My computer crashes unpredictably, usually while playing Rainbow Six Siege. It may crash several times in one day, then work normally for a week or two. On one occasion, it crashed again before the system had completely finished booting. The event logs only report that the shutdown was unexpected.
I recently cleaned the PC and replaced the thermal paste, so I'm not sure overheating is the problem. My graphics and chipset drivers are up to date, but I'm unsure how to test whether the power supply is failing. I believe it is either a 750W or 850W model, though I don't know the exact unit.
My hardware is an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, Ryzen 9 7900X, 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5-7200 memory, a 2TB Samsung SSD, and an MSI X670E Carbon WiFi motherboard. Could the memory speed, BIOS version, power supply, or another component be causing these crashes?
3 Answers
The Ryzen 9 7900X’s integrated memory controller may simply be struggling with 7200 MT/s. For gaming, DDR5-6000 is often a better balance on this platform because it can maintain a more favorable memory-controller ratio and lower latency. Turn EXPO off first as a test; if stability returns, manually configure the memory more conservatively rather than treating the crashes as a graphics-card problem.
The DDR5-7200 setting is worth investigating first. On Ryzen 7000 systems, the CPU’s memory controller may not reliably handle that speed, especially with EXPO enabled. Temporarily disable EXPO and run the memory at its default speed. If the crashes stop, try a more conservative setting around DDR5-6000 instead of increasing the voltage immediately. You can also monitor temperatures, voltages, and error readings with a hardware-monitoring tool.
A BIOS update could also make a big difference. Older firmware for X670E boards received several CPU microcode, memory compatibility, and voltage-management improvements. Check the exact motherboard model and install the latest stable BIOS, following the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Since the system has not been updated since 2023, this is especially worth trying.
I haven’t updated the BIOS since 2023, so I’m going to try that along with testing the memory at a lower speed.