Has your motherboard stopped working correctly?
Has your motherboard stopped working correctly?
Hello. I'm facing a bit of a puzzling situation. At this stage, I'm running out of suggestions. The issue: yesterday when starting up the computer, I encountered a BSOD labeled "Unmountable Boot Volume." After rebooting, it worked normally again. This problem was consistently happening—first during initial boot from a halted machine, then after a restart, and later tied to a driver related to Gigabyte's AORUS. Once I removed that driver, the issue disappeared. I also observed a noticeable slowdown. I checked my system updates and thought about updating Windows, but it led to another BSOD at startup (Critical Process Died). Eventually, removing the problematic driver resolved the problem. However, I've noticed several changes: - The computer runs much slower now. - Video playback occasionally stutters or produces a buzzing sound. - Booting takes a long time. - The BIOS splash appears quickly when pressing POWER, then it takes time to load Windows and freeze during login. - After shutdown, the PC remains active for a while before powering off—this has never happened before. - My SSD performance seems reduced by half. I'm using a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD. I've tried various fixes: running SFC, DISM, Windows Troubleshooter, updating BIOS and chipset drivers, booting in Safe Mode, changing cables, swapping ports, replacing the SATA cable, testing with another SSD, using integrated graphics, and even trying Intel Network driver. None of these resolved the problem. I've also checked temperatures, power settings, BIOS options, and even looked into Event Viewer logs for anomalies. Despite all these attempts, nothing seems to have triggered the issue. My hardware specs are: - CPU: Intel Core i5 9600k (2018) - GPU: RTX 3080 Gigabyte (2021) - PSU: Corsair 750W (2020) - Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus (2018) - RAM: 2x Kingston KHX3000c15D4 8GB - SSD: Crucial MX500 (2019) - HDD: Toshiba HDWD120 (2021). I'm at a loss for ideas. The only possibilities I can think of are faulty RAM or an aging motherboard. A note: about a week ago, while playing Forza Horizon 5, the game would crash with strange desktop artifacts, which disappeared after a reboot. I cleaned the internal components and haven't had any issues in about a week. Could this be linked to that?
This situation is quite unclear. Evidence points to a GPU problem, yet the behavior seems inconsistent. Other signs suggest RAM or SSD failure, though dust could also be the cause somewhere. I recommend backing up the SSD right away and being ready for an RMA if needed. It’s not wise to be caught unprepared. If you have several DIMMs, test them one by one to see if the issue appears with any specific unit.
Edited September 22, 2022 by An0maly_76 Updated with additional details
Z390 especially gigabyte motherboards occasionally show odd behavior, but I believe the most effective solution is to open the case and find the clear CMOS pin (while it's on). It should have two prongs; simply connect them using a screwdriver or any metal tool. If this works, the PC will power off and restart, resolving the problem about 90% of the time and outperforming software BIOS resets.
I have two RAM modules and tested using just one. The system still behaved the same, so unless both are faulty equally, RAM seems unlikely to be the issue. For the SSD, it's possible but I also tried a different one in place of mine, which performed much slower than expected—its speeds are almost like SATA2, though it reports as SATA3. I can't find the CMOS clearing pins either. It's generally advised not to clear CMOS while the computer is running, as it might harm the motherboard. Do you think it's better to remove the CMOS battery when the PC is off?
The MSI site often fails to provide the manual. On page 34 it seems they cleverly conceal CMOS pins inside the graphics card. I have to remove my GPU each time I need to reset the CMOS.
MSI really enjoys doing a lot of silly things, which is why I have such a negative opinion of their products.
Review your BIOS for any entries about RAID, Intel RST, Intel VMD, or similar topics. Record the present settings (so you can restore them later) and then disable or turn off those features. It seems unlikely to affect booting, but I've noticed that error code related to these technologies before, so it might be worth checking at least to confirm.