The computer shuts down while attempting to start/unable to fix the issue.
The computer shuts down while attempting to start/unable to fix the issue.
Recently I’ve noticed frequent FPS drops with my system, which gradually worsened until it started showing BSOD – CRITICAL PROCESS DIE. After three days of troubleshooting, I discovered the root cause was a crusty thermal pad on my chipset. Once I replaced it, performance improved noticeably, though I still experience dips during game loading (especially at spawn). I checked the VRM pads on the left side of the processor and found they were extremely worn. After swapping them out, the error appeared first, followed by a failure to boot, even from a USB drive. It can stay active in BIOS but loops endlessly when trying to start. I’ve tried CMOS reset, CPU re-seat, RAM swap, and tested the PSU on another unit—all working fine. The hard drives were removed one by one without success. What should I do? I made sure the correct pad sizes were installed.
It seems the thermal pad malfunction likely caused overheating and damage. Did you apply thermal paste along with the pad? If not, you might have missed the opportunity to fix it. It’s possible the issue was advanced by the time you discovered it. You might need to replace the motherboard.
I did try changing the chipset from pad into paste but still noticed the dips, so I changed it back to a pad, also here’s a pic of the vrm pad, the white one
It might be an incorrect pad type, possibly due to thickness mismatch, or problems with the pressure applied to the VRM heatsinks.