Question New PC died after 4 weeks

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Hi all,

So I previously made a post in the GPU sub-forum trying to get some help with my dead new-build PC. The thread is linked here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/desperately-need-help-with-new-pc-thats-died.3612804/

The PC would crash and instantly reboot itself every few days. I originally thought this was a CPU overheating error but I bought a new fan and still experienced the crashes every few days. On Thursday of last week the PC crashed, turn on, crashed, turn on, and got stuck in a boot loop. From then onwards I wasn't able to get past the motherboard loading screen (B450 Tomahawk Max Arsenal Gaming logo).

After troubleshooting for the last 4 days, doing loads of different things (more comprehensive explanation in the linked thread), after some advice from a user on here I removed my HDD. Removing the HDD has allowed me to boot into my desktop and bypass the boot loop. For the first time in 5 days I could actually get to my desktop.

After trying to boot up so many times, my GPU was very hot to touch. It's fans spun on boot-up, then stopped when I was idle on my desktop despite the GPU feeling very hot to touch on the plastic (Gigabyte 5700 XT). After trying to run CPU-Z to see if everything was up and running, the PC yet again crashed. It booted straight back into windows and allowed me to get into the desktop again. After sitting on the desktop, I tried running CPU-Z again and it worked for a few seconds before I shut it down out of caution.

I then booted down the PC in fear of the GPU overheating.

Can anyone advise what the issue could be? I'm worried it could be a MOBO issue that's causing the MOBO to short circuit or something. I've tried moving RAM slots, 1 stick, 2 sticks, unplugging all PCI-e cables, etc etc (more comprehensive explanation of what I tried in linked thread)

Known errors during build:

(bare in mind the PC worked, playing high graphics games such as GTA on max settings, only crashing 1 time whilst playing. It crashed every 2-3 days during all kinds of strain from games to google)

• Potential scratches to back of MOBO when trying to align with I/O shield.
• Tiny bit of thermal paste (wiped off with a cloth) on the MOBO when fitting new fan
• MSI drivers installed on a Gigabyte GPU (accident)
• Potentially plugged keyboard into BIOS Flash USB slot (though I don't think this matters)

Any help would be massively appreciated. I can't tell if it's the CPU failing, the MOBO is failing, the Power supply could not be providing enough power, the GPU could be faulty, the GPU drivers could be faulty etc...
I don't have any extra parts to swap out and test, and I'm running a 3600 CPU so don't have integrated graphics.
I tried calling a local PC specialist who said he couldn't diagnose the issue over the phone, but taking it into his shop could cost hundreds in hourly rates to fix.

Again, I would be eternally grateful if anyone could help.

 

[rocktalkrock]

My CPU is running at 1.482V in the BIOS though. It's causing me to get like 60 degrees on the desktop when just downloading things.

In games it goes no higher than 75 degrees, however. Might it be worth undervolting the CPU? Or is this just going to cause more Kernel Power issues?

75 degrees is not running hot. The maximum safe temperature for the 3600 is 95°C, that is listed on the AMD product page.

I don't think undervolting the CPU would cause any problems, but i don't think it's necessary. Like the temperatures, 1.482 volts in the BIOS is also not high. The voltage varies depending on how many cores are running. In the BIOS only 1 core is running so the voltage goes up. In Windows as more cores are being used the voltage will go down accordingly, based on the number of active cores.

 

[scout_03]

did look at you video and the led on the second ram is the only one that goes on so try one ram module at the time .

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

did look at you video and the led on the second ram is the only one that goes on so try one ram module at the time .

When my PC was completely boot looping, and I couldn’t even get into windows, I tried both using 1 stick and 2 sticks but in different slots.

I also tried using a friends RAM stick and it still boot looped.

Since the computer has been working again, allowing me into windows, I haven’t tried using a single RAM stick. I’ve only had 1 crash since rebuilding yesterday despite playing games all day yesterday.

Does it still seem possible the RAM could be causing the issues after explaining this? Happy to try a single RAM if it could help!

 

[scout_03]

memtest ram one at the time and made sure they are in the first channel on board as manual tel .

 

[rocktalkrock]

Here are 2 links with tips on how to fix problems with Kernel Power error 41 (63). They both point to changing the "Power Options" settings in Windows.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSdnLQct5qw

Kernel Power Error 41: How to Fix this Critical Error

The Kernel Power 41 error in Windows 10 can even be caused by a random restart. Here's our guide that will help you fix this issue quickly!

windowsreport.com

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Here are 2 links with tips on how to fix problems with Kernel Power error 41 (63). They both point to changing the "Power Options" settings in Windows.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSdnLQct5qw

Kernel Power Error 41: How to Fix this Critical Error

The Kernel Power 41 error in Windows 10 can even be caused by a random restart. Here's our guide that will help you fix this issue quickly!

windowsreport.com

Thanks! Unfortunately I tried these and it hadn’t made a difference. I’ve been using these settings for a couple days since rebuilding the PC and it still crashed today

 

[rocktalkrock]

Thanks! Unfortunately I tried these and it hadn’t made a difference. I’ve been using these settings for a couple days since rebuilding the PC and it still crashed today

Have you tried all the other tips listed in the 2nd link?

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Have you tried all the other tips listed in the 2nd link?

Everything apart from a BIOS update and taking off auto-restart.
Other than that I think I’ve tried them all!

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Update:

After rebuilding the computer last Friday, it ran fine all of Friday/Saturday. Sunday it crashed again when browsing the internet, but not during games.

Throughout this week (Sunday - Friday) I've been gaming for long sessions with no issues whatsoever. Not one crash.

Today, I stopped gaming and did some browsing online and yet again, the PC crashed. Kernel Power 41 error again.

It works completely fine when gaming, but dies in minutes when not gaming/browsing the web. Does this help anyone understand what the issue could be?

Thanks in advance!

 

[madmatt30]

Update:

After rebuilding the computer last Friday, it ran fine all of Friday/Saturday. Sunday it crashed again when browsing the internet, but not during games.

Throughout this week (Sunday - Friday) I've been gaming for long sessions with no issues whatsoever. Not one crash.

Today, I stopped gaming and did some browsing online and yet again, the PC crashed. Kernel Power 41 error again.

It works completely fine when gaming, but dies in minutes when not gaming/browsing the web. Does this help anyone understand what the issue could be?

Thanks in advance!

I've not been following properly mate as I'm back at work this week and it's all gone a bit mental.

All I can think is its downclocking/undervolting too much at low loads.

Tried forcing the high performance power plan and setting it so that the processor is running max clocks even at low loads?

It'll push slightly higher temps at low load but nothing extreme.

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

I've not been following properly mate as I'm back at work this week and it's all gone a bit mental.

All I can think is its downclocking/undervolting too much at low loads.

Tried forcing the high performance power plan and setting it so that the processor is running max clocks even at low loads?

It'll push slightly higher temps at low load but nothing extreme.

So my CPU Voltage in the BIOS seems to be 1.45v (when I'm inside the BIOS) which seems super high. It seems like at lower loads, the voltage is higher, and higher loads (gaming) the voltage relaxes. I wonder if the issue could be that the CPU is killing itself by putting too much voltage through itself at low loads?

So would this just entail setting my CPU Voltage to a -0.1 offset or something?

And then further to this, could this also have been what was causing my boot loops, or is that likely a different issue?

I'm just trying to weigh up wether or not its worth RMA'ing the MOBO and PSU, or whether its starting to seem more like some poorly setup BIOS settings that are causing instability.

And no worries at all - hope your return to work was okay this week. Hopefully it gets a bit less mental after this week!

 

[madmatt30]

While it seems bizarre that is absolutely normal voltage wise for ryzen cpu's.

Did I not read a while back you were waiting for a replacement cpu from amazon??

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

While it seems bizarre that is absolutely normal voltage wise for ryzen cpu's.

Did I not read a while back you were waiting for a replacement cpu from amazon??

I was. I put the new CPU in and rebuilt the PC last Friday but it hasn’t seemed to fix the problem.

Nowadays the PC doesn’t boot loop anymore, and seems to work completely fine when gaming. For a whole week I’ve had 0 crashes when gaming, and crashed 2x when browsing the internet (after the first crash when browsing I have purposefully been avoiding using the PC when not gaming as I thought it was crashing when not gaming).

 

[rocktalkrock]

I was. I put the new CPU in and rebuilt the PC last Friday but it hasn’t seemed to fix the problem.

Nowadays the PC doesn’t boot loop anymore, and seems to work completely fine when gaming. For a whole week I’ve had 0 crashes when gaming, and crashed 2x when browsing the internet (after the first crash when browsing I have purposefully been avoiding using the PC when not gaming as I thought it was crashing when not gaming).

Just as a test, try using a different web browser to see if that makes any difference.

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Just as a test, try using a different web browser to see if that makes any difference.

I've tried running low intensity games such as Minecraft and still see crashes so I don't think it's the browser itself unfortunately. It seems like low intensity = crash, high intensity = no problem. Very weird!

 

[rocktalkrock]

I've tried running low intensity games such as Minecraft and still see crashes so I don't think it's the browser itself unfortunately. It seems like low intensity = crash, high intensity = no problem. Very weird!

Sorry if i have missed it but have you written out a complete list of the parts in your system? Including any parts that have been replaced since you started this build.

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Sorry if i have missed it but have you written out a complete list of the parts in your system? Including any parts that have been replaced since you started this build.

Original Part List:

CPU - Ryzen 5 3600
CPU Fan - Coolmaster 212 Black Edition
GPU - Gigabyte 5700 XT 8GB OC
RAM - Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16
MOBO - MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
PSU - Corsair TX650M
SSD - WD Blue 3D NAND Internal SSD M.2 SATA 1TB
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA III 3.5" HDD

Replaced parts:

• CPU Entirely replaced, swapped the 3600 for a brand new 3600
• Different GPU (from a friend) tested when suffering boot loops, still resulted in boot loop
• Different RAM (also from a friend) tested (1 stick), when suffering boot loops, still resutled in boot loop
• HDD completely removed, it had nothing on it so I've just completely removed it for now as it's just an unnecessary extra thing to think about

Parts not yet tested:

• Motherboard untested
• PSU untested
• SSD untested (but when SSD was removed, boot looping persisted)
• HDD untested (but when HDD was removed, boot looping persisted, regardless of combo with SSD, 0 storage/ 1 SSD + 0 HDD / 0 SSD + 0 HDD / 1 SSD + 1 HDD, all resulted in boot loops)

[Boot loops are currently not happening however. It's only crashing currently when I do any tasks that are low intensity]

 

[rocktalkrock]

Keep Task Manager open when you are surfing the web to monitor all Processes.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Updated chipset and LAN drivers for your motherboard were just released on June 16th. Have you updated these latest drivers?

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Updated chipset and LAN drivers for your motherboard were just released on June 16th. Have you updated these latest drivers?

Not yet, I wasn't aware there were new ones! How do I do this and still remove the old drivers?

So how do I install new ones so they don't corrupt the old ones? Do I need to delete the old ones, or can I just install the new ones on-top?

And further to the above, where do I get the correct ones for my build from? From MSI B450 Tomahawk Max webpage? Or from the AMD webpage?

 

[rocktalkrock]

Not yet, I wasn't aware there were new ones! How do I do this and still remove the old drivers?

So how do I install new ones so they don't corrupt the old ones? Do I need to delete the old ones, or can I just install the new ones on-top?

And further to the above, where do I get the correct ones for my build from? From MSI B450 Tomahawk Max webpage? Or from the AMD webpage?

You don't need to uninstall the old drivers, just download and run the latest drivers from your motherboards support page.

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

You don't need to uninstall the old drivers, just download and run the latest drivers from your motherboards support page.

I tried doing this, also trying to update the VGA drivers, but the AMD software failed to install on the VGA download because it detected other drivers.

I originally downloaded graphics card drivers from the Gigabyte website. Should I uninstall these Gigabyte ones and reinstall the ones from the MSI page?

 

[rocktalkrock]

I tried doing this, also trying to update the VGA drivers, but the AMD software failed to install on the VGA download because it detected other drivers.

I originally downloaded graphics card drivers from the Gigabyte website. Should I uninstall these Gigabyte ones and reinstall the ones from the MSI page?

Here is a recent How-To video posted by MSI showing how to do a clean install of your AMD graphics drivers using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cM_vJRaUwc

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Here is a recent How-To video posted by MSI showing how to do a clean install of your AMD graphics drivers using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cM_vJRaUwc

But is it worth doing this? Uninstalling the Gigabyte ones for my specific GPU and then installing the ones for the motherboard rather than the GPU?

Sorry if I'm making it more complicated than it is - I don't really get how all the drivers work. I have the drivers for the graphics card from Gigabyte, but I don't have the drivers from the B450 Motherboard because it says they interfere with other drivers.

https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Graphics-Card/GV-R57XTGAMING-OC-8GD/support#support-dl-bios

I currently have installed only the VGA driver from the above link. Everything else is installed from the MSI B450 page.

Is there anything else I'm missing? Or should I delete the gigabyte ones and get them from the MSI B450 VGA page?

 

[rocktalkrock]

But is it worth doing this? Uninstalling the Gigabyte ones for my specific GPU and then installing the ones for the motherboard rather than the GPU?

Sorry if I'm making it more complicated than it is - I don't really get how all the drivers work. I have the drivers for the graphics card from Gigabyte, but I don't have the drivers from the B450 Motherboard because it says they interfere with other drivers.

https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Graphics-Card/GV-R57XTGAMING-OC-8GD/support#support-dl-bios

I currently have installed only the VGA driver from the above link. Everything else is installed from the MSI B450 page.

Is there anything else I'm missing? Or should I delete the gigabyte ones and get them from the MSI B450 VGA page?

You should use the drivers from the Gigabyte link above. The driver on your MSI motherboards support page is for on-board graphics, if you have an APU like the Ryzen 5 3400G, and plug your monitor into the HDMI port of your motherboard.