A few times per week, my Windows 11 PC randomly restarts while doing anything from browsing and programming to gaming. On one occasion it completely froze during CS2 and required holding the power button. When a restart happens during CS2, the game sometimes requires file verification and redownloads, although that may be a game-specific issue because it does not happen with my other games. The taskbar also seems to disappear briefly just before some restarts.
I have already reseated the RAM, graphics card, and PSU cables; removed and reinstalled the CMOS battery; run Memtest86, DISM, SFC, and CHKDSK; and performed a completely clean Windows 11 installation from freshly downloaded installation media. Stress-testing with demanding games has not reliably reproduced the problem.
One minidump reports IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0xA). The stack points to Windows memory-cache and NTFS write operations, including CcSetDirtyInMask, CcMapAndCopyInToCache, and NtfsCommonWrite, with Chrome listed as the active process. The crash could therefore involve unstable memory, a storage or storage-driver problem, or another kernel-level driver, but I am unsure how conclusive this dump is.
The system is a new prebuilt with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 32 GB of RAM (31 GB usable), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 16 GB VRAM, and Windows 11. What should I test next to identify the cause?
4 Answers
The 0xA bugcheck generally means a kernel-mode component accessed invalid memory at an elevated interrupt level. The dump shows the failure inside Windows, but that does not necessarily mean Windows itself is defective; a bad driver or unstable hardware can corrupt memory first and make the kernel appear to be the culprit. Since the stack is handling NTFS writes, I would prioritize checking the SSD’s health and firmware, storage-controller or chipset drivers, and any third-party antivirus, backup, RGB, monitoring, or disk-filter software.
Do a more thorough memory test than the quick run you already tried. Use Memtest86+ and test each RAM stick separately in the motherboard’s recommended single-stick slot. Let each module run overnight or through many complete passes, because marginal memory can pass a short test and fail only after warming up. Also temporarily disable EXPO/XMP or any automatic memory overclock and run the RAM at its standard settings. A prebuilt can still ship with an aggressive memory profile enabled.
The crash occurring during an NTFS write makes the storage path worth investigating, even though the CS2 file verification may be unrelated. Back up important files first, then check the drive’s SMART data with the manufacturer’s utility, update its firmware, and install the latest motherboard chipset and storage drivers. If the drive is in an M.2 slot, reseat it and confirm the heatsink is installed correctly. If possible, temporarily install Windows or a test game on another drive and see whether the crashes continue.
Because this is a new prebuilt and some crashes are hard restarts rather than blue screens, do not overlook the power supply, motherboard, or a hardware fault. Check Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer for WHEA hardware errors around the crash times, and make sure BIOS, chipset, GPU drivers, and firmware are current. If memory testing, storage checks, and default BIOS settings do not help, document the dump files and use the prebuilt’s warranty rather than continuing to swap parts yourself.
I have not tested the sticks individually overnight, so I will do that. Fast Boot is already disabled, and I was not intentionally overclocking the RAM, but I will also check whether EXPO or another memory profile is enabled.