PC Graphics

[rrt489]

Hello. In december I upgraded my CPU to a Ryzen 5 5500. Ever since then, I've been having lots of problems. First, my monitor, keyboard and mouse would turn off after a few minutes but my PC would stay on. Power button also didn't work so I had to turn it off by pressing the button in my UPS. I thought I found a fix by changing some option in the BIOS and it seemed to work. But then, after a few hours of gaming I would get a solid green screen and the pc would restart. I also remember one specific game would simply crash to desktop and I would get a pop up saying something like connection to the GPU was lost or something. At that moment I figured I had to replace something and I took it to a shop. They told me the motherboard (Gigabyte x370 Gaming K7) was too old for the processor. So I changed it to an Asus Tuf B550M Plus Wifi II. That finally seemed to work until today. I've been gaming pretty much nonstop for the last two weeks and no issues then. I always assumed I had to update the BIOS immediately because it seemed to fix things. So that's what I did today and it almost immediately crashed again. So now I don't know what to do. I reinstalled Windows 10 many times, reinstalled drivers with DDU, changed the HDMI cable, installed chipset drivers, checked temperatures, ran MemTest (no errors) and FurMark for about 25 minutes and it did not crash. I'd be more willing to accept the PSU or GPU being faulty but this all started when I changed the CPU and I haven't been able to find a single solution since. I can game for hours on end and think I finally solved it but then the green screen keeps popping up. What else can I do to check? Are there any log files I can look at that can give me more info?

SPECS: ASUS Tuf B550M PLUS WIFI II Motherboard

16GB TridentZ RGB RAM

Radeon 5600XT Sapphire Pulse

Ryzen 5 5500

EVGA 650 Gold PSU

[FunkZ]

#1 - the Gigabyte x370 Gaming K7 CPU support lists the Ryzen 5 5500. You would hope that a PC shop should know this but it pays to be informed before getting charged for unnecessary work.

#2 - green screen crashes are related to the graphics card or driver. You may have attributed it to the CPU upgrade by coincidence, however something else must have changed in the interim.

I suggest rolling the PC configuration (software, drivers, etc.) back to the last known good versions to see if it is simply the result of a recent "upgrade".

[rrt489]

Yeah honestly I wasn't entirely convinced the mobo was uncompatible. But I had to upgrade it someday so I guess I got that out of the way.

Is there a way I can check if the GPU is faulty? I ran FurMark and it didn't crash but I'm not sure if that's enough to know. Or if maybe I should leave it for longer. 

I played again today for a few hours and it didn't crash for now. If it does again I might uninstall drivers without the Adrenalin software just to see if it works

[432hz]

If the new mobo worked as expected until BIOS update, I would re-flash the BIOS. Once you've successfully flashed the BIOS, boot into Windows then shut down and do a CMOS reset.

Grab the latest chipset drivers from AMD and install.

DDU / AMD Cleanup Utility in safe mode then try installing an older version of drivers like 23.12.1 or 23.11.x. There have been a lot of issues with 24.x.x reported here. Make sure you're using a DisplayPort cable before booting into safe mode, there's HDMI compatibility issues with safe mode that might leave you with a black screen.

Windows has something called Windows Event Viewer for logs you could check when the crash happens.

[rrt489]

It never really worked well, with or without updated BIOS. I assumed that was the case but I flashed it yesterday and it crashed within minutes of opening a game. Chipset drivers are already installed, just checked and there are no new ones. 

I might try reinstalling the drivers, for sure. What you say about the 24 version of the drivers is interesting. I can't say for certainty the crashes started after they were released but the dates might line up. So I'll try that if things stay the same.

Also, could the Event Viewer give me a clue? I checked but what the codes indicate is unexpected shutdown and stuff like that, nothing specific. Is there any more info I could get from there? Don't know where else to look.

[432hz]

I just re-read your original post.

If your PC was working fine until the CPU upgrade and you were running BIOS and chipset drivers that support the 5500 on the old motherboard, I would suspect the new CPU could be defective (or might have bent pins?). Like you mentioned, you should rule out the 24.x.x driver version causing the issue first.

Another possibility is if you over-tightened your CPU cooler, it could cause stability issues. Solution here would be to simply loosen it up some.

Either way, once you rule out GPU drivers, it'd be worth opening a warranty request with AMD for the CPU and see what they say. You now have the issue across 2 motherboards with different BIOS and chipsets -- seems like a start of a pretty strong case.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with Event Manager beyond that's what's used to access logs -- you'd have to search for some of the common codes.

[rrt489]

I was wondering if the CPU could be faulty, but I assume the green screen points more toward the GPU side of things? Can MemTest detect CPU errors? Because I did run it and everything was okay supposedly. 

[432hz]

I think generally a green screen points to GPU, but since the CPU is a central part of the PC that processes everything (including working with the GPU), a faulty CPU could cause all kinds of problems (similar to bad RAM).

I don't think MemTest86 can detect CPU errors specifically. As mentioned above, a bad CPU might cause a failure in that test, but I'm not certain.

[learnerspermit]

I recommend completely testing system memory again using a bootable usb flash drive if this method wasn't used in your initial testing. Instructional video https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm  halfway down the page as well as bootable usb file for memtest.  The reason for this is almost all memory addresses are tested multiple times including the row hammer exploit test. I run 4 complete passes as errors do not always occur immediately it depends on a few factors. This test can take awhile. To answer your question about memtest and the cpu it can detect cpu errors if the cpu memory controller SOC is failing to properly strobe the memory addresses but that's only a portion of the duties of a cpu so it's not definitive as to cpu's functionality.  Checking windows system file integrity windows system file checker instructional video  using SFC in windows. Try these steps and post the results here.

[rrt489]

Yeah I already tested it but not the full 4 times because I was running low on time. I will do it again soon. I also ran OCCT but only for an hour and it gave no errors. 

I just followed that video and it said it found corrupt files and repaired them. It also pointed me to the CBS log file which I copied in a drive. Anything I should look for there?

[rrt489]

I ran a full check with MemTest and it found no errors. I've been playing for a bit and no green screen for now but my game has crashed twice. No error message or anything so who knows. I prefer this over the entire PC restarting anyway lol

[FlowaceTechnologies]

Experiencing green screen crashes post-upgrading your CPU can be exasperating, especially after exhausting initial troubleshooting steps. To further address the issue, consider checking BIOS compatibility by ensuring the latest version compatible with your ASUS motherboard and Ryzen 5 5500 CPU is installed, as newer updates may resolve compatibility issues.

Additionally, verify that your TridentZ RGB RAM is listed on the ASUS motherboard's Qualified Vendor List (QVL) to avoid potential instability caused by incompatible memory. Delving into the Windows Event Viewer might unveil critical errors coinciding with the crashes, shedding light on the underlying problem. While FurMark stress tests didn't induce crashes, attempting GPU stress tests like Unigine Heaven could pinpoint a defective GPU if crashes occur during these tests.

Although hesitant, scrutinize the power supply unit (PSU) for potential failure under load, considering a temporary swap with a known-good PSU for isolation. Lastly, as a final measure, consider underclocking the CPU slightly in the BIOS to mitigate stress on the system, particularly if overclocking or voltage instability is suspected.

By methodically investigating these elements and leveraging system logs, you can identify the root cause of the green screen crashes, while seeking insights from online communities specific to your hardware combination can provide additional assistance.

[rrt489]

Yes, BIOS is updated. In fact, once I flashed it the PC crashed again shortly after. I think the RAM is compatible because this type of crash happened under two different motherboards, one from Gigabyte. Either way I do recall visiting a website listing the compatible RAM sticks and I'm pretty sure it was there. I ran Heaven Benchmark before and no crashes happened at all. Every stress test I tried resulted in nothing happening. Also, nothing in the system is overclocked. I always make sure to change nothing on the BIOS so as far as I know everything is default. 

What specifically do I look for in the Event Viewer? I'm not really close to being an expert. I googled the few codes the events said but basically they just meant the system shut down unexpectedly. 

[learnerspermit]

Now that the system files are not corrupted I would uninstall the Adrenaline software and the run the AMD cleanup utility found here. This will cleanup any old driver and configuration files in safe mode that might be causing gpu driver issues. Then pick a newer or confirmed functional driver for the game that's crashing to desktop. A quick google search can usually determine what specific driver version works best for your gpu on the game that's crashing so that might be best route.

[Hybridgeek64]

I suddenly was having the same issue and my hotspot temps suddenly starting getting up to the 100's, I won't go into all the details of the attempted fixes, but i simply optimized my HD and it fixed the problem.  I can't explain how this was effecting my temps and green screen issue but it worked for me... hope this helps