Random PC freezes if not gaming and Windows boot issues. Ultra weird problem.

[Krieghor]

Hello. I have a very strange problem with my computer and I would appreciate any help.

My PC specs are as follows:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 VISION OC 10GB GDDR6X
MOBO: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16
SSD: Western Digital NVMe SSD M2 1TB (Windows 11)
HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5400 rpm.
PSU: Corsair RM850X V2 850W 80 Plus Gold Modular

It all started when I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Before that, the PC always worked perfectly. I did a complete format and installed Windows 11 from scratch. From the first moment with Windows 11, my PC would randomly freeze. Completely frozen, I couldn't move the cursor or interact in any way with the PC. Even the Windows clock froze at the exact minute it froze.

I even tried reinstalling Windows 11 by formatting again, but the problems persisted.

I tried everything, different graphics drivers after uninstalling with DDU, checking the health of the hard drives, running a RAM test from a USB stick, updating the BIOS to the latest version... Nothing worked.

Soon after, I noticed that the freezes (and sometimes even restarts) never occurred while I was playing video games. I could play for hours and there would be no problem, but sometimes as soon as I closed the game, within a few minutes it froze. The only exception was The Binding of Isaac, which would freeze sometimes. But with any minimally demanding 3D game, it wouldn't happen. I also think it didn't happen with YouTube videos, but I'm not 100% sure.

I tried leaving a game running in the background for days and indeed there were no more freezes. The PC was freeze-free for days.

Now comes the most worrying part. I restarted the computer for a Windows 11 update and when it was loading Windows and showing the spinning circle, it froze. I restarted the PC and then it froze again. I restarted again and the PC attempted automatic Windows repair, but it froze again during the spinning circle. I kept restarting and it never reached Windows. Sometimes even when it finished loading and went black, it just restarted.

Thinking that the Windows installation had become corrupted, I inserted a USB stick with the Windows 11 installation to repair Windows from there. I booted from the USB and during the spinning circle with the Windows logo, surprise, it froze again. I tried several times and nothing.

Frustrated, I took the SSD from my living room computer that has Windows 10 and connected it to the PC. I also removed the NVMe M2 with Windows 11 from my PC just in case. Nothing, it froze on the spinning circle, when the SSD had been working perfectly in the other PC just minutes before.

I put the graphics card from the other computer, a GTX 970, and it also froze when loading Windows. I've tried the RAM sticks separately and with no combination does it work. I've tried without any USB connected. I've reset the motherboard to factory settings. Nothing worked.

I put back all the normal hardware and kept resetting for a while longer. After a while, I reached the Windows PIN screen, but it froze just before I could log in. That gave me hope and I tried a bit longer. I reached the Windows login again and it froze again. A few attempts later, I reached that screen again and this time I managed to log in and quickly ran a game to prevent freezing. I'm writing all this from my PC.

I don't know what to do and now I'm afraid to restart my computer and have trouble getting back into Windows or that it may not even be able to.

In summary:

1. Since I've had Windows 11, if I don't have a 3D game running, the PC freezes randomly.
2. Windows loading freezes, even when booting from a USB or using another hard drive with a total differente Windows installed.

I don't know what to do and I'm a little desperate. Does anyone have any idea what might be happening?

Thank you very much.

[Skeeen]

Yea that's weird. Even though you passed the RAM test I would try running a single stick at a time to rule out that possibility. Since your computer seems to be stable while running something, I'd try going into your advanced power options and turning everything off.  Something might be going to sleep and causing a problem. I'm just guessing here, you already did the things I would have done.

Also from my experience the Automatic Windows Repair never works.

[Mumintroll]

Since it worked fine with Windows 10 before you upgraded to 11 maybe it has issues with TPM?

I think I've read that AMD had issues with TPM some years ago, but shouldn't it be fixed?

[Krieghor]

Disabling PBO fixed the issue. Now I can load Windows and use the PC without problem.