My PC crashes randomly while browsing, gaming, or sitting idle. The crashes have mentioned memory corruption and page faults, so I initially suspected my G.Skill DDR4 RAM. I have already replaced the RAM three times, and both Windows Memory Diagnostic and a third-party memory-testing tool previously reported errors. After a BIOS update and a clean Windows installation, the crashes continued. I now have four newer minidump files to review, including dumps created with replacement RAM that was tested and appeared healthy. What do these dumps suggest, and what other hardware or software should I investigate?
1 Answer
The older dumps strongly point toward faulty or unstable memory, but the newer crashes are less conclusive and could also involve corrupted Windows system files or a chipset, motherboard, or CPU stability issue. Since the RAM has been replaced and tested, run DISM followed by System File Checker, then install the newest chipset drivers for the motherboard platform. Also test with conservative BIOS memory settings rather than an overclocked memory profile.
The first three dumps were created with the RAM I had used for about two years before sending it for replacement. The newest dump was created with the replacement sticks I received in September. I tested those with Windows Memory Diagnostic and OCCT, and both tests reported no errors.