I have built many Intel and AMD machine over the past 15 years. This week I built my first AM5 machine. Specs as follows:
ASUS B650E-F ROG Strix Gaming WiFi Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 RAM
Noctua NH-D15S Chromax Black CPU Cooler
WD Black SN770 1TB SSD
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT GPU
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold PSU
Montech X3 Mesh Tempered Glass Case
I built the computer, putting the SSD in M.2_1 bay that's PCIx5.0 compatible (though the drive is a 4.0 drive, but I figured it's backwards compatible.) First boot posted, but upon running Windows 11 flash drive to install, it froze on the loading circle. Rebooted, BSOD "SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION". Reboot, BSOD "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL." Reseated everything. Turned on. Same BSODs. Took out front USB/Audio , SSD, 1xRAM. Got to Windows setup. Tried Linux, worked. Ran Memtest86, RAM passed. Got Windows installed on spare SATA SSD. Chipset drivers fine. GPU drivers BSOD while extracting "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION." In BIOS disabled Asus Performance Enhancements, CPU Core Boost, and PBO. GPU drivers install fine. PC benchmarks fine, though low scores. SSD back in bay M.2_1 and BSOD. Moved SSD to M.2_3 slot and tried again. Windows works and benchmarks fine. MB manual says M.2_1 is CPU controlled , M.2_3 chipset controlled. Enabling Core Boost, BSOD Windows. CPU temp in BIOS shows 36° when boost disabled, but if I enabled show 53°, both idle. Since the CPU can't seem to boost, the temps jump enabling core boost, and the M.2 slot it controls seems to not work, I think this is a faulty CPU. I am open to other thoughts and I only ask for additional advice or thoughts because I have never had a CPU go bad on me before.
TL;DR: New setup keeps BSOD or freezing, even loading Windows setup, unless I disable CPU Core Boost and don't use the CPU controlled M.2_1 slot.
