clock_watchdog_timeout ryzen5+gigabyte AB350-Gaming3 : BSOD when accessing HDD, 100% disk use all the time

[sky99]

Hello folks!

I'm facing a problem that i can't figure out, and have never seen.

My cousin bought a ryzen5 CPU, a Gigabyte AB350-Gaming3 rev 1.0 mobo, 2*8GB ram, an RX480 a 700W PSU and a 1TB WD drive.

 

OS is Win10 pro, but i tried (no success there) ubuntu and win7 64.

 

When she recieved the stuff, i expected it to be a quick thing to get the PC gaming.

However, it produces BSOD regularly, sometimes it just hangs. The BSOD in question is CLOCK WATCHDOG TIMOUT.

 

I tried everything i could think of :

• putting crappy RAM latency, disabling advanced stuff, with stock basic ram speed;
• flashing to every bios version i found on the gigabyte website;
• trying each ram stick in each slot, and all positions for the pair;
• reinstalled on 3 different HDD (i only have WD sata HDDs, no spare SSD)
• installed all drivers;
• removed the ethernet cable (it seemed to BSOD faster when using ethernet...)
• tried another GPU
• ...

I don't have other DDR4 sticks to try; nor another CPU, nor another AM4 mobo to try.

However, i could run OCCT stress test on the CPU, and neither the tensions nor the temperatures had any problem.

 

 

 

In fact, the only lead i have is the fact that the system is pretty unresponsive, and it hangs/BSOD when accessing the drive.

 

Indeed, i left the computer alone with no task to do, and no BSOD.

I started download stuff, and quickly a BSOD.

 

I managed to get GTA3 installed (sad to try only GTA3 on a RX480  ), but it crashes.

 

So i suspect some super weird problem with the sata controller, but i can't try with neither a sata SSD (no spares) nor a NVME (none at all available).

One clue confirming this lead is the fact that for whatever reason, DISK USE is often at 100% even when doing just web DL.

On my old rig, under win10 also, disk use rarely climbs to 1% in the same conditions.

 

When i sort processes by disk use, the most heavy disk users barely reach 1% each, and there's a handful of them.

 

We returned the CPU+ram+mobo+PSU to the seller (LDLC), they tried it, and got no problem. Today she brought back the machine, same thing, and i also changed the sata port without success.

 

So i'm left here with only this question : 

WTF is this bug?

do anyone have a clue on this, or how to solve it?

Now the only ideas i have is to try random sata cables, change random settings in the bios...

[TSL]

I was thinking it's an issue with the sata controller, but the fact that the retailer had no issues once returned... got me stumped. Is there something in the wifi that just hates you?

[TSL]

have you tried different power outlets in the house, maybe there is a power draw issue.  CLOCK WATCHDOG TIMEOUT, is a CPU issue though, so is very weird if it work at the store but not when you try. Are there any overclocking profiles active? Does the bios function fine or does it reboot loop?

[Mr.Meerkat]

Possibly a problem with the CPU? 

[sky99]

23 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Possibly a problem with the CPU? 

Well then the strange fact is that they got nothing at the seller's place, and the CPU passed a burn test

32 minutes ago, TSL said:

have you tried different power outlets in the house, maybe there is a power draw issue.  CLOCK WATCHDOG TIMEOUT, is a CPU issue though, so is very weird if it work at the store but not when you try. Are there any overclocking profiles active? Does the bios function fine or does it reboot loop?

i tried two, one on an UPS with anti surge and all the jazz, and the other on a regular plug, same result!

35 minutes ago, TSL said:

I was thinking it's an issue with the sata controller, but the fact that the retailer had no issues once returned... got me stumped. Is there something in the wifi that just hates you?

i don't know for the wifi, i tried ethernet first, then tried using a USB wifi stick, with similar results...

 

I really don't know what to do here

 

And there better not be similar issues with my ryzen 7 when it arrives...

I wonder if it's not something weird on the mobo, but there are like a gazillon settings to try, and not many things related to SATA drives...

[TSL]

4 hours ago, sky99 said:

And there better not be similar issues with my ryzen 7 when it arrives...

I wonder if it's not something weird on the mobo, but there are like a gazillon settings to try, and not many things related to SATA drives...

Sounds like quite a rare problem, probably with an easy fix or no fix at all apart from new hardware. Can't see it happening again with your Ryzen 7 - it's a really weird issue you got and i'm sorry i can't help anymore, cause it's got me stuck for answers. There's so many anomalies invlovled... RIP pc

[sky99]

ok guys, a heads up on this issue!

I had the same f*****g problem with my ryzen 7, my Asrock X370 and my 16GB of samsung B-dies ram!

After some swearing, i considered one thing : the only two things in common between those builds were the home and the usb install stick.

I considered changing the home, but that's out of my budget. So i considered the install medium.

 

And now my rig runs properly! I downloaded the latest win10 iso, and voila!

I think that there must be some driver for the CPU somewhere on the windows iso that was outdated, and causing BSODs.

 

As ryzen is fairly new, my iso wasn't up to date... however i never considered this previously, so it didn't come to my mind that i could have incompatibilities for a CPU...

 

I'll check on my cousin's rig, and i hope it works for her too...

 

Moral of the story : if installing a ryzen rig, use a recent windows iso (i excpected everything to be updated trough the network, obviously not everything gets updated this way)