my pc completely freezes when running apex legends (no BSOD).

PC Specifications:

• Laptop: Acer Nitro AN515-52 / AN15-52
• CPU: Intel Core i5-13420H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU – 6 GB VRAM
• RAM: 8 GB
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home
• Windows Build: 10.0.2600 / Build 26200
• BIOS Version: 1.53
• Power Adapter: Original Acer AC adapter
• UPS: APC 1500 VA UPS
• Physical condition: No physical damage, liquid damage, or known power-surge damage
• GPU configuration: Games are configured to use the NVIDIA RTX 4050

Main Issue:

Apex Legends intermittently causes a complete system freeze, not just a game crash.

When the freeze occurs:

• The entire Windows system becomes unresponsive.
• Audio completely stops.
• My Xbox controller begins searching/reconnecting.
• Win + Ctrl + Shift + B does not recover the system.
• I cannot return to Windows or close the game normally.
• The only way to recover is to force the laptop to shut down using the power button.

The issue previously did not occur with Apex and started after a more recent Apex season/update.

The most significant finding so far is that the crashes appear to be strongly associated with certain very bright visual effects, particularly effects involving:

• Lightning
• Bright flashes
• Rays/light beams
• Very intense lighting effects

The issue can occur even when Apex is running with graphics settings at their minimum.

The visual effect itself is actually rendered on the screen immediately before/during the problem.

This makes me suspect that the issue may involve a specific rendering/shader/driver interaction rather than simply overall GPU load or temperature.

Troubleshooting Already Performed:

• Game / Launcher
• Reinstalled/repaired Easy Anti-Cheat.
• Switched Apex Legends from the EA App to Steam.
• Tested Apex after changing launchers.
• Problem persisted.
• Tested Apex with very low/minimum graphics settings.
• Problem can still occur at minimum settings.

Windows

• Performed a Windows Reset, removing installed software/settings.
• Tested Apex after the Windows reset.
• Problem persisted.
• Checked Windows Event Viewer for errors around the time of the freezes.
• No relevant error clearly identifying the cause was found.
• Tested Win + Ctrl + Shift + B during a freeze.
• The keyboard shortcut did not recover the system.
• Overlays / Performance Software
• Disabled game/application overlays.
• Removed/discontinued NitroSense overclocking settings.
• Tested without GPU/CPU overclocking.
• setup power settings to maximum performance.
• lowered CPU max power to 98% instead of 100% as a test

NVIDIA GPU / Drivers

• Confirmed Apex is using the NVIDIA RTX 4050 rather than the integrated GPU.
• Initially tested NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 616.56.
• Used DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to completely remove the NVIDIA driver.
• Installed an older NVIDIA driver afterward (approximately version 610, dated June 11).
• Tested Apex extensively with the older NVIDIA driver.
• The system freeze still occurred with the older driver. Therefore, the issue does not appear to be specific to NVIDIA driver 616.56.

GPU Stress / Hardware Testing

• Ran a GPU 3D Adaptive test.
• Test range: approximately 20–100% GPU load.
• Load was increased in approximately 5% increments.
• Each increment was tested for approximately 30 seconds.
• Total test duration: approximately 15 minutes.
• Result: No errors or crashes.
• Ran a GPU VRAM test.

VRAM utilization: approximately 80%.

Test duration: approximately 15 minutes.

Result: No errors or crashes.

During testing, the approximate temperatures observed were:

CPU: 87°C

GPU: 60°C

System: 50°C

RAM: 86.7°C

The GPU temperature remained around 60°C during the relevant testing and did not appear to be overheating.