Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a bind and could really use your help. My brother's PC is randomly restarting, and I'm not sure what's causing it. Here's the backstory: he recently upgraded to a used 5070ti, but it didn't work because the provided 12vhpwr cable was faulty. He continued using his old 3080ti with a B550M motherboard and a Ryzen 5700x. When the new PSU arrived (an ATX 3.1), we swapped to a wifi version of the MSI B550M motherboard—which was also used. Now, I can't recall if he used the previous motherboard with the 3080ti before all this.
The random restarts happen regardless of the load—sometimes it runs high-end games at 4K ultra perfectly, and other times it restarts just while browsing. I checked the systems and found a Kernel 41 critical error. I figured the new PSU might be the problem, so I gave him my 1000W ATX 3.1 PSU, but the restarts continue. He also swapped his 5700x for a new 5800x, and we tested his RAM with an older one that works just fine.
Today, we even installed a fresh version of Windows, but it kept restarting during setup. I thought it might be the GPU, so we tried the older 3080ti, and it still restarted during the Windows setup. Another thing I noticed is that when it restarts, the GPU fans don't ramp up as they would if the GPU were failing, and the GPU temperatures are only around 60C at peak load. Could the motherboard be the culprit behind this Kernel 41 error?
3 Answers
It could either be the motherboard or a bad power connection somewhere. Make sure everything's plugged in correctly and that there’s no damage to the connectors.
I had a similar issue and fixed it by changing the NVMe drive. You might try that; sometimes, it really is just a faulty drive causing problems. If it's a Gen 4 Sabrent like his old setup, I’d look into getting a new one or testing another drive.
Good point! I'm considering that since it worked with the previous motherboard setup.
It definitely sounds like a faulty motherboard; issues with power delivery can lead to those random restarts. Keep us updated on what you find out! 😊
Yeah, he has an old x370 board lying around that could be worth using again. Might just fix the problem!
I tested my PSU with his setup and it's new, too, so I’m leaning towards the motherboard as the issue right now.