Question Windows 10 Critical Kernel Event ID 41 - sudden shutdowns - but under the strangest conditions

[Deevolved]

Just built a new system and all seemed perfect...for a day. Been getting sudden shutdown but only under conditions that are completely counter-intuitive.
I can run Cinebench all day without a hiccup, or play a game - activities that will tax your machine's resources to the limit - but when I do anything else that requires the most minimal resources, it shuts down without warning. It shut down for instance, when I tried to post this the first time.

My build:
-i5 12600k
- Gigabyte z790 UD AC (latest BIOS)
- GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5 (in QVL list)
- AMD RX6650XT
- 2 1TB SSD's.
- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W
- Windows 10-64 latest updates.

All running at default values in BIOS - no performance tuning at all.

My own steps to fix:
- SFC scan (OK)
- Turned off automatic restarts
- Set power profile to high-performance
- Turned off system power controls in the BIOS
- Re-installed all Intel platform drivers
- Been monitoring CPU and mobo power peaks and minimums - all within tolerance.

I'm far from expert at this as I haven't assembled a machine in over 10 years so I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what the cause might be. The last thing I can think of is to wipe drive and reinstall OS. Any suggestion much appreciated!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

GSkill Trident Z5 DDR5
Got a link to the kit? Did you run X.M.P on the memory?

Gigabyte z790 UD AC (latest BIOS)
This is where you state the BISO version instead of latest. There are instances of people saying latest only to find that there was a BIOS version pending update.

Where did you source the installer for the OS? Did you install the OS in offline mode? Installing all drivers in an elevated command with the latest versions?

 

[Deevolved]

Good questions! HEre are the answers:
Memory: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y1BM3ZH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
XMP not enabled - everything set to defaults

BIOS: V.F11b
Didn't source the OS installer, just popped the old SSD Win installation into new machine. Before I did, I uninstalled all the platform and GPU drivers.
All drivers: downloaded from Gigabyte support list.

THanks for your help!

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah, popping the old Windows installation into the new PC is a poor practice. Even more so to not first remedy this when problems actually become obvious.

There's little point in any other troubleshooting step at this juncture than wiping the OS drive and installing Windows properly.

 

[Deevolved]

Yeah, I know there is a risk when you do that , but I’ve done it many times since Win 7 without issues. It's a big PITA ever since Microsoft killed off the migration tool. Again , this sudden shutdown occurs only when the system is idle and especially weird since power management in the BIOS is turned off completely and windows power profile is set to max performance. Thanks anyway.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah, I know there is a risk when you do that , but I’ve done it many times since Win 7 without issues. It's a big PITA ever since Microsoft killed off the migration tool. Again , this sudden shutdown occurs only when the system is idle and especially weird since power management in the BIOS is turned off completely and windows power profile is set to max performance. Thanks anyway.

Weird things like this are a common symptom.

Windows makes an attempt to work through improper installs. But it frequently does not and sometimes the problems are far more subtle than this. When you have a problem, it's always a good idea to fix the thing done improperly first.

 

[Deevolved]

As it turns out, I'm relieved to say the problem is solved. Watched a YT video on the Linus Tech channel about this very same issue and the solution was to turn off C-states function. I thought I had turned off all cpu power saving functions by disabling power features in the BIOS , but in my Gigabyte mobo C states is actually controlled under the advanced CPU section. Once I turned it off, shutdowns ceased.