Question Complete PC freeze no errors - new build: AMD 9800X3D + RX 9070 XT

[miaman23]

Built PC last Saturday, flashed latest BIOS, clean‑installed Windows 11 from USB. Ran perfectly for two days. Now the system fully freezes randomly but it seems to mainly happen under (light) load and after the PC has been on for a while. For example, last night I left the PC on all night in the lobby of a game and when I woke up the PC was fully frozen.

I have also noticed that my PC shuts down/restarts fine generally but whenever it has been on for an extended period of time (let's say 5+ hours) when I go to shut down it sends me to the 'shutting down' screen and then freezes and I am forced to use the shut down button.

This is exactly what happens when it freezes: screen stuck, fans/RGB still on, audio cuts out, mouse doesn't move, no BSOD, no auto‑reboot. Only reset button revives it.

And the weird thing is that my event viewer logs don't show anything... it just stops at the freeze time and then when I force shutdown and restart it shows windows has been shut down unexpectedly.

I was running the latest AMD Adrenaline driver 25.8.1 first and once the freezes started happening two days after building it, I saw "Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent Code: a1000005" in Windows Reliability History/Monitor listed as a 'Hardware Error'.

Now that I have rolled back drivers to an earlier version this doesn't happen anymore and the reliability monitor just states "Windows has not properly shutdown" after I force shutdown to get out of the freeze.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My specs are:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (integrated graphics disabled manually in BIOS) - CPU cooler Phantom Spirit 120SE RGB.

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: XFX Mercury (no OC), rolled back driver to 25.6.3.

Motherboard: MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI (MS-7E62) (Nuvoton NCT6687D), BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. 2.A46, 07/08/2025.

RAM: G.Skill DDR5 Trident Z Neo RGB 2x16GB 6000 CL30 (F5-6000J3038F16), avg. voltage 1.345, XMP enabled, 6000 MT/s.

Storage: Samsung 990 PRO - 1 TB (no heatsink, this is included in the Mobo) - Windows installed on C: drive.

PSU: Be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W PSU.

Case & cooling: Phanteks XT Pro Ultra (three intake fans 140mm on the front of the case, one 140mm exhaust fan at the back and a single 120mm exhaust fan installed directly above the CPU.

OS: Windows Home 11 Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What I have tried so far:

• Flashed latest BIOS, loaded defaults;
• Multiple clean GPU driver installs (via safe boot and DDU);
• Installed latest chipset drivers from motherboard vendor (Chipsets removed via Windows uninstaller troubleshooter before reinstalling);
• Tested with C‑States enabled/disabled (freezes happen with both options);
• Removed/disconnected all non‑essential peripherals;
• Checked Event Viewer — only Kernel‑Power 41 (no WHEA errors);
• Monitored temps: all within spec under load (never exceeds 60 degrees pretty much).

Appreciate all the help I can get! I am desperate at this point I feel like I have tried a million things and researched the entire internet. Want to know if I need to send these parts backs since I just bought them last weekend. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

For example, last night I left the PC on all night in the lobby of a game and when I woke up the PC was fully frozen.
Mind sharing the title to said game?

OS: Windows Home 11 Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100.
Where did you source the installer for the OS? Did you install the OS in offline mode? Manually installing all drivers in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator, while in offline mode?

How are you cooling the processor?

 

[miaman23]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

For example, last night I left the PC on all night in the lobby of a game and when I woke up the PC was fully frozen.
Mind sharing the title to said game?

OS: Windows Home 11 Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100.
Where did you source the installer for the OS? Did you install the OS in offline mode? Manually installing all drivers in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator, while in offline mode?

How are you cooling the processor?

Hi, thank you.

It was Valorant as I just built the PC and I don't have any other games installed to try at the moment.

I have a laptop which I used to install the Windows 11 Installation Media onto a 64gb USB - had no issues, I first booted the PC without OS and did a BIOS flash to the lastest version and afterwards I used the USB with the Windows 11 Installation Media to install Windows and had no issues booting whatsoever. I was also connected with an ethernet cable.

I have a Phantom Spirit 120SE CPU cooler, the temps are very solid between 40-65 degrees with everything I've tried so far.