I’m almost losing my mind: the PC keeps crashing with random BSODs and no clear cause.
I’m almost losing my mind: the PC keeps crashing with random BSODs and no clear cause.
Hello, I'm facing some issues with my PC recently. I keep seeing a lot of error codes after startup or while running critical processes. There are kernel failures, and I suspect they might be causing problems with my SSD or RAM. A friend gave me an extra NVMe drive for testing, but after cloning it, I can't boot from it—this is the root of today's problem.
Here are my specs:
- CPU: Ryzen 5800X3D X570 Strix-E RTX3080
- Drive: Samsung 970 EVO PLUS (NVMe, NTFS/GPT)
- Second Drive: Samsung 4TB 860 EVO (SATA)
- Third Drive: Samsung 500 GB 850 EVO (SATA)
- Fourth Drive: WD BLACK SN770 (NVMe) from my friend
For clarity, the first and second NVMe drives don't appear in the BIOS boot menu and lack an EFI partition. They shouldn't be able to boot, even though I never installed Windows there—they just won't start. When CSM is enabled, I can select them as bootable drives, but after the BIOS screen I get a message saying "no bootable device detected."
If I disconnect the SATA drive, my PC doesn’t power on at all. I’m confused about why the SATA SSD is the only one that lets me boot Windows, even though it was never used for that purpose. How should I properly install Windows on the NVMe drive so it boots completely? Is a full reinstall needed, or can I just install the EFI partition? Also, do I really need CSM if I’m booting from an NVMe drive? Thanks in advance for your help!
When installing Windows with more than 1 drive connected to motherboard, there is a chance the BOOTloader will be installed into the wrong drive. Hence why we often told people to unplug other drives first before installing Windows, and only plug them after the OS installation finished. IIRC you can move/rebuild the Bootloader to the right drive, but I forgot how to.
I’ve exhausted all my options. In the past, my computer experienced repeated BSODs (Blue Screen of Death) on a regular basis. At times, simply reinstalling Windows helped, while other times adjusting RAM proved effective. Eventually, I managed to restore stability for several months. Now, everything seems broken—everything I’ve tried has failed. The screen freezes and stays at 0% with no crash dump file generated, no matter what error occurs. These crashes typically happen either right after logging in or while gaming, whether it’s a heavy game like Cyberpunk 2077 or a lighter title such as This War of Mine. It often happens when I’m using a browser with a streaming app open on another monitor. Occasionally, I can trigger a BSOD consistently, but sometimes I go days without one. There’s no clear threshold that causes it, which makes figuring out the problem really stressful.
What I’ve attempted so far includes:
- Reinstalling Windows
- Upgrading from Windows 10 to 11
- Running sfc /scannow and chkdsk
- Performing MemTest86
- Changing RAM, SSDs, and even removing the GPU
- Reseating CPU, reapplying thermal paste
- Disconnecting all SSDs except the OS drive
- Removing the GPU, undervolting it, and resetting BIOS
- Updating BIOS and GPU drivers
I’ve also tried disabling certain software temporarily, but results have been inconsistent. My system runs a Ryzen 7 5800X3D with 32GB DDR4 RAM, an RTX 3080 graphics card, and a 1TB SSD on an ASUS X570-E motherboard. I use a 144Hz M28U G-Sync monitor.
The issue remains unpredictable—sometimes it’s a hardware problem (motherboard, CPU, GPU), other times it’s due to software conflicts. I’m exhausted from the lack of progress and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions you might have.