Unstable restarts and crashes during Windows startup on a complete AMD system
Unstable restarts and crashes during Windows startup on a complete AMD system
Hello, how are everyone? First, please accept my apologies if my English isn't perfect. I'm here to share what's happening and hope you can assist or guide me. About two weeks ago, I assembled a complete AMD PC because I finally could afford the full upgrade—CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM. For a long time, I used a 4th-gen i7-4790K with 32GB DDR3 RAM and a GTX 970 (around 5–6 years ago). But after the upgrade, I faced some frustrating issues since then. The PC works fine for basic tasks like browsing, YouTube, Discord, etc., but when playing games, it becomes unstable. It starts without showing any error messages, but randomly restarts. After checking and trying various fixes, I suspected a RAM or CPU problem, leaning more toward the latter. I first tried changing the XMP profile, then manually adjusted some parameters like SOC and PBO. I spent about five days tweaking settings before trying "Monster Hunter World," which began to crash with BSODs instead of random reboots.
Here’s a summary of the problems I encountered with each game:
- **METRO EXODUS**: Random restarts without BSOD.
- **PUBG**: Only freezing, no BSOD. Restarting from the button helped once. Trying to disable background acceleration and searching for solutions.
- **Monster Hunter World**: BSOD errors, crashes.
I’ve documented some key issues and steps I took:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, Hyper T4 cooler
- Motherboard: ASRock B550M Steel Legend (v2.20)
- GPU: XFX Speedster SWFT309 Radeon RX 6700
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB (2x8), DDR4 3200MHz
- PSU: Cooler Master v1000 (80+ Gold)
- SSD: Crucial MX500 O.S.
- OS: Windows 11 PRO 22H2
I’ve tried cleaning CMOS, updating BIOS, reinstalling drivers from both AMD and ASRock, using different power plans, and checking hardware tests like MemTest86 and OC. Everything seemed to work until I started playing Monster Hunter World.
Some tips I found helpful:
- Disable SVM and Core Isolation (testing).
- Use balanced power plan with CPU at 5% min and 95% max.
- Manually configure XMP, SOC, PBO settings.
- Check BIOS version (v2.50 recommended).
- Enable Secure Boot in standard profile.
I’m still unsure what’s causing the issue, but I think most of these steps helped. The problem seems to persist despite thorough troubleshooting. I don’t have much experience with this, so any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time!
This task goes beyond my capabilities, but I want to emphasize that a lot of effort was invested in this post. I’m impressed and appreciate your recognition. I hope you discover the answer to your issue.
Absolutely in agreement with @Dukesilver27, thank you for all the efforts. I've observed that running a Corsair Vengeance setup can lead to issues with AMD CPUs—especially when XMP is enabled, causing crashes or BSODs. It seems these kits don't always play well with them. For smoother performance, consider testing Crucial Ballistix or another RAM option that doesn't use Corsair's Vengeance DIMMs.
From my experience with a 2600X, RX 480, and ASRock B450 PRO4:
1. Ryzen can be quite unpredictable with some RAM models, often behaving like LPX. Even though it appears on QVL, only specific kits work, and the LPX ones are hard to locate.
2. AMD drivers can be tricky—issues pop up when they update, but performance usually improves over time, sometimes needing a few generations to stabilize.
3. If an ASRock board claims limited RAM speeds without overclocking, it’s uncertain whether it will run smoothly at higher speeds later on.
My experience with those CPUs has been mixed. The 1000 and 2000 were really frustrating, but the 3000 was fine. The 5000 series impressed me even with four chips. I'm now running 2x32GB on AM5 because I wasn't sure about the risks, though it seems to be working well. EXPO puts me at 6000 cl30, and I can still switch to 6400 cl30 without any changes. I haven't experimented much beyond that.
Noted. I've noticed quite a few 5000 chips still dealing with RAM problems, and for many of them, it's probably just coincidence. Still, while AM4 chips have seen major improvements in RAM support, they can still act up like a frustrated child—resisting your commands. From what I've observed, AM5 is performing exceptionally well so far, especially with the EXPO standards.
Thanks for your response. You were using WinDbg Preview and shared some observations. I checked for AuthenticAMD.sys, but no fix worked for me. I also noticed that searching for 0x124 suggested a hardware issue, though I couldn't pinpoint which parameter it referred to. It seems the fault might be related to memory (possibly RAM), but I want to confirm if it's connected to the CPU or another component.
Thanks for your reply. I plan to attempt using a friend's RAM, possibly a HyperX model, to see if the issue persists.