PC Processors

[Reaktiivi]

Hello,

I have an annoying crashing problem. Here is my description of the situation.

PC configuration:

• Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
• GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming
• RAM: G.Skill 16 GB (2x8GB) Trident Z RGB, DDR4 3600MHz
• PSU: Corsair RM850x 
• Case: Thermaltake View 71 Tempered Glass RGB Edition
• CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15
• SSD1: Samsung 500GB 970 EVO Plus M.2
• SSD2: Samsung 500GB 860 EVO
• SSD3: Samsung 500 GB 840 EVO

Problem: After a while of gaming (~30 minutes), wifi and audio services suddenly crash. Computer remains operational otherwise, but there is no audio or access to the internet before a boot. Computer is around 3,5 years old, and the problem started to occur first time around 1,5 years ago. This problem shows up only when the pc is under load (gaming), not in light use (surfing in the web etc.).

After the crash, Device Manager shows errors (yellow triangle icon with an exclamation mark) for the following devices after the crash:

• Intel(R) I211 Gigabit Network Connection
• AMD USB 3.10 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.10 (Microsoft)

According to Event Viewer, the following Administrative Events take place at the moment of the crash:

• Event ID: 2, Source: rtcx21
• Event ID: 10317, Source: NDIS
• Event ID: 5007, Source: Netwtw10
• Event ID: 5005, Source: Netwtw10
• Event ID: 5010, Source: Netwtw10
• Event ID: 5002, Source: Netwtw10

What I have tried so far to fix the problem:

• Update all possible drivers (devices, BIOS, chipset etc.).
• Perform complete formatting and partitioning of hard drives and fresh install of Windows.
• Tried both Win10 and Win11.
• Disabled WLAN/LAN/Bluetooth modules of the motherboard and installed an external Wifi+Bluetooth adapter to PCI-e slot, and it worked successfully until I started gaming, when the same crash occurred again. When using the adapter, I got the same event IDs in the Event Viewer after the crash (5002/5005/5007/5010).
• Clean dust away from the inside of the case. (Sidenote: A small motherboard cooler was basically covered with dust a while ago, and after I cleaned the dust away, the computer seemed to work normally for a while, but the problem returned after like two months. However, there is no new dust preventing the cooler’s function anymore.)
• Tried with both power plans: balanced and high performance.
• Using Device Manager, changed the power management settings of Intel ® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160 MHz and of Realtek PCIe 2.5GbE Family Controller so that the computer cant turn the device off to save power.

I have tried many things so far, but nothing seems to help. Also, I can’t pinpoint whether this is a hardware or software related problem. Please, could you help me out to fix this annoying problem? Thanks!

[Reaktiivi]

Small update: I tested gaming again, this time by disabling all onboard Wifi/LAN/Bluetooth modules and by using USB Dongle adapters for Wifi and BT. The crash happened again in the same way, but this time the event viewer showed no events or errors taking place at the time of the crash.

[FunkZ]

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@Reaktiivi wrote:

Problem: After a while of gaming (~30 minutes), wifi and audio services suddenly crash. This problem shows up only when the pc is under load (gaming), not in light use (surfing in the web etc.).

After the crash, Device Manager shows errors (yellow triangle icon with an exclamation mark) for the following devices after the crash:

• Intel(R) I211 Gigabit Network Connection
• AMD USB 3.10 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.10 (Microsoft)

What I have tried so far to fix the problem:

• Clean dust away from the inside of the case. (Sidenote: A small motherboard cooler was basically covered with dust a while ago, and after I cleaned the dust away, the computer seemed to work normally for a while, but the problem returned after like two months. However, there is no new dust preventing the cooler’s function anymore.)

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Your 850W Corsair power supply should be sufficient for the load of your system. Given that certain motherboard or chipset controllers (NIC and USB) indicate a problem only after extensive load however could point to a power deficiency or thermal problem. Are you using any power adapters, extension cables, sleeved cables, etc. that could be introducing extra resistance on the 12V or 3.3V/5V lines supplying the motherboard or graphics card?

By "a small motherboard cooler" do you mean the X570 chipset fan/cooler? These are notorious for failing and causing the chipset to overheat. Have you tried replacing the cooler and repasting the chipset to improve thermals?

[Reaktiivi]

Hi FunkZ,

Thanks for your answer. No, I don't use any adapters/extension cables/sleeved cables etc.

Yes indeed, the chipset fan is what I am talking about. Actually, I did some more testing yesterday, and the conclusion now is that the motherboard (chipset) is overheating, which is the root of the problem. This claim is backed by the fact that - as you said - problems occur only when there is a lot of load on the components (such as gaming). Additionally, I tested gaming yesterday by opening the side of my pc case and using an air conditioner to cool down the internals. Usually the crash has happened after 30 minutes of gaming, but yesterday there were no problems for 1,5 hours. I think this pretty much proves that the problem is related to cooling, and since the fault events are related to motherboard modules, chipset is the problem.

I haven't tried replacing the cooler and repasting the chipset - do you have any advice for this? Is it easy to do?

[misterj]

Reaktiivi, please post a screenshot of Ryzen Master (RM) running Cinebench R24. Thanks and enjoy, John.

[FunkZ]

Some X570 users have gotten replacement coolers under warranty. Others claim just removing the factory thermal pad and replacing with paste helps with cooling. I personally don't have any experience with the X570 boards (I have 3 B550's) so I can't recommend a solution but just relating what I've heard.

[Reaktiivi]

Since the problem is so clearly related to cooling, I decided to try changing the PCH thermal pad (my warranty period has expired). The old pad was all dried up and brittle as it crumbled away itself when I removed the heatsink. After installing a new thermal pad and running a performance intensive game for 2 hours, the problem did not occur anymore. So, more testing is needed before I can be sure, but for now it seems that PCH overheating due to a bad quality stock thermal pad was the problem.

Thousands of thanks to you FunkZ!