Brand new prebuilt PC bluescreening 6 months in.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Thanks for the update. Let us know if you run into any further issues with the repair. Also, which location are you in contact with for the repair?

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Sorry for the late reply, just now logging in. The shop I contacted was in Fairfax. Today I received an update that the problem was found & fixed. You were 100% right.

The tech took out the ram sticks, blew any dust off them and rearranged them. After that Furmark and all other stress test passed. He also ran PUBG & CP2077 with no crashing issues for 10+ mins. That's right... rearranging the ram solved the problem. I'm still baffled as to why something like this would happen 6 months in.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Memory can be finicky when you're pushing it pretty hard, 3600 CL16. It's certainly possible that just physically cleaning the modules solved the problem.

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Unfortunately, the solution that seemed too good to be true turned out exactly that. A month and a half later and I'm having the same exact problems. At first my computer would do the same blue screen freeze whenever it would go on Standby. Then 2 days ago it escalated to games causing a blue screen crash. I did what the tech did to "repair" the problem last time and I moved around the memory sticks. That seemed to solve it.

Today I had the same exact blue screen crash. I moved around the memory sticks. This time however it crashed within 10 mins of booting the game and is now refusing to boot at all. The computer lights up but my monitors remain blank.

If I can get it to boot I'll run memtest, but considering it didn't show any issues before I have a feeling it still won't. Owning this PC is straight up exhausting.

Edit:

Within 5 minutes of launching Memtest already have 2 errors. I'll update with the full results. If I can pinpoint which stick is faulty then replacing it should be easy.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

We're reaching out to the Fairfax store where your PC was last repaired. We'll have them contact you as soon as possible to arrange to have this system either brought in or shipped to the store. We'll have a plan in place to take care of this.

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Great news, thanks Mike!

Also, an update on Memtest86. The screenshot from above is from a test I ran with all the memory placed on the motherboard. Before the test could finish, the computer crashed. So then I took out all the ram and started testing stick by stick. Since last night I've tested two sticks both of which passed. I'm on the third one right now and there have been no errors. It takes about 4 hours for each memory stick to complete.

One strange note, after the test is ran and I replaced the ram the computer takes a while to boot. The best way to describe it is almost like turning on the ignition key and and the engine having trouble starting. Basically the motherboard does weird clicking sounds and turns on the same light multiple times before it boots. I'll record what I'm talking about when I run the final test.

Edit:

I just got my first errors while testing the third memory stick on its third pass.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

That's memory training. When you swap the RAM or clear CMOS it has to figure out what it can run the RAM at. So initially it works through the JEDEC profiles from fastest to slowest and figure out which profile it can boot on. Then when you load the XMP profile you'll see similar behavior. The XMP profile tells it the frequency, voltage and primary timings, but it still has to work through and adjust the secondary and tertiary timings based on the boards training algorithm.

I appreciate the information you're providing, and that you're going out of your way to troubleshoot this. I'd test the last stick, but it looks like you've located another failing memory stick. I'd run 2x16GB with two of the known working sticks in the meantime. We are going to have the store reach out to you, We're are communicating with them about the issue and they will have a plan in place for your system that will go further to resolve this issue.

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Gotcha. Thanks for getting the ball rolling, Mike! A representative reached out this morning. There's new RAM coming my way. Crossing my fingers this is it once & for all and I can go back to kicking butt in Elden Rings! 😁

Oh another note, 4th stick is almost done and no errors. So it definitely looks like it was a RAM issue. I'm just testing at this point out of curiosity.

Edit:

The fourth stick passed. I now have the computer running with 2 sticks until the replacement arrive. Btw is there any reason not to run with 3 sticks? Since RAM is sold in pairs I always assumed you need an even number.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Good that you've ruled out anything else. You shouldn't have any additional issues with the kits that are being sent out. Should just need to install them, load XMP, save and exit. Let me know if you have any issues or questions.

Running three sticks means a third of your RAM is in flex channel mode. You'll have the quantity of RAM, but keep in mind that the last 16GB will essentially be in single channel mode asynchronous and that memory will have half the bandwidth of the 2x16GB running in dual channel mode. The system should prioritize the dual channel memory, and it shouldn't create any instability, but unless you really need the extra capacity for what you're doing, I wouldn't.

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Gotcha. Running with two sticks so far has led to no crashes while playing. I do still have a crash that happens when the computer goes into Standby which is odd. Basically when the computer hibernates, when it comes out of it it boots up again. When I check bluescreen log it shows that there was a crash while it went to hibernation.

Hopefully new RAM fixes that. Apparently they tried to deliver it yesterday but I didn't hear any knocks so going to be extra vigilant today.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

I assume you lose everything you were working on as a result? Could you share the details from bluescreenview?

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Yup. That's how I first realized I'm crashing. I've attached the error below.

p.s. RAM just arrived as well

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Graphics rendering driver. I heard you received the replacement RAM. Are you still seeing this issue?

Rendering

@TSMikeW

3 days in with new RAM, and no issues so far. I also let the computer hibernate 4 times and each time it awakened with all my software still running.

🤞 that this is finally it!

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

That's good news and you shouldn't have any problem going forward. The RAM you received was the kit that originally shipped wit the system. We test the memory kits we ship with a PowerSpec on the platform, and on the shipping BIOS version. It's pretty strenuous, takes about four days. We're testing the RAM itself, we're also testing for cold and warm boot issues. We test to twice the capacity we're shipping with, the configuration your running right now has been tested internally.

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Today I had my first issue since swapping the ram. It didn't occur during gameplay but was once of those cases where the computer goes into "Standby" and awaken with a full reboot (so it BSD'd during hibernation). This is the first time it happened since swapping the ram. I've gone in & out of hibernate with no issues so it might just be a one off (hopefully 😓).

I'll keep a close eye on the computer for the next few weeks. I'll also run a stress test tomorrow. As long as the problem doesn't occur while gaming I'm not stressing too much about it.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Have you ran memtest on this new kit yet?

Rendering

@TSMikeW

Yup. It passed memtest. Also, I ran the PC through Furmark with no issues. This makes no sense. Why would it work fine for a few weeks but then start to bluescreen again?

The computer was originally prebuilt for 32GB ram. Is the PSU maybe not powerful enough? I haven't had a blue screen during gaming (but I also haven't been gaming a ton). It has become more consistent during hibernate though.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Rendering

Power supply is more than sufficient. When we test models like this, we'll run a game on the system, with maxed graphics for 30 hours. I think maybe we're looking at two different issues here. Has the temperature increased significantly in the area since it started BSOD'ing again?