Question PC keeps blue screening even on light tasks

[bulbz1]

For the past few months I have been running into BSOD issues on my PC and they are now becoming much more frequent. It got so bad that I couldn't even watch youtube on one screen while browsing the web on the other.
The worst culprit is when playing counter strike 2, it takes a few minutes and then just freezes.

So naturally I did a full reformat. After the reformat I got a tool to update all my drivers. This looked like it fixed the issue for a few weeks but unfortunately it is happening again. Oddly enough I can play Battlefield 1 without much issues though lol. Anyways, I'm thinking it must be a hardware issue so I thought I'd come here to ask what is the best way to go about diagnosing it?

Do I pull out/replace hardware one by one and run the computer for a few days each time to work out the culprit? Is there some other diagnostic tool people know of that can isolate the issue faster? A summary of the issues I've found is below:

Pre-reformat:
* Constant BSOD
* CS:GO and CS 2 would freeze the computer and I would have to restart the PC
* Would get BSOD when doing something as mundane as browsing youtube

Post-reformat:
* BSOD less frequent but ramping up again
* Still getting it when browsing youtube
* CS 2 freezes but this time I can at least bring up task manager to kill it without having to restart the comp
* Have had a few instances where I turn on the computer and nothing is displayed on the monitors (1 x hdmi and 1 x display port). I see a " No signal display port" message on the screen when trying to turn the PC on. This somehow fixes itself after a day

Specs:
Built around 2018
OS: Windows 10 Pro - 10.0.19045
Mobo: AX370-Gaming 5
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2800 Eight-Core Processor, 3200Mhz
Memory: 16GB 3000 Mhz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTC 1080Ti
HDD: M2 500GB
PSU: Corsair HX 850i

 

[Ralston18]

Windows includes tools for both watching and logging system performance.

You can use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to observe system activities and performance.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Use all three tools but only one tool at a time.

The objective being to get a sense of what all is running on your system and what resources are being used and to what extent.

Logging; Check Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational events being captured just before or at the time of the BSOD's.

Start with Reliability History/Monitor. Easier to use and understand. Plus the timeline format may reveal some pattern.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help with Event Viewer:

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

The objective to find and identify error codes that may help discover the culprit(s).

= = = =

And you can run the Windows built in troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Likewise for "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

Take your time, watch carefully, keep notes. See what you can find and post accordingly.

 

[RaidHobbit]

For the past few months I have been running into BSOD issues on my PC and they are now becoming much more frequent. It got so bad that I couldn't even watch youtube on one screen while browsing the web on the other.
The worst culprit is when playing counter strike 2, it takes a few minutes and then just freezes.

So naturally I did a full reformat. After the reformat I got a tool to update all my drivers. This looked like it fixed the issue for a few weeks but unfortunately it is happening again. Oddly enough I can play Battlefield 1 without much issues though lol. Anyways, I'm thinking it must be a hardware issue so I thought I'd come here to ask what is the best way to go about diagnosing it?

Do I pull out/replace hardware one by one and run the computer for a few days each time to work out the culprit? Is there some other diagnostic tool people know of that can isolate the issue faster? A summary of the issues I've found is below:

Pre-reformat:
* Constant BSOD
* CS:GO and CS 2 would freeze the computer and I would have to restart the PC
* Would get BSOD when doing something as mundane as browsing youtube

Post-reformat:
* BSOD less frequent but ramping up again
* Still getting it when browsing youtube
* CS 2 freezes but this time I can at least bring up task manager to kill it without having to restart the comp
* Have had a few instances where I turn on the computer and nothing is displayed on the monitors (1 x hdmi and 1 x display port). I see a " No signal display port" message on the screen when trying to turn the PC on. This somehow fixes itself after a day

Specs:
Built around 2018
OS: Windows 10 Pro - 10.0.19045
Mobo: AX370-Gaming 5
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2800 Eight-Core Processor, 3200Mhz
Memory: 16GB 3000 Mhz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTC 1080Ti
HDD: M2 500GB
PSU: Corsair HX 850i

It could be something about to die like the HDD, an aging PSU not delivering as much juice as it once did, power saver options might be set to balanced or saver rather than performance, it could be overclocking damage, too much heat, or even an overclock left on.

That GPU of yours, I had one of them that failed, and its been common in the past, what make is it?

 

[bulbz1]

Interesting. Thanks gents, you gave me some new information which I have not come across before. After looking at the reliability monitor, I noticed the following:
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 141
LKD_0x141_Tdr:6_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys_Pascal

After doing some googling, it seems that is related to the GPU. I am going to leave procmon open while I run some tests. It may well be that my GPU has come to the end of it's life.

@RaidHobbit to answer your question - the GPU make is Gigabyte

*Edit* - just did another test while playinf BF1 and the only thing that seemed weird is GPU was at 100% the whole time. I'm not sure why or if that's normal, but it didn't blue screen or anything. I will keep running tests to see if I can break it again. I suspect I may have to try replacing the GPU and then seeing if this still happens. Any suggestions on what is a good GPU for my Mobo?

 

[RaidHobbit]

Interesting. Thanks gents, you gave me some new information which I have not come across before. After looking at the reliability monitor, I noticed the following:
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 141
LKD_0x141_Tdr:6_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys_Pascal

After doing some googling, it seems that is related to the GPU. I am going to leave procmon open while I run some tests. It may well be that my GPU has come to the end of it's life.

@RaidHobbit to answer your question - the GPU make is Gigabyte

*Edit* - just did another test while playinf BF1 and the only thing that seemed weird is GPU was at 100% the whole time. I'm not sure why or if that's normal, but it didn't blue screen or anything. I will keep running tests to see if I can break it again. I suspect I may have to try replacing the GPU and then seeing if this still happens. Any suggestions on what is a good GPU for my Mobo?

If your GPU is stuck on 100% all of the time then yes, thats the likely culprit for the BSODs. Its either quitting when it reaches the danger temperature from such intensive work or its fallen behind by so much it crashes your system.

Your GPU has either turned faulty, has a driver issue, or its been hijacked by some malware. The higher spec cards from the 10** had a lot of reported failures. You won`t be maxing out your GPU like that with the games you are playing, so thats not the issue.

Gigabyte are okay it was more a series issue not a brand name one.

Your CPU is not going to be a limiting factor in your gaming yet so if you are buying a new GPU it needs to be chosen to match the monitor resolution you will be playing games at.

GeForce 4060s: Quite cheap at the moment at around £280 to £290. They are good for 1080p with ray tracing turned on, but outstanding for higher resolutions with it turned off. Higher resolutions with ray tracing turned on you`ll be after a 4070 or 4080.

If ray tracing isn`t your thing (most new games don`t use it yet) and you want higher resolution gaming, then if you look around on Amazon or eBay you might still find a new 2080 or 3080. But they`ll likely cost you more than the GeForce 4060. There are also some new 3060s being sold which you should get 1440p out of with ray tracing turned off.

GeForce 4070/4080: The 4070s are about £580 at the moment and I haven`t checked the 4080s recently but they will be expensive.

 

[bulbz1]

Thanks you both for your time and advice in helping me track down this issue. I'm probably going to go ahead and snag a 4060. Bit of a shame to have to throw the 1080ti away but the old girl had a good run.

 

[bulbz1]

Update - I've replaced the old 1080ti with a 4060 and the problem seems to have gone away. The GPU usage hovers around 70-90% (occasionally hitting 100%) whilst gaming but it is not at 100% all the time anymore.
Thanks to both of you for helping me out, much appreciated!