Multiple BSODs with different causes

Rutty

Rutty

Rutty

Associate
Joined
25 Nov 2021
Posts
11
Location
UK
Hi all,

My brothers PC (from Overclockers), about a year old, has started BSODing. To make it occur, I start the PC, bring up 2 chrome windows, each playing a different long youtube video (nothing fancy, just a fireplace in one and a fake arctic scene in the other, both 12 hour relaxing vids). Then I wait. It might be 20 mins or an hour but it will BSOD.

When I check the memory.dmps, I get several different reasons; might be a memory violation one time, and a driver the next, process might be 'system' or it might be 'crss.exe'. There are others and I'll post them if necessary, but the primary question is: does differing reasons for a BSOD point to a specific failure?

I've reset the PC, upgraded to Win11, got the latest mobo drivers, re-seated the ram (and even swapped their places) and video card. All drivers appear to be up-to-date. I've reset the bios to default.

Thanks for any help.
 
For BSOD I like to use "WhoCrashed" as it seems to give a more user friendly view.

Random seemingly unrelated crashes can be failing hardware, first test would be a stick of ram at a time.
Second would be looking at storage and reading the S.M.A.R.T for possible errors.
 
I've tested a stick of RAM at a time, no difference.
Temperatures aren't high.
I've checked all cables, no issues.
PSU is a concern because I can't easily test it or swap it (I don't have spares).
I'll look into SMART and WhoCrashed next.

Not sure of the best way to get HDD info, but main drive is a 500gb SSD, with a 2tb secondary disk

Sysinfo reports the following:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.22000 Build 22000
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Model System Product Name
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU SKU
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor, 3593 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 2008, 06/12/2019
SMBIOS Version 3.1
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
BaseBoard Product TUF B450-PLUS GAMING
BaseBoard Version Rev X.0x
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.22000.1"
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 13.2 GB
Total Virtual Memory 31.9 GB
Available Virtual Memory 27.9 GB
Page File Space 16.0 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualisation-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
 
CrystalDiskInfo reports both disks as 'good' though the main SSD is worn down to 97%. Presumably that's normal for a years use?
WhoCrashed reports inconclusive results. It analysed 14 crash dumps (most of which I'd saved) and told me to run CHKDSK, which told me there were no problems.

@mickyflinn , I can't get at the PSU very easily but the original receipt from overclockers says it's a Kolink Modular Power 700W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
 
OcUK Tech Labs AMD Ryzen Midi Tower Gaming PC Configurator
CA-008-MS MSI MAG FORGE 100M Mid-Tower RGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass
CA-04K-KK Kolink Modular Power 700W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
CP-3BG-AM AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - MPK
GX-43X-AS Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER Dual EVO OC 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
HD-107-KS Kingston A400 480GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Hard Drive - (SA400S37/480G)
HD-3A6-SE Seagate BarraCuda 2TB 7200RPM 256MB Cache Hard Drive - *System Stock*
HS-05J-AL Alpenfohn Brocken ECO Advanced CPU Cooler - 120 mm
MB-6CD-AS ASUS TUF B450-Plus Gaming (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
MY-0AA-TG Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel
 
Rutty said:
CrystalDiskInfo reports both disks as 'good' though the main SSD is worn down to 97%. Presumably that's normal for a years use?
WhoCrashed reports inconclusive results. It analysed 14 crash dumps (most of which I'd saved) and told me to run CHKDSK, which told me there were no problems.

@mickyflinn , I can't get at the PSU very easily but the original receipt from overclockers says it's a Kolink Modular Power 700W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
Click to expand...
This could be the problem a cheap psu .
 
Most psu faults are hard shutdowns or hard locks and rarely BSOD
I'm not saying it isn't the psu but I'm not leaning that way

I'm thinking a Memtest86 run and perhaps a test with the HDD disconnected (assuming the OS is on the SSD)
Check for BIOS updates

Also have you tried running Malwarebytes? give that a go too (first would be best as Memtest can be quite long)
 
mickyflinn said:
This could be the problem a cheap psu .
Click to expand...

So, who makes decent PSU's? I've generally assumed OCUK will only supply reputable hardware so I didn't have to investigate each part, but if there's a 'only go for corsair, seasonic or superflower' recommendation then I can use that in the future (and get a replacement now I guess).
 
Dwarfy said:
Most psu faults are hard shutdowns or hard locks and rarely BSOD
I'm not saying it isn't the psu but I'm not leaning that way

I'm thinking a Memtest86 run and perhaps a test with the HDD disconnected (assuming the OS is on the SSD)
Check for BIOS updates

Also have you tried running Malwarebytes? give that a go too (first would be best as Memtest can be quite long)
Click to expand...

I've run memtest86 in the past on this machine (no faults) but I'll do it again over the weekend.
I checked the mobo manufacturers website for driver updates and got the latest (a few days ago), but I'll look into a BIOS update from American Megatrends.

I've not tried malwarebytes because I wiped the machine and it still had the same issue, but i'll do that too.
 
Rutty said:
So, who makes decent PSU's? I've generally assumed OCUK will only supply reputable hardware so I didn't have to investigate each part, but if there's a 'only go for corsair, seasonic or superflower' recommendation then I can use that in the future (and get a replacement now I guess).
Click to expand...
Overclockers use budget units to keep cost down in some machines but so do most , your right corsair rm , seasonic etc are good units but even corsair do budget units like the cx.

Have you contacted Overclockers ?

If you need yo buy one now then this is a solid 650w unit.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...MI_Nq034Gy9AIV0-J3Ch2wfgeXEAAYASAAEgJSsfD_BwE

750w for £10 more.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...MI_Nq034Gy9AIV0-J3Ch2wfgeXEAAYASAAEgJSsfD_BwE
 
Rutty said:
I've run memtest86 in the past on this machine (no faults) but I'll do it again over the weekend.
I checked the mobo manufacturers website for driver updates and got the latest (a few days ago), but I'll look into a BIOS update from American Megatrends.

I've not tried malwarebytes because I wiped the machine and it still had the same issue, but i'll do that too.
Click to expand...

No worries, on your original post you only mentioned "reset" which doesn't format the drive.

Sometimes online help does offer up the same things twice, things already tried and things that are not needed, it's the joys of remote troubleshooting ;)

A format and fresh install can sometimes clear out the main drive but not the storage drive so reinfection can happen and quickly
 
Dwarfy said:
No worries, on your original post you only mentioned "reset" which doesn't format the drive.

Sometimes online help does offer up the same things twice, things already tried and things that are not needed, it's the joys of remote troubleshooting ;)

A format and fresh install can sometimes clear out the main drive but not the storage drive so reinfection can happen and quickly
Click to expand...


I hadn't run memtest86, only the inbuilt Windows one. I've now run it and it's come up with no errors.
I ran Malwarebytes, which found nothing.

I'll try with secondary drive disconnected, but what does that imply if the issue goes away? a faulty drive or that the psu now can cope with the reduced load?
 
PSU Tier list (not absolute gospel but a useful point of reference) has that Kolink down as Tier C (cheap mid/low-end systems), so it shouldn't be absolute garbage.

My feeling would be RAM is the most likely culprit, maybe try upping the voltage a bit to see if that helps any.
 
HangTime said:
My feeling would be RAM is the most likely culprit, maybe try upping the voltage a bit to see if that helps any.
Click to expand...

I'll take a look at that, though I'm not sure how to do it. I thought the BIOS was dynamically modifiying the clocking based on need so I didn't want to mess with any of it. I know what overclocking is in general terms but I wouldn't trust myself to not break something.
 
HangTime said:
It could be something as simple as the RAM needing 1.35V to run at its full speed but defaults to 1.2v.
Click to expand...

Well, that was an interesting response! That made me cross-check the bios settings to the ram spec and, lo and behold, the ram says 1.35v but the bios is set to 1.2, also the ram speed was underclocked.

I messed with it and turned on something called 'DOCP' which seemed to set things up more as they should be, and I'm now running my 'test' videos.

I never thought I would have to change the bios settings for these things, or that the default wouldn't match the hardware minimum (I thought setting them to default would be a safe option, when presented with a breaking machine).

I'll report back tomorrow (unless it's still broken...)!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom