Frequent problems on a newly built PC

[HGArchis]

I recently built a new budget gaming rig and I am sure I built it correctly as I was able to install Windows 10 64-bit and use the PC whenever it "permitted" to do so (for 2-3 hours at max before hanging/BSOD). The configuration is as follows:-

 

AMD Ryzen 5 2400G Processor

ASUS EX-A320M-GAMING Motherboard (Had updated BIOS to the most recent v5220 using ezFlash utility)

2X Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM @2400Mhz

Seagate Barracuda HDD 1TB (which was an RMA Replacement of my old HDD)

Corsair VS550 PSU

 

I also installed my old Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB but since the PC was acting strange and rather slow I removed it. It ran well on my old PC and also performed better.

 

So the issue I am facing is frequent BSODs (MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL being the most common) and frequent hang-ups (the cursor vanishes and nothing works). I also got "n/a" in the Processor field of the DXDIAG utility (fixed after fresh installation of Windows 10, I guess). For almost a month, I have read thousands of posts on various forums to diagnose the root cause and nothing has helped so far:-

 

1) Tried Memtest86 to diagnose faulty RAM - v8 onwards used to freeze for me and often return with "UEFI Firmware could not start CPU" errors. v4.3.7 worked well and did not diagnose any problems for the 2-3 passes I ran multiple times.

 

2) Tried the "sfc /scannow" and DISM utilities and they reported no issues with the integrity of the OS.

 

3) Tried to update all drivers through the Device Manager for various devices and through Manufacturer's website for AMD components (Chipset and iGPU Drivers).

 

4) Tried tweaking power plans but to no avail.

 

5) Thoroughly scanned system for malware, although there were viruses installed through a dubious software once, they were all blocked by Windows Defender. I then did full system scans with Malwarebytes and Kaspersky (did not have them installed simultaneously and also removed them after they served their purpose) to make sure all threats were removed. Regardless, I also did a fresh install of Windows after that and the aforesaid problems still persist.

 

6) Used SeaTools to scan my HDD's health, it passed all tests.

 

Interestingly, while I am at the BIOS window, I am unable to change the EZ Tuning Profile and also access quite a few "options". Although I am not into overclocking and tinkering with the BIOS, I found this strange. Also in the most recent attempt at a fresh install of Windows 10 through UEFI, I got a 0xc000005 error.

 

I have no clue on what component I should send in for RMA and my idea of sending all new components can be counter-productive as I might end up replacing a perfectly working and new component with a refurbished one.

 

Please advise, I will greatly appreciate any support here.

Edited December 13, 2019 by HGArchis

[Vishera]

Did you test the CPU?

You can use Prime95 in Small FFTs mode.

[HGArchis]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Did you test the CPU?

You can use Prime95 in Small FFTs mode.

Yes I did, it was passing the tests without any issues but heated beyond 85C so I had to exit before I end up voiding the warranty on it. Also, there was a BSOD in the first run and that was MEMORY_MANAGEMENT. For the next attempt, I had it running for around 45 minutes.

[Vishera]

Just now, HGArchis said:

Yes I did, it was passing the tests without any issues but heated beyond 85C so I had to exit before I end up voiding the warranty on it. Also, there was a BSOD in the first run and that was MEMORY_MANAGEMENT. For the next attempt, I had it running for around 45 minutes.

From the trouble Memtest86  gave you it could be the RAM,

Did you try reseating the RAM?

You can also test the RAM with the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool:

1. search Memory Diagnostic.
2. Choose between the two options for when to run the Memory Diagnostics Tool:

1. You can restart your computer and run the tool immediately.
2. You can restart your computer and run the tool later.

[boggy77]

the a320 boards do not support overclocking. it sounds like a ram problem. does your motherboard have 4 ram slots? if yes, which have you used?

[HGArchis]

7 minutes ago, Vishera said:

From the trouble Memtest86  gave you it could be the RAM,

Did you try reseating the RAM?

You can also test the RAM with the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool:

1. search Memory Diagnostic.
2. Choose between the two options for when to run the Memory Diagnostics Tool:

1. You can restart your computer and run the tool immediately.
2. You can restart your computer and run the tool later.

Greatly appreciate the prompt replies! I tried the Memory Diagnostic Tool too and it reported no problems. The RAM was always detected. I also tried toggling D.O.C.P from BIOS.

EDIT: Did not try reseating the RAM.

Edited December 11, 2019 by HGArchis

[HGArchis]

5 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

the a320 boards do not support overclocking. it sounds like a ram problem. does your motherboard have 4 ram slots? if yes, which have you used?

 

Thank you, that is the reason why I bought the cheap A320. Yes it does have 4 slots, I am using the second and fourth one which are color coded. I have always placed them on alternate slots, and the reason why I didn't place it on the first slot is because it was too close to my processor heatsink/cooler.

[boggy77]

10 minutes ago, HGArchis said:

 

Thank you, that is the reason why I bought the cheap A320. Yes it does have 4 slots, I am using the second and fourth one which are color coded. I have always placed them on alternate slots, and the reason why I didn't place it on the first slot is because it was too close to my processor heatsink/cooler.

2 and 4 are indeed the recommended ones, but you might as well want to try 1 and 3 to see if that solves it. otherwise, try to run 1 stick at a time and see if that solves it - maybe one of the sticks is bad.

[HGArchis]

Thank you, will try reseating the RAM and get back!

[steelo]

 

 

Definitely sounds like bad RAM. I had a similar experience (BSOD's with the 'MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL' error, as well as random freezing) with cheap memory I found off ebay. I ran memory diagnostic tests and never received any errors. I eventually decided to buy(2) 8 GB sticks of RAM and haven't had any BSOD's since.

 

You are also probably better off with faster RAM anyways as Ryzen CPU's really benefit from fast memory. I upgraded from 2400mhz to 3200mhz DDR4 and if I recall correctly, noticed about a 5-10% performance increase in benchmark scores with my 2400g.

 

Do you have the option of trying 3200mhz DDR4 and returning the old RAM for a refund if it is indeed the culprit?

 

 

[HGArchis]

2 hours ago, steelo said:

 

 

Definitely sounds like bad RAM. I had a similar experience (BSOD's with the 'MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL' error, as well as random freezing) with cheap memory I found off ebay. I ran memory diagnostic tests and never received any errors. I eventually decided to buy(2) 8 GB sticks of RAM and haven't had any BSOD's since.

 

You are also probably better off with faster RAM anyways as Ryzen CPU's really benefit from fast memory. I upgraded from 2400mhz to 3200mhz DDR4 and if I recall correctly, noticed about a 5-10% performance increase in benchmark scores with my 2400g.

 

Do you have the option of trying 3200mhz DDR4 and returning the old RAM for a refund if it is indeed the culprit?

 

 

I bought the RAM brand new (factory sealed) from Amazon. It was delivered in pristine condition, so is there a chance the Motherboard is at fault? Because it came in a dented box, although there were no physical signs of damage. I vaguely suspect the Processor to cause problems since it was not detected by DXDIAG earlier (now it is getting detected).

I reseated the RAM to different DIMM slots to see if it makes any difference. I also re-installed Windows once again and experienced a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION BSOD whilst installing Radeon Adrenaline 2020 Drivers.

In my previous Windows Installation which was also clean, I suffered a MEMORY_MANAGEMENT BSOD whilst installing AMD Chipset Drivers. I freaked out and deemed it better to reseat my RAM sticks as suggested earlier and re-install Windows (clean). So far I have been using the PC for an hour without problems after the SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION BSOD. Hope it's not my motherboard/processor/PSU (all brand new) that is causing all this.

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION-AB.txt

[steelo]

1 hour ago, HGArchis said:

I bought the RAM brand new (factory sealed) from Amazon. It was delivered in pristine condition, so is there a chance the Motherboard is at fault? Because it came in a dented box, although there were no physical signs of damage. I vaguely suspect the Processor to cause problems since it was not detected by DXDIAG earlier (now it is getting detected).

I reseated the RAM to different DIMM slots to see if it makes any difference. I also re-installed Windows once again and experienced a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION BSOD whilst installing Radeon Adrenaline 2020 Drivers.

In my previous Windows Installation which was also clean, I suffered a MEMORY_MANAGEMENT BSOD whilst installing AMD Chipset Drivers. I freaked out and deemed it better to reseat my RAM sticks as suggested earlier and re-install Windows (clean). So far I have been using the PC for an hour without problems after the SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION BSOD. Hope it's not my motherboard/processor/PSU (all brand new) that is causing all this.

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION-AB.txt 1.85 kB · 0 downloads

It's pretty doubtful the CPU is the culprit. Have you played with memory timing at all?

[HGArchis]

1 minute ago, steelo said:

It's pretty doubtful the CPU is the culprit. Have you played with memory timing at all?

Never tinkered with the CPU clock, if that's what you mean. As boggy77 said, the A320 chipset motherboards don't support overclocking. As far as RAM is concerned, I did enable D.O.C.P to make it run at actual 2400Mhz rather than the throttled frequency.

Also I ran Memtest86 v8.3 Free once again, and I came across dozens of "[UEFI Firmware Error] Could not start CPU #" until it finally froze at 22:48 minutes with 0 errors (please see uploaded image). The developer of Memtest86 has said that a lot of ASUS Motherboards come with buggy firmware that do not work well with Memtest86 (his forum therefore maintains a blacklist). I do not know whether these are words of relief or concern for me.

[steelo]

9 minutes ago, HGArchis said:

Never tinkered with the CPU clock, if that's what you mean. As boggy77 said, the A320 chipset motherboards don't support overclocking. As far as RAM is concerned, I did enable D.O.C.P to make it run at actual 2400Mhz rather than the throttled frequency.

Also I ran Memtest86 v8.3 Free once again, and I came across dozens of "[UEFI Firmware Error] Could not start CPU #" until it finally froze at 22:48 minutes with 0 errors (please see uploaded image). The developer of Memtest86 has said that a lot of ASUS Motherboards come with buggy firmware that do not work well with Memtest86 (his forum therefore maintains a blacklist). I do not know whether these are words of relief or concern for me.

Oh, didn't see that you are using an A320 chipset. A shot in the dark here...have you tried updating the UEFI?

[HGArchis]

15 minutes ago, steelo said:

Oh, didn't see that you are using an A320 chipset. A shot in the dark here...have you tried updating the UEFI?

Yes, I successfully updated it to the most recent v5220 firmware using the motherboard's built-in ezFlash utility. It never stopped any BSOD's.

[NXK]

hmm

[HGArchis]

So the last time I was able to use my PC for 4 hours which was pretty rare.

This was after installing Windows updates, during which my PC did hang and an update failed (KB4530684 - Error 0x800f08a). Upon retrying it installed.

After the 4 hour pleasant experience as above, I tried using my PC today thinking issues were fixed. I left my PC running to do household chores and when I returned it seemingly went in sleep mode (I think). Didn't turn on when I tried moving the mouse/pressing random keys. Had to use the reset button for it to turn on. What then booted was Windows 10 with a black background and nothing was responding, not even the start button. I had to reset/reboot multiple times and I am now writing this post with a successful boot. I tried to access Windows Event Viewer and it didn't run the first time, and gave a "MMC has detected an error in a snap-in and will unload it" error. After closing it and running it again, I came across several Critical System events bearing Code Event ID: 41 and source Kernel-Power (Didn't reboot cleanly - please see uploaded text file). Perhaps this was due to the hard reboots I was compelled to do? The "sfc /scannow" utility did not report any integrity violations.

Regardless, the myriad of issues I am now facing with this PC build is frustrating me deeply. What can be wrong? Is it the RAM, Motherboard or the HDD? I am also starting to doubt my PSU.

EventViewer-Critical.txt

[Tombfoot]

3 hours ago, HGArchis said:

So the last time I was able to use my PC for 4 hours which was pretty rare.

This was after installing Windows updates, during which my PC did hang and an update failed (KB4530684 - Error 0x800f08a). Upon retrying it installed.

After the 4 hour pleasant experience as above, I tried using my PC today thinking issues were fixed. I left my PC running to do household chores and when I returned it seemingly went in sleep mode (I think). Didn't turn on when I tried moving the mouse/pressing random keys. Had to use the reset button for it to turn on. What then booted was Windows 10 with a black background and nothing was responding, not even the start button. I had to reset/reboot multiple times and I am now writing this post with a successful boot. I tried to access Windows Event Viewer and it didn't run the first time, and gave a "MMC has detected an error in a snap-in and will unload it" error. After closing it and running it again, I came across several Critical System events bearing Code Event ID: 41 and source Kernel-Power (Didn't reboot cleanly - please see uploaded text file). Perhaps this was due to the hard reboots I was compelled to do? The "sfc /scannow" utility did not report any integrity violations.

Regardless, the myriad of issues I am now facing with this PC build is frustrating me deeply. What can be wrong? Is it the RAM, Motherboard or the HDD? I am also starting to doubt my PSU.

EventViewer-Critical.txt 1.75 kB · 0 downloads

That's the trouble with these issues, you start to doubt everything and suspect everything.

In my experience weird random BSODs and seemingly undiagnosable issues are usually caused by the RAM. Have you got a friend who you could borrow a known good stick of memory from for testing purposes?

Failing that, it might be a worthwhile shot to get a stick of cheap memory for testing purposes and to rule out the memory completely. Beyond that we start to get into the nasty area of RMAing your motherboard for refund and getting a whole new board and all that kind of malarkey.

[HGArchis]

5 hours ago, Tombfoot said:

That's the trouble with these issues, you start to doubt everything and suspect everything.

In my experience weird random BSODs and seemingly undiagnosable issues are usually caused by the RAM. Have you got a friend who you could borrow a known good stick of memory from for testing purposes?

Failing that, it might be a worthwhile shot to get a stick of cheap memory for testing purposes and to rule out the memory completely. Beyond that we start to get into the nasty area of RMAing your motherboard for refund and getting a whole new board and all that kind of malarkey.

Thank you for the reply. I will be sending both the RAM sticks for RMA since I think that's what the issue is all about. I am no longer getting MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSOD's but I am now getting frequent SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION and CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD's.

[Tombfoot]

1 hour ago, HGArchis said:

Thank you for the reply. I will be sending both the RAM sticks for RMA since I think that's what the issue is all about. I am no longer getting MEMORY_MANAGEMENT and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSOD's but I am now getting frequent SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION and CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD's.

Okay, sounds like a plan. Let us know when you get some new memory if the issue is resolved.

[Bojak]

@HGArchis I'm having this SAME issue with a recent Ryzen 3950x build. Did a memtest86 run and was getting very similar errors (UEFI Firmware Error - Could not start CPU 10). There weren't any RAM specific errors shown, same as you.

 

Was the problem indeed the RAM?