PC Kernel-Power Critical error

Conan Exiles PC Discussion
1

Game mode: Online private
Type of issue: Crash
Server type: PvP
Region: [UK]

[Crash Description]
My computer is crashing due to a critical error that crashes my computer although doesn’t courses it to shut down but the screen goes black and shortly after the screen does not detect any input.
this crash occur at random although though a lot of testing it seems to take longer before said crash the lower the graphics settings (still haven’t seen it crash on laptop settings, but does on low)
This error has and does only happy when playing the Conan Exiles though Admittedly modded with these following mods:

mods
mods.jpg1920×1200 647 KB

Furthermore i can’t gather an error message from the game itself as a restart of the computer is needed.
but looking at the error logs of my computer gives me something like this:
bug
bug.PNG1112×1012 69 KB

additionally the computer isn’t really clocked.
clocking
clocking.PNG780×396 303 KB

specs of the computer
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID
Memory: Corsair Dominator DDR4 3400MHz 16GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3, Socket-1151
Disk with game on: Corsair Neutron NX500 400GB PCIe HHHL SS
Power supply: Corsair TX V2 750W PSU

both CPU and GPU is water cooled. factory closed circuits and no component is getting above 65Celsius at any point when monitoring up till the crash. no heat alarms trigger nor heavy fan spin. to suggest any kind of overheating.

I Have currently verified: game, graphics driver, sound driver and system files.
And Reinstalled: graphics drivers.

None else on the server seems to be having these issues.

Crashes seems more prone to happen more often close to players, thralls or player buildings.

I do not yet own any DLCs if that should have any impact at all.

I’ve had this error a couple of times a week before the update and now i have it between every 1-30minutes.

Crash occur even when I’m afk and not touching a single key.
Although other player does move around.

Programs always running in background is: Discord and Stream.

Have only been testing on single-player for a short while, no crash reported, but could be impatience or lack of buildings and thralls.

also tried to reset character bp.

Please provide a step-by-step process of how the bug can be reproduced. The more details you provide us with the easier it will be for us to find and fix the bug:

  1. log on
  2. time passes
  3. crash
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2

Hey @Kateras

Welcome to our community.
Could you try to run the game without mods and see if this issue persists?

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3

Kernel-power describes it well. It means that the computer shuts down unexpected, which is what happens.

4

I have now tested it on a official pvp server and the issue is the same, i have also reinstalled the game fully and still no improvement.

5

I have now also tested it in singleplayer the issue persists there too.

6

Hey @Kateras

We’re gathering information about the game crashing after the update in this thread:

Although in your case it seems it’s more severe, could you answer a few questions to see if we can pinpoint the issue?

  • Is there any big base around you when you crash?
  • Do you have any vaults or crafting stations around?
    Thanks in advance.
7

when crashing on single player there was no building placed in the world at all nor any crafting stations. no crafting actions qued up.

when crashing on multiplayer servers then there is often buildings or thralls near but I’m doubting that they are the course of the issue any more. also no mini vault in sight.

i have however noticed that it tend to crash more when in the southern part of the Map.

Furthermore it does not crash on laptop graphics mode.
However i am getting small odd lag spikes on laptop mode which never happens on other graphic settings but it could be those spikes that normally crashes me or it could also be a fluke.

also seems to crash faster on higher graphics settings.

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8

How odd.
We’ll send note to our team to see if they can replicate these issues in our hardware.
Thanks for the extra information.

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9

At least we know that the issue is related to some graphics features that is changed when running laptop mode. Although this feature might still be present to some degree if it indeed is what courses the hiccups.

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11

Just to let you know, the issue haven’t been fixed yet and the new driver opdates from nvidia haven’t solved it either.

12

Hey @Kateras

We’ve been running some tests trying to replicate your issue but we haven’t had any luck yet. You’ve provided a lot of information already, but just in case there’s anything you think could be helpful for us to try to find the source of that problem don’t hesitate to let us know.

13

well since it works on laptop mode, perhaps you could give me a guide of how to turn on and off some of the config setting that laptop mode changes. should be in a .ini file somewhere yes?

then i might be able to better pinpoint which part of the graphics settings that courses this issue.

14

Are you by any chance enforcing a framerate or setting a framerate (FPS) target via RivaTuner? Click Settings | On-Screen Display, then click More. On the next window RivaTuner Statistics Server, check to see if “Framerate limit” has a value.

Separately, importantly, MSI Afterburner is at build 4.6.x, non-beta. If you can, I suggest updating to this version so that you may access features potentially absent in your beta.

15

i am not using RivaTuner unless conan exile makes me ues it.

16

i can try and update my afterburner but since i’m not clocking it shouldn’t be the issue.

17

MSI Afterburner is a reskinned OEM package containing a product called RivaTuner. It’s the thing that actually does the clocking. By clicking More, you should see this named panel pop out. It’s under here where a framerate limit can be set. FPS limiting and targeting was reported as a potential source of Fatals.

18

i am not getting fatal errors. i am getting kernel-power. meaning whole pc shuts down. but i will look into it anyways if it works it works.

19

My sample machine runs a 960M, and I can get it to hard lock by tuning the FPS to a target number plus some other tweaks. I’m trying to be general about Fatals and locks since hardware can vary, and a mobile user’s experience (my test unit) may vary greatly from the desktop user’s XP. :slight_smile: With locked FPS only, my test machine will crash to Desktop.

20

yes but i was having these issues before i locked my fps. but i’ll look into it.

21

It may well have been set by the system builder without your knowledge. In some OEM cases, the preload packs can have templated settings, so when your PC was integrated this may have been set without even their knowledge. This is one of the reasons I recommended a later version of the software, as it by default unchecks this setting in a new installation.

TLDR: Many system builders in 2015 and 2016 were in a GPU bind due to coin mining pressures, and thus made changes to their templating to incorporate limits into framerates and heat, the rationale being the support cycle in the short term would be more limited, saving cash for the inevitable dip in GPU pricing once bitcoin became untenable via GPU mining. We’ve all benefited from that ebb and flow, although now we’re back in a double bind with coins and tariffs. Therefore hardware will need to last longer, and settings like framerate limiters and heat limiters are proven to extend the life of hardware components individually and the PC as a whole. The only issue arises when one is enforced without the owner’s overclocking in the least.

1 Like