Question New GPUs Causing Freezing - RX 6800 XT & RX 6950 XT

TLDR: Two different brand new GPUs (RX 6800 XT & RX 6950 XT) have caused frequent system freezes while browsing the web in two completely different systems. One old GPU (RX 570) works without issue in either system.

I purchased a new MSI Gaming Z Trio RX 6800 XT back in November, 2022. From the first few days I installed it I noticed Windows 11 would freeze up for a minute or so while simply browsing the web. It happened probably 12 times over 2 months. After putting the same GPU into a completely different system and experiencing the same issue, I returned the GPU and got a refund. I just replaced it with a new ASRock OC Formula RX 6950 XT today.... it just happened again today with the new RX 6950 XT installed. I was using my old Sapphire Pulse RX 570 in between with no issues.

The AMD driver hangs up and sends a crash report to AMD.

See the details from the Windows report below. System specs are in signature.

Source
Windows

Summary
Hardware error

Date
‎1/‎16/‎2023 9:16 PM

Status
Not reported

Description
A problem with your hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 141
Parameter 1: ffffe789f22df010
Parameter 2: fffff8033f9a6760
Parameter 3: 0
Parameter 4: 28f8
OS version: 10_0_22621
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
OS Version: 10.0.22621.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
 
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I've done a clean install of drivers. Clean format and re-install of OS. I've used the latest drvier Adrenalin 22.11.2 Recommended (WHQL) and previous driver Adrenalin 22.5.1 (WHQL).

My second test system was a clean Windows 11 install on a new SSD.

My PSU is a Corsair HX1200i Platinum. My second PSU is an EVGA 850 B2.

Windows 11 seems to be the only other common factor in this whole equation. I might be going back to Windows 10 just to test it. My second test system did not freeze until after a couple days after 22H2 update installed for Windows 11. I'd like to test that as well.
 
After some searching I found on the AMD forums is that Hardware Acceleration in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge and any other software that may be running is causing the AMD driver to hang. This makes sense because one time my system froze was right after I rendered a video using Davinci Resolve, and all the other times it froze I was browsing the web with Chrome. Hardware Acceleration can be disabled in each program that uses it, but that should only be a temporary work-around. This is a bug that has persisted for months through several driver updates. AMD claimed to have fixed it back in October 2022; however, using the drivers from November and December still allow the bug to persist.

I'll provide an update if the issue happens again. I've just disabled hardware acceleration in Chrome and Edge.

Another possibility being said on the AMD forums is when screen recording is enabled in the Radeon driver app. That makes sense also, because I installed my new RX 6950 XT around 6:30 pm. I installed the new driver after using DDU. I didn't setup the driver profile to enable anything. I played a game for a short while. I browsed the web for a while. At some point I setup the driver profile and enabled screen recording. I was browsing the web again. Then around 9:30 pm my system froze.
 
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I've had hardware acceleration disabled since this morning and I just tried to play League of Legends and my display output simply went away and my monitor went to sleep because there was no display. It flashed once and I could see the AMD Bug Reporting popup. I had to restart my computer twice to get it to output a display. These RX 6000 series cards are useless to me. What a disappointment. Might as well buy an Intel GPU.

Another hardware error in Windows Reliability History.

Source
Windows

Summary
Hardware error

Date
‎1/‎17/‎2023 7:22 PM

Status
Not reported

Description
A problem with your hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 117
Parameter 1: ffffe789f2566050
Parameter 2: fffff8033f9a6760
Parameter 3: 0
Parameter 4: 4f0
OS version: 10_0_22621
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
OS Version: 10.0.22621.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
 
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I went a whole day yesterday without a freeze. This was after wiping the driver with DDU and re-installing latest driver with factory reset without enabling the preset options for the AMD Adrenaline software, particularly I'm wanting to try to not enable the screen recording feature because someone mentioned that could be a cause. Either way, I'll probably be returning this card within 30 days. I don't want a GPU that I can't use all the features and/or that will cause my system to freeze periodically. That's simply not what I want to spend my money on.
 
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Update on this issue: I've found at least one issue that is causing problems.. the Display Port on my Acer XB271HU has likely been wiggled a bit too much by me raising the monitor up and down. When I play a game I like to raise it up, but when I'm browsing or productivity, I lower it to sit level with my second monitor that doesn't raise up or down. When I noticed it, I swapped to my other PC with my RX 570 and the same or similar issue occurred of a blank screen. I'm not 100% positive that this blank screen is the same as the system freezing, but they show up the same in Windows Reliability Monitor as a hardware error and the AMD driver bug report comes up SOMETIMES now during the blank screen. No bug report with the RX 570, just with the 6800XT and 6950XT.. so far. Switching to the HDMI port has eliminated the blank screen so far. Using the Display Port has become a blank screen EVERYTIME I raise the monitor up. It increased to every time just over the past few days. This makes monitor number 2 (one Acer and one AOC) that has a broken Display Port for me.

*UPdate: Upon closer inspection, the Display Port cable has been bent. I don't suppose I've ever come across a cable causing a driver bug report and a Windows hardware error...

This rare coincidence began when I bought the RX 6800 XT back in November. I would say it was because when I installed the 6800 XT I re-did my cable management with cable ties which increased the stress on my Display Port cable.

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I would suggest per the video above to consider rolling back to the November version of drivers. I had a 6700xt and never had issues but I sold my card in December so maybe I didn’t get onto the last drivers.

AMD had enough going on with 7900xtx issues and releasing non x 7000 series cpus, as well as bringing out the x3d cpus before too long, who knows when they’ll have a chance to address it. Better to use older drivers if they are more stable imo.
 
Unexpected restarts happening again. Been happening for a few weeks. Couldn't narrow it down. Thought it was just PUBG there for a bit. Now it's Company of Heroes 3, which just released today.. so sad. Can't even get a decent graphics card anymore. I'll save you the sad story of waiting for this game for over a year, having been my favorite game as a kid and all, making sure I had a good graphics card before it released so I could play, and my computer restarting during my first skirmish today.

Am I the only one that sees some sort of twilight zone we stumbled upon since COVID-19?
 
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Kona45primo

Honorable
Jan 16, 2021
523
143
9,890
Nah, games always be crashing. I was waiting almost a decade for the next Battlefield, BF2042 came out and yeah... EA is dead to me. Was super happy with modern warfare 2, 100% stable for be throughout season 1. Not a crash. Was incredibly surprised as Cold War was a crash/error fest... Season 2 dropped, crash every other game now.