Critical Process Terminated - Fresh Installation BSOD
Critical Process Terminated - Fresh Installation BSOD
Hello,
PC Specifications:
Asus B450-F GAMING Motherboard, BIOS Ver. 5404 (current)
Ryzen 7 5700X
G. Skills 8Gb x 4 (3200 Mhz)
Asus Tuf RTX 3080
Corsair Cx650M
WD 570n 500gb (boot drive)
Seagate barracuda 1TB
Issue:
Over the past few months I've experienced consistent BSODs (Critical process died, unknown kernel). When playing video games—especially Apex Legends—it would crash completely. It progressed to crashes when launching the file manager or accessing files on my drive. Initially thought it was a disk problem. Switched to a new drive, performed a clean install, and everything worked for about a week.
I'm unsure what caused the change, but yesterday the problem returned. My PC keeps crashing. The BSOD appears briefly, showing "Critical Process died." This happens during gameplay, not just with Apex Legends.
Another concern is that my M.2_2 slot isn't recognizing my M.2 card—sometimes it works and sometimes it disconnects after a minute. I tried installing it in an external case to test. I've run a clean install, used DDU, mem86, and performed sfc and dism commands. Everything is up to date, temperatures are normal, no error logs are being generated.
This suggests the problem might be related to the power supply or motherboard itself. The fluctuating power draw could affect performance given my limited headroom. It hasn't been an issue after a fresh boot and new drive. Could it be the motherboard? I'm not sure how to pinpoint the exact cause.
You have a fresh drive and everything has worked well for about a week. Where did you obtain the installer for the operating system? Did you set up the OS offline to later add all required drivers using the latest version in an elevated command? Regarding your PSU, how old is it in your build? For your question, there might be a problem with insufficient grounding from your wall outlet. Do you notice a slight tingling when touching the metal part of your case while your feet are on a tiled floor without wood or carpet? In your situation, how is the SSD positioned? If you haven't installed the SSD with the proper standoff, that could be the cause of your issue.
I saved the Windows ISO onto a USB stick and proceeded with the setup steps, downloading additional drives from specific sites (Nvidia for GPU and Asus for MB). My PSU is about four years old, and the PC is connected to a surge protector rated at 1200W. I need to relocate the PC for the test you mentioned since I’m uncertain about the second part of it. Everything is correctly installed and fully seated with standoffs.
I managed to obtain yet another BSOD message: unexpected_store_exception
Power supply calculators usually assume everything operates at full capacity, leading to higher estimates. For example, PCPP suggests a 600W requirement. When I connected all my equipment to a watt meter, the actual draw stayed between 400 and 450W. This includes my monitors (80-90W each) and possibly some speakers (5-10W).
A quick look at the only location I’ve seen that logged these brief spikes suggests they reached about 420W. The rest of the setup probably wouldn’t exceed 150W while gaming.
It might be the power unit or something related, but not because it’s overloading. Rapid fluctuations tend to cause more issues than a slow increase.
I just completed the OCCT stress test and successfully reproduced the crash.
https://imgur.com/a/gqrnaqa
Check the image here: https://imgur.com/a/gqrnaqa
I don’t have enough expertise to determine if my PSU is the exact cause. However, since my temperatures were normal in the previous images, what other factors could be responsible?
My RAM, drive, CPU, cooler, and system are all brand new. The GPU drivers are clean. I might consider replacing the PSU just in case, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money only to discover it’s not the issue.
If the motherboard's readings are correct, then this is the issue. Those numbers should stay within +11.40 V to +12.60 on 12V and +4.75 V to +5.25 on 5V. Therefore, you should consider getting a new power supply unit.