Random Freezing with Kernel-Power Event 41

[thetrickytrekkie]

Hello All!

I've been reading over some threads that seem to have this same Kernel-Power 41 Issue but I still seem to be having issues.

My PC was frequently freezing (at least once per day) and forcing me to do a manual restart. Usually what happens is the sound goes out and I'm left with a frozen image on the screen. I am NOT getting the BSOD when this happens.

Only option is to force a restart manually with the case buttons.

All instances of these forced restarts resulted in Kernel-Power Error 41 showing up in the event viewer - the only critical error to show up. Many threads report this is usually a result of a faulty power supply so I gave in and replaced my power supply.

Old Unit: Rosewill Hive Series 650W Modular Gaming Power Supply, 80 PLUS Bronze Certified, Single +12V Rail, Intel 4th Gen CPU Ready, SLI & CrossFire Ready - Hive-650

CURRENT Unit: CORSAIR TX-M Series TX650M (CP-9020132-NA) 650W ATX12V v2.4 / EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Semi-Modular Active PFC Power Supply

After replacing the Power Supply I went a little over a week without another crash but just had one happen again.

Any ideas what else might be causing these aside from the PSU?

Graphics Card: ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti DirectX 11 GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card

Motherboard: MSI Gaming 970 Gaming AM3+/AM3 AMD 970 and SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Worth noting, this didnt seem to happen until I upgraded my PC to Windows 10 (previously 7 on a different hard drive). Could this all be Windows related?

 

[electro_neanderthal]

What processor do you have?

 

[thetrickytrekkie]

AMD FX-8320 Vishera 8-Core 3.5 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8320FRHKBOX Desktop Processor

 

[electro_neanderthal]

Kernal 41 is a Windows error code that comes up whenever the system is shut down or restarted unexpectedly. Hitting the restart or power buttons would trigger this error.

The real issue is the freezing. Is there any consistent thing you're doing when the PC freezes (gaming, browsing the internet, a specific program)? Is the PC getting hotter than normal? Is Windows scheduling a task that causes this issue? Is the graphics card starting to go?

 

[thetrickytrekkie]

Kernal 41 is a Windows error code that comes up whenever the system is shut down or restarted unexpectedly. Hitting the restart or power buttons would trigger this error.

The real issue is the freezing. Is there any consistent thing you're doing when the PC freezes (gaming, browsing the internet, a specific program)? Is the PC getting hotter than normal? Is Windows scheduling a task that causes this issue? Is the graphics card starting to go?

Right, I know the Kernel is just the unexpected shutdown/restart.

As far as the freezing. Nothing consistent. Happens regardless of games or programs open. I don't believe it's getting any hotter than normal. Happens sometimes when computer has only been on a moment or two - not long enough to heat up. The motherboards as on-board graphics so even if the card were to go, wouldn't the on board one take over? Would a graphics card cause the entire computer to freeze/audio to stop working?

 

[electro_neanderthal]

Kernal 41 is a Windows error code that comes up whenever the system is shut down or restarted unexpectedly. Hitting the restart or power buttons would trigger this error.

The real issue is the freezing. Is there any consistent thing you're doing when the PC freezes (gaming, browsing the internet, a specific program)? Is the PC getting hotter than normal? Is Windows scheduling a task that causes this issue? Is the graphics card starting to go?

Right, I know the Kernel is just the unexpected shutdown/restart.

As far as the freezing. Nothing consistent. Happens regardless of games or programs open. I don't believe it's getting any hotter than normal. Happens sometimes when computer has only been on a moment or two - not long enough to heat up. The motherboards as on-board graphics so even if the card were to go, wouldn't the on board one take over? Would a graphics card cause the entire computer to freeze/audio to stop working?

Ah, I see.

Oh, and that board does not have on-board graphics, you would need an APU to get that (Intel and AMD treat on-board graphics differently: Where Intel has it as part of the motherboard chipset, AMD contains it in the processor). A failure of the graphics card can crash the PC, and even if that board did have on-board graphics, a bad graphics card could still cause crashing.

It's not the only thing that could cause the crashing, I mentioned several others, but it is possible. Even a failing hard drive could cause freezing. Or RAM issues, outdated drivers, etc... a lot of things need to go right for a PC to boot and run; there's just a lot of possibilities at this point.

If you can borrow another graphics card to rule it out, that would be great. I'd recommend making sure all the drivers are up to date as a start.