Hey everyone! I'm facing some frustrating issues with my PC that started a few months ago after a virus incident. I quickly did a clean install of Windows, and that seemed to help with the virus. However, now I'm experiencing multiple crashes while gaming. Every time I start gaming, there's a high chance the computer will crash within 30 minutes. When this happens, the screen freezes with a Windows 11 error message flashing by before it reboots, so I can't catch any specific error details.
In my usual troubleshooting routine, I check the Event Viewer for crash logs, but I'm hitting a wall here. I've found a couple of relevant events: one is a Kernel Power event indicating a sudden restart, and the other mentions a failure to create a dump file.
I'm worried I'm not getting valuable logs to diagnose the BSOD issue properly. Does anyone have any advice on troubleshooting this issue or suggestions on why the logs aren't being created? Below are my system specs and steps I've taken so far:
- OS: Windows 11 Home, 25H2
- CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- RAM: 64GB Corsair Vengeance
- GPU: EVGA 3080ti
- Motherboard: Asus Prime X670e Wifi
- Primary Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
- Secondary Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 4TB
Things I have tried so far:
- Updated BIOS and Windows
- Ran Windows Memory Test
- Executed sfc /scannow on both drives
- Disabled XMP profile
- Cleaned the system, reapplied thermal paste, reseated components
- Checked SSD health using respective software
Any insights or help would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
It sounds like you've done a lot of good troubleshooting already! Getting those dump files is crucial for understanding the BSODs better. Try looking in C:WindowsMinidump for any crash logs. If you find any, zip the folder and upload it to a file sharing site so others can help analyze them. If not, you might want to adjust your settings to create smaller memory dumps, which could capture the errors better.
If it's not saving logs, you might also want to check your hardware—sometimes it's the CPU or the drive that can cause these problems. Make sure you're not overloading your system with too many demanding processes while gaming, and keep an eye on temperatures too. Running a hardware diagnostic could help pinpoint the issue.
When you mentioned that logs aren't being saved, it could indicate unstable RAM. Since you're running an AM5 system with 4 sticks of RAM, that could be challenging stability-wise. You might want to disable EXPO until you can confirm stability. If you can, test with just 2 RAM sticks to see if that helps. Keeping everything to standard speeds instead of overclocking might also improve stability while troubleshooting.
Thanks for the tips! I will definitely try running with just 2 sticks and see how it goes. I really suspect the RAM might be the culprit, especially given the struggles with EXPO settings.
It's also worth mentioning it could be related to a failing drive or other hardware issues so make sure all your connections are secure.