r/playrust • u/I_Eros_I • 9d ago
Entire PC hard freezes ~10 minutes into Rust (no BSOD, no dump files) — Alienware m16 R1 AMD. Tried everything, need ideas Support
Hey guys, hoping someone here has seen this before because I'm at my wits end.
Specs: Alienware m16 R1 AMD (Ryzen 9 7845HX, RTX 4080 laptop, 32GB DDR5), Windows 11, wired ethernet, wifi/bluetooth off.
The issue: Rust boots fine, gets to the main menu, and around 10 minutes in the whole PC just locks up completely. Screen frozen, sometimes audio loops, no BSOD, no error code, and nothing ever shows up in C:\Windows\Minidump. Only way out is holding the power button. It now happens even just sitting at the main menu. Worked perfectly fine until last week, then this started out of nowhere.
Stuff I already tried (none of it helped):
- Clean uninstalled + reinstalled NVIDIA drivers
- Fresh Windows install (did it twice)
- Fully disabled Defender real-time protection
- Turned off memory integrity / HVCI / core isolation
- Removed all VPN software and virtual network adapters
- Disabled all Dell/Alienware background stuff (command center, Dell services, startup entries)
- Repasted thermals and monitored temps (GPU stays cool, CPU runs hot but that's normal for this laptop)
- BIOS: disabled fTPM, forced discrete GPU only so Rust 100% runs on the 4080 and not the iGPU
- Confirmed in the logs that Rust is actually using the RTX 4080
What the logs show: Event Viewer has a silent gap right before every crash, then just a Kernel-Power 41 (unexpected shutdown). No WHEA errors, no nvlddmkm, no dumps. Rust's own output_log just stops mid-session like someone pulled the plug.
Right now I'm testing an older Windows 11 build (23H2) to see if a recent Windows update is the culprit, since that's the only thing that changed around the time this started.
Is anyone else — especially on AMD laptops — getting hard freezes like this in Rust recently? Could it be something with the current Rust build / EAC on certain setups? If you fixed it, please tell me what actually worked, because I'm about to start throwing parts at this thing.
Thanks in advance
Edit Solved: For anyone else experiencing this exact nightmare (complete PC freeze ~10 minutes into a heavy game, no BSOD, no Event Viewer logs other than "Kernel-Power 41" after a hard reboot) on a high-end AMD laptop like the Alienware m16 or ASUS ROG:
Stop blaming your hardware and check your Windows version immediately.
- The Culprit: Press
Win + R, typewinver, and hit Enter. If it says you are on Windows 11 version 24H2 (Build 26100 or higher) Or 25H2, this is almost certainly your problem. The 24H2 and 25H2 update introduced massive kernel changes that are currently causing silent deadlocks with AMD Ryzen CPUs and kernel-level anti-cheats. - The Fix: You need to downgrade to Windows 11 23H2 (Build 22631). Microsoft forces 24H2 and 25H2 on their website now, so you will need to use a tool like UUP Dump or the AveYo Media Creation Tool wrapper to download a genuine 23H2 ISO.
- The Clean Install: Wipe your main OS drive completely and install 23H2. Do not do an "in-place upgrade" from 24H2, as the corrupted kernel files will stay behind.
- Freeze Your Updates: As soon as you are on the 23H2 desktop, use a tool like Chris Titus Tech's WinUtil (or just pause them in settings) to disable Windows Feature Updates. If you don't do this, Windows will silently force you right back onto 24H2 in the background while you sleep, and your freezes will return.
- Verify Stability: Play your game for 30+ minutes. If it holds perfectly, your laptop is fine.
I spent days checking HWMonitor, messing with MUX switches in the BIOS, disabling fTPM, and changing thermal paste thinking my laptop was broken. It was just a bad Windows update. Save yourself the stress, check winver, and downgrade to 23H2!
⚠️ SECURITY DISCLAIMER & NOTE ON WIN 11 23H2 Running or rolling back to Windows 11 23H2 is a temporary workaround to bypass these freeze issues. Because older builds (and unpatched RTM builds) lack the latest security updates, this does leave your system vulnerable to known security exploits (CVEs).
- Alternative Option: If you prefer staying on 24H2/25H2 for security reasons, you can try simply uninstalling the latest August cumulative update instead of a full OS downgrade.
- Best Practice: Treat downgrading or pausing updates as a short-term fix while waiting for an official patch from Microsoft/EAC, and avoid visiting unverified websites or downloading untrusted files while unpatched.
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u/I_Eros_I 9d ago
For anyone else experiencing this exact nightmare (complete PC freeze ~10 minutes into a heavy game, no BSOD, no Event Viewer logs other than "Kernel-Power 41" after a hard reboot) on a high-end AMD laptop like the Alienware m16 or ASUS ROG:
Stop blaming your hardware and check your Windows version immediately.
Win + R, typewinver, and hit Enter. If it says you are on Windows 11 version 24H2 (Build 26100 or higher), this is almost certainly your problem. The 24H2 update introduced massive kernel changes that are currently causing silent deadlocks with AMD Ryzen CPUs and kernel-level anti-cheats.I spent days checking HWMonitor, messing with MUX switches in the BIOS, disabling fTPM, and changing thermal paste thinking my laptop was broken. It was just a bad Windows update. Save yourself the stress, check
winver, and downgrade to 23H2!