Question Computer crashes after playing mp4 file and playing Heroes of the Storm

[docboy]

Hi everyone,

I just completed a build: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/docboy1/saved/#view=Yp7FP6

I'm using a BenQ Monitor RL2460HT connected via a HDMI cable (got the cable refurbished off Amazon if that matters).

System posted without issues, and I was able to install Windows 11 Home via USB. Then I installed AMD Adrenaline, Asrock Drivers Auto Installer to update bios/etc. I then started to install Battle.net and Heroes of the Storm game.

I noticed the following:
1) 2 days ago: Before I installed Battle.net, I was watching a few mp4 video files (scenes from movies fwiw) and towards the end of a clip maybe 10min long, the computer crashed. Screen turned completely green. Keyboard and mouse froze, no response. So I hard to force a hardboot.

I ran sfc /scannow. An error was found and repaired.

Also found for some reason Windows security and defender was not properly installed and would not scan. Don't remember what I did, but eventually Win Security turned on and Defender was able to scan.

I tried playing Heroes of the Storm, started the game within Adrenaline. Game loaded and I was able to play one match that lasted ~15min and game did fine on all ultra settings.

2) Last night I tried playing HOTS again.

I tried to start HOTS from within Adrenaline. Game wouldn't start. Adrenaline did not crash, but game just wouldn't start. I found it odd.

Battle.net for some reason started inside Adrenaline. I then proceeded to play HOTS again. Game finished and towards the end of the game where it showed the scores, the screen turned completely green again. System crashed, mouse and keyboard nonresponsive.

Had to force hardboot again. I ran sfc /scannow. No errors found. Ran Win Update, found a few optional updates that I installed (.net framework, an intel driver I didn't recognize, etc.)

It was getting late, so I went to bed, and now this morning I'm at the office thinking about what to do. I haven't tried HOTS again since installing the few optional updates. I'll try again tonight after work.

Any ideas on what's causing the system to crash? CPU and Motherboard temps are running ~32 degrees C (this info is from the Ascrock Overclock program). I'm not overclocking the CPU or GPU or RAM. Not sure what temp the GPU is running, how would I find out? To my knowledge BIOS and Adrenaline drivers are up to date. My Power Supply is 1000W, so it should have more than enough power.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

I'd start with doing a few things to rule out some potential problems.

Run memtest 86+ (outside of windows on a bootable USB thumb drive) and do a mem test for 4 passes, this can take time. You can do 1 pass, but this doesn't mean there will be now errors. Only that s shorter test may not find what a longer test will. Is the ram running XMP? You can check this with CPU-z.

Check all components are seated correctly. To be sure, take them all out and put them back in.

Your PSU is very strong, so I'm doubting it's that. But can't rule it out altogether.

Are all you system drivers up to date? (You can get them all here: https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z790 Pro RS WiFi/index.asp#Download


Is your bios up to date? You can use CPU-z to tell you for this too. You can get the latest bios, 6.02 here: https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z790 Pro RS WiFi/index.asp#BIOS

As it's a new platform there may be bugs or compatibility issues with ram. Keeping your bios up to date here may be helpful.

 

[docboy]

Run memtest 86+ (outside of windows on a bootable USB thumb drive. Is the ram running XMP? You can check this with CPU-z.

As it's a new platform there may be bugs or compatibility issues with ram. Keeping your bios up to date here may be helpful.

Thanks for the links. I'll check tonight to see what version BIOS is and update as necessary.

I was thinking last night and decided to check on the ram speed. A few redditt forums have suggested ram speed or bad ram can cause intermittent crashes. So I went into BIOS this morning and looked under DRAM timing configuration.

Ram I'm using is Corsair DDR5 Vengance 32GB 2x16 DDR5 5600 (PC5 44800)

Under DRAM Frequency, BIOS has it set to "AUTO" and has the ram labeled as "DDR5-4800". I can change AUTO to DDR5-5600 (along with other speeds, higher and lower, along with 4800). So it looks like RAM speed is NOT setup correctly under BIOS.

Could this setting be the cause of the crashes?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I can change AUTO to DDR5-5600 (along with other speeds, higher and lower, along with 4800)

Yes, exactly. Your ram is running out of XMP, and while it's normally the reverse XMP in this case might bring stability to the DIMMs. This kinda stuff happens frequently when it's a new enough ecosystem.

Bios will be relevant, as will ensuring the components are correctly seated. Just for cleanness sake, do you have another PSU you could swap out to check it's not the RMX?

Let us know

 

[docboy]

Yes, exactly. Your ram is running out of XMP, and while it's normally the reverse XMP in this case might bring stability to the DIMMs. This kinda stuff happens frequently when it's a new enough ecosystem.

Bios will be relevant, as will ensuring the components are correctly seated. Just for cleanness sake, do you have another PSU you could swap out to check it's not the RMX?

Let us know

Will do, will reconfigure the ram speed tonight, play a few games and let you know.

I did also last night run Windows 11 Memory Diagnostic Tool. Test came back no errors. I also updated firmware for the WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe. drive.

 

[docboy]

Yes, exactly. Your ram is running out of XMP, and while it's normally the reverse XMP in this case might bring stability to the DIMMs. This kinda stuff happens frequently when it's a new enough ecosystem.

Bios will be relevant, as will ensuring the components are correctly seated. Just for cleanness sake, do you have another PSU you could swap out to check it's not the RMX?

Let us know

I updated BIOS to latest version. Caused Win 11 to become inactivated; spent 1.5 hrs w/MS support that did not reactivate Windows. Eventually figured out how to activate Win 11 again from a Reddit forum.

I also changed the RAM speed to 5600. Played 12 minutes of Heroes of the Storm and the system crashed. Completely green screen, mouse/keyboard/monitor non responsive. Had to reboot the system again..

Windows did not crash when I was on phone and working with Microsoft, and I had many browsers and tabs open.

I went to event viewer and found an error which I believe is related to the crash. Event ID 1. Below is XML view. I do not know what component (or if it is a hardware issue) that is causing.

Hoping for ideas...

-

System

- Provider [ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger [ Guid] {c26c4f3c-3f66-4e99-8f8a-39405cfed220}

EventID 1

Version 0

Level 2

Task 0

Opcode 0

Keywords 0x8000000000000002

- TimeCreated [ SystemTime] 2023-08-04T05:12:45.1428139Z

EventRecordID 8103

- Correlation [ ActivityID] {0d3f5b6f-98c3-4c83-a2ab-650e069a33e1}

- Execution [ ProcessID] 4016 [ ThreadID] 4552

Channel System

Computer Enterprise

- Security [ UserID] S-1-5-19

-

EventData

Length

3552

 

[docboy]

Update:

Did some more troubleshooting. I decided to try another game, Atomic Hearts, thinking perhaps the Blizzard game engine has issues with the Adrenaline drivers or the card itself. Nope, Atomic Hearts repeatedly caused green screen crashes. I even tried a new higher quality HDMI 2.1 cable, reseated the CPU and Peerless Assassin, and switched to using 2 individual PCI power supply cables (before I used one power supply cable with a pigtail)( from the PSU to the card; no workie, crashes still.

I sent AMD a few emails, they had me send over a Diaxdiag report and msinfo32 reports. They wrote back "found the frequent Live Kernel Error 124 you're receiving could either be tied to the RAM or to the CPU itself. However, it also seems to happen irrespective of the hardware configuration, so there is a possibility it is tied to the Windows OS."

Corsair tech support wasn't very helpful. I did get a hold of Intel and they claimed it was tied to the Windows OS. Didn't make sense to me since Windows was a brand new install.

So finally I remove the 6950XT graphics card, used DDU to remove AMD drivers, and installed Intel graphics drivers. I tried playing a few games directly off the CPU's integrated graphics. No crashes, game after game, open and closing. The graphics of course were rather poor, esp in Atomic Hearts with graphics at low setting I was getting ~10fps, but it was stable and no system crashes. That's when I felt like the card was defective. Come to think of it, I recalled my wife saying she smelled a burnt smell after I installed the video card and the system was running; something inside the card must have burnt out, causing the green screen crashes. I also called XFX support, and the tech agreed that the carad was likely defective, though he did mention it's possible the PCIe slot could be defective.

That's when I decided to return the card, as I was still within the 30 day return window; Amazon gave me no qualms and processed a RMA exchange for a brand new one and honored the price I got it for, even though the current price was $50 more than what I paid, and gave me another 30 days to try it out and get a full refund if needed. Today I received the replacement card. I installed the new card and all games are working well. HOTS and SC2 were stable beyond 3 games, and Atomic Hearts is stable as well. No more system green screen crashes, and this time I after the video card install there was no burning smell lol.

Moral of the story: after trying out every single (or nearly every single troubleshooting step), it's possible the card one receives could be defective.