Random crash/reboots during inactivity

[psychedelicbeast]

Hi All
I have finally received my desktop PC from PCSpecialist on Friday. However, I am seeing some issues. ATleast 3-4 times (maybe more) since Friday, my PC has randomly rebooted during sleep mode. The latest one happened 30 minutes back. When I checked Event Viewer, this is whaat I received.

"
A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor APIC ID: 20

The details view of this entry contains further information."

While the details were:

Honestly have no clue what this means. Any help[would be greatly appreciated. My spec is attached below. I have added an extra storage HD (WD Black 2TB - 2010 edition):

Case	THERMALTAKE CORE X71 TEMPERED GLASS EDITION GAMING CASE Change to: CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard	ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB) Change to: 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card	24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Change to: 1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive	2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE Change to: NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader	USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply	CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Change to: CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler Change to: Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste	STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting	2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans	3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit Change to: NONE
Sound Card	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card	10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card	WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System	Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00003] Change to: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media	Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software	FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus	NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser	Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty	3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

 

[Deleted member 17413]

Firstly, i would turn off sleep mode... can complicate things and cause issues itself.

Have you got any dump files from the crashes? @ubuysa may be able to figure out whats happening.
In the meantime, memtest may be useful, and also a list of anything youve done with it since arrival.

(Checked components/reseated stuff, updates etc)

 

[ubuysa]

I rather fear this may be another example of the 4 x 3600MHz RAM in an AMD build issue. I had hoped these problems had been resolved (its an AMD issue not a PCS one).

I would phone PCS ASAP (don't email) and discuss this with them.

Do upload the memory dump to the cloud with a link to it here but I rather fear I know what I'm going to find.

You can try downclocking the RAM until you can get it stable.

 

[psychedelicbeast]

I rather fear this may be another example of the 4 x 3600MHz RAM in an AMD build issue. I had hoped these problems had been resolved (its an AMD issue not a PCS one).

I would phone PCS ASAP (don't email) and discuss this with them.

Do upload the memory dump to the cloud with a link to it here but I rather fear I know what I'm going to find.

You can try downclocking the RAM until you can get it stable.

Hi @ubuysa,
For some reason, my updated spec didn't get saved here (I have amended it above). I actually have 2 x 16GB RAM (3600HZ), so the 4 RAM chip issue shouldn't have happened

Also, there is a file called MEMORY.DMP in C:\Windows. Is that the one to upload? It seems to have been updated last at 8:49AM whereas EventViewer shows me a crash at 10:33AM.

 

[ubuysa]

Hi @ubuysa,
For some reason, my updated spec didn't get saved here (I have amended it above). I actually have 2 x 16GB RAM (3600HZ), so the 4 RAM chip issue shouldn't have happened

Also, there is a file called MEMORY.DMP in C:\Windows. Is that the one to upload? It seems to have been updated last at 8:49AM whereas EventViewer shows me a crash at 10:33AM.

Yep, that's the file to upload. It will likely be in excess of 1GB so it needs to go to a cloud service with a link here.

Also check my second post here and upload the logs etc. as well please.

 

[psychedelicbeast]

Yep, that's the file to upload. It will likely be in excess of 1GB so it needs to go to a cloud service with a link here.

Also check my second post here and upload the logs etc. as well please.

Here you go. I have added all the requisite files in the same zip.

MEMORY-psychedelicbeast

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[psychedelicbeast]

I just replicated the issue by actively putting the PC on sleep mode, and...ummm...waking it up. I get the same error on EventViewer:

The memory.dmp file hasn't updated i.e. I still see it as having last updated in the morning.

 

[ubuysa]

This dump is dated Tue Apr 27 10:48:42.192 2021 and the stop code is a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION, the exception code (0x1) indicates that the system ran at an elevated IRQL for too long. Basically that means that something stalled whilst running at an elevated IRQL - and usually that's a third party driver.

The stack trace clearly shows that the driver at fault is nvlddmkm.sys, the Nvidia graphics driver. This bug check at least then was caused by your graphics driver - or the graphics card itself of course.

However, in your system log you have several WHEA errors logged (WHEA is the Windows Hardware Error Architecture) with a machine check exception - and that indicates a hardware failure. In all cases the errors report a 'Cache Hierarchy Error' but for different processors. This is very similar to the BSODs I've been seeing with 4 x 3600MHz RAM cards in an AMD build.

There are other BSODs recorded in the system log, all for the same stop code as the one above.

In addition to all that, the system log contains a number of Kernel Boot errors related to either fast startup or resume from hiberation. Fast startup uses hibernation for the kernel but none of these seem to be related to an earlier system crash, they look to be related to normal startup. I would in any case disable the Windows Fast Startup feature, you don;t need it with those NVMe SSDs.

I'm now wondering whether your BSOD above (and the others probably) was not nvlddmkm.sys itself but was triggered by the hardware issue you appear to have.

I think you have to work with the hard information you have however, so we need to address the graphics card and driver. First ensure that the graphics card is properly seated, stuff does move in transit. Pop it out and re-seat it fully if you can. Do the same with your RAM cards too. I would also use DDU to uninstall the existing driver, then download the latest driver from the Nvidia website and manually install it (not through GeForce Experience). Be sure NOT to select any Nvidia audio components, we've had issues with those in the past. If it BSODs again be sure to copy the C:\Windows\Memory.dmp file to somewhere safe because each new BSOD overwrites the exiting dump file. It will be very useful to have a set of kernel dumps rather than just one.

I've just seen you latest post - definitely turn off Fast Startup. If you use hibernation try turning that off too to see whether that is giving problems.

BTW. I notice that you're using ESET Security. It would be wise to temporarily uninstall that and use Windows Defender for a time. Third party security systems often cause BSODs, I've debugged more than I can remember that were security software related (none for ESET yet though). There is no indiocation anywhere that ESET is a problem but these tools are a common source of problems.

LATER EDIT: Pop those M.2 drives out and reseat them too. We've had several strange issues caused by an M.2 drive that wasn't seated properly.

 

[psychedelicbeast]

This dump is dated Tue Apr 27 10:48:42.192 2021 and the stop code is a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION, the exception code (0x1) indicates that the system ran at an elevated IRQL for too long. Basically that means that something stalled whilst running at an elevated IRQL - and usually that's a third party driver.

The stack trace clearly shows that the driver at fault is nvlddmkm.sys, the Nvidia graphics driver. This bug check at least then was caused by your graphics driver - or the graphics card itself of course.

However, in your system log you have several WHEA errors logged (WHEA is the Windows Hardware Error Architecture) with a machine check exception - and that indicates a hardware failure. In all cases the errors report a 'Cache Hierarchy Error' but for different processors. This is very similar to the BSODs I've been seeing with 4 x 3600MHz RAM cards in an AMD build.

There are other BSODs recorded in the system log, all for the same stop code as the one above.

In addition to all that, the system log contains a number of Kernel Boot errors related to either fast startup or resume from hiberation. Fast startup uses hibernation for the kernel but none of these seem to be related to an earlier system crash, they look to be related to normal startup. I would in any case disable the Windows Fast Startup feature, you don;t need it with those NVMe SSDs.

I'm now wondering whether your BSOD above (and the others probably) was not nvlddmkm.sys itself but was triggered by the hardware issue you appear to have.

I think you have to work with the hard information you have however, so we need to address the graphics card and driver. First ensure that the graphics card is properly seated, stuff does move in transit. Pop it out and re-seat it fully if you can. Do the same with your RAM cards too. I would also use DDU to uninstall the existing driver, then download the latest driver from the Nvidia website and manually install it (not through GeForce Experience). Be sure NOT to select any Nvidia audio components, we've had issues with those in the past. If it BSODs again be sure to copy the C:\Windows\Memory.dmp file to somewhere safe because each new BSOD overwrites the exiting dump file. It will be very useful to have a set of kernel dumps rather than just one.

I've just seen you latest post - definitely turn off Fast Startup. If you use hibernation try turning that off too to see whether that is giving problems.

BTW. I notice that you're using ESET Security. It would be wise to temporarily uninstall that and use Windows Defender for a time. Third party security systems often cause BSODs, I've debugged more than I can remember that were security software related (none for ESET yet though). There is no indiocation anywhere that ESET is a problem but these tools are a common source of problems.

LATER EDIT: Pop those M.2 drives out and reseat them too. We've had several strange issues caused by an M.2 drive that wasn't seated properly.

Thanks. Have turned off Fast Startup, and will reconnect the GPU and SSD's in the evening. Given I have only 2 RAMs, do you expect the 4 RAM issue to be happening here?

 

[ubuysa]

Thanks. Have turned off Fast Startup, and will reconnect the GPU and SSD's in the evening. Given I have only 2 RAMs, do you expect the 4 RAM issue to be happening here?

I have seen it on a couple of two RAM card systems.

 

[psychedelicbeast]

Have reconnected the RAM, and SSD. The GPU seems very tight and stable to be honest. Have reinstalled the GPU driver (not through Geforce Experience) after removing the previous driver through DDU. Removed EST. Also removed Fast restart and sleep. Let's see how it goes.