PC novice faces issues with persistent blue screens.
PC novice faces issues with persistent blue screens.
Hey there, my PC was built a couple of months ago from an IT store. It worked okay at first, but now it’s been acting strange for about two weeks. Firefox tabs keep crashing, causing random bluescreens and restarts roughly three to four times daily. These crashes seem to happen mainly when I’m idling or watching YouTube. They don’t occur during intense gaming sessions, even with heavy resource usage. The last two incidents showed up in Event Viewer as a reboot from a bugcheck. One was 0x00000050 and the other 0x00020001. There are also constant warnings about a corrected hardware error, possibly related to PCI Express. It’s giving me a message that a fixed hardware issue occurred, with details about the device name and error codes.
I suspect the problem might be with my drivers or graphics card. I disabled them in Device Manager and tried updating, but the Intel website is confusing me with too much technical jargon. I only have a basic grasp of computer tech, so I’m worried it’s something simple like outdated drivers. I’ve already removed the problematic driver from the dedicated GPU, but I can’t find a straightforward way to disable it in BIOS. If I look for new drivers, the site keeps looping me with confusing information.
I’m running Windows 11 Pro, 64-bit Intel i9-14900K, 32GB RAM, RTX 5070 Enermax Revolution 3, 850W power supply, ROG STRIX Z690-E, gaming motherboard. I really hope it’s just the drivers or a minor issue—otherwise, I’d be disappointed since I have warranty coverage.
This was the first error. The 14900k chip seems damaged and might be causing problems. Request a return or replacement from the retailer where you purchased it. Alternatively, consider replacing the entire CPU—Intel 14th Gen is not functioning properly.
I think we might have rushed into this situation. Maybe someone could help fix it before assuming the CPU is completely faulty. It seems like a slower decline over time would be more likely. Also, when things are under pressure, games shouldn’t cause problems—actually, they should work fine. If the issue were only with the CPU, it should appear even more often.
Visit C:\Windows\Minidump to verify presence of minidump files. If available, return to the Windows directory and transfer the Minidump folder to the Downloads folder (desktop works if OneDrive isn't syncing). Compress the copied folder and attach it to a message. Launch Device Manager via Windows key + R, type "devmgmt.msc" and confirm. At the top, select View → Devices by Connection. Expand ACPI x64-based PC → Microsoft ACPI-compatible system → PCI Express Root Complex (the translated version may vary slightly). You should now display a list of PCIe ports. If the Chipset driver is installed, an ID will appear after the root port number. The target ID you seek is "- A72D". Expand this port and inspect connected devices. This indicates the source of the WHEA event. If no ID shows up after the root port, examine each manually. Right-click → Properties → Details tab and choose "Hardware IDs" from the dropdown. Look for VEN_8086&DEV_A72D. VEN_8086 represents Intel's vendor identifier, while DEV_A72D is the specific device ID for that port. Intel CPU issues are sometimes linked to this, though WHEA errors are less common. Typically, crashes occur during tasks like compression or shader compilation. BSODs usually resemble memory-related errors, which the dump files will clarify.
Hi Bjoolz, thanks for your message! I followed the steps you outlined and the dumps are included. I checked the PCI ports and it looks like the SSD is involved. But does that mean the port is dead or just the SSD is the problem? Also, sorry for the delayed reply—thanks for waiting. The Minidump.zip file is ready for you.
I think the issue is likely with the Samsung SSD connecting instead of the Nvidia GPU. The dump files usually indicate memory errors, but one case showed an NMI being sent to the CPU. An NMI (Non-Maskable Interrupt) forces the CPU to pause and address it right away, bypassing normal command queues. It’s typically used for serious hardware faults. While almost any component can trigger an NMI, on consumer devices it’s most commonly the CPU. We can’t determine the exact source or cause yet. Memory isn’t always RAM, but it’s usually the main suspect. Windows moves low-priority RAM data into the page file and restores it when needed, making storage appear as memory. The memory controller is part of the CPU, so a failure there would simply present memory issues. The PCIe warnings seem connected to the BSODs, which is unusual and makes the situation harder to resolve. It’s frustrating when multiple problems appear together, as it complicates troubleshooting. Connecting these points without stretching logic is challenging. All PCIe connections end up on the CPU, so a CPU problem could theoretically cause PCIe errors—especially if the same port is repeatedly affected. A defective motherboard could trigger many types of errors. The fact you have a 14th generation CPU makes it tempting to blame Intel’s voltage issues, which are known for problems with these chips. I checked your BIOS and saw you’re not running the latest version. The newest release included a microcode update in May to address some dying CPUs. Intel mentioned only a small amount of data affected, though others have reported larger issues. At this point, it’s hard to pinpoint a single cause without more details.
I think the PCIe problems probably aren't linked to the BSODs because I receive several warnings each second without any critical errors appearing. Since the SSD is connected and I haven’t noticed file corruption or performance drops, it seems unrelated to this issue. Maybe someone is just guessing based on intuition rather than technical knowledge. For now, I’ll attempt to update the BIOS and check if that helps. I’m not sure if it matters, but I’ll keep sharing updates!