Fixing a freezing/bsod'ing pc

[Bagerklestyne]

Trying to diagnose my pc's BSOD's and random full freeze (needs the reset switch to reboot)
Asus X370 Crosshair Hero 6
Ryzen 5 3600
2x 8 gig Corsair Vengeance cl16 @ 3200
Samsung 512gig 960 EVO
Powercolor Radeon 6800XT Red Dragon

Computer BSOD's (with different messages, kernal, tcpip, irq, stack buffer overflow etc, not a consistent one) and nothing I can find other than failed to shutdown correctly in the windows reliability monitor when it freezes.

I have -
Uninstalled all software I don't need
Run registry cleaners like ccleaner
DDU'd the video card drivers
Run OCCT to check the video ram on the card
Run memtest to check the system ram
Used scandisk on the boot drive
Used SFC to check the windows files integrity
Used DISM for the same thing
Used media creation tool and totally refreshed the windows install

Anyone got any suggestions on troubleshooting I haven't tried, or alternatively a resource I can use to repair/eliminate each bsod type as it comes up...

I'm stumped and it's a 50:50 some days as to whether I turn it off or put in the the street and hope a truck flattens it.

I have an upgrade path coming but financial resources and the fact one part isn't out yet (the motherboard supposedly hits the shelves next month) is preventing me from simply just pulling the trigger on upgrades.

 

[eidairaman1]

Gtfo of corsair vengeance ram

And what power supply are you using, be very detailed on it

 

[Bagerklestyne]

It's a Corsair TX850M (to be fair, not sure what's its certification is bronze etc)

edit - I mem tested the ram with multiple passes to though

 

[wNotyarD]

It's a Corsair TX850M (to be fair, not sure what's its certification is bronze etc)

edit - I mem tested the ram with multiple passes to though

Corsair? Your specs list Antec.

PSU notwithstanding, is the bios on your CF6 up-to-date? And did you test your rig with XMP disabled?

 

[3x0]

Zip and upload a few recent dmp files from C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports

Which memtest did you run?

 

[neatfeatguy]

It's a Corsair TX850M (to be fair, not sure what's its certification is bronze etc)

edit - I mem tested the ram with multiple passes to though

It's been kind of an industry wide (unofficial) acknowledgement that Corsair RAM tended to be problematic with Ryzen CPUs. I'm not saying that's the case for you, but that's just what has happened to people before. Once they got off the Corsair RAM and to another brand issues went away. Just something to keep in mind.

A couple ideas to keep in mind for TSing:
1) test a single RAM stick by itself. See if the problem persists when only using a single stick of RAM (test both sticks this way).
2) could be SSD issue. if you have a spare drive, never hurts to see if the system runs without crashing on a different drive with the OS on it.

 

[Frick]

Downclock the memory.

 

[wNotyarD]

It's been kind of an industry wide (unofficial) acknowledgement that Corsair RAM tended to be problematic with Ryzen CPUs. I'm not saying that's the case for you, but that's just what has happened to people before. Once they got off the Corsair RAM and to another brand issues went away. Just something to keep in mind.

Only with Vengeances. Dominators always played nicely.

 

[An0maly_76]

Gtfo of corsair vengeance ram

And what power supply are you using, be very detailed on it

Agreed. Had a few Ryzens now that were very funny about RAM, and seen a lot of folks with issues that went away after dumping Corsair RAM. Not sure if it's a board / chipset or processor thing, but I have found that the QVLs for AMD boards are not to be taken lightly.

My 5900X, for example, started with no video every 8-12 cold boots and would freeze in sleep mode, among other things. RMA'd the board, to no avail.

Having been told that Ballistix were the best RAM for Ryzen, I blindly went with Crucial Ballistix, but this is not entirely accurate. Turns out the RAM I used (another set of the same SKU I upgraded my 1700 with) was actually optimized for Intel Coffee Lake. Checked the QVL for my Asus Tuf B550-PLUS and the MSI B450M Bazooka my 1700 is on, and turns out neither board lists that SKU (my 1700 was acting like it was on crack after this upgrade, which included a GPU and M.2 - the 1700 didn't even support 3200 Mhz). I selected a Patriot Viper kit for the 5900X and it stopped starting with no video, but would still freeze in sleep mode. I've since found my Corsair Commander / iCUE seemed to be fighting with the Asus Armoury Crate software for RGB control.

But I digress. AMD boards just seem to be really picky about RAM, and they will give you hell if you don't pay attention to that.

As @Frick said, you can try downclocking the memory. I believe I've solved the freezing in sleep mode by running my 3200 at the base 2400 clock. Doesn't seem to hurt performance.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

Thanks for the 411 on the memory
it was boring old memtest86

I swapped PSU's and didn't update my spec bio

Ran the most recent bios (rolled back one revision but that didn't help the stability)

I can't bitch about the life of the ram, I've had it since I bought my 1600 so it's aging.

Weirdly, the system only freezes during games most of the time (but low stress shit like esports)

And the BSOD's only tend to show when the computer is idle or just youtubing some.

I dunno, maybe into the street is a good idea...

 

[3x0]

Zip and upload a few recent dmp files from C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports please

 

[Bagerklestyne]

Literally nothing in the folder (other than other folders) and the windows.old from the refresh I did last night is empty as well.

If I get anything I'll be sure and up it.

 

[3x0]

Ah, ok, check the subfolders as well when another crash occurs.

 

[eidairaman1]

Agreed. Had a few Ryzens now that were very funny about RAM, and seen a lot of folks with issues that went away after dumping Corsair RAM. Not sure if it's a board / chipset or processor thing, but I have found that the QVLs for AMD boards are not to be taken lightly.

My 5900X, for example, started with no video every 8-12 cold boots and would freeze in sleep mode, among other things. RMA'd the board, to no avail.

Having been told that Ballistix were the best RAM for Ryzen, I blindly went with Crucial Ballistix, but this is not entirely accurate. Turns out the RAM I used (another set of the same SKU I upgraded my 1700 with) was actually optimized for Intel Coffee Lake. Checked the QVL for my Asus Tuf B550-PLUS and the MSI B450M Bazooka my 1700 is on, and turns out neither board lists that SKU (my 1700 was acting like it was on crack after this upgrade, which included a GPU and M.2 - the 1700 didn't even support 3200 Mhz). I selected a Patriot Viper kit for the 5900X and it stopped starting with no video, but would still freeze in sleep mode. I've since found my Corsair Commander / iCUE seemed to be fighting with the Asus Armoury Crate software for RGB control.

But I digress. AMD boards just seem to be really picky about RAM, and they will give you hell if you don't pay attention to that.

As @Frick said, you can try downclocking the memory. I believe I've solved the freezing in sleep mode by running my 3200 at the base 2400 clock. Doesn't seem to hurt performance.

Now see I built a Ry7 5800 Dec 2021 with an AsRock B550 Steel Legend and 32GB Kit of Crucial Ballistix Gaming Red 3600 and it worked right out of the box, no bios update either.

Literally nothing in the folder (other than other folders) and the windows.old from the refresh I did last night is empty as well.

If I get anything I'll be sure and up it.

Try this

Download BlueScreenView

BlueScreenView is a fantastic, free, portable application that allows you to easily view minidump files that are created when Windows stops and displays a

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[neatfeatguy]

Now see I built a Ry7 5800 Dec 2021 with an AsRock B550 Steel Legend and 32GB Kit of Crucial Ballistix Gaming Red 3600 and it worked right out of the box, no bios update either.


Try this

Download BlueScreenView

BlueScreenView is a fantastic, free, portable application that allows you to easily view minidump files that are created when Windows stops and displays a

www.bleepingcomputer.com

I've had it where I've had to turn on Windows to create dmp files before, it could be why he hasn't seen any. It might be something OP wants to check.

 

[An0maly_76]

Now see I built a Ry7 5800 Dec 2021 with an AsRock B550 Steel Legend and 32GB Kit of Crucial Ballistix Gaming Red 3600 and it worked right out of the box, no bios update either.

As I mentioned, this particular Ballistix kit was 'optimized' for Intel, not AMD. Also, I've seen several Ryzen builds with the same SKU I used that had similar issues. When my 5900X was driving me crazy as mentioned, I got an AsRock B450M-HDV board and an eBay 3600X to test the other components, as I suspected a conflict if the board was okay. Had issues with a single DIMM, and swapping it for the other replicated the no-video POST. BOOM. Obviously it was the RAM, or at least one stick of it. Interestingly, both kits of the same first SKU would show different clock speeds in BIOS. That should have been my first clue.

Interestingly, memtest86 showed they were both good (on both systems), but the ASRock B450 board's QVL did list a 3600 Ballistix kit, which I obtained and installed. No further problems. When my Tuf B550 was returned "could not duplicate issue", I sourced a Blackout 4 version of the Patriot Viper Steel kit listed in the B550's QVL. The no-video starts went away. I've also had to run the base 2400 clock instead of the 3200 (still have yet to figure that one out).

I chalk it up to Ryzens and supporting boards just being very fussy about RAM, thus I recommend anyone with stability issues with a Ryzen check their RAM SKU against the board's QVL and its speed against what the processor supports. And I've seen a lot of folks have stability issues using certain Corsair DIMMs with Ryzen. My guess would be the SKU they have is not on the board's QVL.

Building with Ryzens, to me, are much like trying to work on or hop up a Ford. If you don't have just the right part, it's not going to be happy, if it works at all. Example, friend of mine swapped a transmission from a 97 Interceptor into a 96 Interceptor. Didn't shift right, and burned up in thirty days because the electronics were different.

 

[wNotyarD]

There are times I thank the heavens for my luck. My Dominator SKU isn't listed on Gigabyte's QVL for my X470 board, but it never gave me issues with the 2700 I had then, even less so now with the 5600X.

 

[An0maly_76]

There are times I thank the heavens for my luck. My Dominator SKU isn't listed on Gigabyte's QVL for my X470 board, but it never gave me issues with the 2700 I had then, even less so now with the 5600X.

Interesting that you mention this. I wonder if this might be a B-board thing that the X-series don't have problems with.

 

[wNotyarD]

Interesting that you mention this. I wonder if this might be a B-board thing that the X-series don't have problems with.

Wouldn't bet on it. Isn't the memory controller located on the Ryzens themselves? I do think I've read of people with X470 and especially X370 having RAM issues.
Though, it may help that the Aorus G7 is a beast of an X470 board.

 

[An0maly_76]

Wouldn't bet on it. Isn't the memory controller located on the Ryzens themselves? I do think I've read of people with X470 and especially X370 having RAM issues.
Though, it may help that the Aorus G7 is a beast of an X470 board.

That may be, but wouldn't that mean the same DIMMs would be recommended for any compatible board with a given processor series? Because looking at Gigabyte, ASRock, Asus, and MSI variants, they all recommend different kits. Very few recommend the same ones. The IMC would certainly be a determining factor, but apparently the board is something of a factor also.

 

[wNotyarD]

That may be, but wouldn't that mean the same DIMMs would be recommended for any compatible board with a given processor series? Because looking at Gigabyte, ASRock, Asus, and MSI variants, they all recommend different kits. Very few recommend the same ones. The IMC would certainly be a determining factor, but apparently the board is something of a factor also.

Traces, planes and layer design may come at play, that's very true. And that may be the reason my G7 just works, it is one of the most over-engineered X470 boards.
Well-built that it is, though, it should be inferior to many B550 and X570 boards. And there are issues with 500-series chipsets as well.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

Ok, 2 more crashes and every folder in the livekernalreports folder is dead empty. I'm going to downclock my ram to stock and see it if has a hissy fit.

Seems to be more heavily linked to dummy spitting when I an watching youtube (didn't matter which browser, chrome or firefox either)

 

[neatfeatguy]

Ok, 2 more crashes and every folder in the livekernalreports folder is dead empty. I'm going to downclock my ram to stock and see it if has a hissy fit.

Seems to be more heavily linked to dummy spitting when I an watching youtube (didn't matter which browser, chrome or firefox either)

Windows keeps a list of all the small memory dump files in the %SystemRoot%\Minidump folder.

If mini dump files are not being created, you need to enable that option in Windows:
(https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/how-to-use-a-minidump-file-to-fix-blue-screen-of-death-bsod-error/)

Enable Minidump File on Windows​

Unfortunately, the memory dump or minidump file feature is not enabled in Windows by default. To use it, you need to enable it first.

1. Type sysdm.cpl in the Windows search bar and click Open. It will open up the System Properties from the Control Panel.

2. Go to the Advanced tab.

3. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.

4. Check the following options:

• Write an event to the system log
• Automatically restart

5. Under the Write debugging information drop-down menu, select Small Memory Dump (256KB) and click OK.

That’s it. You have successfully enabled the minidump file on your PC. Whenever a BSOD error occurs on your computer, the system will save the Minidump file to the following directory: “%SystemRoot%\Minidump” This directory also translates to “C:\Windows\Minidump“. Although you can change the directory location, it is advised not to do so.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

Minidump was enabled - I could post the blurb I pulled out of windbg but of some concern to me is

OSNAME: Windows 10

When it's running 11

You want me to attach a minidump or just debug it an paste the blurb (I can read it but it's largely not helpful to me - we're starting to get outside of my knowledge base here)

 

[neatfeatguy]

Minidump was enabled - I could post the blurb I pulled out of windbg but of some concern to me is

OSNAME: Windows 10

When it's running 11

You want me to attach a minidump or just debug it an paste the blurb (I can read it but it's largely not helpful to me - we're starting to get outside of my knowledge base here)

You could do either or. Or both. There are some folks on the forums here that are good at reading these things. My specialty (basic skill, actually) with them is finding what bug check code is listed and hopefully finding a useful answer searching online.