[SOLVED] PC keeps crashing, need to find culprit

[Alatenios]

So 2 weeks ago I received my new pc, here are the specs:



CPU: Ryzen 7 3800X

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1660 OC

M.2 SSD: Samsung 970 Evo Plus

PSU: Corsair TX850M

Motherboard: MSI B550 Gaming Plus

RAM: DDR4 16GB G.Skill 3000c16s-16gisb Single Module

Total of 3 case fans



The first day I installed my PC everything went as intended, I used Windows 10 Home, installed every driver for OS, Motherboard and GPU. I downloaded a couple of games and did a lot of gpu and cpu stress tests, temperatures were better than fine. I also lightly overclocked my GPU and enabled XMP Profile 1 for my RAM. For 5 days nothing unsual happened, but then I get a random restart out of nowhere while watching a video. I didn't think anything of it, but then it happened again, not more than 20 minutes after each restart. After a few restarts, I got my first BSOD. I couldn't get my Windows to boot, my PC started doing automatic repair but ofc nothing came out of it. I tried going back a few days with Windows Recovery settings, typing a few known commands in cmd, trying to go to Safe Mode and resetting my BIOS. Nothing worked.

I then managed to reinstall Windows 10, PC worked for aprox. 40 minutes, but while I left it idle for a while to download OS updates I got a BSOD once again. (The BSOD codes were completely random, I counted at least 4 different ones)

Desperate, I removed every hardware from my PC, did a clean rebuild, resetted CMOS, all that while keeping an eye for damaged parts. I didn't find anything bad and this time I tried installing Windows 11, PC booted fine again but I got BSOD after being idle doing some updates (30-40 minutes in again) and now it's stuck again in an infinite restart loop trying to do a Recovery. I am also able to access BIOS all of the time but not access desktop and I noticed that a LED from my motherboard stayed lit while trying to boot, It's from MSI EZ Debug and it's the CPU one or VGA.

I also found out after ordering my parts that a single channel ram is bad, especially for AMD CPUs, I'm planning on getting another one of the same RAM anyway.

I found from many users that BSOD usually happens because of weak PSUs, but mine is brand new and a pretty strong one.

I don't know if flashing my BIOS will help and I'm not sure it's worth the try.

I am mostly troubled by the fact that my PC worked perfectly fine for 5 days of use, but everything started to go bad after that. Is the problem my CPU as the LED is indicating or is it something else?

Also on the MSI website, it says my board is Dual Channel, does this mean that 1 module isn't compatible?

I have reached an impasse, I don't know what is causing the problems, I'm looking forward to trying your suggestions.

 

[helper800]

Dual Channel RAM does not mean it is incompatible with only 1 stick. Dual channel is a feature rather than a requirement. Usually computer restarts with no BSOD are PSU related. BSODs that come back without consistent codes is common to many issues. It may be the RAM module you have. Test the RAM stick in each slot on the motherboard. If that does not solve anything I would try to start a process of elimination barring anybody else's better suggestions. I would try to use a known good PSU and kit of RAM. I know this may not be possible for you but you could, as a last resort, buy them and test within the return period to sort things out.

Was this system a prebuilt or bought from an OEM? Have you tried securing all connected cables within the case to the motherboard and other devices?

 

[Alatenios]

Dual Channel RAM does not mean it is incompatible with only 1 stick. Dual channel is a feature rather than a requirement. Usually computer restarts with no BSOD are PSU related. BSODs that come back without consistent codes is common to many issues. It may be the RAM module you have. Test the RAM stick in each slot on the motherboard. If that does not solve anything I would try to start a process of elimination barring anybody else's better suggestions. I would try to use a known good PSU and kit of RAM. I know this may not be possible for you but you could, as a last resort, buy them and test within the return period to sort things out.

Was this system a prebuilt or bought from an OEM? Have you tried securing all connected cables within the case to the motherboard a respective device?

The PSU is pretty good by itself, I don't know if I possibly managed to damage it or it was faulty from the beginning. I already switched between my RAM slots so now I will try to borrow a PSU from a friend and test it, as well as a RAM. I ordered each part separately, most of them from a specific store. If only I can find what is causing all that I could return the faulty equipment but unfortunately I haven't found something so far.

 

[helper800]

The PSU is pretty good by itself, I don't know if I possibly managed to damage it or it was faulty from the beginning. I already switched between my RAM slots so now I will try to borrow a PSU from a friend and test it, as well as a RAM. I ordered each part separately, most of them from a specific store. If only I can find what is causing all that I could return the faulty equipment but unfortunately I haven't found something so far.

We should be able to work it out! Remember that there are plenty of others who could jump in with a different idea if I were to run out.

 

[Alatenios]

I'm starting to think RAM might be the problem. I remember when I received the packages of my new componets, everything was factory sealed with its respective brand box, except the RAM. It was sent to me in a homemade package that the store made and I'm starting to think it was defective from the moment I got it. Maybe it was returned to them by another buyer and they decided it was a good idea to send it back to me. It makes sense to be the RAM because of the BSOD, random crashes and reboots, plus when a RAM is faulty it usually gets progressively worse (don't quote me on that I saw it in a website, but if it is true it explains why my PC worked fine for the first 5 days, then it started restarting and finally BSOD and crashes). What do you think of that?
I just ordered a new RAM to test my theory and I will update here soon. Hope they return the faulty one too if that's the case.

 

[InvalidError]

I don't know if flashing my BIOS will help and I'm not sure it's worth the try.

Unless the motherboard shipped with a fairly recent BIOS pre-installed, that would definitely be worth a try as Ryzen platforms are notorious for having many compatibility quirks for the first several months on the market, many of those early fixes being about improving DIMM compatibility and stability. 400 and 500 series chipsets were also notorious for having USB controller freezes when combined with some peripherals and AMD only figured out that issue earlier this year.

Updating BIOS is usually the first thing I do after putting a new system together, the second being 10+ hours of memtest86+ to make reasonably sure there are no obvious problems with memory before I go ahead with the OS install.

 

[helper800]

Unless the motherboard shipped with a fairly recent BIOS pre-installed, that would definitely be worth a try as Ryzen platforms are notorious for having many compatibility quirks for the first several months on the market, many of those early fixes being about improving DIMM compatibility and stability. 400 and 500 series chipsets were also notorious for having USB controller freezes when combined with some peripherals and AMD only figured out that issue earlier this year.

Updating BIOS is usually the first thing I do after putting a new system together, the second being 10+ hours of memtest86+ to make reasonably sure there are no obvious problems with memory before I go ahead with the OS install.

As far as I am aware, BIOS on a b550 platform should be incapable of being shipped with a BIOS that is incompatible with the 3000 series of processors. But flashing the BIOS to the latest not beta version certainly can fix quirky issues like this.

 

[InvalidError]

As far as I am aware, BIOS on a b550 platform should be incapable of being shipped with a BIOS that is incompatible with the 3000 series of processors.

The boards may be compatible with the CPUs but AM4 chipset launches have a long history of AMD and motherboard manufacturers needing several months to work the kinks out of their DRAM compatibility.

 

[helper800]

The boards may be compatible with the CPUs but AM4 chipset launches have a long history of AMD and motherboard manufacturers needing several months to work the kinks out of their DRAM compatibility.

I was a day one adopter of the 3900x and x570 chipset, I certainly know about some super quirky BIOS, DRAM, and OC support specifically from ASUS. The first issue I had was BIOS literally freezing while perusing the options. After several failed attempts to get functionality back via CMOS resets I started to try using BIOS flashback which worked after the 4th try... I did not touch BIOS again for 4-5 months until several BIOS updates came out to fix bugs. It was certainly an experience, but nothing I could not handle, the performance alone was worth it coming from a 3570k.

 

[vov4ik_il]

I would test RAM with a bootable memtest stick

 

[Alatenios]

I put a memtest86 to test my RAM, turns out I got 0 errors and passed 4/4 tests flawlessly. I will now try to update BIOS as many people have said. I don't know if that means my RAM stick is completely not the one causing my restart loops and BSOD but let's start using the elimination process. What are the chances the motherboard is faulty? PC never restarted or crashed while I was browsing BIOS but if that was the case I think nothing would have worked and PC wouldn't boot at all.

 

[Alatenios]

Guys, bad news. After I flashed my BIOS to the most recent update, I reinstalled Windows. This time I downloaded every driver from motherboard and GPU immediately and then I download a program to stress test GPU and CPU. Both tests had completely perfect results. I thought this time I had fixed the issue, until 7 hours in BSOD happened again while downloading some games and PC was idle. As usual I am not able to access desktop again and everytime I boot my PC i am stuck in a loop of restarts (after every 3 restarts windows recovery process starts and I get to choose a method to fix the problem). I tried sfc command in cmd but it doesn't do anything. I have exhausted every othe option in the recovery mode but nothing seems to work other than clean reinstalling windows which I have done many times now. I haven't encountered such unclear problem ever and I can't seem to find the cause of it. The only conponent I haven't tested yet is the M.2 SSD. If anyone has anything else to recommend or point out I will be grateful.
Edit: Can the motherboard just be faulty? When trying to reinstall Windows now I get a reboot before I can even finish. Should I request an RMA?