msi Wraith Prism Cooler is causing BSOD's and malfunctions on my PC?

[lWilsonl]

Hi everyone, first of all i would like to say that i'm new at posting in this format, so if i'm not doing it properly please tell me so i can do it the right way. That being said, i hope someone could help me with this i had since the last year i built my setup.

 

Specs:

MOBO: B450 MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700x

RAM: 2x16 Hyperx Kingston Fury 2400Mhz (HX424C15FB3A/16) 

SSD: WD_BLACK SN750 500GB

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 4TB (T4000DM004)

PSU: Gigabyte B700H

GPU: Gigabyte RTX 3070 Gaming OC

 

Since i built this, after taking the decision to drop my old Intel setup to give it a shot to AMD's Ryzen family of processors, i had a lot of troubles since day 1:

• BSOD's
  • KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
  • SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
• Black screen resets with the EZ Debug LED turning on at CPU every time this happened (MSI Led)
• USB ports stop working gradually before an imminent BSOD (Sometimes Youtube and Twitch also could stop working too before a BSOD)
• Sometimes BSOD's when shutting down the PC (Using the button and the OS option, both cause it)

All of this happens when i use 2 RAM slots on dual channel at least twice a day, i have no problem when using 1 stick.

 

I have a whole year trying to figure out what could be the problem, and i tried multiple of the stuff i know could be causing this kind of problem:

• Checked that everything was correctly installed
• Re-installed Windows and drivers several times
• Stress tested CPU and RAM
• Tested both of my RAM modules by separate and together with Memtest86 (No errors)
• Avoided MSI Bloatware
• Updated BIOS (And eventually downgraded after finding out BSOD multiplied because apparently MSI has buggy BIOS)
• Recently reseated the CPU and rebuilt my setup in case i was missing something

Nothing solved my issues but i got rid of black screen EZ debug LED issue after i reseated my CPU, which called my attention, because the CPU was installed correctly, but i noticed something odd: The wraith prism cooler was really thight, because when i just applied a little bit of force to move the lever of Wraith Prism cooler, it just violently moved and made a loud noise, it even hit my finger and hurted me a bit. When i first installed this cooler i had no issues, i didn't even had to force it to close the lever and this is not the first time i build a PC and i know that you don't have to apply too much force on PC parts, so this is why this really called my attention. After reseating the CPU, BSOD dissapeared a couple of days, but now they're back but the cooler seems to be correctly installed, now i can move the lever without issues. I looked on the internet for people with the same problem as me and i found this:

This post made me downgrade to a most stable BIOS version, which did reduced BSOD's, but didn't fixed the issue.

 

After this incident also searched for people who had problems with Wraith Prism and found this post:

And this is what made me think that the root of my problems could be my CPU cooler, but honestly i'm still skeptical about it, so i wanted to see if someone has another idea or if someone had this kind of problem and if so, how you do fixed it or what you think i can do to fix my issues?. 
 

Thanks in advance to everyone, and have a nice day.

[aDoomGuy]

Hello,

 

I must say I find it highly unlikely that your CPU cooler causes BSOD.

6 minutes ago, lWilsonl said:

KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

This may be because of driver.

6 minutes ago, lWilsonl said:

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

This may also be because of driver. So, to rule this out what I'd like you to do is this.

 

First open run dialogue (winkey+r) and in the little window type msconfig and run it. Next select diagnostic startup, press ok and restart the PC. Now your PC will only load Windows and basic stuff. If BSOD continues with diagnostic startup it is likely not driver issues.

 

Lets also try a long shot before you do that. Search start menu for cmd and choose run as administrator. In that window type sfc /scannow and let it scan through your system. If it said it fixed an error reboot the PC and see if things got better.

[lWilsonl]

16 minutes ago, aDoomGuy said:

Hello,

 

I must say I find it highly unlikely that your CPU cooler causes BSOD.

This may be because of driver.

This may also be because of driver. So, to rule this out what I'd like you to do is this.

 

First open run dialogue (winkey+r) and in the little window type msconfig and run it. Next select diagnostic startup, press ok and restart the PC. Now your PC will only load Windows and basic stuff. If BSOD continues with diagnostic startup it is likely not driver issues.

 

Lets also try a long shot before you do that. Search start menu for cmd and choose run as administrator. In that window type sfc /scannow and let it scan through your system. If it said it fixed an error reboot the PC and see if things got better.

Hi, thanks for the comments.

 

I tested sfc/scannow and had no security infractions to solve, so i'll try the diagnostic startup and see if problems persist.

 

I know that the chances for the cooler to be root of my BSOD problems are really low, as BSOD are caused almost always by software, but at this point i'm really desperate and open to accept crazy ideas, and i even imagined that maybe the pressure applied by the cooler on the CPU casues some hardware problems that in consecuence cause a software problem (?). It's pretty much nonsense, but i wanted to know what other prople think about it. Thank's again and i'll post any updates.

[aDoomGuy]

9 hours ago, lWilsonl said:

Hi, thanks for the comments.

 

I tested sfc/scannow and had no security infractions to solve, so i'll try the diagnostic startup and see if problems persist.

 

I know that the chances for the cooler to be root of my BSOD problems are really low, as BSOD are caused almost always by software, but at this point i'm really desperate and open to accept crazy ideas, and i even imagined that maybe the pressure applied by the cooler on the CPU casues some hardware problems that in consecuence cause a software problem (?). It's pretty much nonsense, but i wanted to know what other prople think about it. Thank's again and i'll post any updates.

If the cooler have been overtorqued enough I would expect either the motherboard or CPU to cause problems (problems which can be noticed through software, yes). Just to be clear, there is no overclocking (or XMP) enabled on the machine? You are running the RAM at 2400 MHz like you said in your OP? Have you tried to clear CMOS?

 

Lets investigate further, your memory could also be the culprit here. You are saying the machine works fine with only one stick? You have tried both sticks alone and it works fine but not fine with both? That could potentially indicate that there is something wrong with either the CPU or the motherboard. I am afraid I don't have the insight into diving deeper into that however but you said you stress tested CPU and RAM, did you use Memtest?

[lWilsonl]

8 hours ago, aDoomGuy said:

If the cooler have been overtorqued enough I would expect either the motherboard or CPU to cause problems (problems which can be noticed through software, yes). Just to be clear, there is no overclocking (or XMP) enabled on the machine? You are running the RAM at 2400 MHz like you said in your OP? Have you tried to clear CMOS?

 

Lets investigate further, your memory could also be the culprit here. You are saying the machine works fine with only one stick? You have tried both sticks alone and it works fine but not fine with both? That could potentially indicate that there is something wrong with either the CPU or the motherboard. I am afraid I don't have the insight into diving deeper into that however but you said you stress tested CPU and RAM, did you use Memtest?

Yep, i don't use any overclock tool or messed with XMP profiles: My BIOS options are factory default. I havent tried to clear CMOS, maybe i can try that too.

 

UPDATE: I started my PC on diagnostic startup since yesterday and had no issues until today, an hour ago i got a BSOD with the code: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

 

So i assume it's not a driver issue. This is a new BSOD code, first time i see this one.

 

Yeah they both work correctly by separate but as soon as i install both modules at the time, my problems are back. As i indicate on my post i already tested both RAM sticks with MemTest86 and let it run like 10 passes and had no issues.

[aDoomGuy]

5 hours ago, lWilsonl said:

Yep, i don't use any overclock tool or messed with XMP profiles: My BIOS options are factory default. I havent tried to clear CMOS, maybe i can try that too.

 

UPDATE: I started my PC on diagnostic startup since yesterday and had no issues until today, an hour ago i got a BSOD with the code: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

 

So i assume it's not a driver issue. This is a new BSOD code, first time i see this one.

 

Yeah they both work correctly by separate but as soon as i install both modules at the time, my problems are back. As i indicate on my post i already tested both RAM sticks with MemTest86 and let it run like 10 passes and had no issues.

Okay, new BSOD for me as well that. I had to google it to see what's up with it. Reading from the link below, it seems to indicate again a driver issue and a mentioned solution is to reinstall the OS. I know you tried this already.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bluescreen-error-dpcwatchdogviolation/100cb707-0716-40d4-88a8-7bf9dd8f836d

 

To me the tool to make Windows install medium have been dodgy lately (last 2 years), using Rufus I now have a stable Windows running on my PC. Reading through more threads from MS support makes it pretty clear that this may very well be a driver issue and it may be a driver included in Windows. Nvidia drivers are also mentioned so you can try to DDU display drivers and if that doesn't work try to use Rufus to make the install USB.

 

First download latest graphics driver and DDU: https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

 

Reboot into safe mode by running msconfig like you did earlier but this time head into boot tab and choose safe boot. I like to disconnect my PC from the internet while doing this so Windows wont install an outdated driver when I reboot into normal Windows.

 

• Winkey+R
• type msconfig in the window and run it
• navigate to boot tab and select safe boot
• reboot and PC should now start in safe mode
• disconnect internet (optional but recommended)
• run msconfig again and unselect safe mode boot if needed
• run DDU, make sure it's set to clean Nvidia drivers and use clean and reboot option
• when back in normal Windows install your graphics driver and reconnect to the internet if you disconnected earlier
• hopefully this helped

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION&oq=DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[lWilsonl]

1 hour ago, aDoomGuy said:

Okay, new BSOD for me as well that. I had to google it to see what's up with it. Reading from the link below, it seems to indicate again a driver issue and a mentioned solution is to reinstall the OS. I know you tried this already.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bluescreen-error-dpcwatchdogviolation/100cb707-0716-40d4-88a8-7bf9dd8f836d

 

To me the tool to make Windows install medium have been dodgy lately (last 2 years), using Rufus I now have a stable Windows running on my PC. Reading through more threads from MS support makes it pretty clear that this may very well be a driver issue and it may be a driver included in Windows. Nvidia drivers are also mentioned so you can try to DDU display drivers and if that doesn't work try to use Rufus to make the install USB.

 

First download latest graphics driver and DDU: https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

 

Reboot into safe mode by running msconfig like you did earlier but this time head into boot tab and choose safe boot. I like to disconnect my PC from the internet while doing this so Windows wont install an outdated driver when I reboot into normal Windows.

 

• Winkey+R
• type msconfig in the window and run it
• navigate to boot tab and select safe boot
• reboot and PC should now start in safe mode
• disconnect internet (optional but recommended)
• run msconfig again and unselect safe mode boot if needed
• run DDU, make sure it's set to clean Nvidia drivers and use clean and reboot option
• when back in normal Windows install your graphics driver and reconnect to the internet if you disconnected earlier
• hopefully this helped

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION&oq=DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

As i don't use any third party software to make my bootable USB's, i think that's not my problem (As i already re-installed my O.S more times than i can remember using multiple .iso files directly from Microsoft Tool with a legal Windows Key). I use this method:

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-essentials/install/create-a-bootable-usb-flash-drive

 

I think you might be right about the GPU drivers, but at the same time i think this doesn't makes sense, as i bought this GPU in November and i already had this problems before i installed this 3070 with my old AMD R7 250x and i remember that i had the idea that maybe the old GPU was too slow for the CPU, but my problems persisted with a new generation GPU with properly installed drivers. I'll try that method to reinstall GPU drivers and will post any update about this. In the meantime i downloaded a software to check my BSOD on detail: WhoCrashed and got these reports from my memory dumps:

 

Quote

On Tue 24/08/2021 10:24:43 a. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\082421-9234-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0x58a08)
Bugcheck code: 0x133 (0x1, 0x1E00, 0xFFFFF8057D571358, 0x0)
Error: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_5d5c294bb8d17217\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 471.41
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 471.41
Bug check description: The DPC watchdog detected a prolonged run time at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above. This could be caused by either a non-responding driver or non-responding hardware. This bug check can also occur because of overheated CPUs (thermal issue).
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 471.41 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: nvlddmkm.sys NVIDIA Corporation DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION



On Tue 24/08/2021 10:24:43 a. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
This was probably caused by the following module: amdppm.sys (amdppm+0x206c)
Bugcheck code: 0x133 (0x1, 0x1E00, 0xFFFFF8057D571358, 0x0)
Error: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\amdppm.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Processor Device Driver
Bug check description: The DPC watchdog detected a prolonged run time at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above. This could be caused by either a non-responding driver or non-responding hardware. This bug check can also occur because of overheated CPUs (thermal issue).
The crash took place in a Microsoft module. The description of the module may give a hint about a non responding device in the system.

 

Those reports are the ones that happened while on diagnostic startup. Maybe they are useful.

 

These are on a normal boot:

Quote

On Mon 23/08/2021 11:08:32 a. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\082321-8578-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x1C4450)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF80531079757, 0x0, 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This might be a case of memory corruption. This may be because of a hardware issue such as faulty RAM, overheating (thermal issue) or because of a buggy driver.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Thu 19/08/2021 10:10:13 a. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\081921-8875-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x1C4450)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80545A522C9, 0xFFFFC801EF9EC930, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Wed 18/08/2021 11:17:30 p. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\081821-8703-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x1C4450)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF8012EE52127, 0xFFFFCC81F9D38930, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Wed 18/08/2021 05:28:57 p. m. your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\081821-8562-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x1C4450)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80617E75936, 0xFFFFD001C84DF930, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

 

[aDoomGuy]

Yeah clearly there is something amiss with your video card drivers but not only those. So reinstalling that may solve a part of the issue, however the main problem seem to be with Windows itself. If you don't wish to go the Rufus road (and I wouldn't use Rufus myself if it wasn't completely necesarry, I mean if the MS tool managed to provide me with a decent installation but alas).

 

So. The only suggestions I have left for you are these.

Open CMD as admin as you did before. Note that this procedure requires a reboot. In CMD run the command below to scan your hard drive for errors.

chkdsk c: /r /f

Reboot the PC and let it do it's thing. Next open CMD once more as before and run the two following commands to check and repair your Windows image. Restart when both are finished.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /ScanHealth

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth

 

 

[lWilsonl]

10 hours ago, aDoomGuy said:

Yeah clearly there is something amiss with your video card drivers but not only those. So reinstalling that may solve a part of the issue, however the main problem seem to be with Windows itself. If you don't wish to go the Rufus road (and I wouldn't use Rufus myself if it wasn't completely necesarry, I mean if the MS tool managed to provide me with a decent installation but alas).

 

So. The only suggestions I have left for you are these.

Open CMD as admin as you did before. Note that this procedure requires a reboot. In CMD run the command below to scan your hard drive for errors.

chkdsk c: /r /f

Reboot the PC and let it do it's thing. Next open CMD once more as before and run the two following commands to check and repair your Windows image. Restart when both are finished.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /ScanHealth

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth

 

 

I reinstalled my GPU drivers as you adviced and also used those commands on my pc: I'll post any updates.

 

If i get another BSOD... Maybe i should just give up at this point i guess? Either way, i will report what happens here, if this get's solved, i'll mark your response as the solution, but if i don't post anything, just assume that nothing worked. Thank's a lot for you help, i really hope this works.