Consider your options carefully when dealing with a failing motherboard or RAM.
Consider your options carefully when dealing with a failing motherboard or RAM.
I've noticed a recurring issue lately that seems linked to installing, gaming, or watching videos. After checking the Event Viewer, I found error codes indicating problems with memory—specifically RAM, MOBO, or SSD. With limited funds, I'm trying to find a cost-effective fix using still-functional parts. The error shows Event ID 28, Error Code 3221225473, and the system freezes gradually. At first it's video issues, then keyboard/mouse disappear after a few seconds to minutes, followed by audio problems. No BSOD or Windows errors appear. AMD mentioned a driver failure initially, but after a clean install of their drivers, it stopped happening during crashes. USB devices sometimes disconnect and reconnect, and my patch/update times have increased a lot recently, though video load times seem unchanged. Everything feels inconsistent and unreliable. My build includes: CPU: AMD 3900x, GPU: AMD 6800, RAM: CORSAIR - Vengeance PRO 32GB (2PK x 16GB) at 3200MHz DDR4, MOBO: GIGABYTE - Aorus X570 Elite SSD, Samsung - 860 QVO 2TB. Can someone suggest if a compatible motherboard is available? Any recommendations for good replacements that would work with this setup would be greatly appreciated. I'm under a lot of stress since I'm unemployed and this has been a big worry. Thanks for any advice you can offer. P.S.: I can't test the RAM, so I'm guessing both the MOBO and RAM might need replacement.
The full error message isn't provided here. Please share the details you're referring to so I can assist further.
I assumed I couldn't verify the RAM without a reliable machine. I didn’t plan to check one at a time, yet the problem isn’t reproducible consistently. I’ve observed the boot process is now extremely slow. Would this issue help identify a faulty component? Here are the full event logs you received. There was another error (event 41), but it occurred during a forced restart. - System - Provider [Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing [Guid] {b675ec37-bdb6-4648-bc92-f3fdc74d3ca2} EventID 28 Version 0 Level 2 Task 3 Opcode 25 Keywords 0x8000000000000a20 - TimeCreated [SystemTime] 2025-11-14T04:16:50.8938279Z EventRecordID 2682 Correlation - Execution [ProcessID] 4 [ThreadID] 580 Channel Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing/Admin Computer Removed for Privacy - EventData ProviderGuid {8444a4fb-d8d3-4f38-84f8-89960a1ef12f} ErrorCode 3221225473
I completed a standard memory test using Windows Memory Tool and found no issues. I intend to run an extended test tonight while resting to observe any changes. The main problems seem to be the slow boot times—programs lag when Windows loads, but performance improves once the system warms up. Based on this, I’m leaning toward checking the SSD or the motherboard. Before sleeping, I’ll attempt a full Windows clean install again to see if that resolves the concerns. I don’t have a Linux USB setup and am uncertain about setting one up.
It appears the problem lies mainly with storage capacity rather than anything else. Using just one stick of RAM won't boost performance and might even hinder it. The goal was to confirm if the issue is related to a faulty power supply.
Avoid letting the system fail due to faulty RAM. https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-ausb...1-overview
Based on the guidance received, I swapped out the storage drive since it likely caused the problem. I’ve installed a new one and am checking if that fixes the issue. If successful, I’ll share the full fix here. Keep in mind, the information I have may become outdated quickly because this system is about five years old.
I thought the problem was fixed but it seems to have changed instead, which is quite puzzling for me. With the new SSD it no longer crashes. When the "Lock up" occurs, it now freezes as usual with audio indicating everything still runs in the background, while other peripherals confirm everything is fine. The screen freezes on an image instead of a crash. I found out today that turning off the monitor and then turning it back on causes the PC to switch from the frozen image to the Windows lock screen, after which it functions mostly normally except that any open windows appear as white boxes until you move your mouse over them, at which point they return partially. Only non-interactive elements stay white until you fully close and reopen the program. This behavior has never occurred before, even though I’ve worked as a computer repair technician for home computers for years. At least I don’t recall it, but I left that job nearly five years ago. I can’t test this in the Ubuntu image I created since now it only happens with video games. I noticed something unusual before rebooting: Discord was consuming about 75% of the GPU resources, while the game used the rest. I also didn’t see any hardware acceleration or overlays on Discord, so it shouldn’t be using that much processing power. I’m wondering if these issues were building up together to damage the system’s performance.