[SOLVED] New build extremely unstable, freezes/crashes after a few minutes?

Dec 6, 2020
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Decided yesterday to upgrade my computer which turned into an almost completely new build. Got everything set up, installed Windows, booted to Windows, but it crashes/blue screens after a couple minutes. If I make any hardware changes(adding additional stick of RAM), computer gets stuck at the MOBO screen. Only way past it is to reinstall Windows from USB. That gets me back in the game, but it still crashes constantly. I just tried installing the latest MOBO drivers, but it crashed during the middle of that and got stuck at the MOBO screen. I waiting a while and tried again and it booted to Windows, but still froze a few minutes later. I'm a bit concerned. Looking for some advice on what's wrong.

I've already tried this with both sticks of RAM individually and still had this issue. I don't have an alternative graphics card to test with. Nothing else is hooked up to the MOBO except power, graphics card, processor, mouse/keyboard, and power switch things (no USB, audio, fans, etc.). Yes, I followed nearly all of the steps in the sticky. I don't think my MOBO has a thing for the PC speaker though.

I flashed my BIOS too, but that didn't help.

While starting, the debug LEDs come on. First, the CPU one for about 5 seconds, then the fans finally start up and the DRAM one blinks, then it lands on the last one for a couple seconds before it too disappears. Not sure if the lights are supposed to come on at all. I also noticed that the GPU fans do a couple false starts before actually starting. Not sure if relevant or not.

Here's the build:
  • AMD Ryzen 5 3600
  • EVGA GTX 960 (I know, it's an old card)
  • MSI B550 Tomahawk
  • Samsung EVO 970+ M.2
  • 2x16 GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3600
  • Seasonic GX-750
 
Solution
Solved thanks for a random thread in another forum. I resolved this issue by downloading an updated version of Windows 10 to a USB drive and installing Windows 10 from that. My USB stick of WIndows 10 is 5 years old, so was having trouble with the new hardware. I'm typing this up from my new computer. I leave this message to avoid a DenverCoder situation. Good luck and godspeed.
https://xkcd.com/979/
Dec 6, 2020
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XMP is off. BIOS version is 7C91vA4. This is second-to-latest version (latest is beta).

Also, I found on AMD's site a listing of RAM compatible with Ryzens. The RAM I had wasn't on there. So I returned that and got new RAM. G.Skill Trident Z 3600. However, still the same problem. Stuck at the MSI screen.
 
Dec 6, 2020
3
0
10
Solved thanks for a random thread in another forum. I resolved this issue by downloading an updated version of Windows 10 to a USB drive and installing Windows 10 from that. My USB stick of WIndows 10 is 5 years old, so was having trouble with the new hardware. I'm typing this up from my new computer. I leave this message to avoid a DenverCoder situation. Good luck and godspeed.
https://xkcd.com/979/
 
Solution