[SOLVED] BSOD - Windows 10 Gaming PC

[SunshineCoastComputers]

Hello All,

The Problem:
I received a job for a customer who said her sons Gaming PC was blue screening. She said the build is 1 year old. She also said that her son received the BSOD more frequently. To the point where it was constant. FYI, I am a first year IT tech. I may be missing crucial info in the details below.

The Build:
CPU: Ryzen 5 3500 6 Core
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4
Graphics Card: ASRock Radeon RX 5700 8G
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200mhz
Power Supply: Thermaltake SmartPRO 650W
Storage: 250GB Samsung SSD EVO

What I have tried:

• When I first got the desktop. It would not even boot to the Windows login screen. It would try to perform a Start Up repair. Then it would blue screen with the following: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• I google'd it. Seem to be several different causes, but mainly what was mentioned most was a DRIVER issue, possibly caused by Windows updates being interrupted?
• I ran a Windows startup Advanced options > Uninstall the latest Windows Update.
• It ran and the computer reset. It then got to the Windows user login page. I booted into Windows. I wanted to see on if the customer had windows updates switched on. Everything in the updates section was switched OFF, but 3 downloads where waiting to be downloaded and installed, the main one being Windows 10 2004 edition. Which from my understanding is quiet a solid update. Before I could proceed to download the updates, another BSOD occurred with the same error code as before. I kept trying to nurse or push the updates along, but the machine would BSOD randomly at each point.
• I then ran a RAM test on both stick for 4-6 hours. No errors showed during that time.
• I replaced the CMOS.
• Removed all extra components, (1 extra HDD, 1 wifi adapter.)
• I checked the CPU for bent pins, reapplied thermal paste and reconnected the fan.
• Still. The PC would make it to the desktop, then at a random point in time, would just BSOD and restart. Although now, the BSOD messages are random. I had three of them saved in my phone but have sadly lost them. 3 different ones in total but the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL would persist.
• At one point I was convinced it was an issue with Windows. So I booted up from my Windows installation USB. And even then, pre windows installation, it BSOD.. Luckily I didn't actually start the install, it surely would have failed.
• I have also tried removing the Graphics card and putting it in the other PCI slot. Which for some reason seemed to last longer before the BSOD. But now does it just as frequent as slot 1.
• I have tried switching RAM slots around.
• I have updated the BIOS.
• I have tried running on the motherboards internal graphics. Turns out, it has none. But has the HDMI slot for it? Thats normal right?

Sorry for the extremely long winded post. But I have been thinking about what to say on Tomshardware for days. I just want to make sure I provide all the information. Also hoping others can get help from this thread.

Is it worth booting into safe mode, with new graphics drivers and chipset drivers on a USB stick? Then installing them there?

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[John Chesterfield]

Have you checked Event Viewer and looked at the logs from the time the PC has bluescreened?

 

[SunshineCoastComputers]

Have you checked Event Viewer and looked at the logs from the time the PC has bluescreened?

Hi John,

It will bluescreen once I begin to use explorer to reach event viewer. I try to race to get into it, but I can never make it in time.

 

[Nemesia]

What are the temperatures? Could be overheating.

Try running the RAM at default speed. Turn off the XMP/DOCP profile in the BIOS and see if you still have a BSOD.

Try another PSU.

It could be the SSD.

After that it's a board or cpu issue but that's rare. It gave you a BSOD while you were in the Windows Installation. That's not in the OS so unless you have a bad usb key which isn't the case because you have the BSOD in the OS too. That's hardware.

 

[SunshineCoastComputers]

What are the temperatures? Could be overheating.

Try running the RAM at default speed. Turn off the XMP/DOCP profile in the BIOS and see if you still have a BSOD.

Try another PSU.

It could be the SSD.

After that it's a board or cpu issue but that's rare. It gave you a BSOD while you were in the Windows Installation. That's not in the OS so unless you have a bad usb key which isn't the case because you have the BSOD in the OS too. That's hardware.

Thanks.

I jumped into bios. Switched the profile to profile 1. I then lowered the frequency to 2400mhz. It booted. worked for a few minutes. Then gave the old BSOD message displayed above. Any recommendations on the speed? Should I change the profile to 1 but change the speed to auto instead of what I set? Going to try booting the Windows USB installation again, with a different drive and no SSD attached.


Edit:
So it did BSOD during a windows installation attempt onto a different drive. This time the error was: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

 

[Nemesia]

Thanks.

I jumped into bios. Switched the profile to profile 1. I then lowered the frequency to 2400mhz. It booted. worked for a few minutes. Then gave the old BSOD message displayed above. Any recommendations on the speed? Should I change the profile to 1 but change the speed to auto instead of what I set? Going to try booting the Windows USB installation again, with a different drive and no SSD attached.

Just no profile for the XMP. Turn it off.

Let me know about the no SSD attached.

You should really test with another PSU too after that. It really could be a power issue.

What about the CPU temp in BIOS?

 

[SunshineCoastComputers]

CPU Temps are 43c or so the last few days since I have seen it.

So I removed the SSD. Tried to install from a fresh USB drive. During the early stages of the windows installation attempt on a new drive. It shows: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

I googled it and apparently its ram related? Could it possibly be the ram in the GPU? Also whilst browsing for answers. I seen a guy here on Toms who was getting BSOD's, just about everywhere except BIOS (of course). It sounds exactly like this situation.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...o-install-windows-10-on-new-pc-build.2662590/

 

[JDT2020]

Still having the same issue. Am thinking its the CPU or motherboard. As I have swapped every part out except those two. So it has to be one or the other right? Can't tell which one it is but.

 

[SunshineCoastComputers]

I have switched out the power supply. Same thing. Switched out the Graphics card. Same thing.

Last parts left are the motherboard and the CPU. Decided to take a coin toss and replace the AMD 5 Ryzen 3600 CPU.

Hoping its not the motherboard, as I can't return the CPU once I use it =| Awaiting delivery.

But by process of elimination it has to be either the CPU or motherboard right? This job has cost me so damn much. Would love to be able to diagnose these parts in future, e.g CPU and motherboard. I tried booting Prime95 using UCBD. But it would blue screen before I could even run that.

The only time this machine would not blue screen, is in BIOS and in memtest86. The next thing would have to be voltage testing the motherboards circuitry right?

 

[jazzz_4790k]

If you've have BSOD or crashes outside windows it seems that you've a hardware level issue.
It can come from a faulty BIOS configuration or a component that needs to be adjusted or a component which needs RMA.

You can find on google lot of people having BSOD with brand new setup because of stock configuration (XMP, voltage, ...)

In your case, next thing to do is to Load Bios Default then apply this configuration :

• XMP disabled w/ frequency set to 2400 MHz and voltage to 1.35V
• Set manually CPU vCore to 1.325V
• Disable any crappy "Auto OC" parameter

In my opinion, without any hardware in my possession, I'm pretty sure CPU or RAM may have a problem with voltage (too low, adaptative...) that makes the system unstable.

Good Luck ^^

 

[JDT2020]

If you've have BSOD or crashes outside windows it seems that you've a hardware level issue.
It can come from a faulty BIOS configuration or a component that needs to be adjusted or a component which needs RMA.

You can find on google lot of people having BSOD with brand new setup because of stock configuration (XMP, voltage, ...)

In your case, next thing to do is to Load Bios Default then apply this configuration :

• XMP disabled w/ frequency set to 2400 MHz and voltage to 1.35V
• Set manually CPU vCore to 1.325V
• Disable any crappy "Auto OC" parameter

In my opinion, without any hardware in my possession, I'm pretty sure CPU or RAM may have a problem with voltage (too low, adaptative...) that makes the system unstable.

Good Luck ^^

Hi Jazz,

Set the CPU voltage to your notes, plus RAM.

So far after 3 hours and a fresh Windows install. No blue screen..

I noticed when I installed AMD Ryzen Master, the first run of it, it asked me to switch the profile, then performed a stress test, at which point the PC reset. No blue screen

I went back into Ryzen Master and noticed the profile I was switching too, had a higher CPU voltage than the one we had overridden it to. I assumed the random restart was from the stress test not matching with the bios we set.

But since then. No issues. Have installed all fresh new drivers. Currently performing a Windows update to 2004 edition.

I would like to stress test the CPU, as he is a teen that uses it for gaming. Would you guys think Primer95 is the go? Not out of the woods until I can stress test it for a few days.

Thank you so much Jazz and everyone else. Will keep this thread updated.

 

[SunshineCoastComputers]

Looks like my issue has been solved. Thanks to everyone suggestions and recommendations. I learn't a lot from this issue.

In short, by setting the CPU voltage manually in the BIOS, I no longer have BSOD. Thanks heaps Jazz!

 

[jazzz_4790k]

Looks like my issue has been solved. Thanks to everyone suggestions and recommendations. I learn't a lot from this issue.

In short, by setting the CPU voltage manually in the BIOS, I no longer have BSOD. Thanks heaps Jazz!

No problem, I'm so glad your problem is fixed, indeed I was 100% sure it was coming from voltage

To test system stability you can use OCCT with Large Data Set and AVX2 instructions.
That's the most demanding benchmark because AVX2 will increase vCore by itself even if set to manual.

If you're stable with it, you stable with everything !

For you personal experience you should try to overclock a CPU to its maximum !
It will provide you a fantastic background to improve system stability and knowledge of BIOS parameters 😉
My personal Cinebenck R15 record with my i7 4790k @ 4.9 Ghz is 1002 cb !

Have a nice day dude !
Bye bye ^^