[SOLVED] Clock_Watchdog_Timeout BSOD ?

[CaribRinus]

Hey All,

I built a new system in August. The first few months, the system has been running fine. There had been some crashes while running Rust but at the time I thought that was related to EasyAntiCheat. But now, after 6 months of use I can barely boot into a clean install of Windows 11 without BSODing. I have been having this problem for multiple days now and I feel like I have tried everything the first page of Google tells me when I look up my error, so I’m hoping for some personalised advice.

My specs are:
Gigabyte z690 Aorus ELITE AX
Seasonic Focus GX 850
Intel core i9-12900K
Samsung 980 pro 2TB SSD
2x Kingston FURY beast 16 GB 5200MHz DDR5 (packaged separately)
MSi Ventus 3X 3070 Ti 8GB

What I have already tried:

• Reinstalling every hardware component except for my CPU
• Checking power requirements for my parts
• Checking for CPU overheating
• Clean install of windows (can barely complete this successfully, followed Tons Hardware instructions)
• DISM check
• Memory diagnostics check
• Changing my M2 SSD to the M2A _CPU slot on my motherboard
• (Hopefully) turned off any and all possible overclocking options in bios
• Updated bios to latest version 23Fa
• Checking if RAM is in motherboard recommended slots
• Tons of googling

Some things I am unsure about it affecting my build:

1. My two pci-e connectors to my GPU are 2 x 6-pin+loose 2-pin connectors. They are the ones supplied by my PSU and are labelled "PCIe".
2. My computer is not plugged in directly to the mains but is connected via extension cable (not too sure if or why this would have any impact)
3. I have not tested my RAM sticks via a bootable USB which was recommended in some other posts. Only downside is, I can’t boot into windows currently to download the program.

so what is happening exactly?
Everytime I boot my pc, it is a matter of minutes until my pc crashes and shows the CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error. A MEMORY.DMP file is made but is corrupt and cannot be analysed by WinDbg. Mini dump folder is empty. This is what WinDbg says about the crash MEMORY.DMP file for TomsHardware - Pastebin

UPDATE:
Finally a few crashes have been saved to the minidump folder.
These are:
Minidumpfile 1 - Pastebin
Minidumpfile 2 - Pastebin


The error does not always show and will sometimes just freeze the pc and I have to hard reset it with the power button.

this issue can be forced by running any program that will ask a lot from the CPU. During the clean install of windows it happened multiple times and starting a heavier game like Battlefield 2042 will also cause a crash.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I am afraid it might be a faulty CPU or that it just isn’t getting enough power.

 

[Bob.B]

Hey All,

I built a new system in August. The first few months, the system has been running fine. There had been some crashes while running Rust but at the time I thought that was related to EasyAntiCheat. But now, after 6 months of use I can barely boot into a clean install of Windows 11 without BSODing. I have been having this problem for multiple days now and I feel like I have tried everything the first page of Google tells me when I look up my error, so I’m hoping for some personalised advice.

My specs are:
Gigabyte z690 Aorus ELITE AX
Seasonic Focus GX 850
Intel core i9-12900K
Samsung 980 pro 2TB SSD
2x Kingston FURY beast 16 GB 5200MHz DDR5 (packaged separately)
MSi Ventus 3X 3070 Ti 8GB

What I have already tried:

• Reinstalling every hardware component except for my CPU
• Checking power requirements for my parts
• Checking for CPU overheating
• Clean install of windows (can barely complete this successfully, followed Tons Hardware instructions)
• DISM check
• Memory diagnostics check
• Changing my M2 SSD to the M2A _CPU slot on my motherboard
• (Hopefully) turned off any and all possible overclocking options in bios
• Updated bios to latest version 23Fa
• Checking if RAM is in motherboard recommended slots
• Tons of googling

Some things I am unsure about it affecting my build:

1. My two pci-e connectors to my GPU are 2 x 6-pin+loose 2-pin connectors. They are the ones supplied by my PSU and are labelled "PCIe".
2. My computer is not plugged in directly to the mains but is connected via extension cable (not too sure if or why this would have any impact)
3. I have not tested my RAM sticks via a bootable USB which was recommended in some other posts. Only downside is, I can’t boot into windows currently to download the program.

so what is happening exactly?
Everytime I boot my pc, it is a matter of minutes until my pc crashes and shows the CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error. A MEMORY.DMP file is made but is corrupt and cannot be analysed by WinDbg. Mini dump folder is empty. This is what WinDbg says about the crash MEMORY.DMP file for TomsHardware - Pastebin

The error does not always show and will sometimes just freeze the pc and I have to hard reset it with the power button.

this issue can be forced by running any program that will ask a lot from the CPU. During the clean install of windows it happened multiple times and starting a heavier game like Battlefield 2042 will also cause a crash.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I am afraid it might be a faulty CPU or that it just isn’t getting enough power.

If using xmp turn it off....test.

Remove the gpu and connect to the igp.....test

 

[CaribRinus]

If using xmp turn it off....test.

Remove the gpu and connect to the igp.....test

Thanks for the reply, Bob.
I have looked and XMP has been disabled in the bios.

I have removed the GPU and the same crash occurs.

 

[drivinfast247]

Use one stick of RAM.

Remove all unnecessary devices from USB ports.

Use the iGPU only.


Has this ever been overclocked?

 

[CaribRinus]

Thanks for the reply Drivin,

this build has never been overclocked.

I have thought I had removed all unnecessary drives from my USB ports but I missed my headphone transmission box.

during this time I also took the time to replug the power cables to my cpu on my motherboard to ensure proper connection and to verify I was using the correct ATX_12V connectors per my motherboard’s manual.

After removing the headphone transmission box, I didn’t instantly crash anymore. Before the quickest way to initiate this crash was to load a 3D game.

But, after 5 minutes of playing the game I quickly had the same crash symptoms as before.

Afterwards, I tried the single RAM stick and also used the other solo and followed my motherboards manual for the correct slot for singular sticks. But to no avail, no change in crash symptoms.

This was all done using the integrated graphics. (GPU is still in the slot, just not powered)

 

[drivinfast247]

Thanks for the reply Drivin,

this build has never been overclocked.

I have thought I had removed all unnecessary drives from my USB ports but I missed my headphone transmission box.

during this time I also took the time to replug the power cables to my cpu on my motherboard to ensure proper connection and to verify I was using the correct ATX_12V connectors per my motherboard’s manual.

After removing the headphone transmission box, I didn’t instantly crash anymore. Before the quickest way to initiate this crash was to load a 3D game.

But, after 5 minutes of playing the game I quickly had the same crash symptoms as before.

Afterwards, I tried the single RAM stick and followed my motherboards manual for the correct slot for singular sticks. But to no avail, no change in crash symptoms.

This was all done using the integrated graphics. (GPU is still in the slot, just not powered)

I'm leaning towards the motherboard going bad.

Are you able to test your CPU in a different motherboard? Or your motherboard with a different CPU?

 

[CaribRinus]

I'm leaning towards the motherboard going bad.

Are you able to test your CPU in a different motherboard? Or your motherboard with a different CPU?

Sadly I am not in a position to do this as the motherboard requires very recent Intel chip designs


I saw in another forum post that checking SSD health could be an option as well. I installed and ran Samsung's Magician software and performed both the short and long diagnostic scan and the drive was in good condition.

UPDATE:
I updated the OP with 2 dmp files found in the minidump folder with crashes of today.

 

[CaribRinus]

2 weeks later and I have the same problem. I have been troubleshooting further and this is what I've come to the conclusion:

Using Driver Verifier, I made sure there were no driver issues. There was an issue with Logitech G Hub. Uninstalled and no issues with Driver Verifier afterwards.

Some other things I have tried:

1. Reseating the CPU
2. Running memtest86 on RAM
3. Prime 95 runs for 30 minutes+ in Windows Safe Mode, but still crashes in normal Windows

But, when running Intel Processor Diagnostics Tool my pc blue screens at the prime numbers test. Similarly, UserBenchmark crashes when performing it's 64 core CPU test. I'm starting to feel like my CPU may be faulty, but many people say this is unlikely, but still possible. Because of this, I have ordered a cheap used i3 12100F to test if it's CPU or motherboard related. This will come today and will update the thread with more info. Any other help will still be appreciated!

Updating this thread just in case anyone else encounters this issue.

 

[CaribRinus]

SOLVED

It turns out it was almost certainly my CPU that was faulty. I bought an i3 12100F to test if it was a CPU or motherboard issue. With the i3 I have none of the issues anymore.

 

[White29]

Bro I have the same exact problem on a MSI Z690-A with an i5-13600k and i got BSOD while playing RUST after running completely fine for over a month. You're saying my CPU is bricked?