Is there a part failing, and if yes, which one? Help me.
Is there a part failing, and if yes, which one? Help me.
I was receiving assistance on the Win 10 forum, but now I believe the problem lies with hardware rather than a software driver. Since October 28th, I’ve been attempting to diagnose the issues with my machine. The situation has steadily deteriorated. It began when my system failed during a Windows update on that date. Following that, it started experiencing random crashes, reboots, and BSODs. The error messages consistently indicated a DPC watchdog violation. After some guidance and discovering the program "WhoCrashed it," which pointed to Amdppm.sys as the culprit—Microsoft’s driver for CPU power states—I found a helpful suggestion online. One adjustment involved modifying the registry to set the driver’s start value to 4 instead of 3, which temporarily halted most crashes. However, a subsequent crash occurred, causing a complete system freeze; I had to manually switch off the power supply to shut it down. After another update, my registry settings were reset, but the machine became unresponsive again. I encountered crashes post-update, prompting a system restore from just before the change. Unfortunately, the restore failed, and during it the system crashed entirely. Eventually, I used a USB drive to attempt a repair, but now the computer only boots into BIOS and fails to start Windows. I can navigate the BIOS interface, but any attempt to access Windows or the USB triggers a crash. Sometimes it loops endlessly, restarting repeatedly. WhoCrashed also considered thermal problems, so I checked temperatures under light load and during a benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. All readings were normal, ruling out RAM issues. I’m certain it’s related to the CPU or power supply, though the motherboard might be a factor too. If you need a comprehensive overview of everything I’ve tried, here’s the thread with all the details: https://forums. Do you have anyone with sufficient experience who can advise on what might be failing? I do possess another CPU that fits the AM4 socket, though I have no prior experience swapping it into this setup. What should I be aware of before removing and installing a different CPU? If the issue is indeed with the CPU, what outcomes should I anticipate? Will the system function properly with another processor? I created this machine two years ago, and I’m confident both the CPU and motherboard are still under warranty. I haven’t verified the condition of the power supply yet, but I’m not in a position to change them without more information. Thank you for your support!
I really value your assistance but as I mentioned earlier I am completely unable to boot into Windows at this stage. I can’t even start the USB drive to try and fix Windows. The registry change I made only altered how drivers start manually instead of automatically. I did it just to keep working on troubleshooting since the system was crashing every few minutes. It was just a temporary solution. Before that, I used Driver Verifier to gather more details from crash minidumps, but with it running I only saw system lag while the drivers were stressed. The driver memory dump showed “amdppm.sys” wasn’t among those being tested. The situation has changed dramatically—from no issues in the past two years to daily crashes, hourly crashes, then frequent crashes every few minutes and now even in seconds. It’s hard to believe this is no longer a software problem.
I've experienced the same problem since mid-Sept after a Windows update. Initially, removing the update resolved it for a month until Windows Update reactivated. My system would freeze or crash with a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION BSOD, but the minidump progress remained stuck at 0%. Even remote kernel debugging couldn't pinpoint the faulty driver. Recently, suspecting an issue with my motherboard's built-in NIC, I changed it and the problem disappeared for a week, though it's now recurring again.
Many of my BSODs didn’t lead to dumps either. At one point I mistakenly switched to a full dump instead of a mini, only noticing the difference after seeing the size was 67gb compared to the 2.5gb the mini ones are. The full dump finally helped identify a driver issue. Now that I can only access the bios, I’m questioning if it was a driver-related problem. It still seems strange that everything began with a freeze during an update, though I’m unsure if it was a driver issue or why it worsened. Also, why would it freeze more when trying to boot from USB? I’ve never faced a long troubleshooting session like this before, nor have I ever had to return a faulty part for an RMA. Once I returned a CPU radiator that wouldn’t latch, it was definitely not something I’d use in a system. It’s really frustrating when things seem to work just enough and then suddenly fail again! I found it odd that my system stopped crashing while Driver Verifier was active, yet someone claimed to have seen this before. I dislike when things don’t make sense!
I just wanted to mention that it was my CPU that failed. After dealing with this problem for six months, I stopped thinking about computers altogether. When I finally got past it and restarted, I bought another CPU to test if the issue was resolved. To my surprise, it worked perfectly! Then I found out my old CPU was only covered by warranty for two more months, so I sent it to AMD in Florida. They inspected it and gave me a replacement. Now I have two!