisting you today.

I understand that you are having issues with ESO crashing. Can you please go ahead and download the following:

Download and install the latest version of DirectX here.
Download and install the Visual C++ update here.
To ensure there are no issues, you should check that you have all Windows updates installed (using Windows Update), including both therequired and optional updates. After running all of the required updates, please reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. Once you have rebooted your machine, you should check to see if any additional updates are now available. You may need to update and restart your machine multiple times before all updates are installed.
If the issue persist, please reach back out and we will be happy to help.

Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Warm Regards,
Brian
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

Keep an eye on our official Facebook, Twitter, and website for upcoming news about The Elder Scrolls Online, including release-date info:
https://www.facebook.com/ElderScrollsOnline
http://twitter.com/TESOnline
http://elderscrollsonline.com

Here was my reply (still not fixed):

Still having the problem:

I'm using DirectX 12, which I believe is the most up to date version.

I uninstalled the C++ redistributables and reinstalled the x64 and x86 versions from the link you provided (with the required restarts).

My Windows 10 is up to date (Version 1903 for x64-based systems).

None have fixed the issue, sadly. What's next?

I've also been maintaining a thread which includes the other things I've tried: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/527376/screen-display-freeze#latest

When I first reinstalled the redistibutables, had my first computer freeze for a while, not sure if it was related or just bad luck. Not happened again since but I'll include and update after trying to play for another 12 hours or so.

Edit: version 1909, not 1903. Also updated my ticket with the edit.

JanTanhide

Forgive me if I missed some information in your posts. Have you installed the latest motherboard Chipset drivers?

Also, it seems to me that the system is having issues loading multiple threads as you move through game areas. I'm not a programmer but I had similar issues with my computer in ESO long ago.

I also changed to Prefer Max Performance and changed the refresh rate to Highest Available. Also on Vertical Sync I changed it to Fast.

You may want to install Quick CPU and set it to High Performance mode. This will unpark all cores and allow them to load data seamlessly as you move through the game.

You can get Quick CPU here: https://coderbag.com/product/quickcpu

Good luck!

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page for the download link.

Dax

Had another ticket reply:

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team. My name is Leon, and it's my pleasure to assist you today.

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. We are moving you to a specialized team for deeper investigation and further review. We appreciate your patience in this matter.

Thank you for your continued interest and support! If you have any other questions or concerns please feel free to ask.

Warm Regards,

The Elder Scrolls Online Team

Keep an eye on our official Facebook, Twitter, and website for upcoming news about The Elder Scrolls Online, including release-date info:
https://www.facebook.com/ElderScrollsOnline
http://twitter.com/TESOnline
http://elderscrollsonline.com

Following the previous instructions seems to have made the problem worse. Here's the time for the past 6 crashes:

15:02 - Submitted a crash report with Ticket #
15:05 - Computer froze and I had to restart it, no crash report
15:11 - Submitted a crash report with Ticket #
15:15 - Submitted a crash report with Ticket #
15:24 - Computer froze and I had to restart it, no crash report
15:29 - Computer froze and I had to restart it, no crash report

I was hoping to make it to the 12 hour mark before giving an update, but the game is pretty unplayable at this point. I guess I'll just have to wait on support.

Dax

JanTanhide wrote: »

Good luck!

Hey, thanks for the reply!

JanTanhide wrote: »

Have you installed the latest motherboard Chipset drivers?

I checked every hardware driver manually for updates using the windows automatic scan already, just rechecked my chipset drivers and they're all still showing as up to date.

JanTanhide wrote: »

I also changed to Prefer Max Performance and changed the refresh rate to Highest Available. Also on Vertical Sync I changed it to Fast.

I changed Vertical Sync to Fast, not seeing a refresh rate option though, could you help me find it?

JanTanhide wrote: »

You may want to install Quick CPU and set it to High Performance mode. This will unpark all cores and allow them to load data seamlessly as you move through the game.

You can get Quick CPU here: https://coderbag.com/product/quickcpu

Installed, by default all 12 cores were already unparked according to it but I changed the power plan to "High Performance anyway", this set my Frequency scaling index and Turbo boost index to 100%.

---

With your suggested changes (besides the "refresh rate" option), I crashed twice within a 60 seconds of getting ingame.

Any other ideas? Thanks for trying to help!

Dax

I turned off the Windows automatic driver updater. Then I uninstalled everything Nvidia related, including Drivers. I then manually installed the most up to date Driver manually.

This seems to have improved the issue some, back to 1 crash every 30 minutes or so and only had 1 compouter freeze since.

Still no ticket reply from the "specialized team", hopefully they'll have the time soon!

Dax

Just a note that the update did not fix the problem, some people in the Guild I joined suggested it might.

Dax

I set my ESO to "High performance" in the Widnows 10 Graphics performance preference that I didn't even know existed. It didn't fix the problem.

Not sure how much longer I can keep trying to play like this.

Dax

Deleting the ProgramData folder and contents along with all the host.developer.x from C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenimax Online\Launcher after each crash maybe makes things a little better, hard to say. I'll keep doing it anyway just in case.

I opened some extra ports articles have suggested for ESO, while I don't see how it could be related the the problem, I figure it couldn't hurt.

Had my ticket going for 12 days now, is there a way to get faster support?

@ZOS_BillE Could you possibly check that the ticket hasn't been forgotten please?

ZOS_Bill

@Dax

The ticket 200516-007932 is still open and your last response was received. Support should be following up soon on this issue with you.

Dax

Stopped my GPU from keeping a shader cache, was crashing on trying to start the game so I reverted it.

Changed the "SET GraphicsDriver.7 "D3D11"" in UserSettings to use "D3D12" and "D3D9" didn't make a difference with either and reverted itself.

Used the windows memory diagnostic tool with a restart, also ran the system file checker. Neither produced any errors.

---

Removed all USB connections besides my Mouse and Keyboard (G502 Hero and G910). Also unplugged all monitors besides 2 1080p ones (including 4k TV).

Changed my GPU to "Low Latency Mode On", "Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA) On" and "Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimisation On".

I thought something here might have fixed the problem, went around 2 hours without a crash. Sadly started crashing again like usual.

---

I also made a keyboard macro for my ticket number, which should increase my crash report submission speed by 5-10 seconds, I expect this to save me at least an hour a day! :P

Ticket is 2 weeks old without a resolution now, I've been dutifly trying to clear zones, but I don't think I have the willpower to continue much longer.

Dax

Had another ticket update, this time suggested I try things I've already tried on this thread, though I was happy to try them again following their steps exactly:

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team. My name is Jason and I will be assisting you with this matter.

I see you have tried the solutions that were advised and are still having trouble with the game running. Next lets have you check the computer for errors. There's a few ways you can check your computer for errors:

To run SFC Scan - Go to this link here.
To run Chkdisk - run this until no errors show up
Windows 7: Go to this link here for instructions
Windows 8/8.1/10:
Double click on "Computer"
Select the Drive(s) you want to check
Right Click on the drive you have ESO installed on
Select Properties - Tools
Select "Check" at the "Error checking" section
If the system detects that there are errors, you will be asked to check the disk. If no errors are found, you will see the message – "You don’t need to scan this drive." You can, however, choose to check the drive. Click on Scan drive to do so.
To run a Mem-test - <--run this about 6 times
Windows 7: Go to this link here for instructions
Windows 10: In the Start menu, go to All Apps -> Windows Administrative Tools -> Windows Memory Diagnostic
Windows 8: Type memory on the Start screen, choose Settings and then click or tap the search result that says "Diagnose your computer's memory problems"
Windows 8.1: Type memory on the Start screen, type memory and then click or tap "Diagnose your computer's memory problems"

If you have other concerns, feel free to let us know.

Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Warm Regards,
Jason
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

Keep an eye on our official Facebook, Twitter, and website for upcoming news about The Elder Scrolls Online, including release-date info:
https://www.facebook.com/ElderScrollsOnline
http://twitter.com/TESOnline
http://elderscrollsonline.com

Which I replied with:

Thanks for getting back to me! I've tried your suggestions in some capacity already but I ran them again:

I've ran sfc /scannow several times, though never with the DISM.exe first (like your link suggests to do). Even with running it first, "Windows Resource did not find any integrity violations".

Chkdisk hasn't been able to find any problems previously, same result as normal this time, "Windows successfully scanned the drive. No errors were found".

I've only ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic twice previously (and spread out over several days), so I ran it 6x in a row. In my Event Viewer, they each produce two results, Event ID 1201 and 1101, all containing "The Windows Memory Diagnostic tested the computer's memory and detected no errors".

What's next?

Thank you for your time!

Do the crash reports I keep submitted not say what's causing the crashes? Does my providing ticket updates "put me at the back of the queue" like the forms seem to suggest or should I keep this ticket updated moving forward?

---

I previously linked my thread where I'm detailing the steps I've tried (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/527376/screen-display-freeze). Since it's become a bit of a mess here's what I've tried to attempt to resolve this issue:

Completely reinstalled Windows, was about due so one of the first things I tried.

My Drivers are all up to date, I use Driver Booster to scan, but also manaully checked several of them.

Switched ESO to "High Performance" in Nvidia control panel.

Reinstalled the game a few times.

Removed all addons, I was only using a handful of them, doesn't make a difference if I have them or not.

Turned Vsync on/off.

Tried closing the launcher while playing the game.

Closed browser while playing.

Changed startup to only start Windows services, restarted. It's basically a fresh install, so don't have a lot there.

Tried in Windowed, Fullscreen and Windowed Fullscreen.

Reduced my graphics settings to min.

Tried to minimize the game when it happens. doesn't fix it and I have to restart.

Disabled Discord overlay. Crashed without Discord open at all.

Steam is closed/not running and I don't have ESO in my Steam library, so I don't think it coule be a Steam overlay issue.

Deleted and let the game rebuild ShaderCache.Cooked/UserSettings.txt several times.

Tried the "Repair" option in the launcher a few times.

Port forwarded the following: 24100-24131, 24500-24507, 24300-24331, 80-80. 433-433, 27000-27050, 4380-4380.

Set the launcher/client to run as an administrator.

Used the GeForce optimization to lower all of my ingame settings to minimum, thankfully that didn't fix it as the blurry mess was quickly hurting my eyes! :P

With Windows I checked my SSD for faults, none detected.

I did a few FurMark benchmarks and was right where my card should be. I did a stress test for like 30 minutes, card didn't go above 82°C and didn't experience any drops. If the issue I was having was related to a Hardware fault I would have expected to see the card poop itself during a stress test.

I tried to run the game and launcher in comptability mode, that didn't make a difference no matter what I tried.

I installed ESO to a second (potato) computer that let me be logged in without any issue for well over an hour. While not a solution, it does make the minescule chance it's an account issue far less likely. Not only is the computer terrible but I don't often have access to it for playing games so I can't use it in the meantime.

While I previously changed my "Power management mode" for eso64.exe settings in the NVIDIA control panel to "Prefer maximum performance" and it didn't seem to make a difference, changed my global settlings to "Prefer maximum performance" as well.

I uninstalled the C++ redistributables and reinstalled the x64 and x86 versions from the link you provided (with the required restarts).

Installed all other C++ redistributables, this issue has followed me over reformatting my computer so I don't think thse could have been the issue.

My Windows 10 is up to date (Version 1909 for x64-based systems).

Used quickcpu to "High Performance", this set my Frequency scaling index and Turbo boost index to 100%.

I turned off the Windows automatic driver updater. Then I uninstalled everything Nvidia related, including Drivers. I then manually installed the most up to date Driver manually.

Deleting the ProgramData folder and contents along with all the host.developer.x from C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenimax Online\Launcher after each crash maybe makes things a little better, hard to say. I'll keep doing it anyway just in case.

Stopped my GPU from keeping a shader cache, was crashing on trying to start the game so I reverted it.

Changed the "SET GraphicsDriver.7 "D3D11"" in UserSettings to use "D3D12" and "D3D9" didn't make a difference with either and reverted itself.

Used the windows memory diagnostic tool with a restart, also ran the system file checker. Neither produced any errors.

Removed all USB connections besides my Mouse and Keyboard (G502 Hero and G910). Also unplugged all monitors besides 2 1080p ones (including my 4k TV).

Changed my GPU to "Low Latency Mode On", "Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA) On" and "Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimisation On".

In the short term I disabled UAC entirely, this wouldn't be a "solution" even if it did fix it, doesn't seem to have made a difference though.

On my second monitor, I have kept Speedfan/Task Manager up during crashes and don't notice any usual spikes in performance/temps when I crash.

I added ESO to my steam library as a non-Steam product and launched via that. Weirdly I went around 5 hours last night without crashing and I thought it was somehow fixing the problem. However today I seem to be crashing as normal even when launching with Steam.

Number of other things I likely forgot to mention.

---

Worth adding when this first started happening the screen would freeze but the game would continue to run (I could hear myself jumping/attacking still) most of the time. Now that still happens, but the game more often either crashes (I submit the error report with my ticket # when this happens) or freezes my computer and I have to power off/restart. The Crashes freeze my computer around 10-20% of the time I estimate.

Hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, I understand the need to go through the steps.

tl;dr Still no fix, hopefully the next ticket will solve the problem.

Dax

Had another reply, it's being elevated again!

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting the Bethesda Customer Service Team, my name is Justin and I will be trying to help you with your ticket!

Thank you for your detailed recordings of the steps you have taken as this will help us try and decipher the root cause of your issue. Due to the prior steps taken and the nuances of your issue, I am collecting up all the information you have sent us and your account information and sending it to my superiors to delve into.

If you have any further questions or information regarding this issue, please respond directly to this ticket to ensure the proper team is able to see your response.

Thank you for your continued interest and support, if you have further questions or concerns, please contact us back. Stay healthy and have a great rest of your day!

Warm Regards,
Bethesda Customer Support

Keep an eye on our official Facebook, Twitter, and website for upcoming news about Bethesda Softworks games here:

https://www.facebook.com/BethesdaSoftworks
https://twitter.com/bethesda
https://www.bethesda.net

Nice they responded to my last update so fast though.

I'm curious how many levels of support until I end up at the CEO.

Dax

I tried a number of other steps, including reseating components etc, none of them made a difference.

Until I downloaded EVGA Precision X1, with that I underclocked my card -90MHz. Not had a crash in around 15 hours of gameplay, had some texture issues in Western Skyrim randomly, but I don't know if it's related and honestly not frequent enough to bother me.

Note: I didn't overclock to begin with, so -90MHz from default.

I'm considering this problem 'solved' for now, but I'll update this thread again if it starts to happen again.

meneerpeer

When underclocking from stock 'solves' your problem it could be related to your power supply.
FIrst make sure the powresupply wattage is up to spec to your pc. To few wattage and you experience voltage drops or even shutdowns & when you have way to much wattage it won't run efficient and thus generate a lot of heat.

1. make sure all cables are properly connected (loose connectors can be a ***)
2. Make sure you are not using the Molex to 6/8pin converters and try a different rail on your power supply if you have any spare.
3. If you happe to have a spare powersupply, try using that.

If that doesn't fix the issue it might be a faulty gpu, but that's hardly the case in these scenarios

[edited to remove profanity]

Dax

meneerpeer wrote: »

When underclocking from stock 'solves' your problem it could be related to your power supply.
FIrst make sure the powresupply wattage is up to spec to your pc. To few wattage and you experience voltage drops or even shutdowns & when you have way to much wattage it won't run efficient and thus generate a lot of heat.

1. make sure all cables are properly connected (loose connectors can be a ***)
2. Make sure you are not using the Molex to 6/8pin converters and try a different rail on your power supply if you have any spare.
3. If you happe to have a spare powersupply, try using that.

If that doesn't fix the issue it might be a faulty gpu, but that's hardly the case in these scenarios

[edited to remove profanity]

I swapped out the PSU and was still getting the problem. While it could be a hardware problem, I think it's unlikely. It never pooped itself when I stess-tested it and only ever had it happen with ESO.

TheAstaroath

Hi, I'm experiencing exactly the same problem of the game screen either freezing although background music, SFX sounds and character control sounds like running or jumping still operate normally, OR the game outright crashing to desktop.

The freeze started occuring after I installed the February 2021 NVIDIA graphics driver update, was NOT solved after I later installed the latest March 2021 NVIDIA graphics driver update, and still persists. In fact it is so severe that at times the game freezes and/or crashes right at the login screen, to the point where I am completely unable to play ESO at all.

What is odd is that the problem seems to occur ONLY on Windows 10 OS, as I tested running ESO both through my regular C:/ installed Windows 10 OS, and also through a Windows 7 partition that I keep for emergencies, yet the Windows 7 launched ESO normally without problems.

Therefore the core of the problem lies either with the latest NVIDIA drivers being faulty OR with conflicting issues with the Windows 10 OS. Either way, please investigate this asap !

ZOS_Bill

With this discussion now over a year old and the OP having resolved their issue, the thread is now being closed. If you need help on a similar issue, please go ahead and start a new discussion in the support forum.