I recently bought a used PC from a friend which was working fine initially. He took his M.2 SSD when he sold it to me, so I installed my own new M.2 SSD and downloaded Windows 11 for my operating system. However, I've been experiencing frequent Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) with a WHEA error code or a 'critical process has died' message. Initially, I suspected my RAM, so I made adjustments, but even at JEDEC speed with default BIOS settings, I continued getting BSODs. Looking into the event logs didn't show any WHEA errors, just kernel power 41 messages. I performed clean installs of both my drivers and Windows again at 3200MHz without changing any voltages. On the first day, everything seemed stable, but on the second day, while downloading a game from Steam and multitasking with music and recording, the screen went black and the audio cut out, though I didn't get any BSODs this time. I did a DDU and reinstalled the Nvidia drivers, but I'm still having issues. I'm doing another clean and driver installation now, hoping it was just a bad install rather than hardware problems. My build includes a Ryzen 7 CPU, 64GB of LPX RAM at 3600MHz, a B450M DS3H Wifi motherboard, an RTX 3060 Ti GPU, a Corsair CX750M PSU, and a Crucial 2TB PC10 SSD. I'm really confused; my memtest returned no errors, but since the black screen only happens under load, could it be my GPU or PSU causing power issues? I'm also using a splitter for the PCIe cable, and I've never adjusted voltages except for my RAM settings. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
Running memtest86 is a great idea, especially since it tests memory stability beyond the usual. If you’ve previously tested with TM5 and found it stable, memtest can help rule out RAM issues completely. Even a short test can provide valuable insight.
It sounds like you've been through a lot of troubleshooting! The kernel power 41 could indicate an underlying power issue, either with hardware or software. Since you've done multiple clean installs and the problem persists, I’d suggest taking a closer look at your PSU first. Have you checked all the cables to ensure they're securely connected? Sometimes loose cables can lead to power loss.
Thanks for the suggestion! I didn’t see any loose cables when I looked, but I’m definitely going to check everything again. Are there any voltage checks I can do without removing the PSU?
Got it, I’ll run memtest86 just to be sure. Better to check twice, right?