Please Help! - New Build Constantly Restarting / Crashing - Event 41 Kernal Power

Sprite_Gremlin

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
4
0
10,510
Hi all,

Like many, I'm here for help with a build that just isn't going right. Last week I started a new build and ever since it has been crashing / restarting without errors or blue screens showing. Firstly, here are the build specs as I guess these are most important.

CPU - Intel i7 4770k (Brand New)
CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler
Motherboard - Asus Sabertooth z87 (Brand New)
RAM - 16 GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 DDR3 2x8GB sticks (Brand New)
PSU - GS 800W Corsair PSU (from previous build, only about 1 - 1.5 years old)
Graphics Card - Nvidia GTX 670 (from previous build)
Storage - 1 x 256GB Crucial SSD (OS stored here) and 2 HDD's (1 x 2TB + 1 x 3TB)
OS - Windows 8 Pro (Legal Copy with Fresh Install on SSD)
LG Bluray Drive (from previous build)


The temperatures have all been really good. CPU is normally between 24 - 32 whilst idle. Pushes up to maybe 46 when at full load. Each CPU core is reading similarly. E.g. 31, 32, 29, 27. So it would seem the cooler and thermal paste aren't an issue. The H100i didn't fit well onto my motherboard (seems a common problem) so I used washers on the backplate to prevent it from being loose. This was a fix I found online which worried me but so far the temps all seem very, very good and consistent. Without these washers, many people seemed to have overheating issues where the cooler wasn't making contact with the CPU block.

The power supply is pretty new and I assume it is enough for the system. I'm not sure how I can check if it is the problem. I would buy a new one if this is a problem, but can't afford to buy one on a whim. So really need to be sure that this is the problem.

I ran some memtest checks on the RAM and one stick was failing fairly badly. But the other passed. So I took the bad stick out and tested the good stick on a different slow and it passed again. However, after a few memtest passes, the PC did it's usual power off / reboot.

I will get the sticks replaced when I can RMA, but if the one stick shows no errors, then I am confused to why it is still crashing.

I haven't overclocked. My PC is largely used for work (3d animation and video editing) so I like a stable build. The BIOS has been updated and set to defaults. The drivers for the graphics card are updated as well as any other drivers I can think of. Namely, all the motherboard drivers on the disk, video card, firmware update for SSD. I've tried reinstalling windows to another fresh install, but still no luck.

My old PC was just getting too old for work. I am self employed so this is a really big issue for me. I've already had a week without being able to work and can't really face more time without a PC. Any help or guidance would be great, this has really been a nightmare and my work is beginning to suffer. I'm not sure what to do next and this forum seems so full of people who have been through the hells of build problems. Many Thanks.
 
Solution
Thanks for replying! Yes I ran a 8+ hour memtest86 but didn't came up with any errors. My system has been running for about a year without error's but since a few months (+- 2) it is shutting down randomly with the kernel 41 error. Guess it might be a different kind of problem then the one you had :(

Sprite_Gremlin

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
4
0
10,510
I should also probably add, the restarts don't seem to be at a specific point. It has crashed in various scenarios, from simply web browsing, to light gaming. It didn't crash when I was rendering within a 3d application for example, so it doesn't necessarily seem linked to CPU load. I've been awake all night trying to fix it but can't so I'm off to bed. But I'll run a memtest again in another RAM slot and see what happens.
 

Sprite_Gremlin

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
4
0
10,510
Hey Lilinin,


Sorry for never finishing this thread. I did fix it. It was indeed bad RAM. I RMA'd all the sticks and got them replaced and since then this pc has ran perfectly. Was a really annoying problem after building it but since then I've not had a single problem. So, it was indeed dodgey RAM sticks. Have you run a memtest to see if any errors show up?
 

Lilinin

Reputable
Sep 27, 2015
3
0
4,520
Thanks for replying! Yes I ran a 8+ hour memtest86 but didn't came up with any errors. My system has been running for about a year without error's but since a few months (+- 2) it is shutting down randomly with the kernel 41 error. Guess it might be a different kind of problem then the one you had :(
 
Solution

Sprite_Gremlin

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
4
0
10,510
Possbily...I'm no expert but it seems like a fault that points to a whole bunch of probable issues. Do you have any different RAM sticks you could try? If not, how old is your PSU? In my experience, PSU's fail fairly frequently.