Question PC is riddled with different BSODs ?

[Sierrus]

I'll try to make my post short but also give as many details I can think of.

My PC specs:

• AM4 Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2
• AMD Ryzen 5900X
• Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 240 A-RGB
• 2x16GB Corsair LPX Vengeance DDR4 3600 C18
• ASUS ROG STRIX 1000G 1000 W
• Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6800XT
• Kingston A2000 M.2 NVME 250GB + Kingston A2000 M.2 NVME 500GB
• Toshiba P300 7200RPM 3TB HDD
• Windows 10 Pro 22H2

The PC was assembled last year around April, and I would say everything was fine except for 1 thing that I can recall. It randomly froze up after the spinning mouse circle, usually when browsing the Internet but sometimes when opening random programs too. After spinning for a while, it freezes the whole PC, taking Windows Explorer down with it and then coming back to life after about a minute.

This occurred every once in a while at first, then more often after some months. Eventually BSODs popped up in some rare occasions until the BSODs became more frequent as well about maybe 3-4 months ago. That's when I started looking up ways to try and resolve the issue, since it's a self-made PC from parts all over the place.

The BSODs I've so far experienced are as follows, from most often occurring to the ones least occurring:

• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
• IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
• KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
• ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY
• CACHE_MANAGER
• DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

And these programs were only sometimes listed as the cause of the crash:

• fltmgr.sys
• ntfs.sys
• amdkmdag.sys
• ntkrnlmp.exe

What I've tried so far:

• Uninstall Windows about 3-4 times now, on both the 250GB NVME and most recently the 500GB one, which is where I'm currently at. The BSODs occurred even during some of the Windows installations earlier, so that didn't fix it.
• Removed and swapped around my RAM sticks and test them with Memtest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic. The BSODs kept occurring and the tests came up with not a single issue with however many passes it took.
• Removed the HDD and NVMEs, BSODs kept occurring.
• Updated BIOS with whatever newest update is available on the MB site, BSODs kept occurring.
• Download every single bit of driver software I could scrounge up on both specific manufacturer and MB sites, BSODs kept occurring.
• I cleared CMOS on the MB and that came the closest to a fix I could notice, since BSODs were barely occurring shortly after I did this, until they started occurring again so this didn't work either.

The times the BSODs occur the most is when Windows is booting, either during the spinning circle on the BIOS Del/F12 logo screen, or the welcome page to Windows, or just shortly after Windows is started. But also sometimes randomly when installing something (most recently that I noticed it was with audio drivers and Gigabyte's RGB Fusion) or just opening any program on the PC.

Now as far as crash dumps go, the PC only creates 5 files and sometimes it created multiples so older ones get overridden, but I have 2 sets of them from 2 months ago when I first reinstalled Windows on the 250GB NVMe SSD and it BSODed a million times during that process (this one is on the 250GB NVME that I currently have removed, let me know if it's needed as well), and the most recent installation of it on the 500GB NVME. I just threw them all in and hopefully they show absolutely anything worthwhile. https://www.mediafire.com/file/48tu5s3sb23xe4e/Minidumps.7z/file

I'm going insane, because even as I still have warranty for all the parts to return for another 6 months or so, I have absolutely no idea what even is the issue to return only that 1 specific part in hopes that resolves it. If anyone has any clue what the problem is and what to do about it, please let me know since the only other last resort I have is taking it to a random repair shop but I have no idea what they'll do and how much worse it'll end up being. Lemme know if anything else is needed.

 

[Ralston18]

Try the built in Windows troubleshooters - the troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Also run "dism" and "sfc /scannow".

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

Failing that then delve into Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

 

[Sierrus]

Try the built in Windows troubleshooters - the troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Also run "dism" and "sfc /scannow".

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

Failing that then delve into Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Ah, I did the DISM and sfc /scannow commands too, forgot to mention that, but on the old NVME 2 months ago. From what I recall, the process ended with saying "corrupt files were fixed" and I still kept having BSODs afterwards. I can try again now on this installation but it seems this is not the fix.

As for the reliability monitor, I'm looking at it now and it's telling me the times it shutdown unexpectedly and that it created a MEMORY.dmp file which is about 1GB size. Should I zip this up and upload it too?

As for Event Viewer, sorry to say I'm not sure what I'm looking at there.

EDIT: Did the DISM, showed no problems at all, and SFC just said "found corrupt files and fixed them". It said the same before and I still had BSODs so it's likely not this.

And here's the Memory.dmp file in case it means anything. https://www.mediafire.com/file/sdsgq17k4ynzaku/MEMORY.7z/file

 

[ubuysa]

I've looked at the dumps from 17th and 18th and this looks very much like a RAM problem to me. Test your RAM with Memtest86...

1. Download Memtest86 (free), use the imageUSB.exe tool extracted from the download to make a bootable USB drive containing Memtest86 (1GB is plenty big enough). Do this on a different PC if you can, because you can't fully trust yours at the moment.
2. Then boot that USB drive on your PC, Memtest86 will start running as soon as it boots.
3. If no errors have been found after the four iterations of the 13 different tests that the free version does, then restart Memtest86 and do another four iterations. Even a single bit error is a failure.

 

[Sierrus]

I've looked at the dumps from 17th and 18th and this looks very much like a RAM problem to me. Test your RAM with Memtest86...

1. Download Memtest86 (free), use the imageUSB.exe tool extracted from the download to make a bootable USB drive containing Memtest86 (1GB is plenty big enough). Do this on a different PC if you can, because you can't fully trust yours at the moment.
2. Then boot that USB drive on your PC, Memtest86 will start running as soon as it boots.
3. If no errors have been found after the four iterations of the 13 different tests that the free version does, then restart Memtest86 and do another four iterations. Even a single bit error is a failure.

Thanks for looking into it, and the more BSOD errors that were popping up the more I thought it would be a RAM issue too, but something just feels different. Especially since I tested the PC with both sticks together and separately (they're a kit) and both Memtest86 and Memory Diagnostic didn't show even a single error when I ran those. I also ran XMP since the PC's assembling last year but since reinstalling Windows I have it turned off and it's still giving BSODs. The frequency of them doesn't really change whether XMP is on or off, if that means anything.

I can try Memtest again multiple times, and if there's still no errors showing on any combination of the sticks, how trustworthy is that? I just need to be absolutely certain they're the problem before I have to replace them. Unfortunately I don't have any other ones to test the configuration with at the moment, either (to see if issues persist with a new set).

 

[ubuysa]

If Memtest86 runs clean twice then remove the RAM overclock (DOCP/XMP) and run the RAM at its native (SPD) speed. See whether everything is stable then.

It's also worth noting that the maximum guaranteed RAM clock speed for that CPU is 3200 MHz (see https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/5000-series/amd-ryzen-9-5900x.html). Typically most CPUs can safely exceed this speed - but stability is not guaranteed if you do.

You might also want to download the SysnativeBSODCollectionApp and save it to the Desktop. Then run it and upload the resulting zip file to a cloud service with a link to it here. The SysnativeBSODCollectionApp collects all the troubleshooting data we're likely to need. It DOES NOT collect any personally identifying data. It's used by several highly respected Windows help forums (including this one). I'm a senior BSOD analyst on the Sysnative forum where this tool came from, so I know it to be safe.

You can of course look at what's in the zip file before you upload it, most of the files are txt files. Please don't change or delete anything though. If you want a description of what each file contains you'll find that here.

 

[KingLoki]

1. Have you run a chkdsk on the drive?
2. Is anything overclocked ?
3. Does it do it in windows Safe Mode?

 

[Sierrus]

It's also worth noting that the maximum guaranteed RAM clock speed for that CPU is 3200 MHz (see https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/5000-series/amd-ryzen-9-5900x.html). Typically most CPUs can safely exceed this speed - but stability is not guaranteed if you do.

.........MAN, ok that really ****** me off now, I spent like 2 months before I bought it trying to figure out all the configurations of every component I was assembling and everything turned out compatible with each other, but I didn't see that specific bit of information. 🤦‍♂️ Thanks for pointing it out, now I'm starting to believe it's the RAM after all. It's like the XMP was slowly killing it over the course of the previous year and now it's become too corrupted or something. Since the Memtest that I did showed no errors, it's making me think the sticks themselves are still fine, but their connection with my system (either the CPU or MB) is what's corrupted. You'd think since I turned the XMP back to default it would run fine again but there's still BSODs so it's just weird.

I'm actually seeing so many people online state that 3600MHz CL16 is like a "sweet spot" for the 5900X so I'm just even more confused. It's like a roulette at this point.

I'll try some more Memtests then and Sysnative soon, but it's looking like I need to consider getting a 3200MHz set instead to comply with the CPU. 🤷‍♂️

1. Have you run a chkdsk on the drive?
2. Is anything overclocked ?
3. Does it do it in windows Safe Mode?

1. I did, can't remember at which point exactly but it didn't result in any errors.
2. Other than XMP being on for a year before the first Windows reinstallation, no. The GPU MIGHT be pre-OC'd though, but there's no way for me to confirm since the sellers of that specific GPU at that time all had "OC" in its description.
3. I haven't checked, but it's doing it so sporadically now that I wouldn't know how to try and "trigger" it at this point. I could try doing a few restarts in succession and see if anything pops up.

 

[KingLoki]

If the GPU is factory oclocked ot shouldn't cause a problem. XMP has been ok, so no reason to cause a random problem unless RAM becomes faulty. Being at random times, it does make ot harder to nail. You have had help from others on here and no luck. Could easily be a faulty driver, windows service process at the time or even possibly a windows update causing it ??

 

[Sierrus]

Annnnnd it BSOD during the Sysnative process, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA - https://www.mediafire.com/file/4zld713z9y5698c/Dump.7z/file

I'll finish backing up my stuff in preparation for the worst case scenario then continue the Sysnative process and then some Memtests. In the meantime if anyone figures something out let me know and I'll get back to you with the testing stuff. Thank you for the assistance so far!

Could easily be a fauly driver, windows service process at the time or even possibly a windows update causing it ??

I did go through pretty much every single driver I have installed and got the latest updates, including Windows ones. I have no idea which ones might be causing issues anymore, if any.

 

[Ralston18]

Will defer to @ubuysa et. al, regarding memory dumps and RAM.

If possible take a couple of screenshots of the Reliability History/Monitor window.

Expand the window so all can be seen. Select a couple of representative dates that show errors, warnings, etc..

Take the screenshots and post the screenshots here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

= = = =

As for Event Viewer: it does require more time and effort to navigate and understand.

However, the information can be very helpful and clicking any given entry can provide further details. The details may or may not be helpful.

FYI:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

Yes: seconding the requirement to have good backups. Ensure that the backups are recoverable and readable.

 

[ubuysa]

Don't panic over the RAM speed. The CPU spec value is just the guarantee limit, it doesn't mean it won't run at 3600MHz. It's just something to bear in mind if the system is stable with XMP disabled and the RAM at its native speed.

As a test only, can you please disable XMP and see whether it's stable? One step at a time.

 

[Sierrus]

Hello good people, I'm back bearing gifts.

Will defer to @ubuysa et. al, regarding memory dumps and RAM.

If possible take a couple of screenshots of the Reliability History/Monitor window.

Expand the window so all can be seen. Select a couple of representative dates that show errors, warnings, etc..

Take the screenshots and post the screenshots here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

= = = =

As for Event Viewer: it does require more time and effort to navigate and understand.

However, the information can be very helpful and clicking any given entry can provide further details. The details may or may not be helpful.

FYI:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

Yes: seconding the requirement to have good backups. Ensure that the backups are recoverable and readable.

Don't panic over the RAM speed. The CPU spec value is just the guarantee limit, it doesn't mean it won't run at 3600MHz. It's just something to bear in mind if the system is stable with XMP disabled and the RAM at its native speed.

As a test only, can you please disable XMP and see whether it's stable? One step at a time.

I'll now start testing the RAM with Memtest again and make sure to do it with XMP enabled, XMP disabled, both sticks, and separate sticks and see what comes up. In the meantime, I did the Sysnative file collection and here's some screenshots of the reliability monitor (download since Imgur seems to suck at naming them so I can arrange them properly).

As for Event Viewer, I managed to figure it out a bit better and there's an ASSLOAD of events that occurred since I was doing many installations 3 days ago (a lot of Warnings and Errors), but I noticed weird occurrences just before the Critical events that signify the computer shutdown. I checked a few and all seem to be different, but let me know exactly what info you need from the event viewer and I'll go back and try to provide specific stuff. Do you want screenshots of those like for the reliability monitor, or a description of the unusual events or what?

 

[Ralston18]

Increasing numbers of errors and varying errors are, to me anyway, a sign of a faltering and failing PSU.

That may be a bit premature as I understand the system's performance and problems. More does indeed need to be known. For example is that PSU the orignial, new, refurbished, used? History of heavy gaming use, video editing, or even bit-mining?

= = = =

First: noted that you swapped and tested RAM sticks - commonly done.

While you were doing so, were you able to also doublecheck that all cards, connectors, jumpers, and case connections were fully and firmly in place? Plus clean out dust and debris and look for signs of damage - all as a matter of elimination. E.g., Damage: bare conductor showing, pinched/kinked wires, corrosion, browning or blackening, swollen components, missing or loose screws, moisture, cracks - anything at all.

[Note: Some motherboards require that the first physically installed RAM be placed in a specific slot. Commonly DIMMA2. Your AM4 Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2 does not appear to have such a requirement - but do verify that.]

Second: Refer to the Tom's link regarding Event Viewer and keep working with Event Viewer. It takes time to get a sense of it all. One way to help simplify it all is to Clear the Event Viewer logs and then be able to focus on the subsequent and more recent events being captured.

Third: While in Reliabiilty History/Monitor you can indeed take screenshots. Expand the window so all can be seen and select two or three diffierent days that are representative of the overall numbers and types of errors. Especially any days that show some sort of pattern. Or those days showing "but I noticed weird occurrences"

Screenshots should posted here via imgur (www.imgur.com). Do not be too concerned about labeling the screenshot per se. Just add some words to the post to explain what the linked image is.

 

[Sierrus]

...Sorry, did you miss the screenshot and Sysnative links I posted, or...? I hyperlinked them in the first paragraph.

...........And I seriously wish it's not the PSU, I went through an entire list of the best and most reliable PSUs and made sure it was a 1000W one to even be future-proof with it and not care about wattage anymore, lol. It's a brand new one, and I played a lot of games and some video editing, no bit mining...but I've no idea what would constitute as "heavy".

The MB does specify the first DIMM slots to fill is A2 and B2, which I did and also currently do. I tried A1 and B1 for a bit too and there was still a BSOD then. As for any damage or improper connecting, I didn't really notice any. And it's been dusted with compressed air, can't do any better than that really.

The link for the event viewer is blocked for me for whatever reason. But I found some guides elsewhere and I got a better sense of it, but what SHOULD I be looking for in it specifically? Again, would you like screenshots of Event Viewer as well?

 

[ubuysa]

The event logs are in the Sysnative file upload so I already have them. I can see the BSODs in the System log but I also see at least one restart that wasn't caused by a BSOD. These are usually good indicators on a hardware cause because the system failed in a way that Windows wasn't able to catch.

In the Application log there are a handful of application error messages with memory related exception codes. These are not uncommon even in a happy system but there are more than I'd like in your log, especially since it only goes back for two and a bit days. This might hint at possible RAM problems.

The five dumps do all look to be memory related, however the RAM was clocked at 2133MHz, it's native speed, in all of the dumps, so XMP is already disabled and the RAM is at SPD speed. The failures are...

• Three of the dumps fail on the nt!RtlpHpLfhSlotAllocate+0x1cb function call
• One fails on the nt!IopAllocateIrpPrivate+0x224 function call
• One fails on the nt!ExAcquirePushLockSharedEx+0x118 function call

All these a memory (RAM) related operations, hence my focus on RAM at first, and there are no third-party drivers called in the lead-up to these bugchecks - another common indicator of a hardware cause.

However, you are still getting BSODs at SPD speeds so we definitely need to check that the RAM is good. Memtest86 can uncover about 95% of potential RAM problems, a better and more reliable test would be to remove one stick for a week and see how things go. If you get BSODs then swap sticks and run on just the other stick for a week. Check the manual to ensure that one stick is in the correct slot, but if it BSODs on both sticks on their own then it's not RAM.

There are other things we can try, but I really want to concentrate on making 100% certain that your RAM is not responsible.

 

[Sierrus]

Last night I ran Memtest for both sticks XMP on and then XMP off, both tests gave 0 errors. Now I'm about to do single stick Memtest checks, but before I do that, just to be sure, I'm supposed to have the A2 DIMM slot populated, right? No need to try the other DIMMs or should I arrange them differently? The MB manual and the MB itself claim A2 and B2 should be "first".

 

[ubuysa]

If the manual doesn't specify a slot for using one stick I would expect it to be A2.

 

[Sierrus]

Alright the Memtest has been done and absolutely not a single error has been found in any occasion. Should I keep doing it like 5 more times or is there no point? So I guess I'll try the single sticks until a BSOD now. The first time a BSOD occurs is when I'm ok to swap the stick, right? I think the best way to trigger one might be to reinstall Windows yet again, it seemed to hate the whole process every time.

Just in case, I got a hold of the previous installation I had on the 250GB NVME so I'll send the Sysnative file collection I did on that too, if there's different errors showing up on this that you wanted to check.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/lknvwajl8z4v32r/SysnativeFileCollectionApp%282%29.zip/file
(So to be clear, the first Sysnative check is on the CURRENT latest clean Windows installation I did on the 500GB NVME. THIS Sysnative check is from the Windows re-installation from about a month or so ago on the 250GB NVME.)

 

[beyondlogic]

I'll try to make my post short but also give as many details I can think of.

My PC specs:

• AM4 Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2
• AMD Ryzen 5900X
• Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 240 A-RGB
• 2x16GB Corsair LPX Vengeance DDR4 3600 C18
• ASUS ROG STRIX 1000G 1000 W
• Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6800XT
• Kingston A2000 M.2 NVME 250GB + Kingston A2000 M.2 NVME 500GB
• Toshiba P300 7200RPM 3TB HDD
• Windows 10 Pro 22H2

The PC was assembled last year around April, and I would say everything was fine except for 1 thing that I can recall. It randomly froze up after the spinning mouse circle, usually when browsing the Internet but sometimes when opening random programs too. After spinning for a while, it freezes the whole PC, taking Windows Explorer down with it and then coming back to life after about a minute.

This occurred every once in a while at first, then more often after some months. Eventually BSODs popped up in some rare occasions until the BSODs became more frequent as well about maybe 3-4 months ago. That's when I started looking up ways to try and resolve the issue, since it's a self-made PC from parts all over the place.

The BSODs I've so far experienced are as follows, from most often occurring to the ones least occurring:

• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
• IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
• KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
• ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY
• CACHE_MANAGER
• DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

And these programs were only sometimes listed as the cause of the crash:

• fltmgr.sys
• ntfs.sys
• amdkmdag.sys
• ntkrnlmp.exe

What I've tried so far:

• Uninstall Windows about 3-4 times now, on both the 250GB NVME and most recently the 500GB one, which is where I'm currently at. The BSODs occurred even during some of the Windows installations earlier, so that didn't fix it.
• Removed and swapped around my RAM sticks and test them with Memtest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic. The BSODs kept occurring and the tests came up with not a single issue with however many passes it took.
• Removed the HDD and NVMEs, BSODs kept occurring.
• Updated BIOS with whatever newest update is available on the MB site, BSODs kept occurring.
• Download every single bit of driver software I could scrounge up on both specific manufacturer and MB sites, BSODs kept occurring.
• I cleared CMOS on the MB and that came the closest to a fix I could notice, since BSODs were barely occurring shortly after I did this, until they started occurring again so this didn't work either.

The times the BSODs occur the most is when Windows is booting, either during the spinning circle on the BIOS Del/F12 logo screen, or the welcome page to Windows, or just shortly after Windows is started. But also sometimes randomly when installing something (most recently that I noticed it was with audio drivers and Gigabyte's RGB Fusion) or just opening any program on the PC.

Now as far as crash dumps go, the PC only creates 5 files and sometimes it created multiples so older ones get overridden, but I have 2 sets of them from 2 months ago when I first reinstalled Windows on the 250GB NVMe SSD and it BSODed a million times during that process (this one is on the 250GB NVME that I currently have removed, let me know if it's needed as well), and the most recent installation of it on the 500GB NVME. I just threw them all in and hopefully they show absolutely anything worthwhile. https://www.mediafire.com/file/48tu5s3sb23xe4e/Minidumps.7z/file

I'm going insane, because even as I still have warranty for all the parts to return for another 6 months or so, I have absolutely no idea what even is the issue to return only that 1 specific part in hopes that resolves it. If anyone has any clue what the problem is and what to do about it, please let me know since the only other last resort I have is taking it to a random repair shop but I have no idea what they'll do and how much worse it'll end up being. Lemme know if anything else is needed.

if you havent already update your bios some corsair memory need it

 

[Sierrus]

if you havent already update your bios some corsair memory need it

• Updated BIOS with whatever newest update is available on the MB site, BSODs kept occurring.
• I cleared CMOS on the MB and that came the closest to a fix I could notice, since BSODs were barely occurring shortly after I did this, until they started occurring again so this didn't work either.

 

[beyondlogic]

tried replacing the motherboard cmos battery ?

 

[Sierrus]

By "replacing" do you mean with a brand new one or just putting it out then back in? Because the CMOS cleared only with the battery removal method, it did nothing with the pin shorting, so no for the former, but yes for the latter.

 

[ubuysa]

The dumps for the older (250GB) system also look very much like RAM issues. There are no third-party drivers involved in any of these BSODs either. Three of these dumps fail when the kernel is allocating memory (RAM). The fourth fails in the amdkmdag.sys driver (the AMD graphics driver). Although the version of this driver is getting old (it's dated March 2023) I rather suspect that this may be down to a RAM issue too.

However, the AMD Crash Defender driver amdfendr.sys is also involved in this amdkmdag.sys BSOD (unsurprisingly). I have seen a couple of other users with BSODs that seemed to have been caused by the AMD Crash Defender service, uninstalling it stopped the BSODs. This service is essentially an AMD version of the Windows TDR feature so you can do without it, at least as a test - assuming it's installed on your current system as well. There is no evidence in the other dumps that amdfendr.sys is involved but you never know.

That you are having these BSODs on two different systems installed on two different drives means one of two things....

1. There is a hardware problem on the PC
2. You have reinstalled the problem (a bad driver) on both systems

Is it stable when you start Windows in Safe Mode?

In Safe Mode a stripped-down Windows system is loaded, with only critical services and drivers loaded. Typically no third-party drivers are loaded. This does mean that you won't be able to do any useful work in Safe Mode, or play games, and many of your devices may not work properly (or at all) because their drivers have not been loaded. Your display will be low resolution for example, because you'll be using only the Windows basic display driver.

The usefulness of Safe Mode is that because it's a stripped-down system consisting only of Microsoft services and drivers it's very stable, so if you get BSODs or crashes in Safe Mode you almost certainly have a hardware problem. On the other hand, if it's stable in Safe Mode then your problem is with a third-party driver or service that wasn't loaded in Safe Mode.

 

[Sierrus]

I haven't tried booting Windows in safe mode yet, I'll check it out sometime later. And the single stick thing seems no bueno as well, I wasn't in the room to witness the BSOD personally but the PC did restart with a crash log this morning. I'll wait a bit more then swap to the other stick, but this is also not looking like the problem.

As for the AMD Crash Defender thing, I haven't noticed anything like that even installed on either of the systems but I'll look into that as well later.

.............But here's something else. Can you check out this thread that I stumbled upon? The resemblance to my issue from the 2 most commonly occurring BSODs to the exact same CPU AND RAM combination the user has is way too close for comfort (this is mine). The user claims they eventually swapped PSUs but the issue was persisting, just more rarely (so is mine right now but I haven't swapped anything yet). HOWEVER, another user in the thread claims they had the same issue but fixed it by manually overvolting their CPU settings. I don't see their specs, but the OP is almost exactly the same as me, and with a different MB, which also makes me believe my problem isn't the MB either. It looks like it might be some CPU + RAM combination that might be conflicting? Which is weird that it lasted for a year without BSODs, although I did have that occasional freezing issue since almost the start... I won't do any tests on this yet, since frankly I'm scared of doing any sort of OC on PC, but it's definitely something to keep in mind for later, do you think?