I built a new PC about a week ago, but it has been crashing with a different blue-screen error almost every time. I've seen MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, and 0xC000021C.
I initially suspected Windows, so I reinstalled it several times. The first installation USBs produced errors, but I created a fresh installer with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool on my laptop, and Windows installed normally afterward. I've also updated the motherboard BIOS, but the crashes continue.
My hardware is:
- AMD Ryzen 5 5500
- MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI
- GTX 1660 Ti
- 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3000, using two 8GB modules
- Patriot VP4300 Lite 500GB NVMe SSD
- MSI MAG A550BN 550W power supply
- 500GB HDD
Because the errors are so varied, I'm wondering whether faulty or unstable RAM could be the cause. What should I test first to narrow this down?
3 Answers
Start with the memory. Make sure both modules are fully seated in the recommended motherboard slots, then reset any manual BIOS memory settings to their defaults. Test with only one stick installed, swap sticks, and try the other slot if necessary. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic first, but a full MemTest86 run is more reliable. Any reported errors point to a bad module, slot, or unstable memory configuration.
If Windows can stay running long enough, check C:WindowsMinidump for crash dumps. Multiple dump files can show whether the same driver or system component is involved. If no dumps are being created, enable small memory dumps in the system recovery settings. That evidence is more useful than trying to diagnose the problem from the stop-code names alone.
Several unrelated BSOD codes usually suggest an underlying hardware or driver problem rather than one specific Windows issue. RAM is a strong possibility, but the power supply, storage, and graphics or network drivers are also worth checking. Once memory testing is complete, check the SSD and HDD health, install fresh chipset and GPU drivers, and leave the RAM at its default speed instead of enabling an overclocking profile.
I’ll collect the dump files after testing the RAM and will keep the BIOS memory settings at default for now.