troubleshoot Newly bought used pc gives kernel power 41 (63)

[MadsAndersen2500]

So I have just picked up a used pc the other day because it is going to be a present from my sister to her boyfriend tomorrow.

I have tested it by playing a few games on it for around 3-4 hours a day, in the last 2 days, for a total of around 8 hours ish. 

 

2 times it has crashed with the "kernel power 41 (63)" error. I haven't seen a bsod just that it restartet. both times was within the first minutes of me turning on the computer.

It has not happend while I have played games on it yet and therefore it seems like (so far) that it doesn't happen at all if it just works for the first 5-10 min of me turning on the pc.

So I hoped that could maybe rule out faulty hardware, but I wanted to hear what you guys think and also what you would propose I tried. I would really like to fix it for my sister before she has to give it as a present
 

This is the PC I bought. It is a OEM and not a prebuild. The link is to a danish electronics retailer, but the specs should still be there

https://www.elgiganten.dk/product/gaming/gaming-pc/stationar-gaming-computer/acer-nitro-n50-stationar-gaming-computer/185767
only difference is that it looks like the person who had it before added another 8gb ram 

[Mumintroll]

That error message is a general unsafe shutdown message, it doesn't say what is causing it.

Did you contact the guy you bought it from? Buying second hand is always risky.

 

You'll have to do the usual troubleshoot.

Check the event log and device manager.

Check the temps on the CPU and GPU.

Check the drives, using for example CrystalDiskInfo. 

Turn off any overclocking, even XMP profile since he added some extra ram which could be of different speed.

Memtest the ram.

Pull out the extra ram he put in.

If you have any working spare parts use them to troubleshoot and rule out the components. 

 

With problems like these there's no way to tell how fast you'll find the error, and if it's even fixable.

The specs on that site are quite old, I doubt there's any warranty left from Elgiganten.

[Whatisthis]

Check C:\windows\minidump for any files. If there is something there, copy the minidump folder to desktop and then upload a copy here (windows doesn’t like it when you screw with files in that folder).

[MadsAndersen2500]

21 minutes ago, Mumintroll said:

That error message is a general unsafe shutdown message, it doesn't say what is causing it.

Did you contact the guy you bought it from? Buying second hand is always risky.

 

You'll have to do the usual troubleshoot.

Check the event log and device manager.

Check the temps on the CPU and GPU.

Check the drives, using for example CrystalDiskInfo. 

Turn off any overclocking, even XMP profile since he added some extra ram which could be of different speed.

Memtest the ram.

Pull out the extra ram he put in.

If you have any working spare parts use them to troubleshoot and rule out the components. 

 

With problems like these there's no way to tell how fast you'll find the error, and if it's even fixable.

The specs on that site are quite old, I doubt there's any warranty left from Elgiganten.

I found the error through the event log, and I am not sure if it can tell me anything else about the crash. Not sure though?

 

The temps seem fine even under load. Also since the crash has only happend shortly after startup and while not running any games or programs I am not sure if temps would be the issue unless the psu sent a surge of watts that was too high?

 

I will try to install the crystaldiskinfo now

don't think the 9400f can OC?

I ran a windows memory diagnostic for the ram, that came back without error. Or is it not good enough to test with?

 

Don't have any spare parts so I would have to buy any replacement parts

[MadsAndersen2500]

20 minutes ago, Whatisthis said:

Check C:\windows\minidump for any files. If there is something there, copy the minidump folder to desktop and then upload a copy here (windows doesn’t like it when you screw with files in that folder).

I will try to take a look to see if I can find anything

[MadsAndersen2500]

26 minutes ago, Whatisthis said:

Check C:\windows\minidump for any files. If there is something there, copy the minidump folder to desktop and then upload a copy here (windows doesn’t like it when you screw with files in that folder).

I found these 2 files. Hope you can see anything from this?

122123-10437-01.dmp 122223-10781-01.dmp

[Whatisthis]

1 hour ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

I found these 2 files. Hope you can see anything from this?

122123-10437-01.dmp 2.4 MB · 0 downloads 122223-10781-01.dmp 2.31 MB · 0 downloads

@Bjoolz - you’re way better at these than I.

[MadsAndersen2500]

Just to be clear. I have played for hours without it crashing. The 2 times it did crash (once Yesterday and once today) was a few minutes after turning on, and I had not yet started any game. Which made me think it maybe wouldn’t be the gpu or cpu?

[Mumintroll]

When you bought the pc, did you a fresh reinstall of Windows?

Did you turn off the XMP profile for the ram? You do that in the Bios.

 

The powersupply listed on the specifications says it's 500w, and nothing else. It could be abit weak and of poor quality, and could've got weaker with age. Elgiganten can cut corners with their pre-builds and put in a low quality powersupply that works just enough long time to cover the warranty period.

 

Anyway if you don't want to get new parts for it I think it's better to don't give it away and instead salvage something useful from it...

[problemsolver]

8 hours ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

I found these 2 files. Hope you can see anything from this?

122123-10437-01.dmp 2.4 MB · 0 downloads 122223-10781-01.dmp 2.31 MB · 0 downloads

Looks like a VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116) both times. Likely a defective GPU (BUGCHECK_P3 is ffffffffc000009a). I'm throwing that out there now, so hopefully I'm proven wrong, and you won't actually need a new GPU

1. However, since it's a used computer, did you reset Windows? (I would lol)
2. Reseat the GPU if possible
   If it's possible, try this GPU in another PC and see if it has the same issues... problem is this would be time consuming and likely can't be completed before your sister's bf's birthday
3. After that, follow this guide  [Steps 1 through 13 only] to make sure everything is up-to-date.
   This probably won't fix it, but it will at least rule out a lot of things and get the computer sorted from a performance perspective (sans GPU crashing)
4. Edit your original post and post the output of the script per these directions:

     Insert a Spoiler Box
      Then click inside the Spoiler Box and insert a Code Block
     Copy and paste the text from LTTForumsComputerInfo.txt from your Downloads folder into the Code Block
      Select Python for the Language
      Click "Insert into Post"

[MadsAndersen2500]

7 hours ago, Mumintroll said:

When you bought the pc, did you a fresh reinstall of Windows?

Did you turn off the XMP profile for the ram? You do that in the Bios.

 

The powersupply listed on the specifications says it's 500w, and nothing else. It could be abit weak and of poor quality, and could've got weaker with age. Elgiganten can cut corners with their pre-builds and put in a low quality powersupply that works just enough long time to cover the warranty period.

 

Anyway if you don't want to get new parts for it I think it's better to don't give it away and instead salvage something useful from it...

It is not a prebuild. It is a pc from Acer

[MadsAndersen2500]

2 hours ago, problemsolver said:

Looks like a VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116) both times. Likely a defective GPU (BUGCHECK_P3 is ffffffffc000009a). I'm throwing that out there now, so hopefully I'm proven wrong, and you won't actually need a new GPU

1. However, since it's a used computer, did you reset Windows? (I would lol)
2. Reseat the GPU if possible
   If it's possible, try this GPU in another PC and see if it has the same issues... problem is this would be time consuming and likely can't be completed before your sister's bf's birthday
3. After that, follow this guide  [Steps 1 through 13 only] to make sure everything is up-to-date.
   This probably won't fix it, but it will at least rule out a lot of things and get the computer sorted from a performance perspective (sans GPU crashing)
4. Edit your original post and post the output of the script per these directions:

     Insert a Spoiler Box
      Then click inside the Spoiler Box and insert a Code Block
     Copy and paste the text from LTTForumsComputerInfo.txt from your Downloads folder into the Code Block
      Select Python for the Language
      Click "Insert into Post"

Yes, I did a reset after the guy I bought it from had done a reset and then I Updated it from win10 to win11. 
 

still can’t get why when this happend nothing was running that would push the gpu, since the pc had just turned on. Afterwards I have been able to have the pc running for 5-8 hours playing games without any crash at all. I would have thought that if it was a defective gpu it would become more unstable when getting pushed. I will try to reseat it and hope it works

[problemsolver]

36 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Yes, I did a reset after the guy I bought it from had done a reset and then I Updated it from win10 to win11. 
 

still can’t get why when this happend nothing was running that would push the gpu, since the pc had just turned on. Afterwards I have been able to have the pc running for 5-8 hours playing games without any crash at all. I would have thought that if it was a defective gpu it would become more unstable when getting pushed. I will try to reseat it and hope it works

I can only speculate, but it's possible the card doesn't quite handle the lower power settings at lower clocks but behaves fine under load. If that's the case, you could install MSI Afterburner and just bump the voltage up slightly and see if the crashes disappear. In the steps I mentioned in the guide it includes setting both Windows and the GPU to High Performance which could also fix the issue if it is defective only at lower clocks/voltage.
If you didn't follow the guide, I would do that.

[MadsAndersen2500]

32 minutes ago, problemsolver said:

I can only speculate, but it's possible the card doesn't quite handle the lower power settings at lower clocks but behaves fine under load. If that's the case, you could install MSI Afterburner and just bump the voltage up slightly and see if the crashes disappear. In the steps I mentioned in the guide it includes setting both Windows and the GPU to High Performance which could also fix the issue if it is defective only at lower clocks/voltage.
If you didn't follow the guide, I would do that.

Thanks I might try that. I was also thinking either that or maybe the psu was bad at regulating the flow. I did notice that the first day or two I got the pc the temps were a bit higher when idle compared to now. At first it was between 50-60, but now it is between 30-40 when idle (cpu though)

 

just downloaded hwinfo to monitor the gpu. Also no crashes has happend today (yet atleast)

[MadsAndersen2500]

Update. I turned on the pc this morning and let it run csgo for 2 hours without any crash and after I put on a 10 hour Gandalf sax video that has run for 3 hours now, and still no crash? Maybe I have gotten an update that fixed it?

[Bjoolz]

On 12/22/2023 at 9:07 PM, MadsAndersen2500 said:

I found these 2 files. Hope you can see anything from this?

122123-10437-01.dmp 2.4 MB · 1 download 122223-10781-01.dmp 2.31 MB · 1 download

Both are Video_TDR_Failures which means that the GPU was not responding, Windows reset the driver, but it was still not responding so it ordered a BSOD. This is often a faulty GPU, but you can try DDU and cleaning it in case something is overheating like the VRMs.