Question BSOD help needed

[Tim Taine]

Really hoping someone has some insight on this. Been getting BSOD on and off for a while now but it mainly seems to be while trying to download - mainly games from steam. Sometimes it goes a while being ok, then flares up - but downloading seems to be what kicks it off.

I've done a full windows reset, cleared files and everything and it hasn't changed. I've monitored temperatures and nothing is overheating. I've tried chkdsk, windows memory diagnostic, defrag/optimise and test for corrupt hard drive files (can't remember the name) etc and nothing seems to stop it. I've dusted, checked connections, reseated the RAM, and unplugged all unnecessary peripherals etc too. I also used the intel CPU diagnostic which also found no issue.

Most often the BSOD is whea_uncorrectable_error but often starts with clock_watchdog_timeout too. It loops for a while, eventually boots and then will be ok for a while. Doesn't seem to react to being under strain - playing games doesn't seem to cause so many issues - just getting them downloaded. It also doesn't seem related to any particular program or download either as I've tested numerous variables. And windows repair/restore doesn't seem to make a difference whether I restore back to a previous time or not.

The last time I got caught in a boot loop I also took it to a local repair shop to take a look - they did all the stress testing etc too and couldn't identify a fault - just suggested it must be something intermittent.

I'm at a loss so would greatly appreciate any help!

Intel core i7 11700
MSI Z590-A PRO
Corsair 16gb 3200MHz (2x8gb)
1tb western digital SSD
2tb Seagate HDD
RTX 3080 10gb GPU
Corsair RM850 power supply
Windows 10

 

[white.a.drew]

Really hoping someone has some insight on this. Been getting BSOD on and off for a while now but it mainly seems to be while trying to download - mainly games from steam. Sometimes it goes a while being ok, then flares up - but downloading seems to be what kicks it off.

I've done a full windows reset, cleared files and everything and it hasn't changed. I've monitored temperatures and nothing is overheating. I've tried chkdsk, windows memory diagnostic, defrag/optimise and test for corrupt hard drive files (can't remember the name) etc and nothing seems to stop it. I've dusted, checked connections, reseated the RAM, and unplugged all unnecessary peripherals etc too. I also used the intel CPU diagnostic which also found no issue.

Most often the BSOD is whea_uncorrectable_error but often starts with clock_watchdog_timeout too. It loops for a while, eventually boots and then will be ok for a while. Doesn't seem to react to being under strain - playing games doesn't seem to cause so many issues - just getting them downloaded. It also doesn't seem related to any particular program or download either as I've tested numerous variables. And windows repair/restore doesn't seem to make a difference whether I restore back to a previous time or not.

The last time I got caught in a boot loop I also took it to a local repair shop to take a look - they did all the stress testing etc too and couldn't identify a fault - just suggested it must be something intermittent.

I'm at a loss so would greatly appreciate any help!

Intel core i7 11700
MSI Z590-A PRO
Corsair 16gb 3200MHz (2x8gb)
1tb western digital SSD
2tb Seagate HDD
RTX 3080 10gb GPU
Corsair RM850 power supply
Windows 10

I should suspect this to be either ssd or ram related.... I have had this happen on a few occasions where a ssd was faulty and couldn't write data properly and kept crashing, or the ram wasn't able decrypted data right to send to the ssd for storage

 

[Tim Taine]

That was one of my suspicions. I've also now tried downloading to both my SSD and HDD to check and have ended up with BSODs downloading to both - but again, intermittent. Between 4 downloads, 1 each went absolutely fine and 1 each got a BSOD. All finished in the end after reboot.

Is there a way to test the RAM? The windows memtest didn't find anything.

 

[white.a.drew]

That was one of my suspicions. I've also now tried downloading to both my SSD and HDD to check and have ended up with BSODs downloading to both - but again, intermittent. Between 4 downloads, 1 each went absolutely fine and 1 each got a BSOD. All finished in the end after reboot.

Is there a way to test the RAM? The windows memtest didn't find anything.

Memtest86 is best way to check ram

 

[stuart53]

I'd use something like https://www.sordum.org/8637/easy-service-optimizer-v1-2/ as well to limit what Windows uses, just and easier way to go about it, will help in long run, after BSOD is no longer a problem too.

 

[Tim Taine]

Just for info, in case anyone else comes looking with the same problem - I replaced (and upgraded) the RAM - no more BSOD when downloading. Done a good 500gb so far and still going strong.

 

[Tim Taine]

Scratch that - fine for a while, but the issue is back

 

[white.a.drew]

Scratch that - fine for a while, but the issue is back

Sounds like your dimm controller then if everything else is working fine and new RAM worked for a few, then drops out the coms is having issues

 

[Tim Taine]

Sounds like your dimm controller then if everything else is working fine and new RAM worked for a few, then drops out the coms is having issues

Thanks for the reply. I've since done a new post as now have a new BSOD - critical process died. I can no longer boot. It has been suggested my SSD is failing, so I've removed it and am about to install windows on the HDD instead.

Would this error be consistent with (or a possible result of) the DIMM controller being at fault?